Owen Books

One of my players got this for me, so thank Goddess I didn't waste my own money. It doesn't have the magic items from the Dungeon Master's Guide -- the very core of magic in D&D! Do I need to go into further detail, other than to say that while Wizards of the Coast was selling this book, they were already hard at work on version 4.New.Coke, which makes all 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 3.5 books OBSOLETE? They knew this when they sent this to press and knew it when they sold it to gullible buyers who didn't know they were being ripped off. Save your money! If you are reading this review, Wizards of the Coast (and their money-grubbing parent company, Hasbro) have already made it obsolete. PLEASE DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS BOOK! Far better is "Pocket Magica (Arcana)," which contains all of the items from the 3rd edition DMG and many magic items which appear in books publiushed by other companies.

* One star out of five (and only because there's no half-star rating)

Simply stated, this is a good book.

To expand on this,the Magic Item Compendium is similar to the Spell Compendium in which it takes the magic item properties of many previously made source books(as early as Complete Adventurer to as late as Magic of Incarnum in the WOTC revised 3rd edition D&D series), as well as many prominent magic items. The book promises over 1,000, but if this is true I can't say. It does have many other properties right on, such as having lower cost items than featured in the main books. But what really caught this book for me is it's flexibility.

Sure, one could argue that having a book merely composed of magic items would be pretty much useless unless your campaign allowed for a lot of said magic items. But, these could be easily 'dispelled' by the books overall purpose: Taking all of the magic item properties of most of the source books previous to it's making and putting them in one handy tome. There are magic items (and their properties) from the Eberron setting, from the Draconomicon, from the Complete Adventurer book, all without having to buy the said source books! Even if one where to have said source books, the Magic Item Compendium focuses specifically on finding these properties and items within and presenting them in a well organized fashion for any DM looking to create new, more interesting items of choice.

Another handy feature of the Magic Item Compendium is giving items levels by price, and tables to show what priced magic item a player of x level would most likely have.

This book, like many wotc books, isn't without it's woes. It has about 7 pages worth of errata, or corrections, on the wotc site, meaning if you want the book to be free of error you'll have to retrieve the errata file.
Not to mention that while the magic items and are neatly organized and easy to read from, all of the meat and bones new rules (magic item levels, creating relics and item set bonuses, etc.) are all in the back of the book, after all of the actual items the rules refer to have been presented.

Other than a few minor complaints, the book is solid and a good addition to any campaign.

It's good but still unorganized like the Spell Compendium, the table helps a lot though, unlike in the spell compendium. They should have added the page of each item in the table in my opinion.

I loved it as soon as I pulled out of the box and touched the shiny new cover. Opening it up was like entering a whole new world. The items are fresh and exiting. Easy to read and a joy to locate a new item that lays in wait for the unsuspecting adventuring party.

The only thing I have to say that is negative is:
it would be nice to have pictures of every item. But how realistic is that?
But how NICE would that be too!!!! With all the other details and research a DM has to do, it is nice to look at an image and describe it, alter it, or just hold up the book and say, "it looks like this."

So, if you can live without a picture of every item... then this book is what you need next to you at every game session! There are new and refreshing items...something for everyone!

Happy Gaming and I really think you will love this addition to your DM collection.

For a while there, it seemed like WOTC was so into their 4th edition that they would not be publishing anything good for a while. But alas, here is something really good! this suplement has a ton af great information in it. Really great idea for adding powers to magic items, creating small ones and large ones. No matter how strict the DM is about magic, eventually you will be able to create some of these great ideas. And for the DM, hey, the bad guys need good armor too!

This book is awesome, I read it originally because my grandfather was one of the replacments in Baker 1-7 following the battle for chosin reservoir and fought at the punch bowl in 1951.

Colder Than Hell helped me appreciate what our servicemen went through at the Chosin Reservoir during the Korean War. My father served with the 1st Division Marines in the battle, and was a Purple Heart recipient. He died years later when I was very young and now I have an idea of what it was like.

The author starts off by talking about the 'guys' and their wives prior to being called up, and takes you through the entire battle. Regardless of where you stand on this war, there's no denying how brave these men were and the hell they went through. Semper Fi

"Colder Than Hell," is a wonderful book. It's a combination memoir and history of one rifle company during one of the most horrendous periods of fighting during the Korean War.

Mr. Owen is a good writer and he tells the story of "Baker 1/7," with a strong, narrative flow. While much of his book relates his experience commanding the Weapons Platoon, he manages to tell the rest of the company's story. The result is a unit story worthy to stand alongside the best narratives of a small unit.

The reader will finish this book with a sense of awe of the men of the 1st Marine Division (not to mention the Army troops and other UN forces who marched alongside them) and horror of the frozen hell that the Chosin campaign was. That anyone survived it was amazing. That the 1st Marine Division not only maintained it's cohesiveness, but managed to destroy many CCF divisions and make it back to friendly lines with all it's equipment, not to mention its wounded and lastly its KIAs, is a miracle.

Mr. Owen is the perfect narrator for this story. He is modest, generous in giving credit and his admiration for all his fellow Marines knows no bounds. This book should be required reading for students of the Korean War and those who have an interest in the Chosin Resevoir in particular.

"Colder Than Hell," is a true classic of Korean War literature.

Should be required reading for many of the gutless politicians of the
political LEFT ! As a Korean volunteer and veteran I appreciated the
author's credibility and his expressions of the normal interaction with
his squad members . It's a tough book but that's the job ! This case
was plaqued by McArthur level screwups . Unfortunately , Truman did not
know or remember his prior failures in the early years of WW II .

Good book for good young men . Fighting for our country is real and
personal ! I bought it for my grandson , a 1st Lt. in 82nd Airborne . Dick Jones

You have a choice with this book. You can read it like an adventure story and be stunned by the thrilling story or you can read it like the true account it is of a horrible war. It is a stunning book. It is a must read. Forget the movies read this book. This author deserves a Pulitzer Prize for his account of Korea. He also deserves a medal.

Winston is a small, bright, book-reading thirteen-year-old. His parents are somewhat worried about him socially, and decide to send him to a boys' summer camp where he'll spend a great deal of time with other boys and will perhaps become more like them.

The boys in the camp range in age from ten to seventeen, and most of the activities are aimed at the younger boys. They play capture the flag and go for hikes, and the counselors even suggest a butterfly collecting exercise. The older boys are fed up with this camp and its counselors; they feel that they should be having more fun at summer camp. So they decide to change things.

One of the older boys, Frank, is a charismatic leader, skilled at making speeches that get people riled up. He selects a group of other boys from the camp, including Winston, and explains that they need to have a revolution, to take over the camp and lock up the counselors so then they will be able to have some fun. He promises parties and mixing with the nearby girls' camp--what he calls real fun instead of the lame activities the counselors have come up with. Frank says it will all be a big game, really, and that no one will get hurt. After a little fun the counselors will be released and everything will get back to normal.

Frank makes his plan sound so good, almost all of the boys immediately agree to it, and the capture of the counselors is carried off without a hitch. Winston thinks the fun is about to begin.

Instead, things get even more difficult. Frank is running the boys' camp like an army. Some of the boys seem to be afraid of saying the wrong thing, of being accused of being counterrevolutionary. Frank insisted that no one would be hurt, but was he telling the truth? Is he still in control?

I liked that the story was told through Winston's diaries, and that he was such a deep thinker. His knowledge of the world helped him to see and to convey to us how creepy Frank's camp was. I also liked that there wasn't an easy ending to this story. The situation was complex and shouldn't have been easily fixed. It was hard to believe, though, that the boys were able to operate secretly for so long, without any parents growing suspicious.

This was required reading at school, many years ago. I have reread it a few times and really enjoy it.

This book is the most related book to me that I have ever read.
I can relate to Egriss the most because he is nice and peacefull. For all of you who read this book "YOU WILL BE RIVITED" If you want to reply to me email me at chubhorntehub@yahoo.com

Butterfly Revolution by William Butler, which followed the life of a young teenage boy in a summer camp. The camp is taken over by an older camper, named Frank, who turns the camp into what is almost a prison camp. The conditions are awful eventually leading to the death of two campers.

Read this nasty book

As a child, I'll readily admit that I abhorred reading. I avoided every reading assignment in school and couldn't grasp why people held books in such high esteem when movies were quicker and far more entertaining. I was ignorant. All that changed when I found this book decaying at a army housing book swap. This book made me realize that there is a far more intimate interaction that happens by reading a book. A slow dialog between the writer an the reader that allows for a full and satisfying digestion. It whet my appetite and I've been devouring ever since.

The plot is classic youth versus authority and it has a "be careful what you wish for" moral. It also works as a larger political allegory.

I highly recommend this book to book-hating, disaffected youth. If you have one in your life, buy this book and pass it on.

I initially was assigned this book for an introductory leadership class, I have since searched the internet for a copy of my own. Hesse has skillfully used a journey both physical and emotional of one man H.H. to tell of the true art of servant leadership.

Every college course or business seminar or church retreat on the theme of leadership should include 2 or 3 important novels as required reading--or at least for review by the class instructor. This is a wondrful book on servant leadership that fits wonderfully into a Christian context (coming from the author's missionary family heritage). The message is as old as Jesus. I wish I had known of the book when I taught my leadrship course at Calvin Theological seminary, where there was little evidence of servant leadership in the school's administration ("My Calvin Seminary Story"). I'm out of a teaching job, but my next published book is on the topic of leadership--or, if you will, "anti-leadersip," and this novel will find its way into that book.

When one thinks of a 'Journey to the East' one thinks of a trip to India or China. This is not however what this book is about.
The only real place in this book is the mind of the writer. The narrator tells of his membership in a strange kind of society called the League, and his strange journey in Time and Space. He does not in fact go to any real place which is concretely and specifically described. And the people he travels with are mostly distinguished historical figures, philosophers, mystics, writers - just names mentioned perhaps to impress. The only figure of substance is named Leo, who in the beginning is the faithful servant, the most virtous of all the members of the League. When he disappears the narrator searches for him and finds him walking, engages him in a conversation in which we come to understand that Leo is the great wise figure but cannot really help the poor narrator.
This trip is a mind - trip and it has something to do with escaping with the horrors of history and civilization. Or at least that's the way I interpret. Hesse was a strong pacifist, influened by his parents in their pietistic Christian home. He also was influenced by the great historican Jacob Burckhardt who perhaps is the figure Leo in the book is modeled after.
I am actually a bit confused about whether to recommend this book or not. It certainly is 'different'. And Hesse throws in ideas now and then which are interesting.
The idea of an unreal journey or a journey purely in the mind was of course highly suited to those of the psychedelic hippy generation.
And we all want to escape sometimes.
However there is no character here, even Leo, who moves the way a great character in Literature does.
There is no situation, no connection , no human relationship which moves in such a way either.
This is a very lonely book written out of a very lonely and weird mind.
It can be interesting but I was grateful that it was not longer.

There are several reviewers here, such as Christopher Nelson and Richard Schwartz, who are perfectly in tune with this novel. To truely understand this novel, you have to understand Hesse. I wouldn't recommend picking this book as one's first Hesse novel. Start with "Siddhartha" and "Narcissus and Goldmund" and then move into Demian. Find some essays on Hesse and the meanings of Demian and do a little research on Jung ([...]). Those will help to enhance one's understanding of this novel. To give a review of the meaning, intent, or purpose of this novel would be to contradict the novel itself. Hesse tries to point out in the book that it is through experience that we learn.

"No, our historical efforts were of no use; there was no point in continuing with them and reading them; one could quietly let them be covered with dust in this section of the archives...How awry, altered, and distorted everyone was in these mirrors, how mockingly and unattainably did the face of truth hide itself bhind all these reports, counter-reports, and legends! What was still truth? What was still credible?"

Begin your journey of the study of Hesse and begin a journey into yourself. Read each book four or five times and give yourself up to it and you will receive. Any Hesse book is a five-star in my opinion!

The Bundesroman is German for the lodge or "league novel", a style popularized in the later half of the 18th century when secret orders such as the Masons were emerging in response to an uninvigorating status quo. These secret societies influenced the writings of authors such as Goethe, Hoffmann, and Holderline - all favorites of Hesse. The common theme is a secret society with a hieracrchy of orders similar to the Rosicrucians. There is a Superior who represents the spiritual ideals of the order whose seat is in some mysterious castle or building with archives and secret chambers. A more lengthy description of this type of novel as it related to Journey to the East can be found in Theodore Ziolkowski's insightful study of Hesse, "The Novels of Hermann Hesse" (Princeton University Press, 1965).

Basically, I have hard time thinking most readers unfamiliar with Hesse would really get anything out of this novella which really isn't a novel or story but a narrative Bundesroman. It is highly symbolic of Hesse's own development as a writer and individual, and one of the more important points here is that this is the first of his full-length novels with a title not after an individual, but an ideal. This is the predecessor to the Glass Bead Game, setting the scene for Hesse's arrival in Castalia.

The Journey itself is a timeless, universal, philosophical and spiritual quest that includes all the great ideas, individuals or gurus, and events of one's personal repository of knowledge & level of enlightenment. Our main character, symbolically represented by two initials only, H.H. (he has not yet achieved a full name like Leo), searches for "Princess Fatima". Others' goals include "Tao" and "Kundalini". H.H. joined the League after the Great War. He shares his spiritual quest with like-minded brothers who all lose their good friend Leo along the way at Morbio Inferiore, a Swiss mountain village. Little known to them, Leo is not only a servant, but the Superior of the League. They disband and defect, losing the Secret amidst their own persoanl chaos. This amounts to the loss of one's childhood romantic ideals and dreams as they become more worldly and pragmatic (a common theme with Hesse). For H.H. the spark yet flickers, but he is in despair. As the narrative continues Hesse deftly correlates despair and depression with "individuation" - the insistence on personalizing life. H.H. eventually yields to Leo (a paradoxical name that Ziolkowski believes is actually St. Francis' favorite disciple, Leo Pecorella).

Despite having now read this novella four or five times over the last decade I continue to re-discover the strange, inspiring power within the Journey. Though very different, the Journey to the East picks up where Siddhartha left off and captures a crucial transitional phase on the way to Castalia. Here, Hesse has actually defined his "Third Kingdom" (Third Reich - a term hijacked by the Nazis to Hesse's chagrin when he stopped using the term), the realm of the spirit; which can only be reached through magical thinking.

So hope on board the Caravan! Come join Collofine the Sorcerer, Louis the Terrible, the Steppenwolfe's Pablo, the artists Klingsor and Paul Klee, Don Quixote and Lao Tze - poets, philosophers, artists, musicians - fellow seekers on their way towards the Home of the Light.

I initially was assigned this book for an introductory leadership class, I have since searched the internet for a copy of my own. Hesse has skillfully used a journey both physical and emotional of one man H.H. to tell of the true art of servant leadership.

Every college course or business seminar or church retreat on the theme of leadership should include 2 or 3 important novels as required reading--or at least for review by the class instructor. This is a wondrful book on servant leadership that fits wonderfully into a Christian context (coming from the author's missionary family heritage). The message is as old as Jesus. I wish I had known of the book when I taught my leadrship course at Calvin Theological seminary, where there was little evidence of servant leadership in the school's administration ("My Calvin Seminary Story"). I'm out of a teaching job, but my next published book is on the topic of leadership--or, if you will, "anti-leadersip," and this novel will find its way into that book.

When one thinks of a 'Journey to the East' one thinks of a trip to India or China. This is not however what this book is about.
The only real place in this book is the mind of the writer. The narrator tells of his membership in a strange kind of society called the League, and his strange journey in Time and Space. He does not in fact go to any real place which is concretely and specifically described. And the people he travels with are mostly distinguished historical figures, philosophers, mystics, writers - just names mentioned perhaps to impress. The only figure of substance is named Leo, who in the beginning is the faithful servant, the most virtous of all the members of the League. When he disappears the narrator searches for him and finds him walking, engages him in a conversation in which we come to understand that Leo is the great wise figure but cannot really help the poor narrator.
This trip is a mind - trip and it has something to do with escaping with the horrors of history and civilization. Or at least that's the way I interpret. Hesse was a strong pacifist, influened by his parents in their pietistic Christian home. He also was influenced by the great historican Jacob Burckhardt who perhaps is the figure Leo in the book is modeled after.
I am actually a bit confused about whether to recommend this book or not. It certainly is 'different'. And Hesse throws in ideas now and then which are interesting.
The idea of an unreal journey or a journey purely in the mind was of course highly suited to those of the psychedelic hippy generation.
And we all want to escape sometimes.
However there is no character here, even Leo, who moves the way a great character in Literature does.
There is no situation, no connection , no human relationship which moves in such a way either.
This is a very lonely book written out of a very lonely and weird mind.
It can be interesting but I was grateful that it was not longer.

There are several reviewers here, such as Christopher Nelson and Richard Schwartz, who are perfectly in tune with this novel. To truely understand this novel, you have to understand Hesse. I wouldn't recommend picking this book as one's first Hesse novel. Start with "Siddhartha" and "Narcissus and Goldmund" and then move into Demian. Find some essays on Hesse and the meanings of Demian and do a little research on Jung ([...]). Those will help to enhance one's understanding of this novel. To give a review of the meaning, intent, or purpose of this novel would be to contradict the novel itself. Hesse tries to point out in the book that it is through experience that we learn.

"No, our historical efforts were of no use; there was no point in continuing with them and reading them; one could quietly let them be covered with dust in this section of the archives...How awry, altered, and distorted everyone was in these mirrors, how mockingly and unattainably did the face of truth hide itself bhind all these reports, counter-reports, and legends! What was still truth? What was still credible?"

Begin your journey of the study of Hesse and begin a journey into yourself. Read each book four or five times and give yourself up to it and you will receive. Any Hesse book is a five-star in my opinion!

The Bundesroman is German for the lodge or "league novel", a style popularized in the later half of the 18th century when secret orders such as the Masons were emerging in response to an uninvigorating status quo. These secret societies influenced the writings of authors such as Goethe, Hoffmann, and Holderline - all favorites of Hesse. The common theme is a secret society with a hieracrchy of orders similar to the Rosicrucians. There is a Superior who represents the spiritual ideals of the order whose seat is in some mysterious castle or building with archives and secret chambers. A more lengthy description of this type of novel as it related to Journey to the East can be found in Theodore Ziolkowski's insightful study of Hesse, "The Novels of Hermann Hesse" (Princeton University Press, 1965).

Basically, I have hard time thinking most readers unfamiliar with Hesse would really get anything out of this novella which really isn't a novel or story but a narrative Bundesroman. It is highly symbolic of Hesse's own development as a writer and individual, and one of the more important points here is that this is the first of his full-length novels with a title not after an individual, but an ideal. This is the predecessor to the Glass Bead Game, setting the scene for Hesse's arrival in Castalia.

The Journey itself is a timeless, universal, philosophical and spiritual quest that includes all the great ideas, individuals or gurus, and events of one's personal repository of knowledge & level of enlightenment. Our main character, symbolically represented by two initials only, H.H. (he has not yet achieved a full name like Leo), searches for "Princess Fatima". Others' goals include "Tao" and "Kundalini". H.H. joined the League after the Great War. He shares his spiritual quest with like-minded brothers who all lose their good friend Leo along the way at Morbio Inferiore, a Swiss mountain village. Little known to them, Leo is not only a servant, but the Superior of the League. They disband and defect, losing the Secret amidst their own persoanl chaos. This amounts to the loss of one's childhood romantic ideals and dreams as they become more worldly and pragmatic (a common theme with Hesse). For H.H. the spark yet flickers, but he is in despair. As the narrative continues Hesse deftly correlates despair and depression with "individuation" - the insistence on personalizing life. H.H. eventually yields to Leo (a paradoxical name that Ziolkowski believes is actually St. Francis' favorite disciple, Leo Pecorella).

Despite having now read this novella four or five times over the last decade I continue to re-discover the strange, inspiring power within the Journey. Though very different, the Journey to the East picks up where Siddhartha left off and captures a crucial transitional phase on the way to Castalia. Here, Hesse has actually defined his "Third Kingdom" (Third Reich - a term hijacked by the Nazis to Hesse's chagrin when he stopped using the term), the realm of the spirit; which can only be reached through magical thinking.

So hope on board the Caravan! Come join Collofine the Sorcerer, Louis the Terrible, the Steppenwolfe's Pablo, the artists Klingsor and Paul Klee, Don Quixote and Lao Tze - poets, philosophers, artists, musicians - fellow seekers on their way towards the Home of the Light.

This is another of those wonderful books my mother pressed into my hands when I was just a kid. I think I was eleven or twelve when Mom handed me the hardbound edition of this book--complete with C. M. Russell's beautiful illustrations. And I fell in love with the West, and with western romance.

Today, I live in Wyoming. I've been to Medicine Bow; I've been to Laramie; and I've been to the Goose Egg Ranch. This country is fraught with tales and fables from the old West, but few compare to Owen Wister's work. Written about a hundred years ago, it remains a story for all time.

The book that started the Western , written by a Philadelphia lawyer among other things. Well worth reading for that reason alone even if you did not live on a street named after Wister as I did.

When the average person thinks of cowboys and westerns, this is the book that best represents that. A Truly great book.

I laughed when I read this criticism in a review below:

"Rife with cliches that we may assume were somewhat fresher at the beginning of the twentieth century when this book was written."

I'm reminded of the junior high student who made the same observation about Shakespeare's works.

There is a reason why this book finds a home among the canon of classical literature.

This novel was dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, a friend of the author, who had become the American President. TR had been a rancher and had chased outlaws some years earlier.

If you ever wondered about all of the cliched situations that have been accepted conventions in repeated Western dime novels and movies, you will find all of them here, but it is worth remembering that these plot devices were new when Wister wrote this book. Amazingly enough, the book is still a passably good story more than a century after its initial publication.

This novel has been adapted repeatedly in Hollywood. My personal favorite featured Joel McCrea and Brian Donlevy as the Virginian and his nemesis, Trampas.

All in all I thought this was an excellent novel. The first three quarters are an idyllic story of a boy's first love in late 19th century Brazil. The last part is how the marriage fell apart due to suspicions of adultery.

In regards to the debate on whether Capitu cheated, I must say that at first I was unsure also. The thing that swayed me into thinking that yes, she did cheat, was the part where Bentinho's mother was indifferent to his child. If you remember, Bentinho was confused by this since the child was her only grandson. I think she was indifferent because something led her to intuit that the child was not her son's. (Thus his mother knew Capitu was unfaithful long before he did. She never told him, but she knew). Add to this the circumstantial evidence that Bentinho pieced together on his own, and I have to say that in the end, he got it right. Capitu cheated on him.

Every Brazilian knows that Machado de Assis is among the top 5 writers in the world and now the world will discover the genius of this Brazilian who is already for us a universal genius! He is even better than Flaubert and Zola and we recommend all his books!

Luiz

After a slow start and a rather meek continuation, the last third of the book is dazzling, with jealousy running amok: 'wishing to know what might be in my wife's head'.

A woman promises God that if she has a son, he will become a priest. But the adolescent has absolutely no call to become a padre. On the contrary, he falls in love with a beauty.
In order to escape from the holy vow, the Church agrees in a most jesuitic way that if a substitute is found, the promise will be fulfilled.
The subsequent marriage turns out not to be the paradise hoped for.

This book contains some mild criticism of the Church with its paternosters and Ave Marias as penances for committed sins. The pact with God is treated as a commercial note: 'The Creditor (God) was a multimillionnaire; He was not dependent upon payment in order to eat, and consented to postponements without even increasing the rate of interest.'
'Jehovah is a Rothschild, only much more human: he does not make moratoriums, he pardons the debt in full, provided the debtor truly wished to mend his ways'.

The sex is also very innocent ('silk garters') compared to today's eccentricities.

The confession of the main character is not without some acrid self-mockery: 'The Church has established in the confessional the most authorative of legal services and in confession the most trustworthy of instruments for the adjustment of moral accounts between man and God. But my incorrigible timidity closed this sure door to me. How a man changes! Today I go so far as to publish it.'

The overall picture of Brazil at the end of the 19th century is appalling: poverty, leprosy, slavery, the all importance of the catholic Church. But for the author, this state of affairs is in no way exceptional.

This book is a worth-while read.

In my review about Machado de Assis I made a mistake. He's probably the most important writer in the 19th century and not 18th. Sorry about that.

I didn`t like that book very much because it is very bad to understand the story, it uses a formal language. But, the story is very nice and intersting.

This is the first I've read of his, recommended to me by another Civil War historian. I will admit the story started out a little slow and confused, but you get so drawn in by the first person narrative, written in vernacular of the time, that you really feel you are there.

I especially enjoyed the secondary storyline revolving around the spiritualism craze of the day, which inspired me to go out and do more research on it. The plot seemed a tad weak at times, but it is so filled with interesting material that you learn not to care.

I'll read more by this author.

This author has a great sense of style. He immerses you in the setting and the story. You see, hear, smell, taste, and touch the scenes in this story set in the winter of 1861-62. In the first book in this series, Faded Coat of Blue, we met Captain Abel Jones of the US Army, but he is no cardboard figure. In the author's hands, we see Jones as a real person, with faults and fears and feelings that make him real and understandable. The story is simple. Jones, now a Major, is sent to Penn Yan in northern New York State to investigate reports of an Irish rebellion against the war. Two secret agents sent there previously have been exposed and murdered, but Jones arrives in full uniform, with no hiding what he is investigating. The winter is bitter cold, and danger seems to be around every corner, but Jones plods forward with his investigation. He finds no evidence of an Irish rebellion, but uncovers something far more threatening to the survival of the United States. If you are willing to sit back and enjoy a good story, this is for you.

Like with the first book (Faded Coat of Blue, Owen Parry manges to present a reasonable picture of what civil war America could have been like. It is as close as any or us are likely to get without a time machine. This time the action takes place in up state New York. A rebellion of the Irish is suspected and two agents have already been killed before Able Jones even arrives. Parry introduces historical figures we have read about in a lively and interesting way. He sneaks in history lessons painlessly. This would be useful in a high school setting. Some reviewers complain about the pace, but I believe it is appropriate to the time and place described. This is a series well worth investigating.

I was in a supermarket in college park, maryland just after thanksgiving when I was desperate for a quick read and perused the paperback selection. Being a Civil War fanatic, I bought this book on impulse perfectly willing to accept a lightweight, fluff read for the afternoon. Imagine my surprise when I found out that this book just grabbed ahold of me and didn't let go until the last page. What Mr. Parry has done is nothing short of mastering the form of first person narrative and has inspired me to begin working on my first novel, also set during the Civil War period.

Parry's Civil War mystery series continues with this second volume (after Faded Coat of Blue), which once again has Union Army officer Abel Jones investigating murder most foul. The Welshman is a meticulously honest and scrupulous officer (bordering on the priggish), who has been enlisted in the Union's secret service. Here he is sent by Secretary of State William Seward to the far north of New York's Finger Lakes district to find out who killed a Union spy there, and if there's an Irish rebellion brewing. Soon he finds himself highly distracted by an Irish "spiritualist" woman who claims to see spirits hovering around Jones. I'm not a huge fan of this kind of supernaturalism, and it detracts from the gritty authenticity Parry labors so hard to construct in other ways.

Similarly, although he again does a nice job of creating some well-developed supporting characters, such as a local sheriff, a jittery preacher, and a very smart black coachman, Parry also falls into that most regrettable trap of the historical novelist-unnecessarily turning real life historical personages into supporting players in his tale. The military and political figures who pop up in the first book are all there in service of the story, but here we meet Frederick Douglas and Susan B. Anthony. Douglas plays a particularly large role, and there's no real need for him to be so involved in the plot, as opposed to a more anonymous character. Another ill-advised device is the use of letters from Jones' friend Mick Tyrone, who is assigned to Gen. Grant's medical corps. Through these, Parry tries to hammer home the point that while Jones rides around the winter wonderland of New York, there is a gruesome, horrific war on elsewhere. Tyrone's letters are full of all the gory details-lest Jones forget why he's spying.

I loved the first book in this series, but I'm afraid I didn't care that much for this one. Aside from the three flaws above (and I do recognize that others may not consider them flaws), this book had very little suspense or pace compared to Faded Coat of Blue. It's altogether much more concerned with moodiness and inner turmoil than it is with the actual mystery. Things play out achingly slowly until the very end, when a very intriguing plot is finally revealed. Told from Jones' perspective, the language is once again rich and full of the Welshman's idiom, cadence, and prejudices. His story continues in Call Each River Jordan, Honor's Kingdom, Bold Sons of Erin and further to come).

The first half of this book is wonderful. I loved the story of Tor and Jake, up until Tor cheats on Jake. That's where the book lost me.

4 years together and then wham. Jake wasn't "communicating" with Tor, so it turned him away. Uh uh, I'm not buying that story. He was horny and didn't think.

I'm sorry I wasted the money on this book. It would have been great.

I love cowboys and hot gay sex. However, this is a novel torn between a love story with a plot and a porn novel. It never really reaches either point. The plot is pretty flat and gets lost between the sex and the sex isn't raunchy enough to be flat out porn. I would have wished for a more complex story with a few good hot love scenes than what is presented. I would love a story on par with Brokeback Mountain with its emotional range and feeling that has some good sex in it.

This was my first read by Chris Owen but it won't be my last. I wasn't so sure about this book at first because the first half was basically gay porn. Since I'm a woman I thought this just wasn't for me but I hate not to finish something I start so I forged on. Thank God I did! The relationship between Tor and Jake took me through so many emotions I was a wreck by the end of the book. Their connection was so intense, and Owen pulles you in so deep, that when they went through their heartbreak you felt it right along with them. I damn near cried twice and I'm not the teary kind. I finished this book over a week ago and I still can't get it out of my head. It's that intense. I didn't really like Broke Back Mountain because who wants to go through all that boredom (too much sheep hearding) just to have a sad ending. This is the book that should have been made into a movie. It was ten times better!

This was recommended to me as a good way to write a story about a relationship breaking up and coming back together across a long time period. It does come across as cleverly constructed in that respect, despite some sloppy or non-existent editing.

I suspect the author set out to write a potboiler, found he liked his characters, and then started to actually wrap a story line around them. This made for some false starts and oddities in the book. At one point I got lost (WHO is this guy???)and had reread to find a minor character mentioned early and then passed by until he reappeared much later as a focus point. One straight character keeps playing as bi-curious but the author never initiates him. Some other characters are introduced but never developed to their potential.

The dialogue was solid, without the gay-queen descriptions of irrelevant clothing details, cock size, etc. that some books have in abundance. The sex was believeable although the tolerance of some of the straights was not. I've never encountered straight men who could tolerate being where they see and hear gay sex acts frequently.

Overall, an interesting, mostly believable story line with some nice structure to the writing. If poor editing bugs you, you'll be only slightly annoyed -- not enough to lay the book on the trash heap.

Jake Taggart, a foreman in his late thirties, has overcome a dark past and found a new life working on a prosperous cattle ranch in Arkansas. The only thorn in his side is a younger cowboy named Tor (Tornado) who seems to have no respect for authority. Their mutual antipathy unexpectedly turns to passion one rainy night. This starts a trend of hot sex that continues on almost every page of the 371-page book. They also have emotional pitfalls to negotiate as well, including temptation, misunderstandings, and an epic failure to communicate. The novel makes an unusual foray beyond the happily-ever-after you get with most romances, and tries to show two flawed men struggling to save their relationship before their foolish actions damage it beyond repair. Worth reading. Note: The short review is to save you time. If you'd like the long version, please visit my Obsidianbookshelf website.

Between Mr. Owen's words and Mr. Stoecklein's great photographs, one will find a great little book of distilled genius---for any industry. I've given this book as a gift to my children and clients alike. Most could learn from the "Cowboy Code" described---and most would thrive. If you're casting about for a young person, and if they like ponies and cowboys---get this book---and read it---the words are just as compelling as the photographs. There's a lot we could learn from the "simple" life of cowboys. Good stuff. Timeless wisdom----to be used.

Every person needs to read this book. Personal choice and accountability. Easy. Simple. Basic.

This is a great book to remind you the ethics your father taught you many years ago. It is a great reminder and a help to refocus what is important and an important way to live ones life. Everyone should read and give to their closest friends and family.

Cowboy Ethics is a well written insight into the principles by which today's modern cowboys live. These ethics are as applicable to modern city living as they are to a life in the saddle on the range. The striking artistic photographs give the reader a sense of what ranch life consists of and add immeasurably to the text. For anyone interested in western life or interested in principles to guide their own life Cowboy Ethics is a must read.

A timely book given the lack of ethics on Wall Street. The photography is magnificent! I highly recommend it.