Wagner Books

This is not a great book, but it is helpful. C. Peter Wagner is not a biblical exegete nor a thelogian, so some of his work doesn't seem very solid or deep to his more serious readers. Here he takes steps to remedy this problem and to provide a biblical/theological framework for his views on spiritual warfare. The material is not on the same level as Clinton Arnold, but it would be unfair to expect this. I was at times inspired and informed by the book, and a number of passages started me on some serious expeditions of personal study. I would give this book a thumbs up to anyone who is interested in the subject.

This middle-aged plus cartoon lady's brow is eternally furrowed. Her mouth snears with disdain. Maxine is rarely without her tote bag, her cigarette, or her coffee mug. She taunts her pets, annoys her neighbors, and comments sarcastically on every subject imaginable. If we don't personally know a Maxine, we recognize the cynicism we all feel at one time or another. Maxine tells it like it is. The few dollars spent on this humorous little cartoon book is money well spent. Any book that makes me laugh out loud every time I open it, is priceless. Long live Maxine!

Historians will record the age we are living as another cardinal contribution to Church growth. The excitement of this prophetic age is not releasing audiences but scores of participants who are moving in the prophetic gifting. Prophesying will soon become a way of life.

Nevertheless prophecy is still a recently recognized gift. Many are still seeking for directions. Mature believers will know that prophetic words must be edited and correctly presented before they are spewed to the public or individual ears. This is because the effects of a prophetic word are almost uncontainable within the four walls of the church when it is released.

Unlike any gifting, mishandling of prophecy can lead to helter-skelter in House of the Lord. Foreseeing this potential danger, God has breed many trustable prophetic teachers and instructors with experiences. Chuck Pierce is just one of them ! His modular teachings in this book will put the fear of prophesying at bay and encourage the usage of this wonderful gift in the right approach.

The pattern of madness over the way prophecy is released is one of the reasons why this book is a must for beginners or those who have gifting skew towards the prophetic. So, include this book as your collection. It contains no-frills manual-like which readers will find assurance and confidence.

An easy to use source for projects with many having multiple applications. The instructions are short, though better written and depicted than most I've used.

Adult-sized teenagers who can't walk on their own and refuse to stand up, even with help. Fourteen and fifteen year-olds who need frequent diaper changes throughout the course of the day. Menstruating young women who wind up with yeast infections and fill the classroom with an, shall we say, "unavoidable" smell.

Such are the challenges presented to teachers of severe to profoundly handicapped (SPH) children, detailed in Did They Teach Me This In College?, the latest offering from Vicki Wagner. In the book, Wagner chronicles her years as an SPH teacher, instructing children with conditions ranging from cerebral palsy to epilepsy to severe deafness, as well as her experiences teaching deaf education to "normal" high school students in the foreign language program of American Sign Language (ASL). Over the course of her instruction, she herself receives quite an education in day-to-day living that years of classroom learning could never have prepared her for.

For example, in her years of teaching high school-aged children, she would never have imagined that she'd have to stop some of them from consistently "pleasuring themselves" during class. And when feuding between her teacher's aides culminates in a full-out war of curse words (in front of the students, no less), she even goes so far as to wish she had taken a class on "Dealing With The Paraprofessional." Despite all the unexpected drama, though, Wagner never loses sight of why she entered the profession in the first place, and her compassion and dedication for her students is best reflected in this moving entreaty:

"Learning comes in all different kinds of packages. Do not discount the special education students. They will teach you so much more than you ever thought they could. All you have to do is be a willing student in their life."

Wagner goes on to describe the various triumphs and defeats, the peaks and valleys of her years with her students. Some students die unexpectedly - some even committing suicide. Some, however, have incredible breakthroughs, surprising even those who work with them everyday. And, of course, sometimes the greatest treats come from those who also benefit greatly from the teachers' devotion and sacrifice: the parents of the children themselves. Witness this Mother's Day note written by the mother of one of the Wagner's students:

"Thank you for being such a special teacher - for caring about and loving my daughter."

Short sentence, but profound statement, and great inspiration that helps buoy Wagner throughout all the tough times.

In the end, for all her years of studying, testing, and training, Wagner ultimately realizes that the only thing that could have prepared her for her life in the teaching world is that life itself, and she conveys the essence of its most important aspect just so:

"It does not matter what subject you teach, life still happens and we have to help the students deal with it. Don't ever stop caring and never stop listening. You might miss something that could save a student's life."

Such an apropos statement applies to us all, regardless of our own particular conditions or stations in life.

Wagner closes out Did They Teach Me This In College? with helpful suggestions for new teachers, including how to conduct themselves in the classroom and tips on communicating with both students and their parents. It is clear by the time you finish her book that Wagner truly cares about the students in her charge, and her story is required reading for anyone looking to take up the same mantle of responsibility. Often a forgotten segment of our population, the disabled can all too easily fall into the hands of those less caring than they should be - but with kind souls like Wagner around, we can all breathe a little easier in knowing that they're in the best hands in the business.

I'm not a big comics person, but huge into Doctor Who these days, and picked up this compendium of reprints from old Doctor Who Monthly magazines. As I don't have the time or patience to buy individual comics (and many have stories that take me about one minute to read) I prefer these trade paperbacks.

And the writing is good, and great job coloring the old b&w comics.

The one flaw is there is no intro or any writing to place the comics in context, when they were done, the people behind them, etc. It's just several issues, bound together. Still, I'll probably be getting the next one.

Echoes of Valor is the first of a series of three books aiming to publish Sword and Sorcery esoterica. However, the first volume is not so much esoteric as 'director's cut' with a version of The Black Stranger, and apparently Leiber's preferred version of Adept's Gambit.

The third selection is odd, because as opposed to Sword and Sorcery it is more light-hearted in the main somewhat humorous fantasy, where a world war two pilot ends up in the clutches of Morgan Le Fay. Time for Arthur to come again, in other words. Doesn't fit with the other two at all.

Three long stories are all that are here, with lengthy introductions to each by Wagner. Adept's Gambit is a multi-part mini-epic though.

Echoes of Valor : The Black Stranger - Robert E. Howard
Echoes of Valor : Adept's Gambit - Fritz Leiber
Echoes of Valor : Wet Magic - Henry Kuttner

A tale of three brigands, that starts slow, and then rip-roars along. With multiple pirates, you know there has to be a treasure map. This time, to the Treasure of Tranicos.

Add in a mystical demon warrior, a bunch of raiding Picts, a couple of sieges, three pirates that can't trust each other, a beautiful woman, and Conan, and all hell will break loose.

4 out of 5


Tyre
Ningauble
The Woman Who Came
The Lost City
Anra Devadoris
The Mountain
Ahura Devadoris
The Old Man Without A Beard
The Castle Called Mist


Female lack.

3 out of 5


Want wizard fix female lack, without horrible journey.

3 out of 5


Find fancy items.

3 out of 5


Tart triangle.

3 out of 5


Serious swordstuff.

3.5 out of 5


Demon demesne geology

3.5 out of 5


Sleeping around, scarily.

3.5 out of 5


Magic man

3 out of 5


Twin fate and home

4 out of 5


3.5 out of 5


Had it up to the gills with Morgan Le Fay, got a war to win, here.

3 out of 5

The third Echoes of Valor anthology gets really obscure - while Howard's Shadow of the Vulture is certainly famous for Red Sonya reasons, not so Prince Raynro, Hok, or theauthor Nictzin Dyalhis.

The other feature is a long essay on the last author, going through the deatils of some of his other stories, and his strange, occult character.

Echoes of Valor III : 1 The Shadow of the Vulture - Robert E. Howard
Echoes of Valor III : 2 Cursed Be the City [Prince Raynor] - Henry Kuttner
Echoes of Valor III : 3 The Citadel of Darkness [Prince Raynor] - Henry Kuttner
Echoes of Valor III : 4 Hok Goes to Atlantis - Manly Wade Wellman
Echoes of Valor III : 5 Wolves of Darkness - Jack Williamson
Echoes of Valor III : 6 The Red Witch - Nictzin Dyalhis
Echoes of Valor III : 7 The Sapphire Goddess - Nictzin Dyalhis
Echoes of Valor III : 8 The Sea-Witch - Nictzin Dyalhis




Not much sorcery to be seen in this historical adventure, but it is the origin of the character that Roy Thomas and others adapted with such success for Marvel in comics form, so of interest to fans of Conan and Red Sonja as she currently stands, chainmail bikini wearing barbarbian Hyrkanian warrior.

It is also a sterling Robert E. Howard tale, as well as being the origin of the flame haired swordswoman.

Von Kalmbach is a knight who managed to injure the Turkish leader in battle in the past, when his other 31 comrades died. When it is learned he is still alive, an assassin is sent after him:

""Enough of excuses," interrupted Ibrahim. "Send Mikhal Oglu to me. ... The man whose very name was a shuddering watchword of horror to all western Asia was soft-spoken and moved with the mincing ease of a cat..."

"...nor could Ibrahim guess that he was taking the first steps in a feud which should spread over years and far lands, swirling in dark tides to draw in thrones and kingdoms and red-haired women more beautiful than the flames of hell..."

Von Kalmbach is drinking in a small town outside Vienna when he realises an invasion is coming, and rides quickly for the city, where a defense is being mustered.

Looking around, he is surprised: "Turning toward the abandoned gun, he saw a colorful, incongruous figure bending over the massive breech.

It was a woman, dressed as von Kalmbach had not seen even the dandies of France dressed. She was tall, splendidly shaped, but lithe. From under a steel cap escaped rebellious tresses that rippled red gold in the sun over her compact shoulders. High boots of Cordovan leather came to her mid-thighs, which were cased in baggy breeches. She wore a shirt of fine Turkish mesh-mail tucked into her breeches. Her supple waist was confined by a flowing sash of green silk, into which were thrust a brace of pistols and a dagger, and from which depended a long Hungarian saber. Over all was carelessly thrown a scarlet cloak.

This surprizing figure was bending over the cannon, sighting it in a manner betokening more than a passing familiarity, at a group of Turks who were wheeling a carriage-gun just within range.

"Eh, Red Sonya!" shouted a man-at-arms, waving his pike. "Give 'em hell, my lass!""

Thomas and company certainly lifted her temperament, and physical presence, wholesale : "A terrific detonation drowned her words and a swirl of smoke blinded every one on the turret, as the terrific recoil of the overcharged cannon knocked the firer flat on her back. She sprang up like a spring rebounding and rushed to the embrasure, peering eagerly through the smoke, which clearing, showed the ruin of the gun crew. The huge ball, bigger than a man's head, had smashed full into the group clustered about the saker, and now they lay on the torn ground, their skulls blasted by the impact, or their bodies mangled by the flying iron splinters from their shattered gun. A cheer went up from the towers, and the woman called Red Sonya yelled with a sincere joy and did the steps of a Cossack dance.

Gottfried approached, eying in open admiration the splendid swell of her bosom beneath the pliant mail, the curves of her ample hips and rounded limbs. She stood as a man might stand, booted legs braced wide apart, thumbs hooked into her girdle, but she was all woman. She was laughing as she faced him, and he noted with fascination the dancing sparkling lights and changing colors of her eyes. She raked back her rebellious locks with a powder-stained hand and he wondered at the clear pinky whiteness of her firm flesh where it was unstained.

"Why did you wish for the Sultana Roxelana for a target, my girl?" he asked.

"Because she's my sister, the slut!" answered Sonya. "

Pretty soon, Gottfried is very happy she is there:

"It was Red Sonya who had come to his aid, and her onslaught was no less terrible than that of a she-panther. Her strokes followed each other too quickly for the eye to follow; her blade was a blur of white fire, and men went down like ripe grain before the reaper. With a deep roar Gottfried strode to her side, bloody and terrible, swinging his great blade. Forced irresistibly back, the Moslems wavered on the edge of the wall, then leaped for the ladders or fell screaming through empty space.

Oaths flowed in a steady stream from Sonya's red lips and she laughed wildly as her saber sang home and blood spurted along the edge. The last Turk on the battlement screamed and parried wildly as she pressed him; then dropping his scimitar, his clutching hands closed desperately on her dripping blade. With a groan he swayed on the edge, blood gushing from his horribly cut fingers.

"Hell to you, dog-soul!" she laughed. "The devil can stir your broth for you!"

With a twist and a wrench she tore away her saber, severing the wretch's fingers; with a moaning cry he pitched backward and fell headlong.""


The somewhat bewildered knight still does not know what to make of her: ""By God, my girl," said he, extending a huge hand, "had you not come to my aid, I think I'd have supped in Hell this night. I thank--"

"Thank the devil!" retorted Sonya rudely, slapping his hand aside. "The Turks were on the wall. Don't think I risked my hide to save yours, dog-brother!"

And with a scornful flirt of her wide coattails, she swaggered off down the battlements, giving back promptly and profanely the rude sallies of the soldiers."

He enquires about this woman: "Eh, she's a devil, that one! She drinks the strongest head under the table and outswears a Spaniard. She's no man's light o' love. Cut--slash--death to you, dog-soul! There's her way."

"Red Sonya from Rogatino--that's all we know. Marches and fights like a man--God knows why. Swears she's sister to Roxelana, the Soldan's favorite. If the Tatars who grabbed Roxelana that night had got Sonya, by Saint Piotr! Suleyman would have had a handful! Let her alone, sir brother; she's a wildcat. Come and have a tankard of ale."

After an ill advised excursion against the enemy, Sonya pulls Gottfried to safety, and after telling him of the death of a leader, she displays no patience for sensitive men: Gottfried sat down on a piece of fallen wall, and because he was shaken and exhausted, and still mazed with drink and blood-lust, he sank his face in his huge hands and wept. Sonya kicked him disgustedly.

"Name o' Satan, man, don't sit and blubber like a spanked schoolgirl. You drunkards had to play the fool, but that can't be mended. Come--let's go to the Walloon's tavern and drink ale."

After some more heavy fighting and a respite, the Turks try some sneaking to get to von Kalmbach, but again Sonya is there: "Tshoruk snarled like a wolf and struck him savagely on the head
with a scimitar hilt. Almost instantly, it seemed, the door crashed inward. As in a dream Gottfried saw Red Sonya framed in the doorway, pistol in hand. Her face was drawn and haggard; her eyes burned like coals. Her basinet was gone, and her scarlet cloak. Her mail was hacked and red-clotted, her boots slashed, her silken breeches splashed and spotted with blood.

With a croaking cry Tshoruk ran at her, scimitar lifted. Before he could strike, she crashed down the barrel of the empty pistol on his head, felling him like an ox. From the other side Rhupen slashed at her with a curved Turkish dagger. Dropping the pistol, she closed with the young Oriental. Moving like someone in a dream, she bore him irresistibly backward, one hand gripping his wrist, the other his throat. Throttling him slowly, she inexorably crashed his head again and again against the stones of the wall, until his eyes rolled up and set. Then she threw him from her like a sack of loose salt."

As she says : ""The bells of Saint Stephen!" cried Sonya. "They peal for victory!""

The defenders have won, and the Turks retreat. Sonya and von Kalmbach spare one of the sneakers they have caught, and send him back with a grim message for the attackers.

4 out of 5


If gods like Pan turn up, time to get the hell out of Dodge, thinks Prince Raynor and friends.

3.5 out of 5


Zodiac wizardry, basilisks and bandit barons stand in Prince Raynor's way this time.

3.5 out of 5


Our caveman hero meets a woman warleader on horseback, and gets to see a city, fight a giant octopus, and get all explosive.

3.5 out of 5


An other-dimensional werewolf story reminiscent of (and earlier than) Darker Than You Think.

3 out of 5


A dream made real as a couple become an aged warrior-shaman and a witch, and have a story about getting axed.

3 out of 5


An earthman is given the shot to take his rightful place, as a sword wielding King. Just a problem with a Princess of Hell to deal with, afterwards.

3.5 out of 5


A Norse, naked legend swims into a professor's life, and it seems there are more of them around the place.

4 out of 5

I recently purchased this title hoping to find some activities for a project for K-6 elementary school. I found many. Great little book filled with fun ideas for young children; easy recipes and great pictures. I recommend this book if you are looking for ways to have fun while learning about dinos.

First of all, I should make a note about the edition. While the bulk of the letters were translated by William Ashton Ellis, the edition that I have (The University of Michigan Press, 1994) also includes additional letters and notes by John Deathridge. Looking this volume up on Amazon, I was a little bit ashamed of myself as selecting it for summer reading. The new price of the book ($70.00!) makes it clear that this was supposed to be a Very Serious Scholarly Volume for Very Serious Wagner Scholars. I picked it up myself second-hand for five euros at Waterlooplein Market, so I am very clearly *not* a Very Serious Wagner Scholar. So bear in mind that this is going to be a review of the book as something for the mostly casual reader and not as a tool for music studies.

I picked it up because it was available and looked interesting, and also because Wagner was working in a period of music and writing about which I have been increasingly interested. It seemed to me that many of his contemporaries and their issues would likely be people about whom I wanted to hear. I also know little more about Wagner than the cliffnotes biography that is widely known, and as such a controversial figure it seemed to me good to get a view of him straight from the horse's mouth.

As summer reading this volume filled its task admirably. It was very interesting. The first thing that caught my attention were the obvious translator wars going on my edition.

Deathridge on Ellis:

"Ellis' translations of Wagner's letters, including those in the present book, are less annoying probably because the original German is clearer and more spontaneous, though the reader still has to endure the bouts of mad-translator disease to which Ellis was always prone."

I also found it interesting as both Deathridge and Ellis discuss problems that exist in assembling this kind of volume of collected letters. They discuss the issue that many similar letters have been lost because they were sold privately to autograph collectors/dealers who are uninterested in the text and may even destroy the rest of the letter-- keeping only the signature.

Wagner himself seemed like a perfectly unpleasant person, pausing only in his supreme self-absorption to be bombastically encouraging to young relatives. As a reader, I applauded the editor's decision to include a note from another relative to Wagner, letting him know what the family thought of him. (Not very much.) As in many books of letters by artists of every variety, there is a great deal of talk about money panic, money troubles, demands for money, schemes to raise money and irritation that no money is forthcoming. There is also a great deal of what I hope for in this kind of book-- domestic detail, discussion of contemporary arts and letters, and Wagner's thinking about his life and work. After reading this, I would also be interested in a good biography if someone could recommend something considered worth the time.

I do feel badly discussing this book at such a superficial level, but that's the only level that I feel qualified to discuss. You'll need to look elsewhere for more depth, I am afraid.