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If you've read the first two books you know that Adriane and Stormbringer are really close and you know that Storm thinks she's the last mistwolf. Key word: thinks. Well, Storm isn't the last of her kind. A pack of Mistwolves drop in for a visit at Ravenswood. Then they leave taking Storm with them. Adriane has to talk to her one last time. So she gets Kara to get the Dragonflies to open the portal. Instead of just talking to Storm she gets pulled into Aldenmor! Where she meets Zach a boy who never saw another human and his griffin. Zach has some secrets that just might mean saving Storm. She also meets the sorceress, sees Fairy Glen and the fairymentals who suceed in confussing her even more. and Meets a Dragon! But will that be enough to save Stormbringer?
Rachel Roberts has created a fantastic fantasy story, weaving it together from the last two books in the Avalon: Web of Magic series, Circles in the Stream and All that Glitters. each one features an exciting climax and interesting writing style that bring the charecters of this book into real personalities and real life.
Three girls, three powers, three mages, three unique talents. Emily Fletcher, Adriane Charyde, and Kara Davies are three girls who coundn't be more different- or the same.
Emily is a animal- crazy redhead, who has a fun nature and a love of pets. Her mom owns a vet clinic, and Emily likes to help out there for fun. She also gives her mom a hand in the Pet Palace, an animal hotel, and it was three dogs, Jellybean, Biscit, and I forget the third one's name, who first lead her to the Ravenswood preserve. Emily posses a special healing magic that makes her a favorite among the creatures at the Ravenswood Preserve. Emily and her mom just moved there, so Emily hasn't made any friends yet.
Adriane is a spunky, modern girl who doesn't have any friends. She never wears anything but black, and her parents are artists that travel around the world, so she lives with her grandmother, who is the caretaker of a wildlife preserve. Adriane is the first of the three to discover the animals and the secret of the magic. She is granted with the title of "warrior' and, indeed, is strong and brave. Adriane is bonded with a lone mistwolf, Stormbringer. She is really lonely on the large peice of land which is her home.
Kara Davies is spoiled, rude, and popular, a "barbie" in Adriane's words. She is the mayor's daughter, and is interested in fashion, clothes, phones, and boys. She is caught between her popular friends, and Emily, because she Adriane don't get along very well. Her title in the blazing star, and she doesnt have a power yet. Even though the magic likes her and reaches her, she still thinks she's better than Adriane and Emily. Her ideas for the preserve are good, though, and help alot.
An elf that's been transformed into a ferret, Ozzie, is sent by fairymentals from another world, Aldenmoor, to find three human mages. He helps them discover a portal, a path between the two worlds. There goal is to live in a place called Avalon, peacfully, away from the dark sorceress who will spread the black fire and kill all in Aldenmoor.
Stormbringer, Adriane's wolf, is the last of her kind. But soon she learnd there are more mistwolves in Aldenmoor, and joins them.
Adriane is heartbroken, but she can understand her friend's decision. So secretly, she follows Stormbringer through the portal to Aldenmoor, and is amazed by what she sees. She meets a young boy, Zach, and his griffen. Her adventures never end in Aldenmoor, but soon they might- her magic lets her meet up with the dark sorceress, and it may cost her her life.
Don't be suprised- this author isn't afraid to make anything happen to Adriane, anything.
Also- for those who love this series.... visit there website, its really cool!!!
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This book is also a great reference for parents who are unfamiliar with less conventional treatments - it gives helpful descriptions of what homeopathy and other natural methods actually are, the principles for treatment they use, and why these methods work. It is written in an easy-to-use format and really opened my eyes to alternative methods of helping my child stay healthy.
The only thing I feel should be omitted from this book is the section on time-outs - I didn't buy a health book for it's parenting method, and would prefer not to be given parenting suggestions from this author. Otherwise, it's a great book.
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If we take it that the characteristics of 20th-century life are fatuity, doubt and confusion; the "barbaric fragmentation" of the self, where "impersonal matters . . . go into the making of personal happenings in a way that for the present eludes description"; a crisis of individual identity and collective purpose -- then it is Musil's astonishing achievement to make a comedy of all this.
The book begins with a baroque meteorological description; its first action is a car accident; the hero is first seen looking out of a window, stopwatch in hand, conducting a statistical survey of passing traffic. Can there be any doubt that it is a prophetic book about our world? Musil is us. The world of "global Austria" in 1913 and "the Parallel Action" -- the plan, in the novel, to claim 1918 for the jubilee celebrating the 70th year of the reign of the Emperor Francis Joseph before the Germans get it for Kaiser Wilhelm's 30th, made nonsense of by the intervention of World War I -- is our world of the United Nations International Decade for Natural Disaster Reduction and other fatuous schemes. While Musil's contemporaries Proust and Joyce chose interiority and the private world of memory, Musil is uncannily prescient about modern life, where sportsmen and criminals are indifferently idolized, where quantity sits in judgment on quality, so that an author, as Musil puts it, "must have an awful lot of like-minded readers before he can pass for an impressive thinker," where we sit and stew among "bobsled championships, tennis cups and luxury hotels along great highways, with golf course scenery and music on tap in every room." So "The Man Without Qualities" is satire; as one character says, "The man of genius is duty bound to attack." However, it is not harsh satire, nor is it sour. There is something loving about it. Musil's tone is unlike anyone else's. Partly it is the Austrian melancholy that underlies the book, the melancholy of a defunct empire, of a closed conditional: what was to happen did not. WHAT if, the novel implies, instead of expressing itself in the carnage of World War I, human folly had chosen another form? Partly it is the equable irony that plays over every character, institution and group in the book that makes reading Musil such an exquisitely flattering experience. No characters in the book escape mockery -- especially for taking themselves so seriously. All of them are skewed and partial, but none are caricatures; perhaps the book's almost complete lack of physical description plays a part here -- and yet, in spite of that, you feel you could pick them out in a lineup. They are Musil's puppets.
In his early career he wrote stories, plays and novels that had a certain popularity. But none of those prepare a reader for the expanse of "The Man Without Qualities". It took up the last two decades of his life, before he died in self-imposed exile in Switzerland in 1942, at the age of 61. It is a quite overwhelming novel, quite indeed...
A note: I do not think the recent translation compares to the original English one...it may read more breezily, but my brief comparison suggests that it loses a LOT of subtlety in trying to achieve a more colloquial, effortless, less dated narrative voice. For instance, a passage in the original English translation reading "knowledge was beginning to become unfashionable" is translated in the new as "science became outdated". Two totally different meanings, and the first is clearly closer, given the context..(in which Musil is waxing sarcastic about a silly but dangerous bourgeois "believing" fad - spookily portentious of the Hitler era). An incredibly absorbing psychological novel...if your reading time is precious...nothing will reward more deeply or stay with you longer.
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In addition to fabulous recipes, the book also showcases wonderful photography depecting life in West Texas. Sidelines feature insights into several famous Texas ranches.
Your cookbook collection shouldn't be without this book! It is one you will be sure to use often!
The historical information is good and has added color to this cookbook. It is not Texas boastful--simply well done. We plan on giving it as Christmas gifts to family members who have visited us here in Abilene, Texas.
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The one about the Pagan ghosts messing with the Christian while he was using the outhouse was very funny. If you are at all interested in the sagas, buy this book. Many of the used copies go for under ten bucks. Can't bet it.
The stories richly describe the heroism, psychology, strength, values and day to day life and decision making of the people within these tales. This is inspiring and entertaining literature which should grace the shelf of anyone interested in the study of history, anthropology, epic literature, or norse religion.
Fans of the literature of the Mediterranean region a thousand years ago, works such as "Poem of the Cid" or "Song of Roland" will notice great differences here. Unlike much of the epic poetry there, the Icelandic Sagas are written in prose. Even so, many of the tales include extensive poetry, for the Vikings admired warrior-poets.
Many of these tales read like history and cover long sequences of time. They "feel" very real. For example, in "Egil's Saga" many generations pass before it is over. Egil himself doesn't make an appearance in the story until almost midway through. The sagas are often the stories of ordinary people rather than kings and knights. But be forewarned, there is much violence here. The modern reader may be bothered by the tendency toward quick violence and sudden death as characters punish with a sudden ax to the head those who have "wronged" them and are admired for such behavior. "The Sagas of Icelanders" includes extensive introductory essays and appendices to help the reader understand this fascinating period of time and these unique peoples.
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Robert does a wonderful job of explaining each design pattern, demonstrating their use through code, and placing them within the context of his design principles. The examples are numerous and, with a few exceptions, well written.
Robert's OO design principles are real gems. His pragmatic approach combined with codifying the principles he's derived over the years makes for a very enlightening read. He articulates those things that most experienced developers have a gut feel for but have difficulty putting in to words.
My only criticism is the need for a proofing scrub. There are inconsistencies between some of the class and method names used in the narrative versus those used in the accompanying diagrams and examples. In some cases, this is a bit confusing.
The book is divided into six sections and has four appendices. There are numerous UML diagrams and many code examples in C++ and Java. If you don't know UML two of the appendices will introduce you to it.
The book takes a top down approach to presenting the material. You are first given a quick overview of agile development practices. I particularly liked the Testing and A Programming Episode chapters from this section. The second section presents five high-level design priciples that every developer should learn and apply.
Case studies dealing with a payroll system, weather station software, and testing software are then presented. Each case study section starts by discussing the design patterns that will be seen in the case study. Section Four discusses subdividing the payroll system into packages. Six principles and a set of package Dependency Management metrics (I've known them as the "Martin Metrics" for years) are covered. The book wraps up with the two UML appendices mentioned above, a comparison of two imaginary developments, and an interesting article by Jack Reeves.
In my opinion Agile Software Development Principles, Patterns, and Practices is the best OOD book out there.
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