
Used price: $42.47





List price: $39.95 (that's 50% off!)
Used price: $0.63
Collectible price: $0.60
Buy one from zShops for: $0.65


When I first spied "Oracle and Open Source" by Andy Duncan and Sean Hull, I was so intrigued that I had to buy it. I couldn't believe that there was enough out there to write a book on. How wrong I was.
The two authors have done an excellent job of collecting information on:
* Programming environments, tools, languages (Python, Perl, Tcl, Tk)
* Database maintenance tools - including Orac, Oddis (Tk);
* Web-based monitoring tools for Oracle (such as Karma, Oracletool) and the network too (Big Brother)
* Plus Open Source Java apps (even the Java isn't open source itself), Gnome/GTK+ and more.
The book's aim is to introduce you to the rich range of technologies rather than being the definitive reference. It provides enough to get the tools installed and to set you on your way. And once you're up and running, the authors list the web pages and books that will take you to the next level. I never knew so much was available, but with the groundswell of support from the Open Source community as evidenced on the Internet and in this excellent book, I'm learning fast.



Used price: $6.50
Collectible price: $4.00





List price: $14.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $9.95
Buy one from zShops for: $10.39





Used price: $6.50
Collectible price: $15.00
Buy one from zShops for: $6.50




BUY IT :-)

List price: $10.95 (that's 20% off!)
Used price: $1.99
Buy one from zShops for: $3.98





Used price: $5.99
Buy one from zShops for: $6.97





Used price: $2.99
Buy one from zShops for: $2.75


Shortly after his return the potato famine begins. Joseph and Kate are faced with anguish and dispair as they try to keep their family and their people from starving. Their unfailing trust in God is what keeps them hopeful in this tormented time.
The addition of the Grogan family only adds to the story.
As you read this book you will learn more about the people of Ireland in the 1840's then you have ever before. The treatment of the Irish people by the English is deplorable. I was surprised that as the people of Ireland are starving ships are being sent to England full of grain and livestock to feed the English. Always new that the famine was horrible to Ireland but now I know the whole history of why it was so horrible.
I think I now have some insight as to why my Great-great-grandparents came to America.
As you read the books in the Galway chronicle you feel like you are witnessing first hand their joys and sorrows and their steadfast faith in God.

In "All Rivers to the Sea" the Thoenes not only portray the suffering of Joseph and Kate Burke, but also that of another family told in a sub-plot - the Grogan family. Suffering is epitomized in the Grogan family when they are cast out of their home, totally destitute. Daniel Grogan first suffers the loss of his wife, and then is forced to place his children in a workhouse. The horror of the workhouses is painted with stark reality, demonstrating the heartbreak of impoverished parents faced with death, and forced to part with their children by placing them in workhouses, where they suffered under the "charity" of a corrupt state church (p.117). The only light in the darkness is that one child of the Grogan family enters the Burke home. But even this is shadowed with darkness, because it occurs in a manner that has overtones of the birth of Moses (with the older sister watching the cast out child) and the birth of Jesus (with the family not finding room in the "inn" - in this case, shepherds). This is no coincidence, because the Thoenes make a strong connection between the suffering of believers and the suffering of Christ. Kate reminds herself that the scars of suffering "make you more like Him" (p.185), and some hungry children with simple childlike faith state that they must eat "The bread of Christ ... the bread of suffering." (p.199). And when the suffering are cast out of their homeland, they are reminded by angels "Remember Christ the Savior, the child for whom there was no room!" (p.302). The only flaw here is that Kate incorrectly insists that suffering must not be accepted as God's will (p.163), although what she means by this is correct: Don't be passive in suffering, but "Pray instead for a clear eye and a firm plan to bring your people relief. Work hard to make this hard life better for as many as you can." (p.163).
The significance of the title "All Rivers to the Sea" also has to do with suffering. Mad Molly says prophetically "We'll none of us survive! The river flows, don't ye know? It carried off man and beast, grass and flower, to the sea. Always to the sea! It's over for us." (p.153) Joseph later explains: "Life is about people, and not about things or places or land. A river that rises in the mountains only to die in a bog is a sad, useless thing, Martin. We must be like the stream that bursts through all dams and finds its way to the sea. To a new life in a new way." (p.270-1) And the angels admonish at the end: "Remember the River from whence you came! Remember the Sea which all are bound to cross one day!" (p.302) At the end of the novel there is some taste of justice and redemption. Yet the bitter taste of suffering remains, forcing Joseph and Kate and the people of Ballynockanor to take drastic measures to ensure their ongoing survival. With the last chapter of "All Rivers to the Sea", one chapter of their lives is at an end. The characters must move on to a new chapter, even if it is clouded with adversity and suffering.
Yet it is precisely this that makes "The Galway Chronicles" so appealing. Unlike many contemporary Christian writers, the Thoenes' do not offer us a "feel-good" pill with a "they all lived happily ever after" ending. In the "Galway Chronicles" they are not afraid to make their readers journey through the depths of tragedy and despair, nor to leave them with a bitter taste in their mouth. Some readers might prefer a fairy tale ending, but this is real life, not a fairy tale. And in real life, the presence of sin and suffering is ongoing, even at the end of a book. The solution is not found in a pretend perfect life, but the solution is found in the work of Jesus Christ who gives hope in the midst of a life of sin and suffering. The happy ending comes only when this last chapter of history comes to an end, and when He returns. In this sense the Thoenes' boldness in presenting a harsh picture of a life of suffering, and their refusal to provide a "happy" ending, is heartily refreshing. They do not do the gospel a disservice - as so many other writers do - by suggesting that believers on earth can expect happy endings here on earth, before heaven. These novels show that there is no heaven here on earth, but that the hope of heaven offers real encouragement in a life of earthly suffering. And that certainly makes them worth reading.

Though it's nice to think of Kate and Joseph living "happily ever after," I would love it if the authors would continue this story in a different series as they have done with their Zion sagas.

Used price: $2.50
Buy one from zShops for: $2.95


To recap, the engram (computer program) explorers/colonists from Earth are spread around space, struggling to hide and survive as the miraculous technological Gifts of the Spinners are followed by the awesome destructive power of the Starfish. Caryl and Peter are trying to organise the colonists and build something for the future, in alternating conflict and concert with Frank, another engram who left Earth before it all went downhill, and a very alien fleet of aliens. Meanwhile, Rob is starting to find evidence that the Gifts might not be all they're supposed to be, while Lucia is making discoveries of her own all alone in space.
Yes, the writing/editing is a bit sloppy at times, and you can only hope that the series as a whole will be worth it in the end. But if "Orphans of Earth" is any guide, this series is definitely worth your time.

I am not going to talk about the specifics of the story (You can certainly get plenty from the previous reviews) I just want to share my feelings on how much I enjoyed it. Dix and Williams may be my favorite authors. The characters are a joy to spend time with. The interactions between them are fantastic and realistic and I found myself voiceing my own opinions out loud as if I were in the room with the characters and needed to add my 2 cents to their conversations. Anytime I can get pulled into a story like that, I know I have found masters of weaving a great story. The perils that our group of humans are faced with are quite troublesome and yet their curiosity (and mine) remains strong even when faced with the possibility of thier extinction.
The worse part of this book was finishing it and knowing that I have to wait another year to conitnue the story. Fortunately, I knew that they were releasing a Star Wars trilogy (of which there is only about a month wait between books). I am about half way through the first of the Force Heretic series and the Dix/Williams style is shining through.
Now, if we can just convince them to bring us another trilogy in the Evergence Universe...I'd love to know more about the Dato Bloc and the High Humans!
If you haven't read the Evergence Series...buy them today! It's a rollercoaster ride you are sure to enjoy with an ending that caused great debate in my circle of readers.

Probably the thing I liked best about this book though were the characters - they were real. Too many authors nowadays seem to have 'flawed' characters who obsess endlessly about their neuroses and you just want to smack some common sense into them. Instead, Williams and Dix have characters with some doozy of problems, and they way they deal with them are probably no different to the way the average person would deal with them. It makes it so much easier to relate to the characters!
Having stuck with Williams and Dix through the Evergence series (felt a little rough around the edges, although still an extremely good and novel series) I am so glad to see this partnership seriously hitting its stride now. These guys are great and I look forward to reading the final book and any new stuff, especially as so many of my other favourite authors are not producing so much anymore... Thank goodness there are still some excellent SF writers popping up!

Used price: $1.99
Collectible price: $2.99



I found a second-hand copy of the book in 1970. I foolishly lent it (complete with pasted-in treasured press pix of Anna Calder-Marshall as Jennie) to someone a year or two later, and didn't find a replacement till twelve years later. NO ONE borrows that. The author Robert Nathan (1894-1985) normally churned out (I'm told) undistinguished romantic novels; Portrait of Jennie (published 1940) was a one-off in its strangeness, wonder and beauty.
...
Do yourself a favour: read the book, and be haunted for the rest of your life.

presents Graves war experience in an exciting fast pased way. I had to skim the first part about his childhood. Every biography has a dull childhood section dealing with the subject's juvenile trails and tribulations and conflicts with family members. I find these universally uninteresting.
Graves was 17 when the war started and volunteered for officer candidate school within days. He became a lieutenant in the Royal Welch Guards and eventually was promoted to captain in charge of his own company of infantry by age 21. Unlike
our present system where college is mandatory prerequisite for a young man seeking to become an officer, social standing determined that Graves would become an officer rather than an enlisted man.
Graves participates in several trench warfare battles. Trench warfare as Graves describes is a monotonous and dirty business. Rats are everywhere. Groundwater seeps relentlessly into living and fighting spaces. The men live in warrens of chambers cut into ground branching away from the main trenches. To break up
the monotony and to show that he's not a coward, Graves often volunteers for scout duty. He sneaks into no mans land at night to assess the enemy. On occasion the senior officers order suicidal attacks in which every man of the company must go over the top and charge fortified machine gun positions. Graves
tells of one attack in which his company was ordered to take part. Three companies go before his and each is destroyed with 100% casualties wounded or killed. Graves and his men are crouching poised at the top step of their trench waiting for their turn to attack when the attack is suddenly called off. In a later attack Graves is wounded by shrapnel and left for dead for over 24 hours before receiving medical attention. He recovers fully from these wounds but is assigned to training duty after his recovery.
Later parts of the book deal with Graves' first marriage, his education at Oxford, a failed attempt at shopkeeping and a post war teaching position in Cairo. I found these of less interest than the war scenes. Graves lived to age 90 and went on the write the immensely entertaining I, Claudius and over a hundred other books.