Anyone who's seen the movie knows that Gladiator has a strong story and script behind it. But, when it comes to novelizations I like to see a little extra background, perhaps more character development than you can have in the film. And that's where this book is a bit of a let down. This is a straight retelling of the screenplay with a couple of scenes that didn't make the movie, which where kind of nice to see. I remember when Commodus finds that Maximus is still alive and he was lied to when he thought he was dead, his sister tells him that the legion should know that lies should not be tolerated. In the movie, nothing really comes of that, but in the book it then later goes to a good scene where Commodus oversees the execution of those who told him Maximus was dead. It's just little touches like that.

When I read a book, I want to feel like I'm experiencing something a little different than the movie. I felt that way when reading Terry Brooks novelization of The Phantom Menace or even Raymond Benson's novelization of Tomorrow Never Dies. I really didn't get that feeling with this one.

So, in short, if you go into the book expecting the movie to be expanded on, prepare to be disappointed. However, if you really enjoyed the movie's great story as is and are expecting nothing else, this is a fast, fun read.

Maximus Meridus, the great Roman General, begins the book by fighting for the Roman Empire against the Barbarian tribe in Germania. Maximus is the emperor's most trusted General and the emperor has him in mind to be the next man to rule the Roman Empire. Commodus, the emperor's jealous heir, is outraged by his father's decision and murders his father, emperor Marcus Aurelius, to gain control of the throne. Commodus's first order of business as emperor is to make it so that general Maximus Meridas can never deceive him, so he has Maximus's wife and son slautered and then sends Maximus into exile. Devastated and Deeply wounded by the murdering of his family, Maximus finds a new way of life that makes him even stronger, emotionally as well as physically, than he was before. Maximus begins the hard and enduring life of being a gladiator. Maximus makes new friends and pays close attention to what his heart and his soul tell him while he is a gladiator. As Maximus rises to the top of the gladiator world, he plans a heroic and defiant way to gain his revenge. I really enjoyed this book. It was a gory, cut-them-up book as well as a movie. However, there was a lot more to the story than just the fighting and death. The author, Dewey Gran, did a really good job of introducing the readers to the main character, Maximus. As you read about his family getting killed, you get a big lump in your throat. It makes you feel the outrage that the main character is going through as it happens. The one thing that I didn't like about the book is that it was written to follow the movie, and I had already seen the movie when I read the book. My recommendation is to read the book, then go see the movie. There were no surprises to what was going to happen. It is a great book for anybody who doesn't mind some gory details.

Either read this book first, then see the movie or see the movie first, then read the book. I saw the movie Gladiator 3 times before I read the book, and each time I had seen the movie, I saw something new. After I read the book Gladiator, I saw the movie 2 more times. In My Opinion, the book Gladiator is a great read if you want to learn alittle more about the characters. It also gave me a better view of what each of the characters were thinking in each scene. Some of the parts of this book filled some of the gaps, that the movie didn't show. Also, the dialogue in the book was very helpful for me when I saw the movie again, because there were some words and sentences I had missed while watching the movie. This book is just as powerful as the movie, because it explains every scene with the same details, if not more. It gives me alittle more aspect of Maximus as a Warrior, General, Husband, Father and Friend, which is one of the reasons that I really enjoyed reading this book and seeing the movie.

Recently, many people and many software vendors have talked about EAI, but no one has seemed to use the word in the same meaning. I finally found what they are talked about, after I read this comprehensive book. It presents a layer model of the some different level of EAI, which helps you understand clearly.

I recently completed an EAI project and read this book to get a greater insight into this evolving field. David Linthicum gives a great overview of EAI and the various components that are involved.

It is a fast and easy read with lots of cool illustrations. I did not get bogged down at all and came away with a good high level view of EAI. For a book written over 3 years ago, my hat is off to David for writing a book that is still so current.

Good insight into the 4 main types of EAI, Message Brokers, Java, XML/XSLT, Distributed Objects, Integrating ERP's (ie. SAP, PeopleSoft), and other topics too.

I need to run an EAI project, knew nothing about EAI. Yikes! This book provides the right information, in the right order, and in a way the reader can understand it. It took me about a week to get through it and it was like taking a course in EAI. I keep the book in my desk so nobody knows how I got this smart so quick. Best $40 I've spent recently.

I'll fess up: I'm not a big fan of Star Trek novelizations, but I figured I'll give this one a try because I love old SF, Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers, Commander Cody, etc. Wow, did I figure wrong!

If this book where any slower, it would have been arrested for blocking traffic. Those old serials were renowned for their frantic pace, which this book comes nowhere near.

Further, the author doesn't seem to be sure whether he is doing a hommage to the old serials or a satire. Doesn't really matter, though, because by the time you've noticed the inconsistency, you'll have given up reading this...book.

Star Trek Voyager presents "Captain Proton: Defender of the Earth" is pretty much half of a good idea. What we are supposed to have here are the "original" Captain Proton stories that Tom Paris and Harry Kim have so much funny playing with on the holodeck. But in trying to be too much of a parody of the old pulp science fiction stories what we get is more cute than clever. The book has photographs of Tom and Harry dressed up as Captain Proton and Buster Kincaid when what it really needed was more Fifties Sci-Fi art in the manner of the cover, whereupon Captain Proton is trying to rescue Constance Goodheart from the clutches of one of your proverbial Bug-Eyed Monsters. Included in this volume are the complete "featured book-length" Captain Proton novel "Children of the Glass" by D. W. "Prof" Smith, Chapter 2 of "Death of the Patrol" by Ray Hamil, and a pair of short stories focusing on Constance Goodheart and Ace Reporter Buster Kincaid. There are also a few special features examining Mercury as one of "The Planets of the Future" and Seattle as an example of "The City of the Future," along with "Letters to Captain Proton." Instead of a look at the Sandmen of Mercury I think it would have been more interesting to do a takeoff on the predictions science fiction had half-a-century ago as they relate to the Star Trek universe. Because the stories follow the traditional serial/cliffhanger approach, they get a bit redundant and repetitive at times, which means they end up dragging a bit. Of course, I have to admit it is difficult to really do a nice parody on a style of writing with which a vast majority of the reading audience is totally unfamiliar. Besides, I think I prefer Hamil's version of the good Captain to that of "Doc" Smith, even though I know it is heresy to suggest such a thing. For Voyager fans this book is worth a look, but probably not a second one.

A number of other reviewers have stated that the Captain Proton character is based on either Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers. They are incorrect. In reality the character is the Republic Pictures "Rocketman" character who appeared in 4 Republic Serials under the names Jeff King aka "The Rocketman", Larry Martin, and Commando Cody (twice). The Serials were respectively King of the Rocketmen, Zombies of the Stratosphere, Radar Men from the Moon, and Commando Cody - Sky Marshal of the Universe (which was not realy a serial but a 12 Episode TV Show/Story Arc [ie: the episodes did not end in cliffhangers]).

OTOH: Chaotica WAS based on Flash Gordon's arch enemy Ming the Merciless.

The Robot (who appeared in the Star Trek Episodes [BTW: there were 3 not 2 two where were named - the 3rd was the flashback one about the Water-planet and Paris's Demotion]) is the "Republic Robot" who appeared in a number of Republic Serials including Zombies.

Twenty pages in, there were enough strikes against War Dragons that I doubted I would enjoy it. The whole "Captain's Table" concept turns out to be misleading; there's no time warp that allows Kirk/Picard/Sisko/Janeway to tell stories to each other - even though a look at each cover strongly implies it. The frame story involving the Captain's Table bar is weak and unconvincing. Kirk's and Sulu's stories are told in voices that do not sound like Kirk or Sulu; nor are they told in ways we'd expect a story to be told at a bar. Too much introspection, too much detail.

And yet War Dragons is one of the better Star Trek books out there. The plot structure is intriguing. Kirk's and Sulu's stories occur twenty years apart and are told in alternating chapters until they converge for the last third of the book. Each story has plenty of suspense and action and, once one puts aside the frame story, are well-written. There are excellent Trek moments, including a charming description of the beginning of Kirk & Spock's working relationship, and a tasteful cameo by Tuvok. Also interesting is the idea that Sulu pegged Chekov to be his first officer; Graf successfully explains Chekov's eventual return to the Enterprise.

Not great literature, of course, nor great science fiction (read Harry Harrison's West of Eden for a masterful treatment of reptilian cultures that speak with physical movement as well as verbal cues). It is, however, very good Star Trek - amusing, entertaining, and satisfying.

I really enjoy the founding premise of this series; the stories told in the first person narrative of the captains themselves. However, I found the bar interludes a little cheesy. I find it hard to believe that in this particular time frame a Klingon or a Gorn would find themselves at a Federation outpost, especially Utopia Planetia.

I was a little disappointed by how Sulu was characterized, a little too soft for my taste. Specifically, all that business about the lizard he found in the gardens. I haven't found a story beyond those of canon, yet, that has really captured the Sulu we know and love. The characterization of Kirk was pretty on. What really halted me on the story was in the characterization of Chekov. A lot of his character development is based on a faulty premise. The premise being that the crew of his first command post, The Reliant, had been killed during the Kahn incident. That is completely UNTRUE. It is KNOWN that Khan did not kill the crew of the Reliant, he stranded them down on Ceti Alpha V. After the incident Kirk returned with the Enterprise to pick them up. I might as well have been reading unlicensed fan fiction. The whole mess developed Chekov in to someone he shouldn't have been.

That part aside, the book wasn't bad. One of the cool items was the FL-70. A neat piece of technology, wouldn't mind seeing it again. A decent plot, however, not so much a page turner as others I've read. I hate to come off as a total Trekkie crank, but someone had to do it. The book is worth a read if you are bored or are delving into the whole Captain's Table series as a whole.

The first "Star Trek" novel to be told from the first person perspective through the eyes of captains James T. Kirk and Hikaru Sulu is a treat to read. Each character takes turns telling his story and it works rather well. Graf has captured both captains well and getting to hear their takes on things is a real treat. The best part is the first half of Kirk's story that deals with his first days as captain of the Enterprise and the building of the legendary crew as a unit, working together. After that story ends, it's a rather pedestrian affair to stop insterstellar war in the movie era. However, based on the strength of Kirk's narrative in the first half of the novel, I highly recommend it.

Perhaps not quite as good as the first book, but I loved the way if followed through with the story and made it a continuing series. I've not read the other two yet, but soon will. I highly recommend reading book 1 and 2 of this Invasion series. You'll love it if you're a Star Trek fan.

I have read many of the Star Trek TNG books and I find this one to be the best. Smith and Rusch always make a really good book when they team up, just like Star Trek's "The Rings of Tautee". The drama and suspense of this book is out of the world. All the characters are well rounded and fit everything that the TV series made them out to be. But I must admit something, I read this book series out of order. I have since borrowed the other books in the series and will read them in order, this time. I will make a review of them afterwards

this was only the second TNG book I have read. I liked it a great deal and it was a perfect followup to the First Strike. The Furies are great enemies, and Kirk and his crew are at their best in confronting the threat. The pace is blinding in speed, the plot tight and well thought out and the characterizations well done. If you can get it (I noted it is out of stock) read it, but after First Strike

It's very interesting, this Captain's Table series, in that each book begins in the bar, but then basically goes the way of the author who wrote it.

I was at first annoyed with all the interruptions (both from 'beings' in the bar listening to Sisko tell the story and by Sisko's own thoughts), because that's not how the other books are written. Once I got over myself about it and just let myself fall into the story, I was fine. In fact, I found that one alien darned amusing.

There were a couple of editing rough spots, but I dismissed those because it's just silly to bother. This is a paperback novel, not brain surgery.

The Mist are an odd bunch, and you'll just never guess where they live.

Once again I can say, the Captain's Table bar is the perfect backdrop for fine Trek storytelling.

I really, really felt like I was sitting at the same table as Capt. Sisko, listening to his tale with this story. The suspense is well-timed, the characters and plot are vivid, and the whole story *moved* with a pace that I found hard to put down -- even for the season finale of DS9. I even found myself craving some nachos and jambalaya when I finally put the book down...and feeling sorry for that little gecko...

Of the six Captain's Table books I'd have to say this one comes in a close second to Peter David's "Once Burned." I say this because I feel that the character of Captain Sisko is one of the best character's in the Trek universe.
Although there are a few minor inconsistencies in the story, they are not too distracting. As it happens, a lot of the Trek books released have had them and I do my best to ignore them. Afterall, the books are not canon.
"The Mist" is an extremely well told story about a race that lives close to DS9 and are for all intents and purposes, cloaked or in another dimension that is only one step removed from the Federations. What a wonderful concept! In my opinion, the author's captured Captain Sisko's personality really well. The character interactions in the bar were particularly good. Sotugh is a well done Klingon. The Quilli besting a Klingon was really funny as well. Overall a great story and thank you very much to the author's for this one.

By The Book is the first original novel produced for the latest installment in the Trek franchise--Enterprise. And for a first original novel, By The Book works fairly well.

Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch do a good job with the characters and capture them well. One of the highest compliments that can be paid to a novel based on a TV series is that you can actually hear the characters speaking the lines the authors give them--and that is very much the case here. Smith and Rusch really do deserve a lot of credit for making the characters come alive with such a flair.

That said, the plot is fairly standard. Archer and company encounter a new planet where there are two races--one in the northern hemisphere the other in the south. Archer blows first contact with both races due to his enthusiasm and things go downhill from there. There's not much action, but there is great deal of debate about the first contact and then the implications. While this novel is a fairly short Trek book--about 250 pages--it does feel a bit longer due to the constant debate over the actions (or lack thereof) and should or should they not be taken. Again, I understand the authors were limited based on the background material given--at the time of writing there could only have been three or four episodes of Enterprise aired. However, it does drag down the book a bit. Also, the authors are trying to introduce the idea that the Prime Directive is needed and why it is. Unfortunately, it's done so obviously and so often that it doesn't pack any great surprise or revelations.

So, if you want a book that gets the chracters right and tells a decent story, this is one to try. If you're looking for something that is a groundbreaking first original novel for a Trek series, I recommend Peter David's DS9 novel, "The Siege."

Enterprise: By the Book is a good buy for any Enterprise fan; however, it does have its downfalls. The book focuses too much on the RPG (role playing game) then it does the actual conflict. The book includes log entries from Archer as the conflict they are involved in peaks and descends. These log entries make Archer seem impatient and incompetent for a Star Fleet Captain, much less of the Enterprise. Although this is the beginning of their trip it's supposed to be after Broken Bow, maybe a couple months later, his relationship with T'Pol is terrible. Maybe it's because we're further in the Enterprise season and we know that his relationship with her gets better, but the relationship he has between T'Pol is like a brother and sister: always fighting. This book is an easy read and is worth your time if you are an Enterprise fan.

I picked up "Enterprise: By The Book" this morning and finished it a few hours later. While the format is deviant from most Star Trek books the style is smooth and flowing, urging the reader on. Smith & Rusch focus their tale on Crewman Cutler (who appeared in a single episode of Enterprise this season) as well as other characters not often exposed on the show itself. This is at first frustrating (we all want to hear about our favorite main characters not the sideline ones, right?) the method actually ends up rather agreeable.

The only difficulties with the story itself were the Captain's Logs (Choppy, abrupt and rather un-Archerish in my mind...indeed Archer is portrayed rather unflatteringly throughout) and the RPG subplot. The subplot (a RPG game between four low rankers) is complimentary to the story, in fact it is far more relevant then most Trek novel or episode subplots are but is, none the less, somewhat awkward. There's just something uncomfortable about 4 military (that is, after all, what Trek is...military but more likeable) professionals sitting around playing an RPG in the mess hall.

Regardless the book is, all for all, worth a read and an acceptable first step into the freeform Star Trek: Enterprise world. A note to those who are tempted to put it down after the first few chapters, push on it's worth the trip.

I was sorely disappointed in this latest Voyager book. The writing itself was competent--I didn't feel like I was reading some overzealous teenager's fanfic (fan-written fiction). But the book suffered from the same problem that makes so many other Star Trek books dull reading: the characters are one-dimensional and serve only to advance the plot (which wasn't all that exciting to begin with). They had no meaningful personal attributes, no thoughts or interactions that made us smile and say "ah yes, that's EXACTLY how she/he is!" To give you an idea of how lifeless they were, here are some of the highlights: Janeway drinks a lot of coffee. Tom Paris sweats during a particularly difficult navigation routine. I'd name off the other crew's contributions but I don't even remember them. There is the requisite exchange of fire with other ships, and the standard degradation of shields down to some perilously low level. Warp drive goes out, which is pretty much what we expect since it happens in almost every episode. One thing that did make me sit up and take notice was the ridiculous stereotyping of the aliens. The alien good guys looked very much like humans, and were beautiful. The alien bad guys were reptilean and ugly. Hmmmm.

Star Trek Voyager books don't have to be like this. Many of the others in the series are rich and complex, focusing as much on the people as on the "action." "The Murdered Sun" and "The Black Shore" are two examples that come to mind. I've kept a small set of Voyager books that have this depth of characterization and/or absorbing story; "Death of a Neutron Star," however, is making a quick trip to the library book sale.

While not being one of the best "Voyager" books, this is defintely not among the worst of them. In fact, it was pretty refreshing in that it wasn't the normal "Voyager" book which is typically based on the old "We need food from this planet and the bad guy's won't let us get to it." That said, I rather enjoyed the book, despite what some of the other reviewer's stated about the author focusing too much on Janeway's enjoyment of coffee and the ever present technobabble. Star Trek in and of itself is based a lot in technobabble, no big deal.
In my opinion, this was an extremely well done first foray into the Trek world by Eric Kotani. Hopefully we'll see some more trek stories from him in the future. Overall a well done book and I would recommend it to anybody who reads trek. Thank you to author for a good read.

OK, maybe that's a little extreme, but... This book is nothing but poor stereotypes and cliques. The Quavok (bad guys) are particularly annoying, I mean everything in their language starts with Q and that seems very childish. The Q race was understandable because they have a comedy- centered attitude. Janeway is constantly either thinking or talking about coffee. Again, annoying! In fact, the first ten or so chapters ALL contain references to coffee! This book makes Janeway out to be obsessed with coffee. The aliens are stereotypical, the bad guys ugly reptiles, not like in "Seven of Nine" or "The Dragon's Honor" where the reptilian aliens are graceful, but deadly or so, and the good guys are the unusually beautiful humans so common in the TOS trek series. Speaking of Seven, in this book she lacks the depth and complexity her character requires, and comes of sounding like the original Enterprise's monotonous know-it-all computer. And another recycled Voyager plot, the "Oh no, a terrible spatial anomaly threatens Voyager again!" like we don't get enough of this from the TV show. The writing style is boring and childish. If you want a good Voyager story, read "The Black Shore" or "Ragnorok".

As an advanced programmer, I must say that I'm disappointed that the level of information provided is not as deep and meticulous as I had hoped.

Additionally, both the index and the overall organization of the book leave much to be desired.

The book, however, is a valuable reference for beginning and intermediate programmers. It explains the STL (Standard Template Library) from the ground up, explaining when, where, and why you would use any particular aspect of the STL, how to use the STL, and sufficient examples to understand correct syntax. This book also contains a detailed section of applying the STL to real-life programming examples. Furthermore, the book also contains a comprehensive reference guide for quick and easy access to pertinent information about STL aspects you frequently use and modestly comprehend.

If you are a beginning or intermediate programmer, this book is worth adding to your collection.

Just a few more points, to refute earlier incorrect reviews:

One reviewer said: "For instance, in the detailed presentation of sets and multisets, nowhere is it mentioned what the difference between the two is. You have to go to the "Overview of STL components" to get the information."

This is incorrect: the authors cover the difference numerous places (and most people can guess what the difference is). See for example pages 118 and 151 (the latter being the section explaining set, multiset, and map).

Another reviewer said: "...it fails to mention several large chunks of STL that you could immediately use, including the functionals and some very useful pieces (strings (with iostreams), bit sets, fstreams, locales, limits, etc)."

This also is incorrect and misleading. Most of the items above are not part of STL, but rather the standard C++ library, so of course the authors don't discuss them. Also, presumably by "functionals" the reviewer means function objects, or function adaptors. Both of these are well coevered in the book.

Another review stated: "If you look for some concrete examples then this book isn't it."

This is hard to accept: almost every page of this book contains carefully chosen example code illustrating the point at hand. Even a little imagination should suffice to adapt it to your particulars.

And finally: "While this book might help you use STL containers in straightforward circumstances, it doesn't contain enough theory to give you mastery of the topic."

Also hard to accept. This book covers as much theory as there is to present; there aren't any higher level ideas than those presented here. For example, they take great pains to explain why there is a separation of algorithm and data structure, and to illustrate the pivotal role iterators play in organizing the library, to ensure (mostly) that the right algorithms are used with the right containers. If one looks for even deeper meaning, well, most of us don't know any, so feel free to write a book on it when you find it.

Seems like people are really biased against this book. Again, it's a really good introduction to the fundamentals. Sorry to see it get trashed.

I'm astonished by the abundance of IMO very ignorant reviews of this book. 4.5 stars might be the ideal rating, but given all the other excessively negative reviews, I opted for 5 rather than 4.

This is a lucid, very well-written book, with plenty of sage advice. It introduces the concepts gently, but without excessive redundancy or hand-holding. The examples are well chosen, and illustrate their points (although in some places, there is a bit much duplication for my taste, but that too serves to illustrate the uniformity of STL). This book is clear, to the point, and covers most of the essential subjects amply (it's s bit weak on storage management, but as the authors mention, rarely will you need to write your own allocators). And it includes a minimal - but perfectly functional and adequate - reference section. The presentation is well organized, and procedes at a moderate pace.

As one who has written a couple data structure libraries of his own, and who has taken to heart (in spite of C++ being a mess of a language, and templates being fundamentally a kludge) the sophistication of STL, I can safely say it incorporates many ideas that other programmers need to know, and probably do not appreciate fully. This book does a good job explaining some of the deeper motivations behind STL's design. As they say, a true master makes it look simple, and that's what both the authors of STL and this book achieve.

It is true that the book is slightly out of date, but not with regard to the fundamentals. All of the key ideas you learn from this book apply to the latest revisions and any programmer worth his weight in, uh, salt can easily figure out the minor differences.

I recommend this book to those who like insight, and succinct clarity, and who eschew the typical computer book, full of facts, hype, and verbosity, but little illumination, progressing by baby steps. This is a good solid book that will get you up to speed quickly on all the important ideas in STL, and many of its basic usage idioms.

...[This] book needed a lot of work. One thing I found very irritating was the continual use of And or But to start sentences, very bad practice according to what I learned in my school days. I also noticed that AK-47 M-16 blunder, made me think that the writers (assuming that Frakes actually DID do any writing)have no experience with weapons. I thought the assaults against the Klar were also weak as well. If you really want to read the book try the discount section of your local bookstore, I got it in hardback for 40 cents less than the quoted paperback price.

The premise of the book is worthy of the "Roswell" TV theme. It is what it is and it's doing what it wants. It's science fiction set in the present with present-day characters acting and reacting to a situation. I would almost bet the book is the basis for a TV series or movies and the main character is centered around the style of acting Frakes used in STNG. Thus, you have another character Frakes can portray. (Sort of like John Wayne could only be one type of tough guy so all his successful movies were about the one type of guy.)

Aside from the above, the premise is good, the action is thin, the characters have some depth and will develop more. There could easily be a more complex plot but this one introduces the idea well enough. The book should not go down in history as a best seller but it captures the 'western' spirit of survival that exists in the Pacific Northwest. It really is a quick read and worth the time, especially if you like the Roswell TV program's base idea. It could be a good TV show but keep it out of the theaters.

As a native Oregonian and a former resident of Portland, I must add that the fictional mayor of Portland in no way resembles the current mayor. Our Eugene, Oregon ghostwriter is politically very smart.

Writing may not be Frakes' greatest talent, but he is a great storyteller. I came here looking for a sequel and am disappointed to not find one. Even though the writing is not the best, I very much enjoyed the story. As for the few mistakes in the book, well even the Great Stephen King makes them; that's why they have editors, but I guess sometimes the editor needs an editor. The book is a good read and the quotes at the beginning of each chapter are intriguing.