It is a shame that this book is out of print... find a copy if you can! Although it contains very little gore or violence, it is one of the creepiest books I have ever read. It is an excellent account of the manner in which evil attracts and then enslaves the will. Krabat learns to use extraordinary power at the mill, yes, but only at the price of enslaving his being to the evil miller. The manner in which the miller dominates the wills of his workmen is truly horrifying. Since magic is ultimately about power and domination, it can only be defeated by its opposite, self-giving love. Krabat finds this salvation in the humility of a village girl.

This book is the alternative to Harry Potter that I have been looking for as reading material for my kids. It is surely creepy, but not too creepy for 12 year olds and up. The Potter books treat magic and evil as something trivial that can be toyed with impunity. The Potter kids find they can defeat the most horrifying evils with a few magic tricks and a little cleverness and courage. Evil deserves more respect than that, because it is far more dangerous and powerful, working primarily through corruption of the will. Preussler is a master at depicting this process, with the miller breaking the wills of his apprentices through pointless work. Eventually, the men are so dominated that they acquiece in their own deaths, literally digging their own graves.

This is a wonderful book. It leaves the reader with a lasting impression of the dangerousness and horror of evil, as well as the power and joy of agape - self-giving love.

I first read this book very very many years ago, in French, as a young boy. Since then I have re-read this book at least 15 times. There is something indescribable about this book, that draws me back to it even if I already know the story by heart, and even if I am not a child anymore. As I read it, I feel carried away to that time, I feel I am in the mill with them, I feel I have the same powers they do... that is how well written this book is. I think what I enjoy the most is the camaraderie that exists between the book's characters... This book teaches great lessons on trust, friendship, and self-confidence. In all my years of reading, I still have not found a book to compare to it... or that can compare with the feeling I have when reading this book.

I read this years ago, as a child and in Russian, and I still remember the feeling of genuine dread (and triumph) this story inspired. Even as I think of it now, I feel the hair rise on the back of my neck. The evil in the book does not chase after you--it waits for you to come to it, and invariably, you do. In that sense, the title THE SATANIC MILL is unfortunate--you expect the mill to be Satanic; in Russian translation, the book was called simply KRABAT (the main character's name), and you did not quite know what to expect.

The story begins as a young boy named Krabat, somewhere around present-day Eastern parts of Germany, falls asleep wandering, and dreams of ravens crowing. Their message is for him to go to the mill some miles away, to sign up as an apprentice. Which he does, of course, and soon learns that it is no regular mill. (Nor is it quite Satanic, actually--for it is not Satan who runs it). He may stay, or he may go; if he goes, he will learn magic from the Miller himself. Of course, he stays--and becomes one of the apprentices, who turn, at their Master's command, into black ravens. All peachy so far--until the cleverest (and the kindest) of all the apprentices dies an unnatural death--but not before having made his own coffin and dug his own grave.

In the (happy) end, of course, Krabat will have to choose between love and good and fairness--and magic. Between being a regular boy and a powerful Miller himself; but such a choice will not come to him easily--and he will have to fight for his life, and that of his love.

My favorite characters in the book were the idiot Yuro and the Great Pumphut, who gives the Miller a run for his money. The story is very creepy (or I think it would be for a 13-14 year old; I know it was for me), poignant and beautiful.

The introduction claims this is an extraordinary book and it surely is. It does bare some resemblance to 'The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy' but is markedly more inventive, more engaging. Partly it is because it is two stories entwined but also disengaged. And each is of great complexity - the one being a truly captivating mystery but one that progresses ever so slowly, almost catching me unawares and making me wonder - for a while - if this wasn't the first detective story, and the other being the musings of the character of the title - Tomcat Murr. Yes, a cat actually writes the story! By the end of the novel - and it was a long and slow read for me - every character was someone I felt totally at sympathy with (which is not something I could say for the characters in Tristam Shandy). ...

I found this novel a long, hard read - the ideas and interrelationships are dense. But by the end of it I loved all the characters, they are part of my family. It is no wonder that Hoffmann had such a great impact in the world of music - his writing can get right under your skin - well, it certainly got under mine. I will read this novel again. It is simply so good, so captivating...

A remarkable example of the simply astoundig gifts of Hoffmann's writing, one of the few unquestionable genius in literature's history. E.T.A Hoffmann manages to blend, with overpowering skill and boldness, fantasy, wittiness, irony, sharp political criticism and lyricism, giving to the cultivated reader an endless cornucopia of sophisticated, intelligent gladness.

Hoffmann was one of the most influential writers of the early 19th cventury. A composer and critic as well as writer of often bizarre fiction, Hoffmann set the tone for much of Romantic literature (especially the combination of the bourgeois and the supernatural), and provided the plots for operas and ballets (including Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann and Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker). This novel, which intersperses the memoirs of a cat (appropriately named Murr) with the "random pieces of wastepaper" the cat shredded out of a biography of the composer Kreisler (Hoffmann's alter ego?). In the late 20th century, we came to take the idea of intercutting two unrelated narratives for granted as a Post-modern breakdown of narrative authority. Yet here is the same device, in 1820! Just when you're emotionally invested in one story, it abruptly shifts back to the other. Moreover, Murr's "cat's eye view" of human interaction turns the entire book into a sly critique of the declining aristocrats and rising bourgeois of Europe at the time. A brilliant, compelling, often hilarious read. You'll understand why Schumann, Brahms, and so many others thought of Hoffmann as their favorite writer.

Hans Christian Andersen is one of the most famous writers of fairy tales. The Snow Queen is one of the longest tales and one of his best known. He would listen to folk and fairy tales as a child and when he grew up, he wrote some of these stories in his own words.

Anderson began writing The Snow Queen on December 5, 1844 and it was published sixteen days later in book form! His fairy tales made him famous and the stories have been translated into more than 100 languages and some have been made into films, like the Little Mermaid.

Nilesh Mistry is one of my favorite illustrators. He was born in Bombay and moved to London, England in 1975. His books include The Illustrated Book of Fairy Tales and Aladdin. I simply want to own every book he illustrates!

In the story of The Snow Queen, you will find illustrations and photography that shows the settings of the original book. This classic is again brought to life, yet never so beautifully as with Nilesh Mistry's art. Kai is whirled away by the icily beautiful Snow Queen. His playmate Gerda sets out to find him and encounters many adventures in his quest. This is a story I remember very well, yet I had to imagine the pictures in my own mind as a child.

In this book, she looks hauntingly similar to how I pictured her as a child. "The driver stood up, in a coat and hat of purest snow. She was a woman, tall and glittering. She was the Snow Queen."

The story begins with a story about the Devil who laughed at his own cleverness. He creates a mirror that sets people against one another by making people see the ugly side of things. If a splinter of glass from the mirror ever entered a person's eye, their heart would become a lump of solid ice. (quite a lesson there to be sure!)

When the "imps" decide to take the mirror up to the angels and try to make fun of them, it falls and shatteres into a hundred pieces. When "Kai" finds a grain of glass in his heart his entire attitude to life is changed. "Keep away from me!" he screeches at his friend Gerda.

Then one day he falls off his sled and sees the Snow Queen. She kisses him with her cold lips on his forehead and she takes him away through a cloud of darkness up into the sky. When Kai doesn't come home, Gerda goes looking for him. She sings to the river and drifts in a boat down a river to find Kai.

Gerda is a contrast to Kai and is loving and kind. Only when a spell is broken is evil defeated. After the story a page of where the event takes place helps make the story more interesting. Finally, we can explore the real and imaginary world of The Snow Queen.

Even as an adult, I am fascinated by fairy tales. They appeal to the child in us all and to something deep inside of us that knows, good will triumph over evil, in the end.

Family Classic Audio Books is a series of outstanding "theater of the mind" audiobook productions featuring a full cast performance. One of their latest offerings for young listeners (and their families) are Hans Christian Andersen's classic fairytale The Snow Queen adapted and with lyrics by Adrian Mitchell set to music by Richard Peaslee and wonderfully narrated by Jonathan Pryce. The Snow Queen follows young Gerda's quest (with help from some magical characters she meets en route) to rescue her friend Kai from the icy clutches of the Snow Queen.

The messages relating to lifes journey are wonderful. If you have never read this book as a child or as an adult, it is a must!

This is an important adventure as it goes into the background of certain facts that keeps getting mentioned in all other adventures like Alesia, Vercingetorix.

This book fell apart after one reading. Just a word of caution. The comic itself is good, but all of our Asterix books have fallen apart after 1 or more read-throughs. They need to improve their glue. Now I have to have it spiral bound.

The humorous depiction of the adventures of the inhabitants of one small village in Gaul, (modern day France) which defies Roman occupation in 50 BC with the superhuman power of a magic potion. Its full of beautiful visuals and excellent pun, especially the play of words in conversation and names of characters. Its gentle satire pokes fun on modern life, art and politics with caricatures of Napoleon, Shakespeare, Zorro and even James Bond.

In this adventure, the Gaulish Chief Vitalstatistix is sick-because of eating and drinking too much. He is advised by Druid Getafix to go on a diet at a famous slimming & health spa at Averne. Asterix and Obelix who accompany him, go touring Averne and get into trouble with Romans. After hearing about the trouble, Caesar decides to humiliate the Gauls by being paraded on the shield of Vercingetorix, the leader of the Gauls whom Caesar defeated in the battle of Alesia, which remains till date, the most bitter memory for the gauls.

But the famous shield is missing. Along with the Romans, Asterix and Obelix start hunting for the Shield for their procession with Vitalstatistix. The hunt for the shield ends when a slimmed down chief comes back and its indeed easy to guess who rides on the shield in the end.

Great fun to read. A must have for Asterix fans & collectors.

This is one of my favourite Asterix books.
Asterix and the Golden Sickle was first published in French in 1962 and in English in 1975.
Asterix and Obelix journey to Lutetia (Ancient Paris) to buy a desperately needed Golden Sickle for the Druid Getafix.
On the way there they easily deal with the mobs of bandits that attack them on the road , and also cannot find lodgings at Sundinium (Ancient Le Mans )
because they are there during the great-Ox-Cart race -The Sundinium 24 hours.
When they get to Lutetia they find that finding a sickle will not be so easy and that Obelix's cousin , the great sickle maker Metallurgix is missing .
To get to the bottom of this they must battle against the Lutetia underworld as well as the Roman authorities (and make a journey through the forest that will later become the Bois de Boulogne).
I wont spoil the ending but we all know that every Asterix adventure ends with a feat under the starry sky to welcome our heroes back to the village.

I have been reading about the adventures of Asterix and Obelix for years. I first learned about them while living in Europe and I still have all my copies with me back here in America. It's really hard to rate one over the other. They are all so much fun to read. All their names crack me up. I recommend any Asterix book to anyone of any age! They are all great!

Of all the stories my father read to me as a child, this was my favorite. Its endearing story of self-discovery is timeless, and not to mention quite humorous for a six year old boy. It reminds me of a time far less complicated and will thus always hold a special place of affection for me. This was the Catcher in the Rye of my Elementary years. I would highly recommend this to anyone with children looking for quite simply a flat out good story to read them that they will enjoy.

The Breman Town Musicians is a simple story that involves setting goals and team work. It has two things that children love, music and animals. What a combination!

As a 17 year childcare veteran, I highly recommmend this book. Kids today can use all the inspiration they can get. A great way to learn is to read. I read this book to my daughter when she was a child. Now I am getting a new copy for my grand daughter.

This must be it : the greatest love-story ever written. Any age ! Love can't be love without a violin playing frog...

As a teacher, this book is a great way to start discussions of difference and sensitivity with my class. A great love story for any age!

If you read Tintin, you will be aware of one adventure titled 'The Land of Black Gold'. Asterix also has to travel to the land of black gold - oil - so Getafix can continue to make his magic potion. One of the few adventures where we get to know what goes into that fabled magic potion - at least one ingredient!
This adventure is also well worth a read (no, multiple reads) for its send up of 007 and Sean Connery! Seriously, read it to believe it.
There is not much action with the romans, at least not the ones in Gaul - you get so used to them being pummelled in every adventure that when it doesn't happen you actually miss it!

I rarely read a book after I have seen the movie it was based on because it seems almost akin to reading the final pages of the book first. Why start reading a book when you already know how it ends? When the movie already gives you a mental picture of what the characters are like? When it would be impossible to read the description of a scene, a conversation, an expression, or a mood without thinking first of the director's and screenwriter's interpretation of those things?

I stand by that view, but I also suggest throwing it out the window when it comes to The Pianist.

I was so moved by the film that when I saw this book in a store, I could not help but pick it up. Once in my hands, I could not help but read the first few lines. Once I read them, I could not help but buy the book. And once I bought it, the next day and a half of my life was dominated by the chilling, horrible, graphic and compelling story.

I won't go into an overview of the plot, since my fellow reviewers have covered that territory very accurately. But I will say that this is a rare case where the value of a book is not compromised by the movie -- the story is so well told and the details (most of which the movie screenwriter was forced to leave out) are so evocative and potent that they flow over and around any preconceived notions.

The film is well done, and by all means it should be seen. But don't let seeing the movie deprive you of the pleasure of this powerful book, which illustrates once again what we have known all along -- that great literature succeeds where other art forms fall short.

In his book The Pianist: The Extraordinary True Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, Wladyslaw Szpilman writes, "A number of people escaped with their lives during the war because of the cowardice of the Germans, who liked to show courage only when they felt they greatly outnumbered their enemies." Truly and luckily, Szpilman is one among the number. From almost a million Jews population in the city of Warsaw, through "resettlement", human-hunting, and unreasonable decrees; the Germans trimmed the Jewish descent to its bone of merely twenty-five thousand in just 5 years. It is the very cowardice of the Germans, and more importantly the undying will of living that makes Szpilman's survival possible. I'm not in a position to judge the manner of which this book was written, simply because it was Mr. Szpilman's real life story and to whom I shall pay my highest tribute and regard.

The prose is written in a very calm voice which somewhat surprises me at the beginning. Later I realize that no sooner had the war ended and the Germans surrendered than Mr. Szpilman wrote this account fresh from memory. It seems to be that Mr. Szpilman was emotionally detached during the writing as he probably had not come back to his senses after the inferno. That also explained why he could accurately recall and date the incidents accordingly. The book itself is emotionally difficult to read and at some points I have to put it down, close my eyes and meditate for a minute. Few of the incidents still capture my mind and bother me after I finish reading: Mr. Szpilman's parting from his family as his parents, brother and sisters were taken away to concentration camp; the clearing of a Jewish orphanage founded by his friend Janusz who stayed his children on their final journey, the Germans (fabricated) video-clipping of Jewish men and women shower naked in public bathhouse to show how immoral and despicable the Jews were; and Mr. Szpilman's fugitive life after his escape from the Germans. Mr. Szpilman attempted suicide but the will for survival overcame the idea. His life took a dramatic turn when Captain Hosenfeld found him in the ruined city of Warsaw and spared his life. Though he never found the man, as Mr. Szpilman reminisced, Hosenfeld was the angel without whom, Mr. Szpilman, a Polish Jew, would probably not have survived at all. During his hiding days, Mr. Szpilman meditated on the music pieces and arduously maintained the hope of playing piano for the Poles again. Mr. Szpilman's account is a stunning tale of endurance, faith, and hope.

"The Pianist" is a brilliant account of the experience of WWII through the eyes of the pianist and composer, Wladyslaw Szpilman. Szpilman, who played piano on Polish radio, was in his 20s when the Nazis invaded Poland, and he tells first of his life in the Warsaw ghetto and then of his experience in hiding. The book ends with the liberation of Warsaw. It was written relatively soon thereafter.

Szpilman's sensibility is precise, observant and occasionally grimly witty while recounting the realities of the ghetto life -the typhus epidemic, the starvation, the brutal, random and casual murders by the occupying troops, and the systematic "resettlements" to concentration camps.

His careful reporting ultimately provides a catalogue of the possible responses to such a catastrophe: joining the underground, war profiteering, going mad, clinging to loved ones even if only to share their death, defiant gestures, collaboration, psychological escape like his father's playing of the violin all day. One is struck by his scrupulous concern for accuracy and his lack of indulgence in either rage or personal grief.

For those who have seen the film: I strongly preferred the book. The film adaptation spends a disproportionate amount of time on his experiences in hiding while most of the book takes place before. The portrait of life in the ghetto was, on the whole, more interesting. In addition, the visualization of the story does not make up for the loss of Szpilman's voice in the narration, which is one of the major assets of the book.

In this enthralling tale the lovable Gaulish duo hitch a ride on a magic carpet with the village bard, Cacofonix to the mystical land of India. And yet in this far away country, the natives have heard of the "village of madmen where a voice makes it rain" - a man that the Indians could use to end the long spell of drought that they have fallen under. Finally! An audience that appreciates the (incredibly annoying) vocal talents of Cacofnix! But as luck may have it, the great bard loses his voice...

With the life of a princess at stake, a race against the clock to get the bard's voice back and dodging evil fakirs at every corner, this is an adventure to remember - an episode in which the oft-neglected bard comes in to his own.

Although the book was well laid out with a funny, interesting plot, some of the laughter comes at the expense of an ethnic stereotype. As long as it is understood beforehand that life in India doesn't follow such a pattern, this book would be a whole bunch of constructive fun. For that reason alone I felt the need to drop a star from my rating.

Most Asterix titles are aimed at a teen/adult audience and they cleverly integrate many historical events in to their plots. There is also a deeper satirical presence throughout these books, and for that reason I feel that children under the age of 12 or so would not quite appreciate the humor. The violence is more along the lines of black eyes, dented armor and missing teeth, and hence should not worry a parent too much. This is another good Asterix comic - I recommend it!

Despite the fact that this comic is written by Mr. Uderzo, as well as illustrated by him, it is quite as good as any of the classics, like Asterix and Cleopatra or Asterix and the Goths. The art is up to the old standards, the pacing and flavor remain the same, and the same excruciating-yet-oddly-satisfying puns are sprinkled throughout the text. It's a rollicking, good-natured adventure from first to last.

A couple of notes here. In the first place, it IS interesting to see an Asterix comic focused on Cacophonix, rather than just sticking the bard in an introductory cameo and showing him tied up at the feast at the end. In the second place, it's good to see Dogmatix, Obelix's pet pooch, play an active and sometimes important role in the story .... okay, so I'm a dog lover, but it is good to see another character being used, rather than just being an afterthought like he was in Asterix and the Belgians (my only quibble with that excellent comic).

The only other thing that strikes me is that certain other reviewers have remarked on the "ethnic stereotypes of Indian life" that appear in this comic. I'll admit that I'm hard-pressed to see this. I suppose that to the hypersensitive, merely mentioning India or Indians makes the book some kind of ethnic horror-show of lies and stereotypical fabrications. Lighten up, guys! Other than showing the Hindus bathing in the Ganges (which you can see in any National Geographic with an article on India) and wearing Hindu clothing (which is hardly a 'stereotype,' any more than showing a businessman wearing a suit) it doesn't show much of the "Indian way of life" at all. All this talk of stereotypes boggles me, since only the most convoluted, tortured logic could squeeze any type of ethnic slur out of the story.

All in all, a fine addition to a fun and light-hearted series! :)

The Kingdom of the Ganges, ruled by the good King, Rajah Watzit, is in crisis.
Not one drop of rain has fallen during the monsoon season.
The evil Guru, Hoodunnit that if no rain falls before the end of the Monsoon season, then the Rajah's daughter, the sweet and lovely Princess Orinjade, must be sacrificed to appease the wrath of the gods.

The only hope lies in the plan by the wise Fakir Watziznehm, who has heard that in far-off Gaul, there is a bard who's singing causes rain. So Watziznehm, flies on his magic carpet to Gaul where he enlists the help of Cacofonix, Asterix and Obelix (and who wouldn't want to rescue the gorgeous Princess Orinjade)

So our friends for the first time travel by air, and after an exciting journey, in which, among other things, they engage in an aerial attack on the Scythian pirates.
When they land in India, they have to deal with various snags, before they can save the Princess.

Asterix and Obelix really get to travel and explore exotic locations. And while the India, the authors of Asterix write about in no way of course, resembles the real Ancient India, neither the other Asterix albums resemble the locations our friends visit. It is all tongue in cheek, and pokes fun at everyone, but in a gentle way.
Asterix and the Magic Carpet is great fun.