When a house of witches is threatened by a greater power, the group must call in reinforcements from the past and form an even tighter band in order to survive. While familiarity with Hoffman's past titles on the theme will lend a quicker appreciation for the setting here, her fine story will engross even newcomers, filled with imagery and strong characters.

Nina Hoffman is a remarkable writer. Her world and characters will keep you surprised, amazed, and reading. PAST THE SIZE OF DREAMING is a worthy follow-up to A RED HEART OF MEMORIES. Readers who have wondered about Matt and Edmund since the first book will be delighted to find out more; those who have not yet met them will be delighted, too.

I recommend ALL of Hoffman's work. She's one of the most innovative fantasists writing today, and her work has appeal to both adult and teenaged readers, which is no mean feat.

I loved this book. I'd been looking forward to it for a long time and it lived up to my expectations. Filled with transformations and strange magic, Past the Size of Dreaming continues the story begun in A Red Heart of Memories. Having found Edmond's friend Suki and settled (temporarily) in the magical, sentient house which served as the safe haven for Edmond and his friends during their adolecent years, Edmond and Matt attempt to locate Julio and Deirdre. Matt learns of the events that helped to drive the four friends apart fifteen years earlier through dreams which the magical house sends her. When Edmond tries to find Julio with magic he fails. Leaving Suki and her ghostly boyfriend Nathan (who is trapped in the house except on Holloweens and seances) to keep the house company, Matt and Edmond go in search of Deirdre, who is relatively easy to locate. A drive to the desert finds her ensconced as a small-town, small-animal vet. She is happy to see Edmond but reluctant to return with him to the house. Using their very different magics (Edmond can communicate with the natural world, whereas Matt can communicate with human-made objects) and some common sense, they end up finding everyone, including the twin witch sisters Tasha and Terry and the person Julio has become. Everyone has changed, some more than others. As the friends get to know each other anew, an old enemy begins to move against them. I don't want to give away what happens next, as this book is filled with many fantastic surpises. The writing is supurb and fans of Ms. Hoffmans earlier work will not be disappointed. Be prepaired for an engrossing, beautiful read.

This fantasy anthology consists of eight delightful but strange short stories and one superb novella all written in the last decade. Each tale consists of an individual(s) whose frailties and desires (in some cases these are the frailties) lead to wrong turns in worlds that seem like our own yet feel different. The novella, "Haunted Humans", is a powerful story that will shake the souls of readers. Ghosts and humans argue, fuss, and fight often inside someone's head at the Mental Healing Center to keep Dorothy Jean safe from Chase, who may be residing inside a patient's head.

The stories feel absolutely weird as if Rod Serling visited a not quite normal earth that at first glance seems like ours, but overlaid in a fantasy environs. All nine contributions will delight the audience, but no doubt the novella is the stand out that will send readers seeking Nina Kiriki Hoffman's novels (see PAST THE SIZE OF DREAMING and FISTFUL OF SKY).

Harriet Klausner

Time Travelers, Ghosts, And Other Visitors is an imaginative anthology of nine short science fiction and fantasy by multiple Nebula and Hugo-award nominee Nina Kiriki Hoffman. These superbly crafted fantasy tales range from the exploits of a manipulated time traveler, to the award-nominated novella "Haunted Humans" where ghosts and mortals must join forces to stand against a vile killer. An unforgettable collection that spans both minds and worlds, Nina Hoffman's Time Traveler's, Ghosts, And Other Visitors clearly documents her as one of the very best in her chosen genre.

The book is about a girl that is exsuses with strang mystery intil shhe finds out she already has a strang mystery

In the LaZelle family, the transition into magic is more difficult the older you are. Twenty-year-old Gypsum LaZelle has already resigned herself to living a normal, ungifted life, unlike her four siblings, who transitioned as teenagers. But when Gypsum falls ill one weekend and finally transitions, her power turns out to be a dark power, the power to curse people and things. This book explores the creative ways Gypsum chooses to use her power among her close-knit family, with help from a mysterious girl named Altria. At times moving or funny, A Fistful of Sky is a coming-of-age story about the bonds of human relationships with complex characters, pain, joy, and, of course, magic.

"Is the grapefruit still in charge of the kitchen?"

"A Fistful of Sky" tells the tale of a young woman named Gyp (short for Gypsum...all her brothers and sisters are named after minerals.) who grew up believing she was an outsider in her own family. Gyp learns otherwise when she goes through a late 'transition' to magical powers well after the norm for her family.

The LaZelles are a well-to-do family with a celebrity magical mother obsessed with appearances, a brainy even-tempered and supportive father, four magical and attractive children and Gyp, who it seems is neither magical nor attractive. Gyp is fat and ordinary. While growing up she is at the mercy of her mother, who tries to spell Gyp into losing weight, and her siblings, who use their magical powers on Gyp to abuse and manipulate. Eventually, Gyp goes to boarding school to escape.

The story really begins when Gyp is 20 and the family leaves to visit the oldest sister, Opal, who has forged a successful career as a makeup artist. Gyp gets terribly sick and can't go along. Little did the family know that Gyp was actually going through a late transition. However, rather than receiving wish power, as did the rest of the family, Gyp receives the power of curses.

Unfortunately, this power must be used, and used often, or Gyp will sicken and die. She has several hillarious (to us, not to her) misadventures trying to use her new power. (The 'helpful' computer must surely be one of the funniest scenes I've ever read.) Eventually, with the help of her family, and a surprising new friend, Gyp learns how to control her power, and in the end, to accept herself.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman has written her best novel yet. A Fistful of Sky is the most powerful and mature book she has written. She maintains the sense of wonder from her earlier work while improving her characterizations significantly.

Hoffman revisits themes from her excellent first novel, The Thread That Binds the Bones. As in Bones, the young protagonist is a late-blooming daughter of a big and powerful family with supernatural powers. The heroine again manifests surprising power of her own. The leading lady again falls in love with an outsider.

A Fistful of Sky is a slightly dark fantasy set in contemporary America. If you like the contemporary fantasies of Charles De Lint, Emma Bull, Tanya Huff, Megan Lindholm, and Mercedes Lackey, you will love A Fistful of Sky.

A Fistful of Sky is an outstanding novel and is well worth buying in hardcover. Hoffman's recent novels received nominations for several fantasy awards; A Fistful of Sky is a sure winner!

A really enjoyable novel; the best of her work that I've read. Here's hoping the forthcoming "A Stir of Bones" is a sequel.

I found this book in a little half-priced used book store. I liked the cover and figured what the heck. I rarely keep them after I read them once. This book however, is being kept and has already been read twice. I love the ideas and imagination that flows through these pages. Nina has made them come to life with a force that is not duplicated often. I am hoping that she does not stop this story line where she left it. There's so many possiblities on how these characters and possibly new members of the family may be introduced into many books on how this unique family will fit itself into the world. I'd rate it as a "must read" for anyone who enjoys truly wonderful fantasy reading.

I read this book when it came out and loved it. I have read it three times since then and I love it more each time (and I do not re-read books, nor do I normally write reviews). It is not the best written book, but the story is so wonderful! I loaned my copy out and it never came back. It took months to find another! I wish there was a sequel. This book is just such a great little story. If you like love stories with a lot of real magic thrown in- this book is for you. Good luck finding it, though:-) Maybe they need to do a 2nd run?

A book in the world of _The Thread that Binds the Bones_ (see inotherworlds.com), but unrelated to the earlier book, this fantasy set in our world has Hoffman's characteristic magic, familiar and original at once. It also has the hallmarks of warmth, pleasure, and very human villains. Combined with romance, murky parentage, strange friendships and various non-human beings, this pleasant melange manages coherency and tight focus, and leaves the reader with a feeling of satisfaction and wonder.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman has succeeded in creating a fantasy world just around the corner from our own,a world that draws on the unique qualities of the American continent.She doesn't use elves, or faeries, or any "imported" european style myths, but creates her own unique "Powers and Presences". A landscape just like our own until you scratch the surface. Briefly, the story is about a young man, almosts an adult, dealing with new-found talents, people (and others) which do and don't like him because of those talents, and the major issue of dealing with parental abandonment and just plain growing up. Because this book, and her previous "The Thread that Binds the Bones" are so unique and special I recommend this book highly (and anything else by Ms. Hoffman).

"The Silent Strength of Stones" is a wonderful book. Hoffman builds her own world that looks exactly like our own, except for those strange people with the mysterious (sometimes even to them!) powers. There's only one thing that made this a less-than-phenominal experience for me: I'd already ready "The Thread That Binds The Bones", Hoffman's first novel. "Thread" makes this book seem anemic! The two are loosely connected, since Hoffman scatters clues (names and pieces of her Ilmonish vocabulary) that Willow, Evan and their strange family are related to the main characters of "Thread". Since "Thread" is, sadly, out of print and hard to find, "The Silent Strength of Stones" will have to suffice for people new to Hoffman's work. Even a book that is, in my opinion, her second best, is still head and shoulders above the work of most other fantasy writers. This is a book that will carry you along, envelope you in its world and characters, and leave you begging for more of Ms. Hoffman brilliant writing.

This is definitely ne of the better Voyager books, and goes to show that you don't always need a six book series for a good story. Basically, the story involves some sort of rift in space which spans across parallel dimensions, and after a period of time, it beams the entire population of a certain planet into space, each time accessing a different dimension, weird stuff. Voyager comes across this vast pool of bodies in space and investigates, and along the way bumps into some parallel Voyagers, and some of the crew get misplaced throughout these dimensions.
The story ends as most time travel/alternate dimension stories end, with the crew sacrificing themselves to preserve the timeline, and afterwards, nobody really knows what happened, sort of pointless in a way, bit like Year in Hell.
The writing was solid, excellent characterisations, and nearly every major character played a role, even Kes. The novel was set in season 3, pre seven of nine Voyager, so the story wasn't centered around the Borg. I felt this story really captured the 'essence' of season 3, each season of the show has a distinct look and feel about it, this book was most definitely season 3.
The novel also dealt with the alternate dimensions well, the left/right system was a good analogy, not as confusing as a more recent J&G novel series, the authors made it fairly easy to understand. Another point of mention, what was the go with three authors? It's a rare event to see a novel with three authors, but the results are there is this one.
A good read, reminiscent of the days when Voyager was relatively innocent, before the plot became too convoluted, maybe not worth buying, but definitely worth borrowing from a library of friend.

This is, quite possibly, the best Voyager book out there. I'm an avid Voyager fan, and I read a few VOY books previously. I came away from those books feeling cheated - the plots were dumb, the characters were flat and two dimensional - those novels didn't depict the Voyager I loved.

Echoes, on the other hand, is excellent! The characters are fleshed out, believable, and amazingly like the characters on TV. Finally! I liked how the characters thoughts were also put down on paper. What made it really good, though, was the whole concept of parallel universes. It showed us all the possibilities, and the different reactions the characters (especially Janeway) had to all of them.

And the plot itself was amazing! I was totally captivated! This book wasn't your usual Voyager book - you had to THINK and really comprehend what you were reading, as it got a little confusing trying to keep track of all the different Voyagers. But it was fun, in a strange kind of way. It was really interesting. I couldn't put this book down. I read it in one long stretch.

Also, the writing was excellent. I found myself reading whole pages (sometimes more!) over and over again becaue the dialogue or whatever was just so wonderful...sad, happy, perfect, etc. This book was just wonderful in every way!

I know I may sound kind of ditzy in my enthusiasm, but this book really blew me away. I was expecting a book that took my favorite characters and mutated them into cardboard...but that wasn't what I got. I got a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon because of a book that was...well, thoroughly enjoyable! (Oy...corny, corny!)

Once again, if you only read one Voyager book...read this one. It's the best!

(By the way, did anyone notice that the middle names of the first two authors are Star Trek names? Wesley and Kathryn! And then 'Kiriki' can be Kira...or Kirk...uh oh. I think I'm a little too obsessed...)

For the billionth and final time, this is THE BEST Voyager book, so whether you borrow it from the library or buy it from here, make sure you read it. A must for any Voyager fan!

This is one of the best stories in the Voyager series. The writers' descriptions of the action and reactions are very unsettling, and immediately draw you into the story. The only negative I found was that it was hard to keep track of which universe the writers currently had you in, but the story is absolutely engaging.

I'm not usually a reader of fantasy books, but I couldn't resist picking this up. And I'm not sorry I did. Once I plunged in, I couldn't stop. I identified with Matt and Edmund, and almost drank the story line. It was mercilessly easy to follow, and as I finished the story, I found myself wanting to read more of their adventures. This book completely flew by, and I was sorry to see it end.

I really enjoyed this fantasy! It would have left me hanging if I hadn't known about the next book in this series; Past the Size of Dreaming. I enjoyed both and wish that Nina Hoffman would continue on with other books of Matt and Edmund plus the rest of the "house's" children!

Matt Black, a homeless woman, is sitting on a park bench eating discarded sandwiches when a man steps out of a nearby ivy-covered wall. "The leaves wove together into green skin, the skin smoothed and formed a man, and then a man all green stepped away from the wall, shaking his head slowly."

The man is Edmund. Edmund wanders the world, going where the spirit moves him, and the spirit has told him to follow Matt. Thus begins a most extraordinary fantasy adventure set in the contemporary U.S., slightly to the left of reality.

I'm not going to say much else about the plot of A RED HEART OF MEMORIES because I don't want to spoil it or prejudice readers. Not being a big fan of fantasy or some of the book's themes (or California for that matter), I would likely have avoided it based on a plot synopsis. However, Hoffman's terrific writing made it a novel that I'm glad to have read.

The characters in A RED HEART OF MEMORIES are well drawn and compelling, but what impressed me most was the amazing sense of wonder Nina Kikiri Hoffman brought to her magic scenes, and her whimsical humour. Hoffman uses magic to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. For example:

"The rocks were singing.

Matt kneeled and placed her hand on them. Gold bared her palm --Hello?-- she thought.

''Greetings, man-thing. Thing like those that chopped us and split us and carried us and buried us, looking for seams and nuggets and ore. Greetings, thing that stripped us from our parent and brought us to a new place. Greetings, thing that left us shattered here an age ago.--

--Uh, greetings,-- Matt thought. None of these events sounded very positive, but the rocks didn't seem too angry about them. On the other hand, all the rocks had sharp edges."

My only serious criticism of A RED HEART OF MEMORIES is that the end of the book lacks impact, particularly given the emotional intensity of earlier chapters. Part of the weakness is structural. The book's viewpoint character, Matt, is pulled into a quest to solve Edmund's problem, and this in turn draws them into solving someone else's problem. These two steps distance us from Matt's needs and emotions, thus making the ultimate payoff inevitably less intense. Moreover, the climax of this magical quest begs for pyrotechnics and, unfortunately, Hoffman opts for a low key resolution. It is more realistic in human terms, certainly, but it lacks dramatic closure.

The disappointing end of A RED HEART OF MEMORIES reminded me a great deal of THE HEALER'S WAR, a fantasy novel by Elizabeth Anne Scarborough, based on her experiences as a nurse in Viet Nam. Because Scarborough hadn't resolved her feelings about Viet Nam, she wasn't able to resolve her protagonist's problems either, consequently this otherwise excellent book drizzled to an uncertain stop.

Hoffman has done a better job, nonetheless she tackled an ambitious, thorny theme and it's little wonder she had difficulties. I still recommend this book strongly, and will be watching for more of Hoffman's work.

...

A "Arabian Nights"-era group who are taking gifts from their Caliph to a "Cauccasian" prince, are hunted by a "Vampyr". In order to survive, they accept his wager to tell a tale that is more sad than his.
• POSITIVE ELEMENTS: Self-sacrifice plays a large role in the book. When one of the men is seriously wounded in a fall, the others will not leave him, though it will slow their flight from the monster. At the end of the story, though the monster is getting ready to kill him, one of the protagonists cries for the beast's neverending lonliness.
• SPIRITUAL CONTENT: The majority of the characters are Muslim and constantly offer praise to Allah. Two of the characters claim to be Christian, but flee their faith because the Church won't allow them to marry. They are relatives. The main character speaks of Muslims preaching in front of Christian churches and converting many of them to the "true faith." This is somewhat disconcerting from a Christian perspective, as this book is obviously written on a grade school level and may affect young minds.
• SEXUAL CONTENT: .The book doesn't have any sexual content, per say, though the main character refers to the act by a crude term. Another character, while telling a story, mentions that he, as a young man, was following a girl who had promised sexual activity before disaster strikes. Two relatives marry, leaving their homeland and, presumably, their Christian faith to do so. One of the illustrations shows an Arabian woman in revealing attire.
• VIOLENT CONTENT: People are killed in a number of ways. One man is bludgeoned in the head, another's throat ripped out. Blood is shown to be virtually non-existent on corpses, as the creature that is stalking them feeds on it.
• CRUDE OR PROFANE LANGUAGE: One word. One man uses the phrase, "Am I a Christian or a Jew?" as a swear phrase.
• DRUG AND ALCOHOL CONTENT: The story is being told at a celebration where many of the characters are drunk from too much wine. At one point, a servant drops (and destroys) a barrel of wine.
• OTHER NEGATIVE ELEMENTS: The book leaves one loose end. The main character mentions, in a story that he tells, that he regrets never having seen what was in a package that he delivered to a wealthy woman in his youth. We never find out what this item is. Also, the resolution seems a bit forced. The villain's story is predictable, at best.
Another thing to take into consideration is that this book deals with rather mature subject matter, considering its reading level. I'd say that a sixth grader would be able to read it with full comprehension. The violence and religious viewpoint should be enough to give Christian parents pause.
• CONCLUSION: For an adult, a decent, somewhat unfulfilling read. Not for the kids, though.

I've only read _Caliban's Hour_ by Tad Williams but I liked that much better than this book. I've also read some shorter works by Hoffman which I've had mixed feeling on. This seemed more like a long, short story. It did seem rushed because there was a lot in the story. A main setting of some men having dinner and then one of them telling a story and then the characters in that story telling many stories.

As confusing as that sounds it wasn't a confusing read. I like the arabian setting and it was funny at times but nothing really impressed me about it, except for one of the stories told within the main story.

I think it would be more impressive for someone just getting into fantasy as opposed to a veteran. Though as the last reviewer mentioned it may not correctly represent Williams' 'normal' style of writing.

Hi all,

I'm an absolutely _huge_ fan of Tad Williams. I've read everything out there from Talechaser's Song to Mountain of Black Glass (and read MST three times). I've read both of his shorter works: Child of an Ancient City and Caliban's Hour. In reading Child, I found the prose weaker than what I was accustomed to with Tad: perhaps this was due to the condensed nature or perhaps it was that much of the text was actually written by Nina? I'm undecided. On the whole I enjoyed it more than Caliban's Hour. I would recommend this book to fans of Tad but not to the uninitiated.

This is a good book. It's kind of slow for the first bit but it unravles into a very exciting story. An Alien switches over Will's body, wich at first is great for Will because he was a total geek and the alien is pretty popular(But of course the kids don't know he is an alien.). But that does not last long. For the alien won't let him have his own body back. Soon Will finds out why, and by that time he's wishing that he never wanted to be someone else