When War in the Shadows (WITS) was first published in 1975, it infuriated members of the US military. Asprey's denunciation of high-ranking officers' conduct of the war in Vietnam came under intense criticism. Asprey claimed the US military lost that war due to its total ignorance of unconventional guerrilla warfare. Though blackballed by military scholars for almost a decade, he refused to retract his accusations. Instead, he continued to cite 2000 years of guerrilla/terrorist warfare tactics, operations, and strategy as proof the US military violated most, if not all, principles of unconventional warfare. Nineteen years later, he revised WITS, and along with that revision came a newfound respect for his insights. WITS is still the most definitive study of guerrilla/terrorist warfare available and it continues to remind the military of the requirement to fully understand this type of warfare's capabilities and limitations.
Overall, Asprey's work is very edifying. His 30 year research effort brillantly imparts lessons needed today. His reminders to the military about going off to an unconventional theater of war "half-cocked" contain some of the most valuable military thinking of our time. WITS is more than a historical appraisal. It is a usable text of events that, while historically embedded, continue to speak to the contemporary experience of unconventional warfare.

Stephen King starts out his massive Dark Tower series with the words: "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." Quickly pulling you into this twisted world of fantasy and western and a great quest, you as Constant Reader chase the man in black, across the desert in a strange and frightening place in time.

A little patience is necessary for getting into the story; it's not much like any King you've read before. As relentless as the gunslinger (who we come to know as Roland) is in his pursuit, it's also a little slow going. King does not give you much back story in this slim novel, although as you read the rest in the series you will learn the past of most characters revealed here (and many more).

Roland follows the man in black through a small town, where he is forced to make a final, violent decision to save his own life. As he continues on his long journey, he meets a boy from Earth, Jake, who died in our world and has somehow appeared in this one. Roland and Jake continue on together, but somehow Roland knows he may have to lose the boy, as much as he has come to care for him, to finally meet the man in black.

The Gunslinger is only the first of many in the Dark Tower series. It is not as long, as involved, or (in my opinion) as well written as the others. It introduces you to Roland's world, but you don't get to know much about it or him. Keep reading. The answers start unfolding, and the pace definitely picks up with the second in the series, The Drawing of the Three. It's a long journey, and a very fine and exciting one at that.

Most of Stephen King's books fall into the category of horror, but he has also touch on fantasy elements. In addition, many of his works have an epic quality to them; The Stand is one of the best examples of this. The Gunslinger is the first volume of Stephen King's Dark Tower. The book first appeared as stories in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction before being collected in a limited edition by Donald M. Grant. The book eventually appeared as a trade paperback available to all. The series is ongoing, with the latest volume to appear in either 1997 or 1998. The story takes place in a strange world that contains familiar elements (patrons in a bar at one point sing Hey Jude). The focal point of the tale is Roland, the last of the gunslingers. His quest for the Dark Tower becomes his reason for living. Stephen King is the reader of this audiobook. I have also felt that Stephen King writes as if he was talking out loud. This makes his reading more interesting and illuminating. While his voice is not trained, he more than anyone else is able to illustrate the world he created. He also is the reader on the other two volumes. I enjoy listening to audiobooks, but I normally don't buy them. Stephen King's unabridged works are exceptions and his own readings are at the top of my list and the Dark Tower series is his most interesting work.

I read this book one year ago and was very confused. For me, King has always been a writer who created likeable characters, but this Roland seemed like a cruel lunatic to me. The story was also a bit disjointed. But, never judge a story when it has just begun. And this is merely the beginning of King's largest work (in fact, it ties together most of his other stories as well). So I read on. And after the next books (especially after "Wizard and Glass") I understood why Roland has become this "Tower-Junkie". So I went back to reading "The Gunslinger" again. (In fact, I listened to the audiobook read by Frank Muller. If you like the books, buy the audiobooks, you will love them!) And now that I see this whole work as one, I like "The Gunslinger" as much as the rest of the story. Altogether, it makes up the finest story I have ever heard. I can't wait for the final trilogy to be published in 2001, 2002 and 2003, if King stays to his word. If you like this series as much as me, don't forget to read "The Stand", "The Eyes of the Dragon", "'Salem's Lot", "Insomnia" and "Hearts in Atlantis", for all of them are very good, indeed, and crucial for the Dark Tower series.

This book was poorly made, not worth your money. i don't know [who] wrote this but he really needs to go back to english classes. The book was not put in order. They just took the diablo II computer game and put it in a book without worrying about the rules of 3rd D&D.

Do yourself a favor...Don't buy this book!

As an avid Diablo 2 fan I have anxiously awaited this new release in the Diablo storyline modules. The description of the product as covering the entire Diablo 2 game from Act One to Act Four merely wetted my appetite for more. Imagine my dissappointment to find a product containing poor guidelines for encounter levels, recycled artwork, pages of filler (repeated monster descriptions from Diablo 2: Diablerie,) and typos so obvious you would think that this was rushed into production and not seen by a proofreader. Any adventure whose pricetag is 50% higher than the price of the core books should be stunning in content and form, presented without errors, and be clear in the descriptions of game mechanics. I have only the highest praise for all the changes made to the new edition of the rules. The sliding exp scale, rewritten character classes, and the smoother combat all add to the enjoyment I and my players experience in our weekly sessions. The first Diablo adventure had us playing 8 hour marathon sessions each night for almost 2 weeks. Perhaps my expectations were too high for this product, but it is disappointing in falling short of the standards I have seen in other books recently. I am sure that any inconsistancies in the rules contained in the product will be brought up in a forum either on the web site or in Dragon Magazine, however nothing can take away from the flow of a session as greatly as a player stating "... but I read online that ..."