I've read quite a few Walter Jon Williams stories, generally with considerable enjoyment, but the only novels I've read by him are the first two Drake Majistral "entertainments". Those are fun, but light. For more serious Williams, people strongly recommended Metropolitan. And, indeed, this book is really good.

It fits in that genre called "Science Fantasy", in that it involves the use of magic, but that that magic is understandable and given a quasi-scientific backing. This seems to be set on Earth, possibly very far in the future or perhaps an alternate Earth. Millennia previously, the Ascended Ones have placed a "shield" around Earth. No one can escape. However, a source of (essentially magical) energy called "plasm" is available, and it is used for power generation, telepresence, and other uses both "magical" and "scientific" (also commercial). Plasm use is regulated and taxed, and the protagonist, Aiah, is a lowly functionary at the Plasm Authority. She is a talented member of the oppressed Barkazil ethnicity in an area dominated by the Jaspeeri. As such it has been a struggle for her to attend university and graduate to this job, and to get a decent apartment with her Jaspeeri lover, another functionary. One day she witnesses a burning woman, a manifestation of unregulated plasma gone out of control. She is assigned to the team tracking down the illegal plasma source. She's sent on what she thinks is a wild goose chase, but as it happens she finds the source, and on an impulse decides to hide her find and try to sell plasma on the black market. She has some difficulty finding a buyer, and finally stumbles on the notion of selling it to the prestigious, rich, former rebel Metropolitan (i.e. something like a mayor), Constantine. She finds herself far more involved with Constantine than she ever intended, and soon she is embroiled in his plans for engineering a coup and implementing his dream of the "New City".

It's an exciting novel, and it's built on a fascinating, original, SF/Fantastic notion. Some of the plot machinations were a bit creaky, I thought: I didn't quite buy the ease of her approach to Constantine, or his attraction to her. But all this leads to an end which asks some difficult moral questions, and doesn't provide answers either to the reader or to Aiah. She remains sympathetic, but many of her actions remain questionable. I thought this was very well handled.

This is a very fine book. There is a sequel, which I will have to seek out, but Metropolitan works very well on its own.

This books needs to become a movie. Alec Baldwin as Metropolita

I love Aiah. She is one of the great overacheiving heroines of SF. And she does it all with just a to-do list, a business degree, and the occasional killer pedicure!

This is not as exciting as Walter John Williams' more outrageous far-future space opera, and no where near as good as the more cyberpunkish Hardwired; it does read more like a police procedural equipped with sci fi style stock characters. And of course, time travel. Near-future stuff like this doesn't age well--I particularly liked the scene where the scientist asks the policeman "do you know how to use a mouse?" but this does flow fairly well, and has its heart in the right place. A must for Williams fans anyway.

A wonderful and exciting novel with a lot of surprises. Hard SF meets the Southwest Law and Williams makes it interesting all the way through.

Just a quick heads-up re this excellent New Mexico political/police-procedural/SF thriller, which I just reread.

It's a terrific page-turner -- kept me up til the small hours. I enjoyed it more the second time than the first -- I hadn't remembered it as being so good, and put it on the reread pile after someone online commented on how good the book is.

This is as good a portrayal of red rage as you're likely to see anywhere.

There are nits to pick -- a 3 digit code to unlock the heavies' Uzis! -- but they won't bother you during the read.

This was WJW's "crossover" novel before The Rift, and it's a far, far better book -- one of his best. Don't miss. Out of print, but readily available.

This novel inculdes an extended episode of a spacefaring alien Elvis impersonator which is supposed to be humorous, but is a dull, tedious, and overblown joke. Satirical use of Elvis, in any incarnation, is no longer funny, because it is so overused as a humorous counterpoint nowadays.

Writing is crisp but uninteresting, in the face of this simplistic story.

I picked up this book on the sale rack.... I'll admit it was the price and not the cover art that snared my attention. The story does start a little slow, and I had to force myself to keep reading. However, once the author got things rolling, I couldn't put it down! Filled with a cast of wonderfully charming characters, (especially Roman, Maijstral's Khosali servant), and unbelievable situations, I found myself thoroughly enjoying the book. I'd recommend this book to any reader of sci-fi, as Mr. Williams has created a character and a style of writing fit for all ages. Truly a good book, and if you have not read it, order it today. You won't be disappointed!

I've been looking forward to reading this book, & I'm happy to report that it's great fun - a marvelous concoction of foam & froth, skipping lightly from one silly episode to another, never losing momentum or control. I lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud...

Since this is a collection of four unrelated alternative history novellas I first discuss them separately:

The piece about Alkibiades becoming an earlier Alexander of Macedon shows Harry Turtledove at his best: a good idea, credible story but still solid history and (unusual bonus for this author) short.

S. M. Stirling's story about a hunting party in an America after the fall described in his "Peshawar Lancers" universe is a somewhat odd mixture of post-nuclear expedition a la "The Postman", a western revenge movie and gothic horror-story. A good summer read.

Mary Gentle's story is the low point of the book: it gives the distinct impression of something put together from earlier, discarded material just to meet a deadline. It is unclear to the end what the story really is about and as a teaser or introduction into the "Ash" universe it fails miserably.

But the book as a whole is saved by its last piece: William's story about Nietsche in Tombstone is a rare gem. Crazy and funny (imagine: Nietsche as a gunman and gambler!), but still accurate. Just great.

My opinion about the book: the stories have nothing in common beyond the fact that they are all taking place in alternate histories. That wouldn't be a problem in a bigger anthology or in a magazine, but for a hardcover with just four stories it adds up to too expensive. So read it, but don't buy.

I enjoyed all four of the stories in this anthology. In fact I went to get The Peshawar Lancers and Ash: A Secret History after reading the Stirling and Gentle contributions here.

While I'm a big fan of Turtledove, I found it difficult to appreciate the Turtledove novella as I'm not as familiar with ancient Athens and Sparta as he is. I was unfamiliar with Alicibiades and thus his story wasn't as compelling as some of the others.

Stirling's novella takes place in a very different Texas from ours, where a rain of comets destroyed Western civilization. I wasn't clear where the cannibal tribes came from, and there weren't enough hints (that I could fathom) to figure it out, nor was I clear on whether the "Seven Tribes" were all Native American or if they included some European settlers (it appeared they did). The story was well-told and there were compelling characters who stayed after the story ended, especially Sonya Head-on-fire.

Same problem with Gentle's world, I wasn't clear where history had shifted but also a well-layered story. The backstory of this tale is the role of the woman soldier (disguised as a man). I'm not sure the future-flashes, which this 14th century woman saw as a vision, were necessary to the plot, but her ruminations on being remembered after death were poignant. I'm looking forward to reading both their novels in hope it will fill some of this in.

Williams' take on Tombstone was a real hoot putting Nietzsche in the middle of the dynamics. His afterward is fascinating, showing how the cinema version of the OK Corral shootout cut out the context of cowboys versus lawmen, and that the Clanton vs Earp battle wasn't an end but a beginning of an end.

A good time, and in the tradition of good alternate history, it got me thinking of how things really happened.

Harry Turtledove, et.al.'s Worlds That Weren't provides a host of alternative history stories: new novellas which range in setting from ancient Athens to a very different Turkish empire Fans of alternate history will find these novellas striking and unusual.

The concept for this book is good. Unfortunately it misses in achieving that concept.

The reproduction of photographs is very well done, though more attention could have been paid to selection. A number are the same ones seen so frequently. The captions for some are incorrect or insufficiently informative.

The comments by persons involved in the various projects are a definite plus. The introductions to these by Burrows and parenthetical comments, however, frequently detract from these.

The narration by Burrows introducing each project or mission contains numerous factual errors or misrepresentations which seriously detract from what would otherwise be an excellent book.

Anyone who has even a mild interest in spaceflight should buy and read "The Infinite Journey". The book was wonderfully put together and the pictures alone make it worth buying. The text comprises of the people who made the missions work and some of the anecdotes are priceless. The foreword by Walter Cronkite is wonderfully written by the journalist who did more to sell the space program in the 1960s than anyone else. The essays at the end of the book are also worth reading. My only complaint is that there was no bibliography so you could find out more information on the different projects mentioned but it is a book that I will treasure for many years.

There have been a lot of books about space flight and man's journey to the stars. What makes this book unique - and indispensable - among these is the perspective it takes. "The Infinite Journey" gives us a view of the conquest of space not only from the point of view of astronauts, but also from so many other people who participated in this grand endeavor. The stories come from the men and women who worked in Mission Control, the engineers who built the spacecraft, the scientists who analyzed the data, and ordinary people who had the privilege of living in the space age and watching NASA's triumphs and tragedies. When combined with breathtaking images, these stories give us a very human and personal account.

Reading "The Infinite Journey," I couldn't help but be moved by the stories of the Apollo 1 and Challenger tragedies and inspired by the courage of the first astronauts, and even more so, the people involved in bringing the Astronauts of Apollo 13 home. But what really surprised me was how fascinating the stories of the unmanned missions were. In most books, planetary missions and satellite observatories appear as little more than footnotes. In "The Infinite Journey," the personal accounts of the scientists and engineers who built their lives and careers around these exploratory missions really emphasize the awe and wonder of scientific discovery.

Even the one chapter I thought would be mundane, the chapter on communication satellites, was full of delightful surprises. I will never think of TVs, or cows, the same way.

This book is a must have for anyone interested in space flight, NASA, exploration, or in catching an inspired glimpse of soul of mankind. It is also a really beautiful book that would find a welcome place in anyone's library.

Thank you William Burrows, NASA, and Discovery.

This is an updated, expanded version of the classic political history originally authored solely by William Willcox. Though more comprehensive and improved, the original stands better as a concise, well-written account of the period. Numerous language changes, presumably to make the book more appealing to college-age textbook readers abound. For example: "Thus Frederick was saved from the ring of his enemies and saw the chance to triumph over Austria, while Spain and France were surfeited with defeats." is changed in the updated version to the ungainly: "Thus in Europe Frederick was saved from the ring of his enemies and won a change to triumph over Austria, while overseas the Bourbon powers suffered one defeat after another." Get the original and save yourself 100 or so pages, unless you have to read it for college, in which case you'll need the one authored by both Willcox and Arnstein.

I am a student at the University that Prof. Arnstein, the co-author of this book and the author of the next book, teaches at. I used both this and it's follow up, "Britain: Yesterday and Today," for classes here at the university as well as my own knowledge and background reasearch. The book is well written with an excellent comedic edge that captivates even the most light-hearted historical reader. While it covers a long period of history is a relativly short number of pages, it does it well. I would suggest this to any one looking for a little knowledge of the time period without having to get a Ph.D. in history to do so!

One nice feature of the book is that it features full color photos which many other books lack. I've used many text books here at the University for English history and I keep comming back to this one anytime I need to check a fact or brush up on an event.

Very few surgical fields demand a complete and comprehensive knowledge of the entire human body. Plastics and reconstructive surgery is right up there when it comes to that. A successful Plastic surgeon incorporates knowledge of Gross anatomy, microscopic anatomy, tissue physiology, physiology of the patient itself and the innate aesthetic sense to recreate from tissue and prosthesis alike.

Grabb and Smith's text offers a comprehensive and engaging review of the essential aspects of Plastic surgery. Each Chapter starts with a review of clinical anatomy and leads on to Clinical aspects of diease. Historically important surgical approaches as well as current techniques are discussed. Disease classification is also described in excellent details through the use of tables.

I do firmly believe that this book is a worthwhile investment of time and money.

When I received the Book with Cd I thought that Cd will contain some interactive materials or MCQ self test kind. To find the CD as exact version of the book makes me wonder whats the idea behind.

But that is true of nearly all of WJW's work. There is sophisticated character developement, and some interesting plot twists. This book deals with racism and segragation in a fictional society, as viewed through the eyes of an outsider.

You are kept guessing through the whole book what the mysterious purpose of the outsider is, and whether the two groups of people are even truely Human. A good read.

I had the opportunity to use this book as a junior at Allegheny College in my seminar on Constitutional Interpretation. The information provided in the book is not only thorough but easy to understand as well. The examples provided for the reader are extremely helpful, illustrating the various forms of interpretation used. I recommend this book for any student of the Constitution, no matter what the age.

Told from the point of view of Walter Waters, who led the group of veterans from Oregon who sparked the whole issue. Waters was the "commander in chief" of the Bonus Expeditionary Force. A number of inconsistencies exist between his account and other contemporary accounts, mainly having to do with his behavior. Good quick read and overview of what happened.