Simmons Books

Chuck Logan is a very skillful author. His ability to describe the environment of northern Minnesota is, like the weather there, breath taking. However, I hesitate to call this a thriller. There are roughly three "scenes" in the novel that are thrilling, which leaves a lot that is not. I found myself doing a bit of skimming to get by the overly-detailed discriptions of meals, barn contents and medical procedures. Three star rating. So-so.

The first 80 pages rush at you like the snow storm that drives the action. Then the story meanders for a while before a good end game. This one is worth the time.

I find it amazing that the title of this book also serves as an apt description of it's value. Unless of course you're turned on by mindlessly crude language. If the number of "f" words were removed from the book, it would be 100 pages shorter.

Silly me...I read this and it's follow-up (Vapor Trail), not realizing they were a series. So now I have to go back and read THE PRICE OF BLOOD and THE BIG LAW. However, even though starting here, Logan has certainly created some interesting characters in Phil Broker and his assorted buddies, especially Merryweather who has of all things..AN OSTRICH FARM! But...there is one heck of a scene in which this ostrich helps our hero out, and it is awesome!
This has an original plot, and it reminds me so much of such early thrillers as "Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Body Heat." Miss Jolene Sommer is one piece of work. The characters of Earl, Jolene's ex-stud, Miles the lawyer and Allan the doctor are also very well developed. Of course, Hank Sommer comes across very sympathetic, too, as he watches the people around him plot his demise.
Broker is a fun, no-nonsense hero, and since I haven't truly met his wife, Nina, I couldn't relate well to his marital plight...but what the heck??
THIS IS A GREAT BOOK..HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

This is my frst Chuck Logan novel and I have to say it will not be my last! Starting with a very exciting camping / canoe trip to supposed murder, this haunted ex-cop with a world of problems of his own goes on to win out in the very cold Minnasota winter. Good story telling!

When I first heard about this book I thought what a load of rubbish, but since it has been written, far too many people have come forward and confirmed everything that Ms. Simmons had been the first to write about. Leading world figures and close friends of Diana have spoken out in TV interviews and other books about the Princess, which now gives this book total credibility and shows it to be 100% truthful. All the facts about Diana's private life have been revealed here and it's very sad that so few people appreciated this book when it was first written.

The fact is that this book is the story of a friendship between two women who shared many emotional experiences, helped each other and grew together - despite obvious class differences. The way in which Ms. Simmons remembers Diana is very touching indeed. She was obviously a true friend whom I believe Diana did ask to write a book and "tell it like it is".

What an under rated book this is. I've just finished reading it, after Paul Burrell's book in which he speaks so well of Miss Simmons' friendship with Princess Diana. Although I'd heard of the book, but not Ms. Simmons, I took Burrell's mention of her as a recommendation.

I was surprised that some of the so-called "new" revelations in our newspapers and on our TV, were first written about in this book which was published in 1998.

I found this a genuine and very warm account of a close personal friendship between the author and the Princess. I'm just sorry I never read this earlier.

This is the biggest load of trash I have ever read. A complete fabrication by the author IMO. I'm just glad Diana is not around to read this utter rubbish.

I had vowed never to read, much less buy, another book about Diana, but I read the excerpts and decided I wanted to read more.

The author tells us about the problems Diana had in her everyday life in a matter-of-fact way. She is not overly sympathetic, but relates what happened. Unfortunately she was one of the friends/helpers Diana had turned away from by the time of her death and Ms. Simmons describes why. I think if the accident hadn't happened they'd have made up by now.

This book doesn't praise or bash a very sad and mixed-up young woman. I would recommend it to anyone interested in Diana.

I own practically every book ever written about Diana, Princess of Wales, but I think this has to be the most interesting account ever written. I loved it - it's very well-written, very insightful into her personality, and contains information I had never known before. It truly does explore "the secret years" of Diana's life in the 1990s. As a healer and close friend of Diana's, Simone Simmons had access to knowledge and personal details of Diana's life. But rather than seeing this account as a betrayal, I see it rather as a healer's insight into a unique personality. Much of what is written here is a healer's psychoanalysis of Diana's mind. I continue to be a great fan of Princess Diana's and am thrilled to have come across this book. You won't be able to put it down!

Having done almost everything else, I guess Dan Simmons thought he would tackle the genre of hard-boiled mystery as a way to say that he had now done everything. The only thing is, this genre isn't as easy as it looks. It's not the literary equivalent of a fast-food hamburger that any old would-be cook can throw together. The writers who are best at it use subtle ingredients and years of experience to come up with the perfect recipe for a hard-boiled thriller.

My main problem with Hard Freeze is that it just drips with stereotypes. There is the detective himself, an ex-con with an attitude. There is the sexy secretary. There is the meeting in a jazz club with a client. There are the Italian gangsters and the creepy, scary hit-man. One ingredient that just didn't seem to belong was the Hannibal Lecter-ish serial killer who apparently wandered over from another genre of books also filled with stereotypes. Basically everything in this book was well-worn and so cliched that I felt like I had read this book a dozen times before. The dialogue was not especially catchy---too many of the main character's tough-guy lines sounded like they had been recycled from Schwarzanegger movies of the 1980s. None of the characters were fleshed-out enough to be truly interesting. Even the main character, who seems to appeal to so many other readers, was a shapeless, faceless non-entity without much personality or flavor.

Other than a few four-letters words and one or two very violent scenes, I honestly wouldn't even refer to this book as "hard-boiled." Compared to your average book by Andrew Vachss, Hard Freeze seemed about as tough and threatening as a Nancy Drew mystery. All in all I would have to say that it made a fairly enjoyable vacation read, but I won't be picking up the rest of the books in the series.

I feel both Kurtz novels have the same problem. They start off great, set up a ton of enemies for Joe Kurtz to deal with, each nastier than the next, the reader is looking forward to a bloodbath of John Woo-like proportions for the finale...
... And then it all goes to pieces. Too many bad guys take each other out, the invincible Kurtz suddenly becomes extremely vulnerable and only triumphs because Simmons resorts to some Deus Ex Machina-type plotting.
The books are very gritty (almost up to Andrew Vacchs-level), Kurtz is a unlikeable yet fascinating thug-hero, the writing is effective (though not great), the reader is never bored - but the end result is not really fulfilling. Strange, because I've always liked the plotting in Simmons' science fiction novels.
Anyway, the deserved if mean-spirited attack on the Spenser novels (which I used to love - a looooong time ago) is probably the highlight of this book!

For the past thirty-something years, Donald Westlake (writing under the name Richard Stark) has written stories of a ruthless thief named Parker, who is tough, smart and coldly stoic in his approach to life. These stories have had an influence on many writers, including Dan Simmons, who with his Kurtz books, is trying his own version of the Parker series. While reasonably entertaining, Simmons's work in this field is definitely below Westlake/Stark in caliber.

In Hard Freeze - the second Kurtz novel - the ex-con/private eye has once again run afoul of the Buffalo mob. Hit men are pursuing him as a bounty has been put on his life. Meanwhile, Kurtz is also helping a man find the serial killer who murdered his daughter. There are also subplots involving cops with a vendetta and the drunken stepfather of Kurtz's daughter. While Simmons is good enough to tie all these strings together, he is not good enough to make this a great novel. It is definitely good and easily merits a four star rating, but there are problems that prevent it from getting the full five stars In particular, the serial killer is a weak character; as the main villain, he should be interesting, but he is so utterly routine that any habitual mystery reader will find absolutely nothing original about him. There are also coincidences and implausibilities (such as the killer's ability to become a police captain) that are a bit irksome.

It is apparent that Simmons, a very good writer capable of writing quality novels, is writing these Kurtz novels as sort of a writing vacation. They seem as if they are written quickly and without the sophisitication that most of his books have. The end result is a fun, quick read that most will enjoy, but for Simmons's most dedicated fans, this will seem a bit beneath his abilities.

Joe Kurtz, ex-PI, has been out of Attica only four months, after serving a twelve year sentence for manslaughter, when he finds himself bombarded by hit men hired by the Farinos, an upstate New York crime family interested in making him dead. And then there's a dying violinist who thinks Kurtz might still be a PI and asks him to look into the case of a dead child killer who just might not be dead. The two plots soon converge, in a clash of bumbling Farino family bodyguards, the lovely and dangerous Farino daughter Angelina Farino Ferrara, two crooked cops who would just love to catch on-parole Kurtz carrying a gun, a freezing cold Buffalo winter, and the most dangerous element of all -- a serial killer hiding behind a big name right out in the open.

HARD FREEZE, Dan Simmons's second book about this tough, relentless anti-hero Joe Kurtz, is hardboiled, gritty, and full of dead bodies. How many were there? I never managed to keep count but the total kept rising, Kurtz carrying out a few too many of his own executions for me to be comfortable, and the bad guy spurred onward by the cheesiest motivation imaginable to justify his horrible treatment of teenage girls. The dialogue also left a lot to be desired; no Elmore Leonard here. Still, the story is fast paced with just a hint of heartless romance, characters who thankfully remain true to their type, and a justice for the bad guy terrible enough to satisfy even Joe Kurtz.

If you like tough and bloody hardboiled tales about cruelty and violence, ex-cons and crooked cops, and outside-the-law heros who never give up fighting for their own, HARD FREEZE is sure to satisfy.

I enjoy Mr. Simmons' character. He is vaguely sympathetic and the plot seems to work out very cleverly, without resorting to the deuz ex machina. But...PLEASE get a technical consultant to get the guns and cars right. You can't "thumb back the hammer" on a "Glock 9", however dramatic it might seem.

This is an excellent book if you are pursuing the MCSE cert, it's very easy to understand all the concepts of the Exchange Server 5.5 exam, the autor goes right to the point with very concise and easy terms, if you want to understand all the concepts needed for the exam, this is your book, it includes a cd with transcender demos, and a prep test tool that all by itself is worth the money you pay for it, you can use it to test yourself and see if you are ready for the real thing, and if you really want to be a master of exchange server 5.5 use this book for the intro to the basics and then buy Exchange Server 5.5 secrets by Guaraldi, Sides, Studt and Condon for the very technical knowledge.

I just finished studying for the NT Exchange Server 5.5 exam using this book and passed the test !!! The book is very easy to read and understand, and the authors have taken great pains to give you all the information you need to know to pass the test. They even tell you what you DONT need to know! A true lifesaver for me and I would reccommend this to anyone who would like to learn about Exchange Server 5.5 and pass the test. Good luck folks **smiles**

I bought this book because I had absolutely no knowledge of Exchange 5.5 server, and I thought it would be useful to start from the basics - well, I didn't imagine this book would be directed to idiots. I had great troubles reading this book because it made me want to skip all the unnecessary stuff that didn't lead anywhere, and after reading it I felt I didn't learn anything of it as it seemed to explain only the selfexplanatory stuff. This is certainly the last time I ever buy a "* for Dummies" -book.

Any books that contain solid practical exercises are worth an investment. I've read Sybex book many times and become disenchanted by its lack of how-to-do-something. Reading theory does require some experiment in order for someone to really grasp the true meaning of the software.

This is a great book if your purpose is to pass the exam. The Sybex book will give you more detail. I pased the exam on the first try with just these two books and no experience.

This book is photographs from 1974-1982 with some comments provided by Gene and Paul. Not a lot of content, but a cool quick read for the Kiss Army members.

Like many other fans, I had seen many of these photos already. But some were new to me, and going through the pictorial history with the commentary from Gene and Paul -- which was, as always, interesting, yet self-aggrandizing -- was well worth the six or seven bucks I paid for this used. Another reviewer noted that Gene's eyes are blacked out in many of the photos. I noticed that as well, and I'm not sure what the story is there, but it certainly doesn't ruin the book, as that reviewer claimed. In fact, some of the photos look kind of cool.
In short, I would not recommend paying full price for this in a bookstore ($24.95), but I would say "Why not?" at amazon's price of $16.47, and definitely worth it for less than that if you get it used. Enjoy!

I have been a Kiss fan for 25 years,so when I heard about this book I was excited.When I got it I was horrified to find all the photo's had been altered from there original prints.For some unknowen reason they decided to add ink to all of Gene Simmons eyes(blacking out his pupils)It ruined a book that very well could have been the best Kiss photo book to date.

I recieved this book yesterday & I must say I am impressed! The book is the a great representation of KISS during their formative & most vibrant years together- It also takes look at the Music From The Elder time period which the band & fans alike respond with mixed feelings. KISS has always been & will remain a visual group. This being said, it is made quite clear through the pages within that the attraction to KISS music is the attitude that the band has sustained for over 3 decades as a band. The commentery from Gene Simmons & Paul Stanley is a nice touch but I do wish they would do a project like this with Peter Criss & Ace Frehley since they were there & lived it with Gene & Paul-

This book was really amazing because of its historical and photographic conception. I was really blown away by the quality of this photo book because it makes other bands' books look puny and unimportant. Many times bands put out books that offer either too much boring writing without content or dazzling photos in empty pages. Here Kiss is the focus and the images and content is actually very exciting. It works to their visual appeal and charismatic persona. The quality of the photos is really breathtaking and juicy enough for the viewer to have a glimpse into the backstage lives of America's nuttiest band. Buy this and add it to your collection.

I like this book because it has stories submitted by other teenagers so my daughter knows she is not the only one dealing with the issues.

Odd Girl Speaks Out is a book that I can use as a reference in my position as a middle school administrator. The stories told by the teenagers in this book truly help to explain the complexities of adolescent relationships. I laughed and I cried at these bravely shared experiences that happen more often that we'd like to admit. I plan on actually reading some of the stories aloud to girls struggling to fit in with their peers.

www.rachelsimmons.com

First off, I wanted to hook you up with the author's official site.

I think that this book is a MUST READ for any 8-12th grader in America! This coupled with the first book, Odd Girl Out coincide with the angst of being a young woman in this day and age. Thank God I don't have to be a teenager now!

I have used this text in my book club and it sparks great discussions and is a stepping stone to creating your own student anthology. It works well with tons of films and books, like Mean Girls, 13, or Speak. I can't even think of all the LIFETIME movies that coincide with this book as well.

This book was recomended by my 6th grader's school counselor after she started making some questionable friend choices. We moved to a new area about a year ago and my two middle school daughters went from a very conservative charter school to a tight knit small town public school. My youger (6th grader) daughter has had a more difficult time adjusting and this helped a lot. My older daughter has always been the over-achiever, and expects the same of her sister. This book hleped a lot even within their relationship as I would consider my older child a "queen bee". This book helped my daughter open up to me more because it was easier for her to start a converstaion about something she read in the book, that happened to someone else, and it would lead us into things she is or has been going through. I read Queen Bees and Wannabes while she was reading this and it seemed to work out well, gave us a common thread and set the stage for planned conversations, something difficult to do well with girls this age.

It is inevitable that our daughters will experience some sort of emotional bullying. Prepare yourself and the ones you love by reading this book and understanding the dynamic.
This book helped me to see how my natural reactions
"Well Ill just speak to her parents" WRONG
"Honey Just talk with her and it will work out" WRONG
"She is such a rotten kid! How can she do that?" WRONG

WRONG WRONG WRONG
Sigh.
It hasn't changed since we were young- its only better enabled by technology. In any case- information is the best weapon. Read this with your daughter before it happens- you may be able to avoid heartache.

Material presented here is hard to find anywhere else. Author does pretty good job explaining security trading process. My only gripe is that some of the examples are pretty simplistic and many times information is repeated as opposed to being referenced internally within the book.

This book is out of date with respect to Securities Operations. Does not covers import topics as Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) or Delivery versus Payment (DvP) in an adequate manner. It felt as though chapter 29 inclusion was the result of trying to address the short comings of the material. This book needs a complete rewrite.

A better book would be "After the Trade is Made" by David Weiss.

A truly worthwhile contribution to the Securities Industry.
We applaud the effort, and believe this book will serve as an invaluable references, and a commendable example of how such matters may be lucidly presented.

Most pathetic book I have ever bought on securities operations. The book is full of tables with little explanation. Very poor presentation. Don't waste your money and time. Better buy 'After the Trade is Made' by David M Weiss.

Anything below 5 stars for this book is not fair. This is an excellent reference material, not just a one time read. My regret is that I didn't read it right after it came out.

It is a humorous book with cute art work, but the ideas are not particularly new.

Why do some people have so much trouble accepting words? Someone told that lady that certain words are bad, so she decided they were. As a mother, she should worry about the way she is letting society dictate standards to her. She missed the point of this great book because she didn't like some of the words... It's a shame.

Great read - Coming from someone who has done plenty of substitute teaching!

Did not appreciate the foul language author used in throughout the book. Why do people think it is necessary to use inappropriate lauguage and cussing to get their point across? As a mother and a teacher I strongly advise you to hold off on the foul language. I found it offensive.

This book was written to be humorous, but it isn't. It also is not helpful, let alone a survival guide, and it was a huge waste of money...($$$).

Extremely entertaining but not what I expected. It definitly has some useful information and I do recommend it to all who are beginning to sub, along with those who are subs for the fun of reading. Overall, a good book just not what I expected.

This book was very helpful! I picked it up to see what some in the "industry" are doing with storytelling in the workplace.

Those in the church have always known that storytelling was how great leaders led, taught and inspired. But interestingly enough, it is not how we were taught to preach.

Simmons leads you on a step by step process to find stories, tell stories and evaluate how and in what context those stories can be used.

Simmons has once again shown us the pathway to stories. This book is a great follow up to The Story Factor.
The Story Factor told us what and why. This book moves us down the path of how and where.
One of the hardest things is finding stories and telling them at the right time. Simmons walks the reader through this process. You come away with ideas, inspiration and stories.

I had been presenting a new employee program for about a year with good results, but never feeling like the audience was fully getting the passion and the spirit for the material that I had, and thought it deserved.

After reading "Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins" (which contains several flat-out hilarious stories as well),I added several short personal anecdotes to my presentation, and a full-fledged 3 minute story as a closing to illustrate my point.

The difference was immediate and amazing. There were more tears and laughter in that auditorium than in Oprah's audience. I was the most amazed of all. What a change! Afterwards, many participants felt at liberty to tell me their similar and highly personal stories.

That's when it dawned on me. Everybody DOES have the potential to be a story teller. Every single person there had their own story. The difference was that I knew how to find mine, develop them, and tell them, all because of this book.

Buy it, follow the steps, you won't be sorry. This is the best money I've spent on professional development in a decade.

This is the worst book I've ever bought from amazon. I strongly encourage people to "search inside" before buying. Scan the first or second chapter for anything of value. You won't find anything. The text (what little there is) focuses entirely on convincing you that you should tell more stories. It does this by making the same few trivial points over and over. Clearly, you don't need to be convinced of this, since you already purchased the book. With regard to actually learning to tell effective stories (the purported purpose of the book) you will be disappointed.

As a point of further irritation, many of the pages in the book are blank. (supposedly so you can write your own stories inside) Do you really need to spend $14 for a hardcover notebook? (Hint: You don't.) Furthermore, the last 7 pages of every chapter are exactly the same. (I'm not kidding.)

This book is content-free.

This book is probably most beneficial to leaders who have not typically thought or expressed themselves in "story." It's encouraging and offers solid ideas for those just starting to craft their own presentations.

But storytelling right-brainers -- who may be attracted by the book's title -- likely will not find this book helpful. This book is very basic.

The first book I read by Dan Simmons was Children of the Night. It was a cool new take on the Vampire mythology which didn't quite work for me because he bucked too many mythologies in order to create a predictable new explanation. As happens with me I didn't really go back to his books for a long time. My reading list is already very long.

When I pulled Worlds Enough and Time from my bookshelf, I figured that I'd uncover a couple of good shorts in the collection and get a better idea of what Dan Simmons is all about as a writer. I'm happy to say that I'm not disappointed and that his novels are moving up my reading list.

This book contains five novellas, each one very different from the rest. What ties the narratives together is Simmons ability to make you care about the characters, to make you feel like they do, and to make you understand their choices no matter how outlandish they seem on the surface. My own recommendation while reading the work is to skip each story's introduction. Read each after you've finished the associated story because these long introductions have more relevance afterward than before.

The first novella is Looking For Kelly Dahl. A troubled, suicidal former sixth grade teacher is pitted against one of his students in a kill or be killed scenario. The twist? The student, Kelly Dahl can alter reality so the game is essentially being played out in her own ever-changing universe.

Orphans of the Helix is a story set in Simmons Hyperion universe and it's my first experience with that. A generational ship (okay, not precisely, but this a review, not a retelling) pulls into a binary star system and awakens several passengers out of stasis because a distress beacon emanates from the inhabitants. The choice is whether to help and whether that help will do more harm than benefit. It's a cool setting and a unique idea, but this story was the hardest for me because the characters didn't feel all that sympathetic.

The Ninth of Av is a future in which humans are a relic. A race that's about to be finalized. In the process, there are several people who have loose ends to tie up. One is on an arctic expedition where she tragically gets stuck right at a monumental discovery which changes how she perceives the world and its people. Two others are trying to reach her but don't know how.

On K2 with Kanakaredes is my favorite of the collection. Climbers preparing to ascend K2 are strapped with an unexpected burden - the son of an alien diplomat wants to go along. Kanakaredes is insectoid and an amateur, but the UN Secretary of State made them an offer they couldn't refuse. It's a beautiful climbing story meshed with contact story wrapped in a song.

The End of Gravity is the story of Norman Roth, the most sympathetic of all the characters in Simmons collection. He's a writer sent on a journalism assignment to write a human story of the Russian space program. He's not only looking for a different angle from which to tell of the hard-lived organization, he's looking for meaning and he looks in the unlikeliest of places.

It's a very good collection and you'll become a Dan Simmons fan by reading it.

- CV Rick, February 2008
Children of the Night
The Hyperion Omnibus (Gollancz)
Hyperion Cantos

A collection of long stories by Simmons. They are also accompanied by very length introductions, where as well as talking about the story you get the odd anecdote. For example, Kelly Dahl campground is a place in Colorado, and of being accosted by high-fiving aliens in Italy while being interviewed, etc. Mentioning that Jaws is a better movie than book (absolutely agree), and other bits and pieces.

He isn't really one for the breezy introduction, all told, though.

Along with that, it is a high quality collection, and 'On K2 with Kanakaredes is the standout.' An average of 3.80, and the interesting other material means you won't find many collections better than this.

Worlds Enough and Time : Looking for Kelly Dahl - Dan Simmons
Worlds Enough and Time : Orphans of the Helix - Dan Simmons
Worlds Enough and Time : The Ninth of Av - Dan Simmons
Worlds Enough and Time : On K2 with Kanakaredes - Dan Simmons
Worlds Enough and Time : The End of Gravity - Dan Simmons

Student-teacher worldhunt.

4 out of 5


Hyperion kid and Shrike buddy pay a visit for some teleporting fun.

3.5 out of 5


We are definitely faxed.

3.5 out of 5


On a really big mountain, a human and an alien mountaineer come to an understanding.

4.5 out of 5


Old 'nauts not dead yet.

3.5 out of 5




5 out of 5

Some new ground covered and some old ground uncovered. The world of Endymion revisited in a short story and the seeds of the Olympos world uncovered. All from the Simmon's parallax view of the universe he creates. Simmon's introduction to each story both enlighten and befuddle but he does admit to being more comfortable with the worlds of his own creation rather than writing about himself or writing introductions. However, with that aside and despite a tedious story about a mountain climb with a boring alien, the compilation of work is well worth adding to your collection.

I recently finished Dan Simmons' Worlds Enough and Time, a collection of 5 tales of "speculative fiction" (that's what it says on the cover). As you may know from my review earlier this year of his novel Ilium, I've been a fan of his work for quite some time. He's inventive, and always has interesting, flawed characters.

I quite enjoyed reading these stories. They were all just long enough to read one before sleeping. The stories are:

Looking for Kelly Dahl - one day, while attempting suicide, a teacher's life, and universe, changes
Orphans of the Helix - a return to the Hyperion universe
The Ninth of Av - I noticed this as a kind of prequel to Ilium
On K2 with Kanakaredes - mountain-climbing, with an alien
The End of Gravity - an American investigating, and reminiscing, on the Russian space program

For fans of Simmon's work, this is definitely worth a read!

Dan Simmon's writing is always great, even in disposable pulp fiction like his Joe Kurtz novels, and in this volume he's got the goods when it comes to the stories. He chose to include the commentaries for all stories as well and he makes his short and lucid entries interesting and relevant.
Stylistically and thematically the stories are varied- in "Looking for Kelly Dahl" Simmons is looking for Philip K.D. but even with the shades of Ubik, this is a good one; The End of Gravity didn't make any particular impression on me, but it's not bad either.
What is more interesting is the other three stories: The Orphans of Helix, set in the post-world of Simmons' Hyperion series- nice work and a useful thing if you have just finished reading/emerged breathless from Hyperion world and need a fix. The "The Ninth of Av" was at first a strange and confusing tale when I read it, but now, with a benefit of hindsight, I see that it is an essential reading before delving into the world of Illium and Olympos, Simmons' latest saga. And finally, "On K2 with Kanakaredes" is a sci-fi gem, with a big emotional punch; stories don't come better than this.
This collection is a must for Simmons fans, but it works just as well as a standalone, excellent introduction to one of the best writers in the field- though after his excursions into horror, thriller and such, exactly which field it is, it's hard to say at his point. In hard core sci-fi, Simmons holds steady as one of the biggest stars. Even his cover art is slightly improved here- this galactic picture was used in hundreds other works, on a Pearl Jam album cover recently, but it's better than the usual cheapo paintings of the lurid sci-fi nature that the publishers love to slap on Simmons. Put some duck tape on these and keep reading...