All I can say is wow.
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!!!

If you have read the other Avalon books, you'd know the drift of the story but this is like the best book in the series! It is definetly the most interesting and I love it! It is written well and it made me get watery eyes when Adriane is getting attacked...It is the best because it is about Adriane and Storm and they are my faves!
-=Bye!
(Be sure to read my review on 'The Sight' By David David Clement-Davies!)

This book is my apsolute FAV. I love it.
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?

May be the best of Wilson's book for summing up his version of how the mind works. An excellent integration of diverse sciences, complete with many experiments you can do yourself. Also try Prometheus Rising, and Coincidance.

This book follows in the footsteps of Wilson's earlier work, _Prometheus Rising_, with an emphasis on language, psychology, and physics. It makes the intelligent or enlightened reader to smile in acknowledgement; it forces the average to change. How much depends on their ability to do so. Some of the material seems incomplete (with little attention to physics' Anthropic Principle), but in all fairness, one can only go so far before one has written several books, and Wilson certainly has. More careful and insightful than _Prometheus Rising_, it offers fans of Wilson his best work, and serves as a great introduction to his older and newer ideas.

Maybe this is what Clinton was referring to in his infamous linguistic/legal moment before the Star Inquisition. All joking aside, this book is a MUST read for anyone wanting to start getting rid of the semantic spooks in their psyche. This undefinable book of wisdom that weaves a coherent thesis out of such diverse topics as semantics, psychology, physics, model agnosticism and subtle humor makes clear better than anything out there just how much our perceptions and behavior are controlled/influenced by embedded language biases. Just learning to write in e-prime (english without the word "is") makes the book a worthwhile experience. Quantum Psychology opened me to a whole new way of thinking and perceiving, and that is something I can say but very few other books. I truly had no idea the robotizing effect language has on our behavior and perceptions--its not a discovery you can be "told"--you must experience it through the exercises in this book. You owe it to yourself to check this one out.

Have no illusions about this book -- Bill Barnett delivers on his promise! We tend to make life more complicated than necessary! Bill strips away all the fluff and gets to the point on what works in the real estate investing business. This book is
truly a manual to get you on the road to wealth.

for this wonderful book. It is written in a light and entertaining way, I didn't want to put it down until I was through. Each chapter contains valuable warnings about pitfalls from the school of hard knocks which are also repeated at the end of each chapter for easy review. There are many great concepts about real estate investing out of which I particularly like the ABC offer strategy and the lockbox idea. To launch your career in this exciting business, the book concludes in a 120 getting started plan with lots of hands-on assignments.

Best Real Estate Book I've Ever Read.
Two Thumbs Up, a must read for any Real Estate Investor.
Thanks Bill
Sam

It was upon having a conversation at school five years ago, that a friend suggested Robert Frost to help (form the basis) of one of my assignments. When I asked how he knew of him, my friend replied; "oh.., he's often quoted on TV" and I believed him (to this day I've never heard him mentioned). So I've come to guess that my old friend uses Frost as I occasionally do. To relax.

For it was upon going through a rough time that I again borrowed the complete works of Frost and a few other poets to get me through. And so inspired I was that I began trying to write some of my own. But as Frost had initially drawn me in with his simple, eaasily understood verses, he just as quickly lost me out the other side. But why I write this review is because I admired Frost's ability to start writing so descriptively so late in life, about man, life, decisions, the enviroment and even a wall! (ha! ha!).

So if you have never read poetry before, or you just wan't some new material. Buy Frost's complete collection. Oh and buy it from Amazon.com!

Robert Frost was and is America's greatest poet. Excepting, perhaps, W. B. Yeats, he may be the greatest poet to write English in the twentieth century. (To me, it's a toss-up.) To read this volume systematically or desultorily is to become convinced of that. But Frost is, above all, accessible, so the casual reader may not appreciate the difficulty of what he does. Like much of the greatest art his looks easy, even inevitable.

All of Frost's poems are here, plus his two dramatic Masques. When this book first appeared (in 1969) it caused a furor: the editor, it was angrily asserted, presumed too much. He dared to clarify - inserting a hyphen here, excising a comma there. That furor has since died down, as people realize that he did not do away with the sacred texts (any emendation was noted), but simply performed his job as editor. He regularized spelling and the use of single and double quotes (though not Capitalization, which can legitimately be thought of as integral to the poet's expression (think of e.e. cummings!)), and corrected other obvious errors. The notes give the published variants for each poem, so if you wish you may make your own call on some of these finicky issues.

The paperback and hardcover editions are identical, except for the covers, of course. I would, however, buy the hardcover. After all, you will be reading this book for the rest of your life. It is a beautifully-built volume, of an easy size and heft for use, with understated appealing typefaces and an exemplary design. Put out by Frost's long-time publisher, this is one of the few essential books of American literature.

After reading the first few poems, I am very glad that I took the time to order this book. It is a collection of many beautiful and intriguing poems that were written by one of the most famous poets of all time. Frost paints a picture of a certain nature scene in each poem that he writes. He displays nature and the earth as beautiful places that are filled with purity and gifts of creation. If you have a great respect and an obsession with nature's great beauty, this anthology of the writings of Robert Frost will give you a deeper meaning and understanding of the world around us. This book will explain what nature really is and how nature should be percieved by all. I highly suggest this book!!

As an aspiring young filmmaker, the first thing I was told to do was go out and get a copy of the Filmmaker's Handbook. Imagine my surprise when I found out that the book had been updated in March of 1999, and that now it included all kinds of information about the digital age. I have learned so much from this book. The book goes over the entire film process, and does it in a straight-forward manner. It is a great start for beginners, yet it includes a rich amount of information for the professional. Anyone who has ever thought about a career in film really needs to get a copy of this book. Written in a manner that neither patronizes nor confuses the reader, the Filmmaker's Handbook is the best book I have skimmed or read on film, and believe me, I've looked at a lot.

The media has traditionally been an extremely specialized, not to mention prohibitively expensive, field. With the introduction of digital production and editing, however, the material costs and requirements for video and audio production is decreasing rapidly, with quality levels already remarkably high and increasing annually.

This book provides a superlative introduction and overview to all of the key subjects in producing a lower- to higher- budget film. Though the title makes reference to the digital age, analog equipment is discussed when pertinent as well, and compared to existing and emerging digital technologies.

The technicalities of optics for lenses is fully detailed, as are filters, microphones, stands and other equipment, recommendations for each field of what emergency supplies to have on hand, editing and previewing equipment, software, to name but a few of the countless topics covered. A truly comprehensive and detailed work.

Anyone with a serious interest in this field can learn from this book the fundamentals needed to get started in extremely high quality digital production. Given the materials and information provided, the cost of the book is truly remarkable. Any reader will complete any section feeling like an expert on the subject. One does not have to begin with experience in the digital arena, however, nor even in video production. Even as technical as this work is, it leads the reader very carefully through all which is pertinent and necessary.

A single possible minor shortcoming, is the description of the process of digitizing analog recordings or an actual/ambient environment, into a digital format. One totally unfamiliar with digital concepts may find the analogies provided a bit difficult to follow. It provides enough of a foundation, however, that an interested reader can seek out more technical and/or accurate descriptions of this process. A very small criticism to an otherwise truly excellent work.

I'm getting into film production but don't have time to attend a real film school. And I'm basically interested in the mechanics of filmmaking - so this book The Filmmkaer's Handbook is perfect.

It gets down to all the basics of filmmaking. If you want to know what a line producer does, how light meters work and the ratio of film stock to projection, this is the book for you.

It's thick but easy to read with nice B&W illustrations. As a novice and somebody who wants to know how a movie is made this book is perfect. I was really impressed by how simple and to the point this book was on the mechanics and made it an easy read. I will keep in hand at all times for reference as well!

Very well done and exactly what I was looking for in a filmmaking book!

This is another classic Robert Ludlum thriller with all his hallmarks - unexpected twists, flashes of imagination, action and suspense and well-researched characters, locations and politics! IN this one, Michael Havelock, a former CIA/VKR(Russian special intelligence) double agent witnesses his girlfriend Jenna Karras murdered on Spain's Costa Brava. Then some time later, on a field assignment in Rome, he spots her at a railway station and decides impulsively and obsessively to track her down. The trail leads to France and a secret airbase near the Italian border where he sees Jenna again in the hands of some cold-blooded terrorists. His search reaches the US where a top-secret government operation is forming that could change the balance of world power as we know it for ever . . . who is behind this operation? Often very similar to THE POWER and THIS UNITED STATE by Colin Forbes, the villain is surprising . . .and who is the manipulative PARSIFAL character, the final piece in the jigsaw puzzle, or mosiac if you will! Well worth reading, but be warned, it is very long! But hard to fault!

This book represents Ludlum at his best, bar none!!! My only problem with this book is the dialogue which strikes me as unrealistic. I found myself repeatedly thinking that people do not speak to each other as the characters do in this novel. Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the plot development and, well, just about everything else. In fact, I have read this book at least ten times. For my money, I would strongly recommend this novel and the following: The Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy, Scarlatti Inheritance, Aquitaine Progression, Matarese Circle, The Holcroft Covenant and The Gemini Contenders. Please, PLEASE, avoid the following: The Matarese Countdown, The Road to Omaha, The Scorpio Illusion and The Bourne Ultimatum.

One feels almost shame in enjoying the works of Robert Ludlum. The dialogue steps out of the Stone Age onto the paper (the phrases "my friend" and "spell it out" are used overgenerously), the melodrama is suffocating (ditto the words "madness" and "insanity", always in italics and always followed with an exclamation point), and the characters are photocopies of each other from book to book. Meanwhile, the good-guy spy is over-romanticized, the stuff of a fourteen year-old girl's wildest fantasies. The problem is, Ludlum is so darned fun to read. And, as his novels go, The Parsifal Mosaic is among the best. This might be directly related to the sky-high body count, but it's Ludlum: get used to it. I felt almost guilty the first time I acknowledged to myself that the bloodbath trick--someone getting killed every four pages or so--never gets old. No one said this guy was Tolstoy. He's not even John LeCarre or Frederick Forsyth. But nor are they Robert Ludlum. If you want pragmatism, realism, and a spy hero who gets his hands dirty, eats corn flakes, and drives a Taurus, then read LeCarre (the master of characterization) or Forsyth (the master of the political thriller). But none of their work gives you quite the same thrill as sitting down with Robert Ludlum...

...while he blows away five hundred people with machine guns.

Shortly after reading Curtis Peebles' "Shadow Flights," I saw "The Price of Vigilance" on the shelf at my local bookstore. Recognizing the doomed C-130A '528' on the front cover, I could not resist picking the book up.

I was concerned that the introduction of the book began by discussing the recent EP-3E incident near Hainan, PR China, fearing the book was a cheap attempt at capitalizing on recent events. I am glad to say that I thought wrong.

The book is an incredible compendium of incidents between U.S. reconaissance aircraft and Soviet fighters. Every incident is described and analyzed in exacting detail. Even the EP-3E-focused introduction is intensely researched and well thought out. I was impressed that Tart and Keefe were able to acquire internal Soviet documents detailing the incidents and the U.S. reaction, which provides fascinating and fresh viewpoints from which to view these provocative moments of the Cold War.

As mentioned, the introduction focuses almost exclusively on the April 2001 collision involving a U.S. Navy EP-3E ARIES II ELINT aircraft and a Chinese J-8II fighter. The first half of the book details most every hostile incident between U.S. recce crews and Soviet 'defenders,' a history of U.S. aerial SIGINT and COMINT since WWII, and a history of the USAF Security Service, which was responsible for much of the airborne electronic intelligence gathering along the Soviet border regions. The second half of the book details the shootdown of an USAF C-130A on 2 September, 1958 over Soviet Armenia, and its repercussions. The wayward C-130, tail number 60528, lost with all 17 aboard, became a symbol of the risky aerial ELINT game played in the 1950s and 1960s along the Soviet border regions.

Though not as friendly to the causal reader as "Blind Man's Bluff," to which it has been likened, "The Price of Vigilance" is a fascinating look at a shadowy and deadly aspect of the Cold War that is a must-read for anyone interested in the Cold War, the history of surveillance, or someone looking for a real life spy thriller.

"The Price of Vigilance" by Larry Tart and Robert Keefe is noteworthy for it makes us aware of not only the need for such flights but how costly some are in human sacrifice. The recent Chinese incident is likened to many such episodes during the Cold War, although many were not so lucky and paid the supreme sacrifice; such as the crew of 17 of the C-130 turbojet shot down September 2, 1958 near the Turkish-Soviet Armenian border. My brother M/Sgt George P. Petrochilos was one of the 17 who perished that day.

The authors also in their informative way present the technology and terminology in a clear and comprehensible manner. When one reads this book they can readily understand the need for intelligence surveillance flights. I heartily recommend reading "The Price of Vigilance."

Theresa Petrochilos Durkin

From the hearts of two "been there, done that" experts obsessed with presenting a masterful recital of a heretofore mysterious Cold War tragedy, comes a story chock-full of indisputable evidence of what actually happened to 17 American patriots at a critical period in Soviet-American history. Superbly interwoven from contemporary international tensions of U.S. Navy EP-3E's encounter with Communist Chinese fighter jets to four-decade-old obscurity of U.S. Air Force C-130's tragic shootdown by Soviet MiGs, this work focuses on American intelligence-gathering airborne platforms and personifies those unsung heroes who selflessly put their lives on the line to maintain American freedom. Presents a candid revelation of true-to-life events in the past with enlightening postulations of the rationale for this obscure incident, aptly amplified by the excruciating personal heartaches suffered by those innocent victims--the families--of such a senseless tragedy. Absolutely a monumental tribute to 17 "Silent Warriors" who made the ultimate sacrifice and to their loved ones who were left adrift in wonderment for half their lives. God bless each and every one of them! This book should excite now- and future-generation readers to explore and understand historical events so that they can more fully appreciate the extraordinary "Price of Vigilance" in preserving the American way of life. Regrettably too many had to wait too long for the "true story" of this dasterdly historical event. My sincere gratitude to the authors and publisher for their untiring efforts in bringing this meaningful expose' to readers everywhere.

For the price offered ($16) this is an amazing bargain. For the cost of two Penguin translations (2 Sagas) you get 9 sagas and multiple tales. Speaking as a person that bought the hardback the paperback is not missing anything as far as I can tell by comparing tables of contents. However, earlier criticisms that it is missing some very classic sagas such as, _Njal's Saga_ though valid should not deter you from getting this book. I will conjecture that the length of those definitive sagas were too much to put into a one volume collection.

Get the book - no shelf should be without the sagas and it is a thrifty choice.

The collection that both the hardback and softback are taken from is a large collection called _Sagas of the Icelanders_ which is about ~$600 so you might also keep that in mind when buying. By no means is this all the sagas from that massive collection but it is a good survey and there is a good further sources section.

For those who are saga junkies be aware that the Sagas of the Icelanders (Islendasogur) is only the Icelandic family sagas and not any of the Bishop Sagas nor Heroic/Mythic Sagas e.g., Saga of Hralf Kraki. So if you are hoping to score the Saga of Harold or any saga whose action is outside of Iceland or not related to one of the great families look elsewhere. Also, for saga junkies these translations do not footnote the geneaology of the characters which the Penguin translations usually did. So you get more of the original feel with "son of...daughter of.."

Overall, if you have become enthralled with the sagas or just taking the plunge for the first time this is a very good and economical choice. Be aware that it is a very thick paperback and not as sturdy as it could be. But by all means get it.

Highly recommended. If you like this set then get Njal's Saga.

The Sagas of the Icelanders is an excellent collection of nordic literature in an affordable and attractive book. Heavily notated, with maps detailing the settings of some of the stories, this is an excellent way to get started in learning about the lives of the Scandanavian and Icelandic people.

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.

My historian Father sent me this after I made some sort of witless comment about Leif the Lucky, & when it arrived I was somewhat taken aback -it is HUGE, close to 800 pages if you include index & glossary-but once you dive in, it is hard to put it down. Here we get the stories of the Viukings of the Northwest Atlantic -the Icelanders of the title plus the doomed expeditions to Greenland and Vineland-told in all their wild glory. Of course one wishes one could read it in the original, of course one wishes to hear it sung, but this is the story of a real "other" history that all too often gets left out of the standard texts. This collection contains 10 sagas and several Tales by different translators. While having a number of different folks doing the translation makes for a somewhat uneven "voice" overall I found myself slipping from saga to saga with no trouble. The book includes a nice introduction, several useful maps, plus some simple diagrams of Norse ships and buildings. Anyone with an interest in sea-farers and the history of the north would be well advised to hit their "one-click" buttons right now, then, as soon as the box comes, throw an extra log or two on the fire, pour yourself a flagon of the closest you can get to mead & kiss the rest of the day goodbye -you are in for a treat!

This is the first book that adresses the critical issue of corporate reporting - which hasn't significantly changed, if not since business entities started to get created in Ancient Mesopotamia, at least since the Great Depression. Yet investing habits have significantly changed. The SEC has brought in much needed changes in the way financial information gets reported, especially the way reports get written, etc. But there has been little movement in the types of information which get reported or new types of analyses that need to get done so shareholders have a better picture of the companies in which they invest.

This book takes us long ways in pushing for such changes. Written by a group of people who know a lot about the topic - unlike most business books, which are typically written by those who know very little, because the ones in the know are too busy working - this sounds the first death knell of corporate reporting as we know it. It is a rather courageous set of arguments that the authors make, coming as it does from an institution, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, which, frankly, has plenty of incentives to maintain the status quo.

I would highly recommend this book to every manager, investor, and student of business. One of the nice aspects of the book is its international breadth, further reinforcing the argument that in today's global realities, the changes ought to be globally driven and required.

The best thing about the book is its rigor. The authors' authority of over their subject matter clearly comes through the book as does their hands-on experience in wrestling with tricky, complex, corporate reporting issues that companies face and shareholders need - issues that under today's requirements are typically not addressed, and therefore, lead to the kinds of deleterious effects that are evident in today's pump-and-dump markets.

Finally, in a world of superficial, shoddy, silly, ghost-written tripe that is published under the guise of management thinking, this book stands as a shining, stellar example of what good management writing is all about: rigor, clarity, and the kind of expansive and aspirational thinking that forces people to want to read a book and ask themselves, "where do I begin?" This book is a much needed call to action on probably the most important managerial, corporate, and financial issue.

The ValueReporting Revolution is one of the best, if not THE best, financial book that I have read in the last few years. Thought provoking and compelling, this book provides a sharp analysis of how and why current corporate reporting systems need to evolve. A must read for both the investing community, who need to understand a company's true value, and the financial community, who report on and create a company's value.

The Value Reporting Revolution offers a much needed attack on the status quo of financial reporting and, even more importantly, suggests some remedies. Weaving cases and data from original research, academic papers, and the business press, Eccles et al. have written an accessible guide with minimal accounting jargon and even touches of humor.

After thorough analysis of the shortcomings of today's "earnings game," the authors map out a comprehensive approach to determining and sharing key financial and nonfinancial data that will help all business stakeholders assess a company's value. By using internal performance measurement tools such as the Balanced Scorecard for external reporting, companies can focus more clearly on creating value rather than face a quarterly scramble to burnish their earnings picture. Nonfinancial disclosure would also improve decision making for investors by providing a more complete picture of company operations and strategy.

In addition to promoting a commitment to improved ongoing communications, the authors note that the Internet and recent financial disclosure regulation have enabled new entrants to develop and distribute a range of economic information and services that compete directly with traditional Big-5 and Wall Street firms. This could signify the end of the "double-secret, uber-whisper" the earnings rumors that reach (and reward) only a subset of a subset of people in the know.

As an organizational consultant, this book was very helpful in clarifying the network of relationships among companies, analysts, regulators, accountants, and investors - and showing how they misestimate value and often move markets based on limited, asymmetric information. ValueReporting suggests an alternative way for companies to account for themselves that is aligned with sound management and sound investing.

If you are into nitpicking, this book is great. While reading it, I was able to remember most of the scenes that were discussed, but the best way to read this book is with the episode playing in the background. Some nits require that you freeze and rewind to catch it. Each episode review contains trivia questions, but they are hard, so dont feel bad if you get them wrong. Also, Season seven is not covered in this one. It is included in part 2. I recommend this for al Trekkers. This author has also come out with a Deep Space Nine book, and Original series book, and an X-files book, as well as a sequel to this one. It must be nice to make a living nitpicking TV episodes!

I have read this book hundreds of times. I love getting it out when I watch a Next Generation rerun, so that I can see the mistakes and it is hilarious! Phil Farrand has a unique sense of humor that only Trek lovers can understand. I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys watching Star Trek: The Next Generation.

What an entertainer! You just never get sick of this book. The basic concept is finding mistakes (or "nits") in the Star Trek: The Next Generation TV series. It includes episode reviews, trivia questions & tote boards. He spots things that you'd never think of seeing: before this i could go through an entire episode without seeing anything wrong, but he'd find 2 pages of nits on that episode. Another plus-point is the size of the book, great value for all ages. All in all, a MUST for all TRUE Next Gen fans!