The title is quite clever, although a little misleading. There isn't a lot of Christmas involved -- of course, with Holmes, there wouldn't be. Some stories are, as usual, better than others. Some are downright bad. A few have the distressing tendency that some Holmes "fans" have to glorify, or at least "redeem" Watson. Let's face it, true Holmes fans don't read the stories to hear about Watson! Despite a few clinkers, this is a pretty good book -- but I wish it had been available in paperback!

My comments are organized by author, rather than in order of appearance. For some of the best stories, I haven't said much, since they're hard to praise without giving away pieces of the plot.

Two of the stories tackle the same theme: the person who inherited the firm of Scrooge & Marley begins having ghostly visitations and consults Holmes. (A priori, they're not ghosts but something else, so that Holmes works out how the trick was done.) Crider's version of the story strikes me as being the stronger of the two.

Breen, Jon L. "The Adventure of the Canine Ventriloquist" - A VERY long-winded client (a professional writer customarily paid by the word) is the victim of either supernatural events, or a tortuous scheme of persecution. Unfortunately, the client blathers on SO long when engaging Holmes that I lost interest, despite Watson's (unspoken and derogatory) opinions of professional vs. amateur writers.

Crider, Bill "The Adventure of the Christmas Ghosts" - One of two variations on a theme; this one seems the stronger of the two. Franklin Scrooge, who inherited the firm of Scrooge & Marley, has begun having experiences like those of his uncle 40 years before. His description of Scrooge's meeting with Marley for the skeptic Holmes and Watson deliberately mimics Dickens' setting of the early scene. S: "Marley was dead. There can be no doubt about that." H: "And how did he die?" (Interesting line of thought, that.) There is a continuity error - Scrooge's great-nephew, as his *sister's* grandson, would not have the same surname - but other than that, the story is well-handled.

DeAndrea, William L. "The Adventure of the Christmas Tree" - Why did someone steal, then return, the tree being shipped from the Duke's Scottish estate while in transit? (The client isn't the Duke, but his forester, who can't rest until the matter is cleared up.)

Douglas, Carole Nelson "The Thief of Twelfth Night" - I recommend this to any fan of Douglas' Irene Adler novels.

Estleman, Loren D. "The Adventure of the Three Ghosts" - Lord Chislehurst (born "Tiny" Tim Cratchit) acquired Scrooge's old firm a decade ago, when Scrooge's generosity brought it to the brink of ruin. (His business acumen grew as Scrooge's declined, buying him into the Peerage.) Now ghostly visitations have begun appearing to *him*. Weaker than Crider's version; the characters, for one thing, seem less realistic.

Hill, Reginald "The Italian Sherlock Holmes" - At the conclusion of a case in Italy, Holmes suffers a nervous collapse, which keeps him and Watson in Rome over Christmas. A would-be imitator, scraping acquaintance with him, is taught a lesson.

Hoch, Edward D. "The Christmas Client" - Charles Dodgson (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll) is being blackmailed by a fellow mathematics professor - one James Moriarty. Enough to interest Holmes even on Christmas Day...

Linscott, Gillian "A Scandal in Winter" - The only story not narrated by Watson. After a sudden death at the ski resort the previous year, rumor condemned the widow of murder - one Irene MacAvoy. Upon her defiant reappearance this year, two older gentlemen at the resort seek to find out what really happened, by questioning the only witness - the narrator, a child. Stylistically, of course, it isn't like the Holmes canon, but if one doesn't insist on that, it's a rather good story.

Moffat, Gwen "The Adventure in Border Country" Clement Daw's neighbour, Mrs. Aubrey, seeks Holmes' help in discovering what happened to her husband, who went out to the stables on a snowy night and hasn't been seen since. Some of Watson's commentary regarding Mrs. Aubrey's family may seem rather disturbing, incidentally.

Paul, Barbara "The Sleuth of Christmas Past" At first, this story may remind the reader of 'The Solitary Cyclist': high praise, to sound like Doyle's original. The death of Amy Stoddard's father, a spice importer, has left her an heiress, in a modest way, but she hasn't come to Holmes about that; she's familiar with the business, having served as her father's transcriber due to his horrible handwriting. Now some of his old friends are behaving suspiciously, and her fiance may be no better. But who is lying to whom?

Perry, Anne "The Watch Night Bell" - This doesn't have the usual trappings that accompany Perry's Victorian-era detective stories; she's adapted her tone to fit Doyle's work. On this occasion, poor Holmes has to cope with the worst type of female client: a fluffbrained, pretty young woman who can't seem to think straight long enough to get to the point. She fears that her sister may be plotting to murder their father. Some very clever plot twists in this one.

Stroessel, John "The Yuletide Affair" - Lestrade and his merry men, seeking Watson's medical help while Holmes is out on another case, give him a chance to shine on his own. Holmes has only a bit part in this, at the end.

Wheat, Carolyn "The Adventure of the Angel's Trumpet" - A barrister who once persuaded a jury to disregard Holmes' evidence now seeks his help for a client on trial for poisoning her grandfather. Since Holmes appears so long after the event, there's a lot of "tell" as opposed to "show".

Williamson, J. N. "The Adventure of the Man Who Never Laughed" (Contains an entertaining digression about Holmes' proposed image of Father Christmas for the artist Thomas Nast, and another about Charles Fort.) The sister of the title character seeks Holmes' services to find out what's wrong.

Most of these pastiches range from good to very good. And I personally loved "The Yuletide Affair," which is a Watson case. Most of the others were enjoyable also. Unfortunately, two writers decided to incorporate "A Christmas Carol" into their stories which got redundant quickly. "A Scandal in Winter" was also a demerit to this book. If not for those three stories, I would have given five stars instead of four.

I came to the anthology Miskatonic University with the expectation of finding some bad pastiche. What I found instead were some interesting stories that brought a fresh approach to Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Mort Castle's story, "Teachers," was a moving tribute to the late Robert Bloch. "Her Misbeggon Son" by Alan Rodgers was the more interesting of the two sequels to Lovecraft's "Dreams in the Witch House" and an interesting take on Mythos fatalism. "The Smile of a Mime" was a horrific portrait of just what sort of students might want to attend Miskatonic. All in all, a well-above-average effort for people following in Lovecraft's footsteps

I think I was drawn to this book because I wish that such a place as Miskatonic University really existed. Think of it, a place where both conventional science and the occult could be seriously studied side-by-side. Now that's an interdisciplinary approach to education....

I ordinarily do not read "theme" collections of short stories, especially when I have never heard of most of the contributors. However, in this case it works. The theme seems to have inspired the writers to do some exceptional work. It may not be Lovecraft, but for the most part it is in the spirit of the master by people who understand and appreciate his work.

There are thirteen stories (how appropriate) to this collection, plus an introduction from the President of the university. This intro in briefly describing the mission, history, and facilities of Miskatonic really sets the tone and atmosphere for the rest.
Heck, I'm tempted to mail out a transcript to Miskantoic University, Arkham, Massachusetts- if I only had the zip code....

Even though these stories were not written by H.P. Lovecraft. They are definitely worth reading. Pure fright and fun.

In this new anthology Martin H. Greenberg uses a gimmick that I've seen before, but one which still has legs. He has selected several prominent SF writers of the present day, and asked them to choose one favorite SF story. Their choices form this anthology.

Ideally, an anthology of this nature should have two aims: one, simply to present a collection of outstanding stories, to participated, if you will, in the process of SF canon-forming. Secondarily, the anthology might throw light on the influences on the selecting writers. It might suggest what stories appeal to writers, as possibly opposed to readers (something in the way that the Nebula Awards do), and it might illustrate the development process of the field. It doesn't really appear that Greenberg had any special intent to reinforce this secondary aim, however. For one thing, the authors chosen to select stories are not a particularly homogeneous group, either in age or in being members of any identifiable "school" or "movement". In addition, the stories chosen seem for the most part to be chosen as favorite reads, not so much as influences. This is not really a complaint, just an observation: what we are left with, thus, is mostly an anthology of the first type, a canon-building anthology.

I've been reading SF for quite some time now, and I've always liked short fiction, so the bulk of these stories are familiar to me. I was pleased to reread Theodore Sturgeon's "The Man Who Lost the Sea" for the umpteenth time: this story, Clarke's selection, may well have been mine if I were eligible to choose a story for a similar anthology. This is one of the most moving of all SF stories, and its theme lies at the heart of SF: the desire to keep exploring, the value of exploration for its own sake.

Other prominent selections include Frederick Pohl's brilliant story of what humans might become in the very far future, "Day Million" (chosen by Haldeman); C. M. Kornbluth's mordant SF Hall of Fame tale, "The Little Black Bag" (Pohl's choice), about a present day doctor discovering medical tools from the future, and the bitter misuse to which they are put; and Howard Waldrop's Nebula-winning tale of the fate of the last dodos, "The Ugly Chickens", (chosen by Turtledove). Also from the SF Hall of Fame are Lester del Rey's "Nerves", "A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley Weinbaum, and "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell" by Cordwainer Smith. Each of these stories is famous, thus familiar. But at the same time each is famous for good reason, and I was happy to reread them. Certainly there is no harm in reprinting them again.

The other selections are by and large fine stories as well. I was happy to see a couple of choice I wasn't familiar with, and which were pretty good: Ward Moore's "Lot" and Gordon Dickson's "Black Charlie". I felt that the second Kornbluth story ("The Only Thing We Learn", chosen by David Drake) was a bit obvious, and nowhere near the quality of his best work, and the pieces by Eric Frank Russell ("Diabologic") and Robert Sheckley ("Untouched by Human Hands") were also somewhat slight, to my taste. Again, both writers have certainly produced stories that belong in anthologies like this. And Norman Kagan's "The Mathenauts" (Greg Bear's choice), while full of fascinating ideas, doesn't really work as a story. But four merely minor stories out of a collection like this is no great weakness, especially as I'm sure the next reader will feel differently than I do. And any collection that includes the stories I've mentioned, as well as "Common Time" by James Blish, Keith Laumer's early Bolo story "The Last Command", Barry Malzberg's metafictional "A Galaxy Called Rome", and Roger Zelazny's moving "The Engine at Heartspring's Center", is well worth your seven dollars.

This book is the kind which should be judged not only for the value of its content, but also for the underlying message that it contains as a whole. In other words, it is more than just a collection of stories. As the reader finishes each tale, he or she should ask the question, "Besides whether or not I myself enjoyed this story, what about it could have inspired someone to make the decision to become a writer of science fiction?" Although some might make more critical evaluations, most people should find that each entry has a common answer: the author loved his work and wanted to convey that to the reader. "Favorite" is a very subjective word, and this book is absolutely subjective. No one will agree on every story being high quality, but everyone will agree that, somewhere, we all hold a science fiction story dear to our heart. This book is good reading, if only for the joyful presentation of the genre.

This is a spectacular anthology. The selection ranges from terrific to good to awful, but the terrific and good stories far outweigh the three substandard stories. I suggest skipping over the bad stories, which are: "The Mathenauts" by Norman Kagan (selected by Greg Bear), "The Ballad of Lost C'Mell" by Cordwainer Smith (selected by Lois McMaster Bujold), and -- quite unexpectedly -- "A Martian Odyssey" by Stanley G. Weinbaum (selected by L. Sprague de Camp). Actually, the low quality of an occasional story is understandable, since the writer making the selection might be choosing based not on any inherent quality but on the impact it made on him/her. (In fact, Greg Bear suggests as much in his introduction to "The Mathenauts", and even admits the story's lack in that which is usually defined as quality.)

But aside from those three, the rest of the anthology is amazing. My personal recommendations are... too long to list here without lapsing into monotony, but here are are a few hints: Theodore Sturgeon's "The Man Who Lost the Sea" (selected by Arthur C. Clarke), Eric Frank Russell's "Diabologic" (selected by Andre Norton), Ward Moore's "Lot" (selected by Connie Willis), and Roger Zelazny's "The Engine at Heartspring's Center" (selected by Gregory Benford). Oops: listed more than I meant to. Just goes to show how many of the stories in this volume I enjoyed immensely.

And since not nearly all of the "name authors" available in SF have been exhausted, I look forward to future volumes constructed along the same scheme. I can't wait.

There are two stories worth reading in this anthology of supernatural Civil War-themed work: those by Collins and Somtow. (The latter is a depressing tale of race hatred, but at least it's well written.) One or two others are vaguely OK. The majority of them are awful. They are not written well; they are not researched well; they suck. The worst is probably Moorcock's surrealist nonsense, but Ballard's boring George Todd story, Wagner's silly cannibalism/undead tale and McCaffrey's sentimental plantation claptrap -- not to mention a plethora of Sherman's Bummers meet Zombies splatter -- just leave me bored. I'd recommend avoiding this.

Being a Civil War buff and zombie lover, I couldn't ask for any better combination. It was one of those books that was literally hard to tear myself away from. It's been awhile since I read it, but from what I recall there wasn't a bad story in the book. Holds your interest from beginning to end. One of those few books that I can honestly say I have every intention of going back and reading again.

This collection of horror stories inspired by the War Between the States has found the triple point between surrealism, history, and macabre insanity. Many of the authors, all of whom are well-known in this as well as other genres, have found new ground to tread in this well-edited compilation of "Civil" War-inspired horror fiction. From the tragic unwelcome homecoming of a maimed soldier in "The Sunday Go-To-Meeting Jaw" to the grim folly of "Terrible Swift Saw", there is enough plausible reality to anchor the supernatural twists of "Foragers" and "Darker Angels". "The Master's Time" is a very fresh piece by two newer writers with a stunning ending. One could find her or himself whistling "Dixie" to ease the tension if reading this in solitude. Once these unsettling 25 short stories find their way into your mind, your dreams will no longer be the same...

I am a devoted fan of Misty's books, but I found many of the stories in her compilation to be poorly written. There were the occasional story that drew you in, but for the most part, Misty should have found some more creative authors this book. Ron Collins' story about a wizard's son and the hawks who always stayed around the castle was a good one with a surprising ending. Nancy Asire's story of a priestess resisting a conquoring wizard was also well written. Misty's own story was interesting, as always. Most of the others weren't worth mentioning. Sorry Misty, you did a better job picking stories for Sword of Ice.

This book is an anthology of eleven fantasy stories, each one revolving around flying creatures. As with all anthologies, it is a real mixed bag, with some being excellent, and some not. My personal favorite was Wide Wings by Mercedes Lackey herself, a story about a young medieval woman who wishes she had the freedom enjoyed by her hawks. Overall, this is a good book, and a fun read. I highly recommend it.

A young man who learns how to seek revenge from Odin's friends, the ravens; a harmless, very unclever man who saves a fledgling and earns the respect of the gods; a young warrior seeks his destiny and discovers he has much in common with the eagles; a girl with higher aspirations than mere marriage takes flight. These and other tales of winged creatures, both real and fantasized, are told by some of the greats of fantasy in Flights of Fantasy, an anthology of never-before-published tales, collected by Mercedes Lackey. Ms. Lackey contributes a novella which is a spinoff story of her book, Black Swan. She brings with her such greats as Mike Resnick, Jody Lynn Nye, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Josepha Sherman, and Nancy Asire, each of whom puts a slightly different slant on their story of birds of prey, and winged heros. With an introduction by Ms. Lackey which illustrates her own love for birds, Flights of Fantasy contains enough imagination and talent to carry readers off into delightful flights of fancy with each story.

Rickey R. Mallory

Anthologies are hard to rate, for obvious reasons. I *do* love alternative history, and wish there were more of this genre. Ideas on changes in history, though not practical in the slightest, are the height of idealism- we look to see what we can learn about ideas and ourselves by seeing how things might have changed. So I was excited to come across this 4 volume set in the antique mall of a seaside town in the NorthWest. The stories seem to be basically of three sorts- What if something were changed in history to make things worse? What if something were changed to make life better? What if an alternative reality was changed to make it conform to our own?

Some stories depend on their suprise ending with a particular historical twist. In the House of Sorrows is just such a story, taking place in the Middle East. Unfortunately, without knowing the historical era, it is a very confusing read; but well worth it for the twist. However, I found the one major drawback to the anthology as a whole to be the complete lack of discussion of the Islamic and Arabic empires.

Remaking History looks at how the Iranian Hostage Crisis ending differently might have effected world events. Counting Potsherds was a very engaging story philosophically looking at if Athens had lost to the Persian Empire long ago.

Leapfrog also has the secret historical twist, and takes place on a Soviet space station around Mars, with a complete multi-national population. Everything But Honor also had some great ideas on philosophy- how much we value people- with changes in the Civil War to become *our* reality.

We Could Do Worse was a rather boring look at America under Martial Law in the 1960's. To the Promised Land explored a radically different world, in Egypt, if the Jews had never escaped Egypt some 3,000 years ago. Similarily, Waiting for the Olympians looks at a world ruled by the Roman Empire because of one key event not occurring in the past. I liked the references to the Cherokee and Algonkan nations, as well as Quetzalcoatl of the Aztecs being simply one of the many gods of the pantheon. This was definitely the best story of the lot. One could see the Jews reinterpreting the Torah to embrace polytheism in this scenario, as they are faced with a completely polytheistic world. And it was amazing to postulate how a single event could change the way humans think about the basic nature of morality.

All Assassins and Game Night at the Fox and Goose were both very mediocer in my opinion, with the former looking at obscure historical figures in the 1970's- so obscure you had no feeling for the historical changes; and the latter looking at a world where women were in charge, but the plotline falls flat at the end. The Return of William Proxmire was a rather navelic look at the history of science fiction writing.

Here are the ones I would recommend. Counting Potsherds was an interesting look at another outcome of the greco-Persian wars by Turtledove. Leapfrog is a rare bird an alternate future. I liked it so much that I am somewhat surprised I never got around to reading anything else by James P. Hogan. Others that I remember, but am not sure about include: Silverberg's was well written, & Malzberg's felt like a novel fragment. Pohl's at first offended my Christian sensibilities at first than surprisingly affirmed them. Anderson's was interesting. Lastly sometimes a story you dislike is so weird and unusual you remember it as much as stories you like. Game Night at the fox and goose by Karen Joy Fowler is such a story for me. Well interestingly I think the fact that these are the ones I remember says something so I hope I've helped.

After reading this kind of work I find myself constantly thinking of how things might play out with even different day-to-day actions. The stories engrain your thoughts. But this was not quite as good of a book as the first volume, as many of the stories were substandard, although there are a few very good ones and therefore the book as a whole is worth recommending.

A Sleep and a Forgetting has a surprise twist, as many of alterative reality stories do, and is about an instrument that allows people to talk with historical figures through the electromagnetic waves of the sun. In this a major butcher accepts Christ. It is fairly well wrought.

Old Man and C is if Einstein had decided to pick up the violin instead, and is just not well written- you don't get the sense of history changing because of his decision. Mules in Horses' Harness is also poorly written- it takes place in the South, with the North having won, but the South is independent- and you never learn how this is possible! And Lenin in Odessa operates with the idea of Lenin having been killed- but it seems to result in the same history we have today, and there is no gripping writing.

*The* great question is presented in The Last Article- how would Gandhi's tactics apply to the Nazis? The Nazis take over India because America never entered WWII. It is quite well written, but unfortunately Harry Turtledove, the author, has not read enough of nonviolent history and practices. Violent response only works half the time, historically. Someone always loses. Nonviolent action, when applied, is statistically much more successful. *And* the only time Hitler was stopped in WWII, other than the final putsch by the Allies, was when nonviolent action was practiced. In Denmark, when the Jews were forced to wear a yellow star, the King also joined them, and his subjects all followed his lead. Even the Nazis were unwilling to kill an entire nation of white Northern Gentiles, and so the Jews were not wiped out from Denmark, as the Nazis couldn't tell the difference between them and Gentiles. Unfortunately, Turtledove's ending doesn't conform to likely historical reality, and is only a slim possibility.

Abe Lincoln at McDonald's is the first really excellent story in this compendium. What if Lincoln had signed the treaty had signed the Seward Treaty for peace with the South and slavery had expanded throughout the Territories and eventually became acceptable in the North as well? It is a very tragic reality, with modern times interposed completely with slavery, and horrible thoughts like a "Super Slaver" where you can buy 10 month old just-weaned slaves for your little girl.

After reading Barry Malzberg's Another G-dd--ned Showboat, I've realized, upon contemplating his previous work, that he's simply just a bad writer. His stories make no sense- they really *do* sound like they came from a chapter in a larger work, as another reviewer said. What if Hemmingway had become a Science Fiction writer?

But Loose Cannon was another of those stories that makes this genre so wonderful. What if Sir Lawrence had *not* died that tragic day on a motorcycle (see the beginning of Lawrence of Arabia) and had been available to meet that other great European general of the desert, Rommel? Susan Schwartz very effectively captures the character of Lawrence.

A Letter From the Pope was well done- what if the almost-last King of the Britons, Alfred, had decided to embrace a multi-religious state instead of encouraging the conquered Vikings to become Christian?

It was nice to finally see some alternate realities that considered the Muslims. Roncesvalles is such a story, where Charlemagne considers between his native Aryanist-paganism, joining the Muslim empire, and joining Byzantium's Orthodoxy. It was fairly well written, but had some historical problems- it is unlikely that the Muslims would have differentiated enough between Orthodoxy and Aryanism, for instance, to see the latter as pagan worship.

His Powder'd Wig, His Crown of Thornes was well written, with a neat idea- what if the Native Americans had joined the British and Benedict Arnold had succeeded in betraying George Washington? And so you have Arnoldsburg, District of Cornwallis. Marc Laidlaw works very well with the ideas of hagiophora and martyrdom as applied to Washington- but in the end the descriptions are simply so disgusting it turned me off to the entire story. Some images in there you do *not* want to read.

Instability is if the H-Bomb had not been developed. It is confusing and vulgar. No Spot of Ground concerns if Edgar Allen Poe had become a General in the Confederate War. It tends to drag out quite a bit, without historical divergences of significance, but has some good thoughts on how Poe might have acted within a military situation.

For me, however, the greatest story was Departures, again by the master author, Turtledove. It is a historical contingency I have often considered writing a novel on myself, though certainly with very different approaches. It considers a merchant turned monk who has flashes of divine inspiration in the composing of hymns to God. His monastery needs to prepare for the coming attack by the Persians. There is no Muslim Empire in this alternate reality.

I truly enjoy this series-it's quick,well done (yes,being various authors there is good and bad,but the good outweighs the bad)and doesn't go into EVERY nuance that lead to divergent paths.I've read other alternate history short story books,but none as well done as this 4 book set.If you enjoy this idea-I can't recommend it enough-it really makes you think how the planet would be different if a decision or event went the other direction.For myself-I love it.Sorry,there are too many stories to delve into and dissect-if curious-BUY IT.
Teaser-Genghis Khan leading the crusades.If that doesn't jump start the imagination-I don't know what will.

This is a collection of short stories by various authors

The stories are set in the future, where the battle suit is the king of battle. Stories by David Drake, Gordon R. Dickson, Harry Harrison, Joe Haldeman and more. The FIRST in a series of books. The other two are SPACEFIGHTERS and SUPERTANKS. All three are edited by Joe Haldemen. This book even has a few pictures in the first story showing some of the suits (as the first story is done as a history of battle suits).

This book was headed for the discard pile even though I'm a ghost story junkie, but then I found a trio of really good stories buried within the dross of old pulp filler:

"Stillwater, 1896" by Michael Cassutt - A Great Lakes lumber town is visited by a man who can locate corpses underwater.

"One of the Dead" by William Wood - A vacant lot is purchased very cheaply in a canyon inhabited by movie stars, and haunted by its Spanish past.

"Night-Side" by Joyce Carol Oates - Two skeptics test a medium who can speak with the voices of the dead. The really chilling aspect of this story is its author's depiction of the afterlife.

There are also some decent stories that are worth a once-over:

"Drawer 14" by Talmage Powell - A morgue attendant sees a corpse in a drawer that's supposed to be empty. This story has a kicker at the end.

"Professor Kate" by Margaret St. Clair - A family of witches is hunted by a posse in Indian Country.

"School for the Unspeakable" by Manly Wade Wellman - You will soon guess what is going to happen to the new boy at the prep school, but it's still a spooky read. I'm prepared to bet money that the author originally set this story in England, but the editors changed the location to North Dakota to fit it into this collection.

"Clay-Shuttered Doors" by Helen R. Hull - A woman returns from the dead to host her husband's dinner party.

"Poor Little Saturday" by Madeleine L'Engle - An original fantasy, but more about witches than ghosts--I think. A woman in a deserted, boarded-up plantation house befriends a boy with malaria.

"Great American Ghost Stories" also features a so-so story by Harlan Ellison--"Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes"--I think he was feeling sorry for himself when he wrote it; and a really awful early Lovecraft: "Herbert West - Reanimator." When Lovecraft is bad, he is really, really bad and this story's got sentences like, "Not more unutterable could have been the chaos of hellish sound if the pit itself had opened to release the agony of the damned, for in one inconceivable cacophony was centered all the supernal terror and unnatural despair of animate nature."

Yes, indeed. Most of the stories in this book have never been anthologized, as far as I can determine, except for a duet by Ambrose Bierce: "The Boarded Window;" and "The Stranger." But the editors could hardly have called their book, "Great American Ghost Stories" without an entry from the man who defined 'happiness' as, "an agreeable sensation arising from contemplating the misery of another."

Herein lies a fine collection of Ghost Stories. And it's not a barrage of cheesy tales of moans and groans in the attic. I devoured this book of shorts in one sitting. It kept my toes curled all night. Highly recommended! (Mary Higgins Clark's short story sets off the book in fine style, being the first in line) Loved it!!!

The Ultimate Dinosaur is an ambitious book, one that seeks to alternate sections on the latest theories on the origin, lives, and deaths of dinosaurs as well as pterosaurs and prehistoric marine reptiles, all written by such noted experts as George Olshevsky, Sankar Chatterjee, and others, with dinosaur-themed science fiction short stories by such authors as Charles Sheffield, Gregory Benford, and Harry Turtledove. A great concept.

Unfortunately it was rather unevenly carried out. The non-fiction sections are quite good, though a few are relatively dry to read. I did learn a few things reading these sections, and alone they just about make the book worthwhile. There were some interesting discussions over the relationship of prosauropods and sauropods for instance, and there was a great article on migrating dinosaurs.

However the short stories vary alot in style and quality, some quite good, other more moderately decent, and a few frankly terrible and hard to get through. The short stories and non-fictions are paired together, and it looks like they found it difficult to find a short story to put with some of the non-fiction sections.

Though this may only apply to the hard-cover edition which I have, I feel I must point out the book was either poorly edited, which I find suprising, or poorly published. The book was replete with words that were run together, misplaced punctuation, odd gaps in sentences, and even misspelled words. They were so common at times that it was jarring and irritating. While many books have one or two such errors, there were many of them in this work. Hopefully the paperback version cleared this up.

Having said that though this was still not a bad book and a worthwhile one to get, though frankly I would not place at the top of the list of books to fill your dinosaur needs. Still, wouldn't be bad to have either.

I have always been a big dinosaur lover, and in this book, Silverberg, Dobson, and Zimmerman really bring these creatures to life. I loved every page. This is a book for both kids and the paleontologist.

big names in science and sf coupled with top paleoartists!