This alternative history mystery is as charming as page turning. Taking place in the present, a different royal family (Prince Edward Victor didn't die in the 1890's and leave his fiance free to marry his brother George to later become George V and Mary)is presented with a problem. Someone is killing courtiers and knows a long hidden royal secret. The tale, told by the kings' daughter, is a clever story of celebrity. love, and danger. This is thorougly recommended. It is followed by a sequeal.

Like Mr. Koman, I've been bitterly disappointed in NASA's floundering, post-moon-program. However, Mr. Koman wrote a novel about how private people could conceivably take the next step---without the layers of bureaucracy NASA has accreted about itself, without the hysterical concern for public relations that plagues any publicly funded effort such as NASA, and taking advantages of technology that, when the Saturn V was flying, was a dream for the far future, but which is well within the reach of (somewhat) ordinary people today---just for starters, the computer I'm entering this from makes the best at NASA in the early sixties look absolutely sick. I could have used a "Guide to Spacecraft" in the back, and the book _is_ awfully long, but on the whole, I recommend it very highly. I have a signed copy, and it's going into plastic shrinkwrap to be passed down to my descendants.

I had the privilege of being the eighth person to buy Kings of the High Frontier when it was first published in electronic form by Pulpless.com. I feel rather as if I were there when Vincent Van Gogh swept the final stroke of pigment onto Starry Night or Ayn Rand scrawled the last word of Atlas Shrugged. This book is that good. It's good on at least two levels. First, and crucially, it's a walloping great adventure story. One friend not only stayed up all night to read it, but told me she leaped to her feet and danced around the room during the book's most magnificent scene. Second, without any lecturing or heavy-handedness, this book is an important philosophical statement about free minds and free lives. Oh yeah, it's also an indictment of NASA so accurate and so fierce it's a wonder that agency hasn't crumbled to dust before Victor's rage. I can think of no book I could recommend more highly, and no recent book that has so filled my heart and my spirit. To freedom! And to space!

From the first sentence you are hooked. That's how good it is.

Victor Koman, who I have the honor to have exchanged emails with once, is a (extreemly unfairly) overlooked author of a first-rated talent. In this Kings of the High Frontier, we are introducted to wide varisty of characters who are fated to meet in one way or another in their struggle to achieve their common dream: to reach space. In his and her own way, each have to contents with powerful and bloated beast of the Federal Government and its lapdogs at NASA and national security gangesters who fears the potential of private space transportation because in space, men and women will gain access to unlimited wealth and freedom with many resources in the system waiting untapped. It's rather tough to regulate and to tax free men when a station can simply pick up and move to another location farther out, not to meation like how will you settle the issuse of which states to do the taxing. Short answer, you can't.

But to get there, you have to create a private transportation first.

That's the heart of this novel. Different people, from graduate school at NYU to internet to the dusty sands of White Sands testing ground, take the proved concepts from various sources and build their own version in the race againest time, each other, and the NASA to be the first private ship into low earth orbit. Everythng is here, ambition, passion, coruption, power struggle, friendship, joy of challenge and romance. Romance is the emotion that engerize this novel, romance of freedom, of space and of love.

If you want a book that will keep up up all night and be thrilled with the imagination and love of charcters who dared to keep their dreams alive, then brother, this is the one for you!

I guess anyone who's ever lost weight can now write a "bestselling" diet book. Yes, we all know how to lose weight - eat less - exercise more. I had thought that this would be an original, amusing take on losing weight - from a real person who was out there in the trenches - and actually lost weight.

What I read was name dropping of all of the author's famous friends and Mr. Victor listing every diet under the sun and being told to pick the parts you like from each one. The book was relatively boring from the middle of the book to the end.

I applaud Ed Victor for actually losing the weight and keeping it off. However, this book is not going to help the rest of us until we have enough willpower to stop eating dairy, wheat, fat and sugar (which is soooooooo hard to do).

Dangitall, someone just wrote the diet book I've always wanted to write, and he did a darned good job of it. In The Obvious Diet, Ed Victor points out that you are your own best diet designer and he inspires you to give it another shot. In these days of protein-vs.-carbs-vs.-macrobiotics and et cetera, it is refreshing to read this occasionally humorous book.

Victor suggests using a food journal to identify your personal weak spots and then has a handful of general diet ideas to put into action. Most entertaining is the chapter on celebrity diet tips, which provides a real look at how individualized every person's eating is. ...

The Tales Of king Arthur is a great book. It is a action paked book. It gives from the begging of King Arthurs life to the end. It is one of the best books I'v ever read. It has great details. The book also has storys of the voyages of his men. It even has the story of the Round Table. The chapters are divided exactly the why they should be. They are very percice. They tell some storys that arn't ever told. It is a book that talks mainly about the Folk hero. Also about how he helps the U.K. come back to life. I would highly recomend that childern from the ages of 10 to 14 should read this book. Specily if you like a book that is action paked. This is one of the best books I'v ever read and I would think that you would also like this Book. Tales of king Arthur.

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This book will be most appreciated by anyone who has been to the tropics. Although we are used to viewing European colonialists in a negative light, it is hard not to sympathize with them when you read about their trials and tribulations in Southeast Asia -- dealing with the stiffling heat, the insects, disease, new languages and customs -- most of them didn't even know how to use the bathroom when they initially arrived! This book is full of entertaining stories about such adventures. It's interesting to compare the way that different individuals reacted to their circumstances. I gained a new respect, for example, for Margaret Brooke, who seemed to have preferred the local population to her snobbish English peers.

The Prince and the Pauper was a classic example of early literature. It was written like every other Mark Twain book, in old English dialect. I could understand it, but at times I had to read some areas over again to get what he was saying. I read this book for a literature assingment, and I did not enjoy it. Some areas of the book are funny and quite charming, but overall the story is really hard to get into. If you like fairy tales or stories from medievil times, this is the book for you. I really think I could have read a book better than this one with my time though. I also recommend: "Princess: A tale of life under the veil in Saudi Arabia" By: Jean Sasson

Mark Twain was a true American original and one of the true titanic figures of American literature. He was also, as anyone who bothers to dig beneath the "The-guy-who-wrote-Tom-Sawyer-and-Huck-Finn" surface knows, a man who held distinct and perhaps slightly provocative political opinions. One of the things Mark most detested was monarchy - once calling it "the grotesquest swindle ever invented by man." In his later highly controversial novel, A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, he took on the concept in a viscious and fearless adult satire. In this, his earlier novel, The Prince and The Pauper, Twain did the same thing while aiming principally at younger readers. The story, while featuring a lot of dialect in Middle English, is written in fairly simple and straight-forward prose, which, thus, opens the book up to readers both young and old. The novel's oft-forgotten original subtitle, A Tale For Young People of All Ages, perfectly sums up the books' merits: while this novel may have been written, primarily, with a young target audience in mind, it can also be enjoyed and appreciated by adults. Though it is novel length, the style in which it is written reflects that of classic fairy tales, and will probably be appealing to any child who likes to read. Adults, on the other hand, will note and appreciate the books' deeper underlying meanings, as well as Twain's ever-present wit. This book is very well-written; Twain, a master writer, was, alas, sometimes prone to clumsy prose in his novels - but not here. The Prince and the Pauper is practically a tour-de-force of character development and suspense in plotting. Reccommended to younger readers looking to broaden their horizons, as well as Twain fans of any age.

As a final thing worth mentioning, many reviewers here have commented that, owing to its use of dialect (something which Mark Twain uses in every single one of his writings, which is part of the reason why he was such a great writer - not to mention why he is the true father of real American literature), it is hard to understand. If these assertions have bothered you, however, rest assured: they are mightly over-exaggerated. The dialogue, though prevalent, is minor, and the meanings of the words are usually obvious - even to children; after all, one must remember who Twain wrote this book for. Most children who would read this book would probably already be familar with these elementary colloquial phrases from the many King Arthur stories derived from Malory. And, even if not, Twain foresaw this - and was helpful enough to include a useful appendix.

This is the story of a prince and a pauper who switch places because of their uncanny outer resemblance. They obviously go through many trials and ordeals - the pauper trying to learn the ways of royalty, and the prince having to witness and undergo the results of some of the ridiculous laws and practices of the period.

Like many of Mark Twain's books, this is another satire that makes fun of the values that society holds to be important. In this story, Mark Twain points out how people place so much importance on outer appearance. A prince and a pauper, who, despite their outer resemblance are very different people, switch places, without anyone noticing. There is more to a person than their looks, and this is one point stressed throughout the novel.

The one complaint I have about this book is that there wasn't enough written about Tom Canty, the pauper who became a prince. I found his situations much more interesting than those of the true prince, but this was only a minor point.

I would recommend this book for ages 12 and older. Younger people could read the story, but miss the underlying meanings in certain situations. I wouldn't call this book a "Must Read" but it is a good introduction to classic literature.

A few years back, Victor Kelleher wrote a book about a trickster, a monkey, a bear, and a young female acrobat named Timkin. A slave girl who travels with a circus troupe, Timkin's whole world is turned upside down when her kind slaver is murdered by the fever of the Red King. Having been infected, and survived, Timkin becomes immune to the fever, a quality which shall help her quest for vengeance. Led by Petie, Timkin goes to bring down the Red King once and for all. It had many, many plot twists that would keep most normal people confused. A well written book, though it was boring at times. It had a good pace, and was never boring for TOO long. To buy or not buy? ...Your choice.

The Red King is a fantasy/adventure novel by Victor Kelleher. It is all about a small group consisting of a monkey, a bear, an acrobatic girl and a magician all going against the evil and selfish king of the forest lands. The king is a very powerful man owning everything and controlling everyone. He is also an extremely wealthy man as he gets money from all the people living in his kingdom. The group decides to try the impossible and rob the red king, but it's not all that easy. Join them in their exciting battle to get through his fortress. It is a great book with only the one weakness, there is a major anticlimax as I see it. None the less it's a magical adventure well worth the read.

The Red King is a great fantasy adventure book that puts you behind the eyes of a young acrobat Timkin, in a world dominated by the ruthless ruler the Red King. Anything could happen when Timkin becomes part of a small group of entertainers, a trickster, a bear and a little monkey.
This is a great book with lots of suspense and a great adventure plot. This is an easy to read book with a compelling nature. This book deserves to be up on the shelf with the greatest fantasy books of all time. It has an intricate character development with very contradictory and uncocievable characters.
this gives the story a very unpredictable run as it winds through the it fantasy adventure course throughout the story.

A worthwile read for all ages.

(...)

This book was the author (victor canning) own interpretation of the Aurthurian legend. Much of the story was changed as i saw it, but the basic concept remained the same. I especially liked the first section of the novel. the journey of Baradock and Tia to Aqua Silis, because you really had no idea how arthur would fit in until they came across the chalice, but even then they planned to part, and it was a surprise how everything was brought together. in the second book, the growing up of Arto, not very much action too place, but it set up the scene for the great life Arto was destined to live. finally the third book had a lot of boring parts as the arm was being formed, and many battles took place, but i really liked the ending, althought i will not give it away. One thing i did not like about this book was that some of the names were changed while others were left. Gwenevier, and Merlin remained the same, so why was it neccissary to call arther Aruturo rather than arthur? that was the only thing that bothered me.

I enjoyed reading this book, and found it captivating and very hard to put down. The author managed to convincingly bring both the times and the legend alive for me by adding details and interesting dimensions to the old legend. I found it interesting to read of Arturo as a minor 'warlord' who fought his way to power, and yet managed to retain his sense of love for humanity. A compassionate warrior, wise and forgiving. I also enjoyed reading of his parents' journeys and lives. That section of the book lays important framework for Arturo's life and adventures, as well as being extremely interesting on its own merits. When I was finished with the book, I felt as if I'd just read a bit of very interesting history..as if this person really could have lived and fought and added something to the history of his country. I really enjoyed it.