Well if you open this book you'll see my friends and classmates . . . Although I wonder why the pictures in this book are considerably older than the copyright date, this book does and excellent job of profiling the kids of LA in the early nineties not 1997. California experienced quite an economic uproar since since those Bar Mitzah days! Also, I wonder why this book is entitled "Growing Up in the Shadow of Hollywood." As one of those "shadowed" youths ( I attended the Harvard-Westlake School whose prom clad students appear in the beginning of the book), I can assure you that Hollywood is neither the mainstay of the Beverly Hills culture nor is it the mainstay of the South Central culture, both which are depicted in this book. Nevertheless, this book creates a realistic picture of life in 90210, 90077, and the all the other 90000's . .

The only thing scarier than some of the pictures in this chronicle of teenage LA, is knowing that it's only the tip of the iceberg. From the rich brats to the gangsters and their wannabe imitations, Greenfield does a great job of capturing the shallow lives of these kids. Almost Jacob Riis-like in its literal illumination of the subject

The book was brillant. It showed every aspect of living in LA. The articles and reviews that surrounded the book after it's publisihng were off base. Lauren should be Proud of herself.

Although I think this book suffers from both an uneasy writing hand and some grim, soldierly editing, it is nonetheless good history. Once you get used to the (odd) style, you can follow an authoritative account of the U.S. Third Army through its training days and then its arrival in the European theatre, with the spectacular results that ensued. It is, as it should be, a rollicking sort of book, that recounts the events in mannish fashion. It's quick and (relatively) easy to read and adds something to our knowledge of this American hero of the Second World War who, had he had his way, might have started a third immediately! Four stars because it's worth reading.

This is the second title (out of five) in the Rocheworld Saga. The humans sent to Barnard's system discovered intelligent (in the most stringent sense of the word) life on Rocheworld, a weird double planet subject to complex dynamics and tidal forces. These aliens -the flouwen- are aquatic amoeba-like creatures living in the oceans of Eau, one of the lobes of the double planet. The flouwen are centuries ahead of us in Mathematics, but have no technology.

In this book, the flouwen are explored more in depth. We learn about their physiology and social structure. Using human technology, the flouwen get into space for the first time, and help the humans in their exploration of Roche, the second lobe of Rocheworld. Then, two longly-separated evolutionary branches meet again...

As with many other Forward's books, neither plot nor characterization are the strongest points in this novel. However, Forward manages once again to put together so much thought-provoking scientific speculation that makes you forget any other deficiencies.

Having read "Rocheworld" (aka "The Flight of the Dragonfly") before starting this novel is obviously recommended, but I guess one could even get into the story without it.

. . .for depth of character development! Like many of Forward's novels, there is a definite weakness in that department. HOWEVER, if you like "hard" science fiction -- sci fi which grasps the best that current scientific understanding has to offer, you will thoroughly enjoy this engaging book.

Forward writes of a mission to Saturn's atmosphere in order to build a fuel factory from the (almost) limitless supply of helium contained there. In the process, the crew discovers life -- life supremely suited to its environment.

4.5 for the science, 3 for the plot, 1.5 for the shallow characters. Overall, a 3 -- and a good read.

I always enjoy the books of Mr. Forward, both the fiction and the science articles. I recommend this book to people who like hard science fiction.

However, looking on page 214,we read his character's description of hiragana "...A single Japanese hiragana character can be either a word or a long phrase..." There is more, and this is simply wrong. Each hiragana is a simple character, and a student could easily learn the entire hiragana set in one day. Each hiragana character represents a simple sound and nothing else. Examples are ka, ki, ku, ke, ko. Mr. Forward is confusing hiragana with kanji! Other than that, a good job.

Can life exist in a gas giant's atmosphere? Intelligent life is
a hard thing to find anywhere in the universe and this book gives us a whale of a story about a sea so far away. A mission of modern science has been to find other intelligent life and communicate with it. Very few unique kinds of intelligent life have been invented by hard science fiction writers. Robert Forward is one of the best at it.

I'm a fan of sci-fi books, having read everything from Asimov to Zelany. I was hopefully this would be a good book considing what others have said about it. To put it bluntly, this book stinks.

The hero is absolutely perfect, achieves everything and wins the girl. This may be an acceptable character to a target audience of 12 yr olds (see Johnny Quest or Asimov's Lucky Starr series) but just proves annoying to anyone beyond a middle school level education. Every other character proves to be just as badly developed as this. The science may be real and plausible but nothing else about this book is.

Space entrepeneur Randy Hunter discovers a kind of space-dwelling plant composed of negative matter, which allows him to develop interstellar spaceflight and time travel, not to mention acheiving all of his dreams, winning the girl, foiling his drug-addicted rival, and becoming an all-around great guy. ... Author Robert L. Forward never lets us forget how wonderful and brilliant he thinks his hero is, which came off as more than a little self-congratulatory since I couldn't shake the feeling that he was meant to serve as an alter-ego for Forward himself. There is much juvenile one-upmanship between Randy and his cartoonish arch-rival, Oscar, who is just as bad as Randy is good and whose dislike is never explained as anything more than jealousy (but then, who wouldn't be jealous of such a terrific guy as Randy). I found the key plot device of the Silverhairs to be ludicrous and uninteresting. The sole saving grace of this book is some fascinating business toward the end concerning time travel and the interaction between the Randys of various time periods. Had this aspect of the story been more prominent, it would have been a better book, but instead it is buried among juvenile characterizations and dull plotting.

I have read several of Dr. Forward's books, and this is, by far, my favorite---I read it twice and am considering a third reading. Dr. Forward writes "hard" science fiction, and Timemaster is no exception, sticking closely with the known laws of physics. The concepts presented in this book are intriguing and Mr. Hunter's solution to the problem of his nemesis in a delightful surprise. Highly recommended!

I was never an avid fan of Cokie Roberts until I read this book. Her insights into love, marriage, and family are mind-boggling. She describes in full detail her marriage to Steve and how they overcame all the complex obstacles that life gave them and how it helped them improve their relationship. This is a must read for all those interested in how to establish a successful marriage despite religious backgrounds.

In her #1 New York Times bestseller, We Are Our Mothers Daughters, Cokie Roberts, co-anchor of ABC's This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts, examined the nature of women's roles, from mother to mechanic, sister to soldier through the illuminating lens of personal experience. Written with her characteristic disarming humor and affectionate intelligence, Cokie created an instant classic that hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list where it remained for an astounding 26 weeks. Now, Cokie, who has been hailed by USA Today as a "custodian of time-honored values" joins forces with her husband of thirty-three years, political analyst and college professor Steve Roberts with FROM THIS DAY FORWARD an in-depth look at the institution of marriage, American-style. Part chronicle of their own courtship, marriage and family life, and part social/historical examination of marriage as an institution, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD uses the Roberts' personal stories as a springboard for discussing larger issues of love and marriage, work and family, parents and children. The book addresses such questions as: how in an age in which 50% of all marriages fail, why does the idea of marriage still endure, and what makes for ties that truly bind? Is it possible for marriage to flourish in a fractured culture in which families live thousands of miles apart? As the generations-old gate-keepers of family, religion and community fade away, what will take their place as the safeguards and strongholds of marriage? These issues and more are at the heart of this compelling look at the state of our unions.

Told in both Cokie's and Steve's words, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD offers a fascinating, intimate portrait of their own journey together, from their courtship in the early 1960's-a time when people married right out of college as a matter of course-through their days overseas, balancing two careers and the demands of family in the turbulent 1970's, to their status today as "long-marrieds" with married children of their own. They reveal candid snapshots of their relationship-from how they fell in love, to how they approached parenting with two careers, to how they worked through the conflicting desires and expectations that test every marriage.

Cokie and Steve also share stories of other American marriages: pioneers, slaves, immigrants, and Holocaust survivors. There is also a look at the surprising marriage of John and Abigail Adams, whose letters to each other reveal painful absences, heartbreaking tragedies, warm entreaties and wickedly funny, blisteringly honest exchanges. These extraordinary accounts show the universality of marriage-that cultural forces may change, but affairs of the heart do not.

FROM THIS DAY FORWARD celebrates modern marriage with all its glories and flaws and turns a warm, embracing spotlight on the issues confronting today's couples who are determined to have and to hold from this day forward. As Cokie and Steve conclude, "Marriage is an act of faith, as well as hope...an unlimited commitment to an unknowable partner." Filled with sage advice and written in a winning, fireside-chat style, FROM THIS DAY FORWARD is ultimately the story of all husbands and wives, the way they support each other and yet continue to grow and change as individuals.

I picked up this book for $5 at Borders, mainly because I enjoy listening to Cokie Roberts on NPR. I was curious to get to know her a little better.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. She and Steve take turns writing, as if they're dialoguing back and forth. I appreciated their commitment to their marriage in a day when it's not all that popular to stay married to the same person.

I also enjoyed the glimpses into slave marriages and Old West marriages. I'm glad I picked up this book. It was a pleasant read for sure.

I have four main problems with this book. There were also some smaller things I disliked, but I'll only mention these four. First, the descriptions of the science involved could hardly be more boring. For pages and pages we read about which subatomic particles do what during a nuclear explosion. Great. Second, I found the engineered systems in the book to be absurd. For example, there are these space catapults that I just can't believe in. Third, although the alien people are non-humanoid and non-English speaking, their civilization is remarkably similar to medieval European civilizations. If the aliens don't have to look human, why do they have to act human? Fourth, like many other reviewers, I found it hard to believe that the alien method of reproduction would have been able to evolve. I do give this book two stars, and not one, though. This is because it is well-written and easy to read.

If this is an example of a book by Robert L. Forward, I'll be pleased to avoid them in the future. Now, don't get me wrong: just because I prefer fantasy to hard sf, doesn't mean I don't appreciate good hard sf. I grew up on Heinlein, Clarke, Asimov, Niven and Clement. I read Brin, Card and Cherryh, and sample a lot of newcomers like Watts' _Starfish_. But if I hadn't been forced to finish this for a book discussion group, I doubt I would have continued past page 50, my benchmark to quit if I don't care about anything in the book: ideas, world, characters, etc. Not only does this book have no interesting storyline, it has constant intrusions of scientific explanations.

Okay, okay, so you want to know something about it. Life is found on a cometary body beyond the orbit of Pluto, living only 30 degrees above absolute zero (30K, get it?). We go to explore it, of course, which is the basis of the entire story, as we humans examine their culture and figure out what makes it work physically. It's an interesting puzzle (hence the two stars), worthy of Clement's _Mission of Gravity_, to which it is compared (although I found Mission much easier to read not too long ago). But if you're not a chemist or a physicist, you'll probably find your eyes glazing over as you skim paragraph after paragraph of scientific explanation, hunting for the next step in the simple storyline. The aliens were marginally interesting, but not enough to keep me reading under normal circumstances.

It felt like a [very long] story from the 1940s when sf was new, and it was still a genre heavy on ideas and light on characters and the more sophisticated elements of storytelling we expect from our sf writers now. If you want hard sf in the old style, go back to the masters mentioned above, and skip this one. You'll thank me for the suggestion.

I could not put this book down, even after reading it for the third time. The science is fantastic and drove me back to low temperature physics books several times in order to verify Forward's facts.

I especially liked the implied inefficiency of goverment and the toading approach of mission control to the bottom line. Having worked all too often with and for the government, I well understand the mission crew's ire at the junk they were forced to use.

The civilization on Ice is facinating, at the least. A hive entity with individuality within the members of the hive sufficient to allow independent thought and initiative. Unlike the Bugs in Starship Troopers, these are people, with their own wants and desires and their own abilities.

This is a book that covers it all: Science, personal interactions, government ineptitude and political cowardness, all set against the Kuiper Belt and low temperature physics. A great read.

. . .really I am -- but in this book, Forward concentrates almost exclusively on what is the weakest element of his writing -- character development -- and neglects the strongest element of his writing -- serious "hard-science" fiction.

I've admitted in other reviews (see "Saturn Rukh") that I don't read Forward for character development or depth. Good thing too! The by-play between the twin brothers in this novel is unbelievable at best; the transformation from General to religious dictator is ridiculous; and the alien robots which suddenly turn up to save the day? Come on, guys!

Dr. Forward -- PLEASE keep writing your "hard science". It's wonderful and thought-provoking in its own right. But forgive me for negative rating here. The downsides of "Martian Rainbow" far outweighed the upside.

The books foundation lies in the similarities and differences of the two main characters, Alex the General und Gus the Scientist. The other point to start from is the effort to make Mars a planet to live on. Both plots are being treated too black and white (the schism between Alex and Gus and how they are drifting more and more apart is not handled well) or solved with a deus-ex-machina solution. The plot itself could have been made into a complete trilogy (Step 1: Conquer Mars, Step 2: Build Mars, Step 3: Save Earth...) with enough emphasis on the different characters.

On the positive side: I was captured by the principles of making Mars a habitable planet. This kind of situation suits well with Robert Forward, only his characters are not believable, and therefore not interesting enough to bring life into this book.

This book was good but not great. The Mars angle is very interesting and his science is terrific as always. His characterization and plotting were on the thin side. If you like Forward's other books you will like this one, although Dragon's Egg/Starquake and the Rocheworld series are more interesting in terms of both their science and plot/character development in my opinion. Maybe that's because the other books include alien races, which Forward seems to do better than human characters.