X Books

Well, I never knew that I can get used books also with almost like new standards. I am not able to find out any kind of mark or torn pages in the book on the first look. It was awesome. Book was delivered on time.
And moreover the used book like new book in such a low cost!!! What else one need??

I learned X-Windows programming from this many years ago. Please bear with me as I set up the scenario here. As an independent consultant, I was in a situation where--in order to win a juicy federal contract--I had to represent that I was sufficiently expert in X-Windows to (a) build a toolkit of custom widgets; (b) build tools that allowed users to choose from a set of predefined "color palettes" such that (b-i) only certain classes (let's call them "Brand Q") of applications followed those palettes, other applications following the standard system palette, and (b-ii) the palettes interacted with the window manager such that, when the last Brand Q application was iconified, the standard system palette was restored, yet, as soon as any Brand Q application was deiconified, the user's chosen palette was reinstantiated; and (c) build tools that enabled a Certified Professional Ergonomist, or CPE (!), to experiment with widget appearances and parameters so as to craft an optimal set of palettes and then represent those palettes in such a way that X applications would properly follow what was visually intended. Oh, on top of all that, it had to interact with a visual GUI builder called UIM/X that implemented a whole set of "shadow widgets" that paralleled Motif widgets and let you edit their properties--rather like a Java "bean editor" one might find useful nowadays.

Well, I had to learn enough to write a thick, highly literate design document within a couple of weeks, and then go out and build some 40K lines' worth of applications code (in C, of course) and 15K lines' worth of "system" code (I'd define as "systems code" software that (a) interacts with the window manager vis-a-vis iconification and deiconification semantics; (b) communicates complex data structures via interning atoms with the X server; (c) tortures strange color mapping behaviors from an outdated NCR monitor that could only physically display sixteen colors at a time [thus having to rely on dithering and related visual effects to achieve other "colors"] and offers tools for related colormap management tasks) within a handful of months.

Now, I'm not complaining about the level of effort--given the six-figure consulting fee that lay at the end of the rainbow. But without Young's outstanding book, I'd have been dead in the water. Oh, of course I had access to the O'Reilly series of seven or eight books--which were occasionally useful for stealing a handy application that could quickly be incrementally modified (e.g., I needed quick code for a dialogue box managing three green buttons, and one of the O'Reilly books illustrated the code for a dialogue box sporting four yellow buttons). But Young taught me enough about X that I was soon empowered to write my own functions to populate recursive pull-down menus; to write the internals for a widget that borrowed functionality from two other widgets and used cutesy memory management tricks (akin to mainframe-lingo "lookaside buffers") that let me sequentially stack up their respective resources; and to learn how to take advantage of some interesting internals facts, e.g., that the XmN family of symbolic constants are defined as strings identical to their names (a la #define foo #foo).

Bravo, Mr. Young! You taught me much, and you taught me well.

Once upon a time, when I moved from Windows programming environment to X-Windows.. I found things were so diffiult for me.

Lucky me, one day I went to the library and found this book. It helped me to get start with X programming in s considerable short time. The step of this book is quite easy to follow, and not difficult to understand. At least it made X more friendly to me. Although it was Japanese edition and my Japanese isn't that good. (And I will buy the English edition soon).

If you want to program in X, this one is a must, Along O'Reilly X Reference Series (which I think is the best of X-Ref).

This well written book, with numerous coded examples (that work!) is one of the best computer reference book I've encountered. Although it has not been updated to included Motif 2.1, most applications are still being written in Motif 1.2 anyway. It also includes the necessary Xt and X11 background to write GUIs. I went from zero experience with windows programming to writing full featured X-windows applications solely with the aid of this text and elementary knowledge of C. The author, who worked at Silicon Graphics, went on to write the Open Inventor library (which unfortunately is in C++). Great book!

In Scrapbook, what struck me are the human interest photos. Hypersonic! was superb in detailing the X-15; Scrapbook presents photos of engineers and technicians performing their mundane but vital tasks, as well as the heroic pilots in lighter moments.

What I took away from this experience was an admiration for the professionalism and dedication of a handful of Americans who were opening new frontiers.

Scrapbook featured all that was good about 1950's America. Long may that spirit live. This book was a time machine for me. Get this book while you can.

Collaboratively compiled and written by aerospace experts Tony R. Landis and Dennis R. Jenkins, X-15 Photo Scrapbook is a collection of over 350 black-and-white photographs and 50 color photos showcasing the last in a line of manned rocket-powered research airplanes to be built during the 1950s. Brief commentary with an eye for technical details is fully enhanced by the pictures, in this visual distinguishment which is very highly recommended for aviation buffs. Also highly recommended is the Landis and Jenkins aerospace history: Hypersonic: The Story Of The North American X-15 , which offers a detailed 276-page history of this remarkable aircraft. The X-15 Photo Scrapbook collects photographs that could not be included in Hypersonic due to space limitations.

If you are looking for a lot of text, then get Hypersonic by the same authors (the best history book ever written on the X-15 program). If you already own Hypersonic, or just want a book filled with seldom-seen (or often, never-seen) photos of the X-15 and its support environment, then this is the book for you. There is essentially no text other than captions. It is only 108 pages long, but contains several hundred photos, all very well reproduced. Twelve of the pages are full-color and contain some wonderful images taken for National Geographic as well as a variety of other photos of the airplanes during their flight test program. I highly recommend this publication.

If you are looking for a detailed history of the X-15 program, you need to purchase Hypersonic, by the same authors. If you want a large number of unusual photographs of the program, then this is th ebook you need to buy. Better yet, buy both. This book says it contains the photos that would not fit into Hypersonic, and there are some real gems here. Many of these have never been seen before, and essentially none of them duplicate the already excellent coverage in Hypersonic.

This is a great book!

Very good book.
I had to pinch myself many times to make sure was it I enjoying this book.
One can finish reading it in less than six hours.
Packed with useful information.
I find it extremely useful to impress my boss and fellow-colleagues.
This book is the output of author's 15 years' research on the topic.
I bought 10 copies so far, to send them to my managers and friends.
Long live Ross.

What a breath of fresh air! The X-Factor is loaded with new knowledge about managing and motivatiing. The book's subtitle says it all, "Getting Extraordinary Results From Ordinary People." Instead of providing armchair advice on how to succeed as a manager, The X-Factor delivers a proven forumla on the ultimate management issue: how to get people to perform at peak levels indefinitely.

The X-Factor is the most complete and practical management/leadership/motivation book ever written. It picks up where "In Search of Excellence" left off and is the perfect compliment for "Good to Great". This book is incredibly well researched and thought through -- the author leaves few, if any, stones unturned. At the same time, The X-Factor is a wonderfully compelling story and an easy read. Once you start this book, you literally can't put it down...IT'S THAT GOOD!

With so many books available, it is nice to find a book that actually talks about things you can do for longer than 3 months. This is an easy process to get things done in all aspects of your life. By following the basic points of the book, you can get started today. The book is organized well, and tells a story while teaching you in the process. By implementing the concepts spelled out in The X-Factor, you can get extraordinary results from ordinary people. The nice thing about this is that your people won't roll their eyes, because it is not a gimmick that will go away over time, it is a natural way to get things done and give people more satisfaction in their jobs. Ross Reck has proven that the key to solving the management puzzle is not very complicated. Take a few hours with this book and you will be well on your way to getting ordinary people x-cited about going the x-tra mile to help you, the manager, achieve x-traordinary results. It is the best Leadership book I have read this year.

Fantastic book with alot of knowledge I was unaware of. I am still in the middle of reading it but looking foward for new information.

If you are a fan of the X-men, this is an EXCELLENT book!!! Great Pictures!!

This hardback book is of great quality and a onderful addition to any Marvel X-Men lovers collection. The pictures are vivid and the mutant abilities & information is listed with every mutant. This is truly a X-Men Geek's dream come true! Highly recommended!

I received this book as a birthday present from an awesome friend (thanks, jon!), and I immediately read the entire thing in one night. As much as I appreciated the vast amount of information and the beautiful illustrations, I couldn't help but be irked by the little typos along the way. While it is understandable that in a book of this length, that some errors were made, if I (an 18 year-old high school student) could read the book in one night and discover these grammatical and spelling errors, I feel as though the editors could have prevented these mistakes just as easily. Aside from the annoying typos, though, this collection of X-Men trivia is stellar, and I would recommend it to any X-Men fan (especially if they aren't as OCD about typos in published formats as I am).

Anyone who has played Wolverine's Revenge knows this is no easy game but it's a fun one. It takes cunning, it takes strategy and it takes patience! It took me months and I had finally reached the last part of the very last level with Lady Deathstrike but couldn't figure it out! Nothing seemed to work.

Then I stumbled across a cheat code that allowed me to become invunerable and I finished the game. But somehow I felt deflated because I didn't "quite" beat her on my own terms so I purchased this GREAT guide! I am amazed at all it contains. It will tell you where every Cerebro file is, the best way to earn the most dog tags, the best way to take out the bosses, and best of all, how to stay alive in even the worst of situations!

Wolverine's Revenge is definitely a hard game but it is so worth it when you do it right! This guide gives you so much for a great price. It's a thoroughly enjoyable companion to a great game, which gets even better when you have this printed "preview of coming attractions." Just remember that even with this wonderful guide, you get out of the game what you put into it. I found that to get the most out of the guide (and the game) was to be very familiar with each section of the guide and take seriously everything it has to say. It will help you get what you need to win the game without having to test Wolverine's healing factor every five seconds! So, Claws out, head down and full steam ahead.

i dont actually have this book but can you tell me how to beat both the sabertooths, juggernaut, and lady deathstrike? i know there is a kind soul out there who will.

i know the first time you beat sabertooth he supposedly drops a card? where does he drop it? how do i get it?

I could have beaten this game without a guide to help me. However, I would have gotten my first social security check before hand. This guide defenitely a must have for anyone that wants to beat this game during this century.

I can beat the game now! ^.^ ~ now if only they would make a dynasty warriors 4 guide~

The first volume of "New Mutants Classic" had five young mutants assembled under the tutelage of Professor Charles Xavier, go on a couple of adventures, and, in the finale, lose one of their number; the resolution to that story would not come for some time, but writer Chris Claremont wastes no time in adding to the cast, and greatly broadening the scope of the series.

The previous volume ended with the remaining four (Dani, Rahne, Sam, Roberto) going on what would become a multi-issue trip to the Amazon, where they make the unlikely find of a lost city of Ancient Romans and Incas living under a Republican government (which is threatened by a monarchist senator); alone, the four must navigate the turbulent politics of the city, find an ally in the daughter of one senator, Amara Aquilla (codenamed Magma), and survive their first encounter with the recurring villainess Selene, a mutant psychic vampire. Coming home, another castmember is added, in the form of Illyana Rasputin/Magik, the younger sister of the X-Man Colossus, a mutant magician, and the New Mutants become acquainted with her concealed, horrible past in the demonic realm of Limbo. Afterwards, the New Mutants and junior X-(Wo)Man Shadowcat (who had earlier condescendingly called the group the "X-babies") must team-up to battle the X-Men's recurring nemeses, the Hellfire Club, and, in particular, the White Queen, Emma Frost. This closing story arc also includes the first appearance in the series of the New Mutants' opposite numbers at Frost's Massachusetts Academy, the Hellions, including future X-Man Warpath (then called Thunderbird). This run of stories ends on something of a cliffhanger, promising big story developments and the arrival of acclaimed artist Bill Sienkiewicz.

Chris Claremont is a widely derided writer these days, having atrophied as a writer over the decades, losing the originality in years of repetitive stories and failing to keep up with changes in writing style. However, here he is at the top of his game, producing enjoyable adventure stories while at the same time expertly juggling his cast, giving insight into their feelings and motivations, and, as best as anyone has ever done, capturing the potential of the mutant allegory: the kids are gifted with incredible powers, which, particularly in the cases of newcomers Illyana and Amara, also come with considerable risks, and they must learn to control their power. Professor Xavier, nowadays often characterized as a manipulator, is perfectly characterized here; "Xavier's Dream" is never more real in the pages of these stories. The artist for this volume is reliable Marvel penciller Sal Buscema, unfortunately sandwiched between McLeod and Sienkiewicz, two more famous artists; nevertheless, his contributions to the New Mutants are worthy.

This series is recommend to fans of Marvel's mutants in arguably their finest era.

I used to read these comics when I was a kid and forgot all about them. But I bought this Volume 2 and Volume 1 and read them all again. Those old Marvel stories are way easier to follow than the current ones, with all the different teams and storylines running through one another. I lost track and most of my interest in comics (but not all!) years ago. Can't wait for Volume 3 of the New Mutants!

It's great to see legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont's original run on New Mutants collected in TPB form, and New Mutants Classic Vol. 2 is no exception. There are monumental moments aplenty in the X-mythos to be found here, including the debut of young mutant Doug Ramsey, new team member Magma, and the New Mutants taking on Selene to boot. There's familiar faces aplenty, including Kitty Pryde, Emma "The White Queen" Frost, and even future member and longtime X-Force member Warpath and his team of Hellions. What makes this TPB so good is that this displays Claremont in the prime of his writing career when he could pump out compelling and dramatic storylines that kept you guessing and wondering what would happen next. The artwork, featuring great work from industry legend Sal Buscema, is excellent as well. All in all, this second collected volume of Chris Claremont's run on New Mutants is just as wonderful as you remember it to be back then, and this TPB is definitely worth picking up for that fact alone.

FINALLY!!!! That's all I could say at first. FINALLY, they're starting to reprint the old New Mutants comics, and on better paper than the essentials and in color to boot! The New Mutants was the beginning of the X-Franchise-for awhile, it was the only other X-Book up there with the always-stellar Uncanny X-Men, before X-Factor, Excalibur, and all the others came around. Best of all, this is written by Chris Claremont, the best writer X-Men has ever had and the art calloboration of Bob Layton and Sal Buscema delivers the mutants better than either did on thier own. You get Buscema's unique style, but his harsh slightly puppet-like art is made softer and more expressive with Layton inking!
Praise for the look aside, let's get down to the stories themselves. This book, as with any X-related book, starts with a bang and keeps at it all throughout. It starts off with the Mutants flying down to the Amazon with Sunspot's mother (don't worry, parents rarely go on missions) on a geological expidition, but through one thing and another end up in a city that seems to be ripped right from the times of ancient Rome! The characters really get their personalities fleshed out in this storyline, especially Dani and Sunspot. The story also introduces Magma, a core New Mutants member for years to come, and Selene. I didn't really get Selene reading Essential X-Men Vol. 5, so it's good to see her beginning and why Amara hates her so much. Let's face it, if someone tried to kill you by throwing you into a lava pool, you'd be a little ticked off, right?
After the New Rome storyline concludes (it goes until issue 12) we get stuff about Magma getting settled in at the school, Kitty Pryde (WHOO!) resolving her conflict with the New Mutants, and the first appearances of Douglas Ramsey. This is where the New Mutants really began to tie in with the X-Men, and thankfully, many plot threads that either didn't make sense or weren't resolved in Essential X-Men's 4 and and the beginning of 5 finally come together. We see how Magik joined the team and more of Stevie Hunter than we ever saw in Uncanny X-Men. Rahne is my absolutely favorite New Mutant character-a girl who's having enough trouble with real life problems, and now she's horrified to learn she likes being a wolf more than a girl. I especially like the conversation between her and Cannonball in issue 15.
Speaking of issue 15, we finally, after five years, get the three-issue result of what happened to Kitty Pryde and Doug Ramsey after the White Queen made her confrontation to them at the end of X-Men 180. It was SOOOO lame not getting that story in Essential 5, and it's awesome to finally read it in it's entirety in this book. Suffice it to say, you won't be disappointed!
This was a great book, and no self-respecting X-Men fan wouldn't go pick this up. The one (ONE, and that's great for a graphic novel) downside to this book is that we see many references to Marvel Team-Up Annual #6, and something that happened to Wolfsbane and Sunspot in it. Dialogue pretty much tells us what happened, but it's not quite the same as actually reading the comic book. That aside, this book was perfect, and the cliffhanger at the end has me waiting in anticipation for Vol. 3 and the Demon Bear Saga! Keep cool!

i found this book very funny my friend memorized a few phrases to use on the teachers he doesnt like and best of all even if they look it up they wont know what he meant... (its complicated... kind of)

Woe to this world if Henry Beard ever had to get a desk job. He is a brilliant humorist, who, in recent years, has allowed those of us who slogged through Cicero's speeches, Virgil's Aeneid and Caesar's Gallic Wars to enjoy a hearty laugh. X-Treme Latin is the third in the trilogy of Latin for All Occasions and Latin for Even More Occasions. Now, we are finally able to learn some really useful phrases and lines that would have been unthinkable (not to mention unvocabulariable) 21 centuries ago. Where else would you find snow-boarding lingo, country music song titles, and sushi bar discussions - all in Latin. If this is not proof that the language should have been allowed its respectful last gasps, I don't know what is. Of course, those of us who are corporate desk jockeys will also enjoy Caesar's PowerPoint Presentation. Until you see this book, you don't know how you could have lived without it (probably, pretty nicely, but that is really beside the point). Nevertheless, no longer will doctors, lawyers, and the Vatican have the upper hand when it comes to clever retorts in Latin after you read this book.

This book would be funny for those just learning Latin because the English translations are funny. For those who know a fair amount of Latin the laughs are doubled as you read the English then work through the vocabulary chosen to express the sentiment in Latin! Contains countless phrases to be turned into t-shirts for your Latin geek friends and relatives

This book is great fun: a wildly anachronistic introduction to Latin for C.21. It's very small and would make a handy minor present. It also has unusual illustrations that seem appropriate.

collects mekanix 1-6 limited series + the kitty story in x-men unlimited 36. i had been really disappointed in claremont's x-treme books thus far (including the terrible savage land limited series), but this book has redeemed the whole series. in general it has all the action and adventure of claremont's best x-men stories, although it may be a little too old-fashioned for some and the artwork isn't particularly distinctive (larroca does the short story but the rest is bobillo/sosa).

the first short story shows kitty at college studying nuclear engineering while working as a bartender at night. having turned her back on the superhero life, kitty tries to find meaning in her father's death (he died on genosha). the story is nicely continued in the mekanix series which has kitty seeing a psychiatrist and standing up against an anti-mutant group on campus. the series begins with a huge explosion in her lab, while the rest of the series concentrates on the return of cassandra nova's modern day sentinel robots from south america who, as a nice twist, are machines who can evolve and thus are pretty much unbeatable. xian (aka karma) makes her reappearance early on and it's great to see the two of them kicking ass, along with a new mutant w/ TK. a bit too much of the same anti-mutant stuff, but lots of good old-fashioned claremont action.

The book is not all out action, with super heroes running around fighting the super villans. This book goes more into what living life as mutant is like. the hatered, the mistrust, the anger, it's all here. though the action is lacking, the story is interesting through and through.

The story line and the artwork are superb. Kitty Pryde has been and will always be the heart of the X-Men. This series is great both in terms of growth on her part as a character and the storyline itself is very interesting. If you like the character you'll like this series.

The book is not all out action, with super heroes running around fighting the super villans. This book goes more into what living life as mutant is like. the hatered, the mistrust, the anger, it's all here. though the action is lacking, the story is interesting through and through.

The film room is ont he expansion disc or downloadable from LucasArts on the net but those films on the campanion disc really help supplement the great text in the book.

This is a really good strategy Guide (Its Prima So Duh) for an INCREDIBLE game. X Wing Alliance: A neutral family fights for its buisness-- and its survival--and is swept up in the struggle between the Empire...... GET THIS GAME IT IS SO GOOD =)

I am not an avid player of games on the computer and certainly not action games like the one associated with this book (but I do love the Star Wars movies). My son left this book on the floor in the living room and out of curiosity I opened it. It was delightful! The middle section of the book is filled with adorable and humorous stories told by an R2D2 robot. Wonderful! The more technical sections of the book relate to the game itself and became very useful once I tried playing the game. When a book gets me to play a game with my son on the computer it says a lot. Thank you Mr. Drake and Mr. Barnett for the chuckles! (My son thanks you, too.)
M.S.

I won't repeat what other reviewers have already said. Basically, I'm in complete agreement with them. The story line is great, the hints are helpful, and the included CD with films of the missions is tremendous. I really wanted to give it 5 stars, but it omitted a few things I felt were invaluable based on the "Tie Fighter" hint book that came before. First, there was no listing of all of the possible ranks, and the point scores needed to achieve them, nor was there a listing of the possible skill levels (novice, veteran, ace, etc.) and the points necessary for those. It did not document the scoring mechanism - the bonus points earned by playing at the hard level, and the penalty for playing at the easy level. Secondly, it did not reveal the bonus goals, and point values, for those missions that offered them. Lastly, and I state this with reservation because the authors simply may not have had access to the information, there was no detail of the AI instructions that described how the computer-generated opponents would function in each mission. These instructions allowed the player to know what conditions would trigger a new type of craft appearing, or how many waves of enemy craft would be created. This information was extraordinarily helpful for winning the most difficult missions in "Tie Fighter". In its defense, however, the book did go into a lot of detail about how to set up single and multi-player skirmishes. All in all, an excellent guide, but it fell just short of being perfect.

I have this entire series up to the latest volume (this one). And I keep hoping and praying the next volume will be coming out. I really hope they didn't completely 'drop' this manga. It's absolutely a MUST READ for any CLAMP fan. It's so much more detailed than the anime which I also love. I'm curious as to how this series will end. I didn't really like how the anime ended (Kamui dying- hope I didn't spoil it for anyone). I miss reading this manga alot. It's my most favorite by them. Cardcaptor Sakura and Magic Knight Rayearth are my other favorites by them. I hope they will continue this and have the 'two' Hinoto's face eachother like in the anime.

It's because Clamp has been having trouble with their publisher, Asuka comics. Not because they're lazy or don't know how to end the story. In fact, it's because they know exactly how they want to end it that they've run into a brick wall. According to various japanese websites evoted to X along with some of the reviews on Amazon Japan, Clamp was told by Asuka to tone down some of the violence and gore in this manga. Mostly this was because of the Hanshin earthquake in 2002(?)that freaked a lot of people out, because it seemed to parallel the manga in an eerie way.
Clamp refused, rightly so, to back down and dumb down the manga storyline, especially the ending which will be extremely violent and graphic, so they are essentially at a standstill with Asuka comics as to continuing the X 1999 story.
The true shame here, is that Clamp has more art and story finished that they are not allowed to release because Asuka owns the rights. They don't even have the option of self publishing the ending themselves. So, unless they work out their differences, there's a very good chance we will not see the end of this at all.
Asuka felt that due to some customers complaints that it was in bad taste to release the manga series on the heels of an earthquake that killed so many people. Maybe after a few years more, the people will feel like reading this again and not be overwhelmed. It really is one of the best Clamp stories out there, and they should maybe reconsider the 1999 year and redo it to be 20xx so that it's not dated. Although, anything they put out at this point would be greatly appreciated.

Okay, so we've made it this far. 18 volumes down, who knows how many left? certainly not anyone overseas, since 18 volumes have been released there too! And this is not the end by any means. I predict at least one or two more volumes.....if only Asuka will get around to continuing to run X.....*writes massive amounts of letters to Asuka.*

Okay, so volume 18. We've made it past THAT SCENE, the infamous volume 16, Arashi has finally admitted her not-so-secret feelings for Sorata, the consequences of which appear (let's all pray really hard that it's just an obstacle she has to overcome), and quite a bit of I'm-not-quite-sure-what-to-make-of-it moments between Aoki and Karen. And thus we arrive at volume 18.

Features:
Nataku, ah poor Nataku. Our cover boy this volume. Throughout the series, he's been quite the strange character. But I really love him in this volume. Karen is the one who really interacts (I'm cringing at word choice, but I don't know how to put it without spoilers for the scene) with Nataku, the aftermath of which gives us a very insightful and heart-wrenching scene and dialogue between DoH Kamui and Karen about the final battle and quite possibly DoE Kamui's true intentions. Of course, this occurs about ten pages before the end of the volume, so everyone's left screaming.

Subaru-kun. Oh man, Subaru-kun. After the end of volume 17, which ended with Subaru-kun cluthching Sei-chan's (Seishiro-san or Sakurazukamori to those of you who don't adore Sei-chan)left eye (yes, i know in the Viz version, it's his right eye, but i'm one of those screaming RIGHT!!! NOT LEFT!!! about the which eyes are blind on the pair) in a jar to his chest after DoE Kamui gives it to him after a heart-wrenching (at least to Sei/Subaru shippers) talk about Seishiro-san's true wish besides dying at the hands of his loved one, we're all left crying and wondering (not really) about what Subaru-kun will do. Subaru-kun has yet another talk with DoE Kamui, equally heart-wrenching, no matter what your relationship vote, and as pretty much no surprise to anyone, Subaru-kun has two seeing eyes now. Man, Subaru-kun is sexy in all black......SEI-CHAN LIVES!! (not really, but read that scene, and you'll know what i mean)

DoH Kamui has a spine now guys! *everyone cheers* Guys, if DoE Kamui is granting everyone's "true wish", can he grant Kamui's "true wish", if we ever truly figure it out? ha. not likely. but we can dream, ne?

So, we've got huge angst-fests from just about every character who's still alive, lots of discussions about everyone's "inner wish", and evil!Hinoto commenting on just about everything, mainly the fact that there are only two kekkais left now, City Hall, and the all-important Tokyo Tower, and with her final words of "The time draws near for them to start the final battle", the volume ends.

Everyone write massive letters to Asuka in support of CLAMP, maybe if they get enough of them, they'll finally get off their soapbox and continue running the series.....

Volume 18 features some startling differences between the anime and the manga in this popular CLAMP series. Things only hinted at that occur between Karen and Nataku in the X TV series, here are flushed out and a very different outcome for the Dragon of Earth is revealed. The consequences of Arashi's night with Sorata are starting to be revealed. Kamui becomes aware of Hinoto's deceptions and speaks to Karen about it. Also, the nature of Fuma's true intentions and desires (as well as those of the now dead Seishiro) begin to surface as he interacts with the now fallen Dragon of Heaven, Subaru.

The back of the Shojo edition of this volume reads, "The balance of power is shifting. Arashi's suprising emotional confession to Sorata has unexpected consequences, and the result of Fuma's shocking gift to aimless Subaru is revealed. Unaware of Hinoto's duplicity, Karen and Aoki have followed her instructions and are heading to Ginza to face Tokyo's next threat. Will the Dragons of Heaven win again---and at what cost?"

The cover features a picture of Nataku as the Moon (XVIII) Tarot card. Fitting, since this volume deals specifically with him, as well as represents the nature of the Moon card well. For Nataku, a choice between two things needs to be made, and he has to come to terms with his own emotions, wild and childlike as they are.

The only really irritating thing about this volume, as well as for the Viz series itself, is the flipped artwork. It's hard enough when you have to look at someone clutching the wrong side of their chest as they refer to their heart, but also the change for which eye Subaru and Seishiro lost, not only being different from the TV series (which of course wouldn't need to be flipped), but also retracting from the symbolism associated with Subaru and the Hanged Man (XII) representing the sacrifice of Odin's eye for knowledge. But maybe feeling that way is a bit geeky...