Ward Books

There are four distinctly separate stories in this book. All of them are quite well-written; two of them are not TOO far from what we normally expect when we pick up a Star Trek book, two of them are.

The previous book in the SCE series was different in that the "good guys", although triumphant, took heavy casualties rather than coming through unscathed. This book explores the emotional ramifications for the survivors of such an experience. Two of the stories (the one dealing with Corsi & Stevens, and the one dealing with Gold and Gomez) do nothing else. The one dealing with P8 Blue and the one dealing with Abramowitz, Falwell, & Soloman have relativey normal Sci-Fi plots overlaying the exploration of the characters' emotional states. Both approaches work quite well, although if you read Star Trek for the action and the Sci-Fi plots, you may be disappointed with two of the stories.

Star Trek: Strafleet Corps of Engineers, Breakdown, Book 7 is a compilation of 4 short story e-books in print form for easier reading. "Breakdowns" has four stories in it and they are as follows:

Home Fires wriiten by Dayton Ward and Kevin Gilmore
Age of Unreason written by Scott Ciencin
Balance of Nature written by Heather Jarman
Breakdowns written by Keith R.A. DeCandido

These are the e-books numbered 25 thru 28 in pocket books successful e-book series The Starfleet Corps of Engineers. After the zinger of a book called "Wildfire""Breakdowns" is a more subdued book as twenty plus members of the U.S.S. da Vinci have been killed at Galvan VI, the da Vinci is in drydock at McKinley Station around Earth for badly needed repairs and the crew that is still alive go for some badly needed shore leave.

These stories deal with the personal side of the crew and how they deal with the fact that so many have died on the da Vinci. The first story "Home Fires" by Ward and Gilmore deals with Corsi and Fabin Stevens as they go home to Corsi's family and later book passage on a freighter that Aldo Corsi owns as he makes a cargo run and the elder Corsi and his Daughter have a heart to heart conversation about Starfleet and Corsi's uncle Gi. This is a well-told story and fills in the characters and makes them more human. Characterizations and a believeable story is what "Home Fires" is.

The next story "Age of Unreason" by Scott Ciencin is a story about multible people, doppelgangers, as they wear a wrist band and can duplicate themselves to do many amazing things. The story is far fetched and is hard to believe as Carol Abromowitz, Bart, Soloman try to erect a null field to stop all of this madness. Carol is the main character and Bart and Soloman are used as seconadary characters to give the story a little believeablility.

The third story is "Balance of Nature" by Heather Jarman and is the best of the four stories. It's about P8 Blue coming home to her homeworld and chaos breaks out. As we get a better picture of P8 Blue (Patty), we see the struggles she has gone through to be in Starfleet and her reception back home on her homeworld. We find out the there is another sentiant lifeform on Patty's homeworld and they are attacking the Nasat, as an ancient treaty long forgotten by the Nasat comes into play.

The fourth story "Breakdowns" by Keith R.A. DeCadido is about how Captain David Gold reconciles the lost of twenty-three memters of the da Vinci crew under his command and the story fleshes out Gold and gives the reader insight into his personality and that there is a conflict to be resolved with Sonya Gomez making for some interesting reading.

This book is NOT about how the engineers fix things as in previous books, but how they fix their respective lives in the wake of an extream trajady do to "Wildfire" and how they cope. This book is a storytelling book working on the characterizations, and filling in for the characters written about, making for a well-rounded book of an interesting nature and how each one resolves their personel situations.

I just love this book.I've been waiting 4 this book since wildfire came out.the authors in the book did a really good job.Though I wish I knew what happened beteween Wildfire book 2 and Home Fires.over i give this book 5 stars.

Containing four e-books documenting the aftermath of the incident at Galvan VI, Breakdowns takes a bit of a diversion from the usual engineering problem-solving that's defined the SCE series to go after more character oriented fare. For the most part, these stories are good.

"Home Fires": Actually two stories in one as we see Corsi and Stevens visit her homestead and take a trip on a freighter. This story explores some of Corsi's history only mentioned in passing before. It's a quiet story that unexpectedly veers off into a flashback adventure set during the Cardassian conflict that explains Corsi's father's problem with Starfleet. Indeed, it does feel a bit unfair what Starfleet asked the Corsi family to do, but falls within the realm of the plausible that it gives the story some weight. The action was a nice surprise. One quibble though: Stevens goes to get food and her father tells Corsi to go find him after their heart-to-heart. We then go to the next chapter where she's going to his quarters, wanting to tell him about her talk with her father and Stevens is apparently just getting out of the shower. Now did she go find him in the kitchen and not tell him only to really want to tell him later? Just seemed like a snafu.

"Age of Unreason": Certainly the weakest book of the anthology and probably the weakest SCE story since "The Riddled Post". This story was just simply half-baked. We really get little to almost no background or development of the featured aliens, the astral projection technology (a fascinating concept given frustrating short shrift) and the confounding and sudden rivalry between Abramowitz and her "arch nemesis", an evil culturalist (allow me to chuckle) so over-the-top as to never be believable in the slightest. The backstory on some supposed murder he was involved with was also confusing, making me feel like I was missing something. There's an attempt at a theme about power corrupting that feels borrowed from Lord of the Rings, but the story fails to draw me in to really care. Faulwell plays second string and Solomon appears in name only, making me wonder why the writer even bothered to include him.

"Balance of Nature": Conversely, the best story of the anthology and probably the best Heather Jarman tale yet. It's far more focused and tight than her other works, which tended to bloat up on the worldbuilding and skimp on most everything else to really engage me. But here it's a very nice balance between worldbuilding and character work. Pattie has always been a favorite of mine, so it was great getting to see some serious development on her and her homeworld. I loved the idea of cities in the trees, especially around one massive tree, and it gave off an Endor-vibe that I enjoyed. It was nice getting a Federation world that's quite exotic.

"Breakdowns": A nice way to round out these post-"Wildfire" stories, "Breakdowns" is a short story about Gomez and Gold coming to terms with what happened. Some of the family conflict in the Gold family lacked an explanation and thus distanced me from it, but otherwise I enjoyed the characters and their interaction. In some ways, the story felt a bit odd in that I'd figure Gold and Gomez would have hashed this out weeks before right after Duffy died. This might have been interesting to have set this story back on the ship on the trip home. I did however really like the brief court martial scene.

Overall, a pretty solid and understated SCE anthology. I'm quite looking forward to the next one where things pick back up again...whenever it comes out.

I bought this book through Amazon and quite happy with this service and book too.It is recommended for my masters course in Reproductive medicine.Thanks Amzone.

This is an incredible book. Speroff is still the king when it comes to infertility. In our OB/Gyn setting we refer to it many times in our treatment of basic infertiltiy and have had great success following the guidelines given by Speroff. It should be on the bookshelf of anyone who treats basic infertility!!

This text offers a straight-forward reference to assist in the management of gyn problems I commonly encounter as a Family Doctor. It goes into great detail about anatomy and physiology of gynecologic problems yet is well-organized for use as a "quick reference". For example, it took less than a minute to find the section on hirsuitism to refresh my memory as to what the initial work-up should consist of.

This is one of the bibles of the OB/GYN resident. Excellent reference for the in-service exams. Simple diagrams & tables make this text readable and easy to understand.

The title of the book was enticing, the cover, quite eye-catching... the author, a complete stranger. Fortunately, I decided to risk it. The book is hilarious, from prologue to epilogue. The author's style is humorous, witty, self-effacing... a truly excellent piece of writing. Name-dropping elevated to an art indeed, by an undeniable master. GIVE ME MORE WARD WALLACE, PLEASE!

The title of the book was enticing, the cover, quite eye-catching... the author, a complete stranger. Fortunately, I decided to risk it. The book is hilarious, from prologue to epilogue. The author's style is humorous, witty, self-effacing... a truly excellent piece of writing. Name-dropping elevated to an art indeed, by an undeniable master. GIVE ME MORE WARD WALLACE, PLEASE!

The title of the book was enticing, the cover, quite eye-catching... the author, a complete stranger. Fortunately, I decided to risk it. The book is hilarious, from prologue to epilogue. The author's style is humorous, witty, self-effacing... a truly excellent piece of writing. Name-dropping elevated to an art indeed, by an undeniable master. GIVE ME MORE WARD WALLACE, PLEASE!

Please bear in mind that I am a long-time friend of the author and am also mentioned several times in the book. Having said that, I can state that Ward Wallace has a fine writing touch and has been entertaining me with his letters from Spain for over three decades. He has been living the expatriate life in Madrid and Sotogrande, meeting world-level celebrities, and now he has put his best stories between covers where they belong. Ward's best stuff is about bull-fighting, including his own adventures in the ring. He also has some insights into famous golfers as well as Spanish dignitaries he has seen with his unreconstructed American eye. The vision of Bing Crosby suddenly materializing in a Spanish church is worth the price of the book. Ward makes fun of his own penchant for name-dropping. For all Americans who think they could have handled an adult life in another country, here is a vicarious experience. He never loses the perspective of an athlete from Hofstra College on Long Island who wound up living with his wife, Conchita, a few blocks from a great soccer stadium in Madrid. Bien hecho, amigo.

Karen Wilson has written a masterful mystery. She picks you up and plants you in middle of the far suburbs, somewhere between Ann Arbor, Lansing, and Flint, Mi. A place where folks are city sophisticated, but live on sprawling country farms with their horses, dogs and cats. Of course, a murder mystery is the central plot but the story keeps you turning pages with real world character development of her neighbors, BFF, and local officials. Add to that her strained relationship with her husband and handsome new neighbor and you've got everything the makings of a great book.

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (2/08)

A good mystery is the perfect way to pass a rainy afternoon and they do not come much better than Karen R. Wilson's "Coyote Kill." Showcasing Carol Ward, a rather involuntary amateur sleuth, this fast-paced and thrilling story will take you for a roller-coaster ride you won't forget quickly.

Carol Ward happens upon a grave and the killer's calling card nearby - a tree decorated with the personal items stolen from the victim. After she starts to investigate the crime, she quickly realizes that the killer is watching her and definitely does not want her to discover his true identity. From a message written on her mirror to a boxed snake delivered to her, Carol is more and more aware that she's in danger. She does not have many clues to help her in her quest, but she believes that the killer is wearing a long, waxed Australian coat and she also suspects that the crimes are somehow linked to rain. The trouble is that at least five people in her community wear such coats, and the rain is not an uncommon occurrence either.

When the weather forecast predicts rain again, Carol is alarmed about it, realizing that the killer is likely to strike again. And he does, this time much closer to Carol... Can she stop him on time or will she become his next victim?

Tightly written, with complex and believable characters, "Coyote Kill" is a riveting read. From the female bonding to the interesting and quite surprising profile of the killer, this book provides enough food for thought to make it interesting beyond the simple mystery level. There are touches of well-placed comic relief as well as some minor romance, which stays as an undercurrent throughout the story. I found the variety of very strong female characters particularly engaging. I would highly recommend this book to the mystery lovers of just about any age, particularly those who enjoy female sleuths and their adventures.

Ya gotta just love the spunky Carol Ward in this, the second, in a series of hopefully more to come mysteries. I laughed out loud a few times and it kept me guessing right up til the end. I look forward to the next!

I thought the book was very thrilling and kept me guessing until almost the very end. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good mystery. Once I started it I couldn't seem to put it down.

I am collecting shells for more than 11 years. At the beginning of this activety I found a lot difficulties in species identification, in determianation of their position in the molluscan systematics. The book of S.Peter Dance was the first guide I had obtained. This book introduced me to the world of "professional" shell-collecting. It showed me the way of collection arrangement, specimen cleaning and labling. I learned a lot of new data on ecology, geographic distribution and systematic of molluscs. Really, it is best book for beginner shell-collector I've ever seen and I greatly suggest it to all beginners and even advanced collectors. The wonderfull photoes of the book makes identification easy, the system of legends and signs (accepted in all other Eyewitness Handbooks) provides brief but very convinient information on geography, ecology, sizes and rarity of the species. Even now (having over 1.500 molluscs species and a lot of identificaton guieds) I oft! en look through this book and gain nesessary information. Unfortunatly, the book deal with marine molluscs only. I am shure, that the books of such quality on land and fresh-water molluscs would be greatly apreciated by collectors.

This has to be one of the most useful books I have bought. The photography is very clear. The colors are also good. Best of all I can see all of this without my bifocals.

However, I was a little annoyed at the scarcity of the other regions in the book,mostly because I was interested in finding out about the shells within the area in which I visit to go shelling. However, I thought it was a wonderful first-field-guide with excellent color pictures, specific descriptions, indication of common\uncommon, and the size of the shells.

I have been collecting shells for around 20 years and never bothered to get a book about them until now. My 4 year old daughter started collecting and I wanted to make sure I had all the answers to her questions about shells. This is definatly the book to have. She is facinated by the great pictures and the cut-aways of the shells. This is a must have for your shelf.

I liked this book because it takes place in the ocean and it's a cartoon. My favorite part is when the shark eats the teacher . It was fun to read. If you read this book you'll love it.

This story is about a shark named Sammy who was excited to go to the first day of school. When he gets excited he bites things. When he gets to school he has so much fun and learns not to bite his friends and teacher.

I read this book to students at the beginning of the school year for a number of years. Kids are inundated during the first few days of school with "do this"/"don't do that" new rules and procedures. They absolutely LOVED laughing at the frivolity of the rule "Don't eat the teacher"--at last, a rule they could probably abide by. Plus they were quite taken with the book's apparent bite out of the corner of the cover. Unfortunately they liked it enough that I've had 3 copies that somehow never quite got returned to the media center. I'm hunting for a new copy & now that it's not as easy to get, I might have to keep this one in my secret stash of "librarian" books--it's just too good a read aloud to keep losing.

Don't Eat the Teacher! By: Nick Ward

Sammy is an energetic little shark and he is ready to go to school! But when he gets too excited he tends to bite things (as all little sharks do). CRUNCH! First it was his breakfast table. He really didn't mean to nibble on his friends, and he REALLY didn't mean to ruin story time and painting... All day Sammy keeps eating things he doesn't quite intend to... can he get through the rest of the day without biting off more than he can chew?

Don't Eat the Teacher! is a fun way of remembering the first day of school. I think that kids of younger ages will love this book and be just as excited as our main character, Sammy. I would definitely recommend this book to any parent because it will probably change your children's attitude toward school. Instead of being afraid of school, they will be more confident.
I would give it five stars, because it had fantastic detail and excellent word choice. Nick Ward is a great illustrator; his pictures really make the ocean floor's characters come to life; this makes it enjoyable for any age!
You will not be disappointed as soon as you pick up this book.

By:Morgan

A little boy sees dragons everywhere he goes. We should be jealous that we can't see them too! I think this book is a very sly, very cute book. This is a great story and I highly recommend it!

This book is beautifully illustrated. I can't even begin to understand why it would be out of print. I ordered
a used copy, and was beyond happy with what I got. It's a cute story about a boy who starts to see dragons.
He begins to feed them, and brings them into his home, which later he finds out is the last thing you should ever
do. The little dragons make foot prints and brake things that the little boy has to take the blame for. He then
builds a mechanical dragon. He plans on flying the mechanical dragon in hopes of leading all the dragons to
a safe desert home. The story is written simple so that even young kids can enjoy it, and the beautiful artwork will captivate the older kids as well. The art alone puts the book in my top ten most beautifully illustrated books.

I have read literally hundreds of books to my son over the last three years and this is one of the very best. The art is beautiful and the text is very rich without being wordy. Don't miss this one.

I'm sure that the folks who hand out the Caldacott didn't see or read this book since it wasn't even a Caldacott Honor book for last year. As a former employee of a national book store chain who worked in the children's area, I've seen a lot of not so good picture books that get published anyway. I can say that this is one of the best picture books I've seen in a long time. Not only are the illustations done beautifully, but the story is well written. It is not so wordy that you don't want to read it at night and not too short that you have to have a back up book. This book should be a classic.

This book was quite a surprise. While so many people focus on purely materialist causes for the rise of western culture, this collection of twentieth-century essays by Christopher Dawson emphasizes spiritual roots. These essays are well-written and if anything have become even more relevant with the passing of time. Though many people probably won't agree with all of his conclusions, it seems to me that a reading of Dawson's work is essential to understanding western culture.

This book was bought with little previous knowledge of Dawson, and only a general idea of the subjects he discusses; but having read this book, and also now his (shorter) more strictly historical work "The Making of Europe", I know it was exactly what I needed. In fact, I feel that divine Providence was at work in my encountering this book. Thanks to Dawson, my understanding of the meaning (rather than only the bare facts) of our era of civilisation in Western Europe has been deepened. I feel I have a better grasp of the overall shape of our history, where we've come from and (therefore) where we're going. Dawson, I feel, writes with a combination of profound wisdom and sharp analysis; he is excellent on both the broader picture (more important) and the historical/sociological details and nuances (also important). Dynamics of World History is therefore historiography of the highest order. But more than this, his writings have a kind of prophetic urgency, which even after sixty or seventy years still seems to retain its power. Some people, I think, have objected to this aspect of his work- the "voice in the desert", if you like- claiming it represents too narrow and dogmatic (too "Christian") a perspective in a pluralistic postmodern age. But I believe it is this that gives his writing its tremendous force and also bestows a remarkable unity of purpose on all his work, which covers a great variety of topics and subtopics. Dawson made no secret of his religious convictions- but just as he himself says of Toucqueville, "he succeeds not despite them, but because of them."

This book is awesome! Dawson was a professor of Roman Catholic Studies at Harvard University, but don't let that scare you away thinking it will be hard to read. It is written in language that us lay people can understand and relate to in a very deep and meaningful way. Dawson is Catholic and the book will give you an incredible historical perspective through Catholicism, however it really addresses all world religions and their role in human history and culture. Religion, Dawson believed, is the great creative force in any culture, and the loss of society's historic religion therefore portends a process of social dissolution. For this reason, Dawson concluded that Western society must find a way to revitalize its spiritual life if it is to avoid irreversible decay. Progress, the real religion of modernity, is insufficient to sustain cultural health. And an ahistorical, secularized (Americanized) Christianity is an oxymoron, a pseudo-religion only nominally related to the historic religion of the West. Dawson maintains that the hope of the present age lay in the reconciliation of the religious tradition of Christianity with the intellectual tradition of humanism and the new knowledge about man and nature provided by modern science. This book shows that though such a task may be difficult, it is not impossible. If you're an active, faith loving, curious, sacramental Catholic this book will bring you to a whole new level of knowledge about your religion. This is one of those, `changed my life', kind of books in the best kind of way.

While I was reading the Introduction and the first chapters I realised the depth and strenghness of Dawson's stream of thought.

His conclusions, in front of those of the widespread common thinking, are sharp and have a paradoxical revolutionary point of wiew dealing with Rationalism and Cartesianism, performing a genuism Catholic thinking that collects the best tradition of English Tractarians.

I very recommend the reading of "Dynamics" to those interested in understanding the chain of historic events leading to nowadays state of affairs.

I never fail to pick-up the book from my coffee table and find something I might has missed previously.

Imagine, there was something I overlooked.

DJR

Beautiful and compelling. A fascinating book, and one of the best of its kind ever made.

Just got to say that I live out in Gamba, Gabon as my family work for Shell Gabon and in all the time I have been there, I never imagined that beauty out there exists as deeply as portrayed in this book. You look at the beaches and you think wow but to then see it as detailed as it is in the Edge of Africa, it brings real light to your eyes. Get it.

I just put the book down and all I can say is "Wow". I am amazed at the spectacular photographs and vivid descriptions of the book. It made me feel like I was in Africa. The photographer depicts the various animal, plant, and geography so unique to the area, while the author describes the details and makes you feel like you are right there. This gives me a different perspective to other images and documentation I have seen regarding this region of Africa. Recommended!

I have always loved the story of "The Elves and the Shoemaker" and have searched and searched for an adaptation that evoked the memories that I carried from my childhood. (As children, my sister and I fell in love with the Scholastic version which, sadly, is off the market.) But this version is as good, if not better! The pictures are simply beautiful ~ so full of color and expression and detail! And the story is told in a simple yet profound way so that children as young as three but as old as eight or nine will be able to find meaning and enjoyment. I can not recommend this book enough! In my mind, it deserves a space on every child's bookshelf!

This a beautiful version of one of my favorite stories. It is just perfect for read-aloud. Must have!

The illustrations in this book are wonderful. A true artist. Very cleverly hides the elves in each page and its much fun for a 3 year old to find them and the mice and birds too.

This book is a wonderful companion to any collection of classic fairy tales. The illustrations are lively and charming; the tale is retold simply and well. This book also does an excellent job of conveying what a cobbler does, if you are looking for some books to bring history alive. Not many children now think twice about where their shoes come from. Above all else, the illustrations really bring the tale alive. The quality of the expressions on each character's face is truly incredible and any small child can easily "read" along by seeing the delight on the faces of the customers, the patience and careful work done by the elves (you can practically hear them whistle as they work), the astonishment and gratitude felt by the shoemaker and his wife. This heartwarming story is a must for any preschool or first grade classroom.