
Used price: $22.00






Used price: $15.96



Used price: $4.79


The only caveat is that it is not nearly as visual as you may want if you are a fetishist, hence the 4/5 score. Otherwise, spellbinding!




This is an excellent adventure book that takes a Conan like hero and plots him against all sorts of evil (and good), including some Cthulhu creations as well.
Originally Ghor was an unfinished story by Conan creator Robert Howard. Upon finding this unfinished story, a magazine decided to finish it. What they did was have a different chapter every month written by a different top fantasy writer. It made the reading interesting.
While most of the chapters were great. Some were excellent. Unfortunately there were a couple chapters that I just wanted to get through to reach the next writers' chapter. Overall a really good read.


Used price: $50.00
Collectible price: $48.90




"The Dead Remember" - Set in 1877 and told in the form of letters and official documents, unusual for Howard. Jim Gordon, the author of the first letter, decided to take time out from a cattle drive at the home of Joel, an ex-slave he knew and get some food. Losing all his money at dice after getting plastered on tequila, Gordon shot and killed Joel and his fortune-telling wife Jezebel - and Jezebel, dying, says he won't live out the year.
"Black Canaan" - A rumor of an oncoming uprising in the Black River end of that part of Louisiana known as Canaan brings the narrator home from New Orleans to check out the real situation among those only a generation from slavery. But someone has unearthed some African magic that's even worse for the oppressed than the oppressors...
"Kelly the Conjure-Man" - The title character, born a slave and rumored to be the son of a Congo ju-ju man, held immense power in the Ouachita pinelands of Arkansas, where he settled after the War.
"The Valley of the Lost" - John Reynolds, last surviving fighting man of his Texan clan in the aftermath of yet another gunfight in the Reynolds-McCrill feud, takes shelter in haunted Lost Valley rather than die unavenged. Some places, though, are better lost. This tale bears the marks of Howard's long-time friendship with H.P. Lovecraft; enjoy.
"The Man on the Ground" - A very short story of a fatal fight in another Reynolds blood-feud.
"Black Hound of Death" - Here we have an evil-cult-of-Malik Nous story, but different from "Dig Me No Grave"in _Beyond the Borders_.
"'For the Love of Barbara Allen'" - John Grimes, after hearing one of his grandfather's tales of the campaigns of Nathan Bedford Forrest, is swept into a flashback of a past life, as his grandfather's brother. "[War] upsets the balance of things, and throws lives into confusion that eternity cannot make right."
"The Hoofed Thing" - Crossover Cthulhu-type story, but with more brawn than Lovecraft himself normally deployed.
"The Moon of Zambebwei" - This is something like "Black Canaan", but far different in detail. Richard Ballville, absolute master of Ballville Manor in the Deep South, has held Constance Brand a prisoner for three years, faking her death - but now he's dying, and has only one hope for her survival: his rival and worst enemy, Bristol McGrath. The relationship between Ballville and McGrath is almost more interesting than anything else. McGrath would kill Ballville if he weren't already dying, and Ballville regrets nothing and rejoices in McGrath's past suffering, but they can trust each other on the most important matter in their world.
"The Horror from the Mound" - Steve Brill, who regrets leaving herd work for his failing farm, chaffs his neighbor Lopez on avoiding the Indian mound near the boundary of their lands. Unexpectedly, Lopez lets drop that de Estrada, a Spanish explorer famed for his gold, actually left it, and it's cursed - but Brill doesn't believe in curses, more's the pity.

Used price: $3.24
Collectible price: $7.41
Buy one from zShops for: $4.16


I find it very interesting that this novel is billed as a 'Howard Moon Deer' novel, when in fact the character Moon Deer makes up one half of a the detective team of Wilder & Associate. Throughout the novel, while Howard does play an integral part of the unfolding mystery, it is his mentor and boss, retired CA. policeman, Jack Wilder who has just as much action. Even more so, it is Jack Wilder that the P.I. firm is named after, and it is Jack that pretty much is part of the climax and resolution of the overall mystery here.
I purchased this book for its somewhat synonymous genre of modern Native American mysteries as Tony Hillerman would write about in his Jim Chee & Joe Leaphorn novels. Whereas Hillerman mixes in traditional Native American culture, history, religion, and tradition into his novels author Robert Westbrook barely touched on any of this in this novel. Actually our star, Howard Moon Deer, is very educated. He can speak French and English quite well and attended Ivy League schools. He often comments on how far removed he is from 'traditional' Native American life as he has mastered the yuppie slang, has a taste for Café Aulaits and wine, and is involved with an equally educated white woman.
So what part makes this a southwestern novel? Well, events take place in the fictional town of San Geronimo, New Mexico. The author compares San Geronimo to a smaller scale Santa Fe and Taos, as it is centered around an artist community/mentality and tourism. Sure there are some references to Native American culture, but not many.
The story was nothing new. Current mystery revolves around a recent murder and a stolen Georgia O'Keefe painting from years past. As the mystery unfolds, we learn of another murder and mystery tied to it from the past as well, but conveniently all the players from back then are still present today. Overall, the story was entertaining, and you really get interested in the cast of characters. The characters are pretty well defined and all have apparent motivations and definitions that make them fun and quirky. However, the climax was a slight let down as everything happened too fast and wasn't overly exciting or action packed. It was a fairly easy read, as I finished the 297 pages in less than 4 days, and I would definitely read the next one just so I can see the resolution of a few interesting non-essential story threads that presented themselves throughout the tale. Some of these seem to dictate the actions of Howard, his girlfriend, and Jack and the way they perceive each other.
In closing, Robert Westbrook has some very good characters in Howard Moon Deer and Jack Wilder, but I don't think this story utilized their full potential.

Art dilettante Robin Vandenberg hires the pair to obtain evidence that his stepfather is stealing from the store owned by Robin's mother Barbara. After less than one day passes after retaining the sleuths, Robin fires them. Someone soon beats up Howard and breaks into his home. An unknown assailant rummages through Jack's belongings. Finally, a culprit shoots and kills a homeless person in front of Howard's home. The murder weapon traces back to a robbery-killing over twenty-five years ago, leaving Jack and Howard seeking clues that are over a quarter of a century old to close out their current fiasco.
Robert Westbrook captures the enchanting artistic ambiance of New Mexico even as he describes the seamier side of the state. RED MOON is a fascinating mystery due to its rich atmosphere and complex characterizations. Although, the romance between Howard and Claire seems like filler material, the overall story line retains the appealing flavor of previous "Howard Deer" mysteries that fans of Native American fiction love.
Harriet Klausner




The author expends virtually all of his efforts discussing mob behavior, but rarely in the context of investments and market madness, i.e., most of the examples he uses relate to Ku Klux Klan activities, the French citizens' attack on the Bastille, the Watts riots and other such emotional mob activities. While these are often interesting and sometimes horrifying, they have only tangential bearing on market manias and investment fads. Furthermore, most of the text has been copied and pasted from reports on these activities that were written by others.
As an investment professional (and having invested in the market myself for over 35 years), I have long believed that, at least in the short term, market prices are dictated as much by psychology as by fundamentals such as profit growth, investment return expectations, balance sheets, business strategies, profit margins, competiting products and services, interest rates and such. And I thought the book would provide at least a few insights into investor psychology and how it moves markets; certainly a thorough discussion of the Dotcom and tech manias of recent years would have been a very apt topic for discussion.
Alas! There was no discussion at all about these issues of investment psychology; rather, the author was content to provide example after example of how, many times in the past, mobs are capable of taking on a life of their own and engaging in group-think, abandoning analysis and rational decision-making. Well, I guess we already know that. We are left on our own to try to figure out how "collective mob behavior" infects investors' psyches and affects the movement of stock prices.
Readers who would like a lot more insight into that process should buy "Devil Take the Hindmost," and not waste their time or money on this book.
Ralph



List price: $17.99 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $8.95
Buy one from zShops for: $10.77


The book wasn't totally without merit, and all three perspectives had some good things to say - but it got lost in a lot of wordiness about "words" which really took away from the book as a whole.

The result is only partially successful. I am particularly impressed with the essays by Paul Nelson and John Mark Reynolds (Young Earth Creationism) and Howard J. Van Till (Theistic Evolution). Both give lucid and reasoned presentations of their views. I was pleasantly surprised to see Nelson and Reynolds, neither of whom I have read before, forego some of the more common but already discredited scientific arguments for a young Earth. Van Till presents a well thought-out and challenging integration of science and theology.
I am very disappointed by the commentaries, however. My first complaint is that the commentators sometimes seem unwilling to critique the essays primarily within their own expertises. For instance, John Jefferson Davis spends much of his space discussing the fossil record. On the one hand, none of the other commentators talk about this important piece of evidence. On the other hand, I wish the editors could have found someone other than a theologian to do this.
My second, more serious complaint is that each of the four commentators speaks entirely from an Old Earth Creationist perspective. In fact, Walter Bradley (who is supposed to provide criticism from a scientific perspective) uses the space allotted for commentary on the Old Earth Creationist perspective to attack the positions later presented in the Theistic Evolution essay. The reader is deprived of any scientific critique of the Old Earth Creationist view and instead finds a philosophical objection to a view not even presented yet. I find that entirely inappropriate.
As a brief introduction to the thinking in the three perspectives on creation and evolution, the primary essays in this book are very good. They each present some of the strengths and weaknesses of their own positions. These are not explored fully, but each essay is well referenced for further reading. The commentaries could have benefited by a better selection of commentators, however.

this is a first book, that is suitable for educated people to delve into a topic where many of the other books in this field/topic presume a background in either science or theology, or where the books are so stridently biased as to be "preaching to the choir" and put off 'newbies' with their presentation.
the issues are presented well enough that i think if someone finishes the book they will have a reasonable idea of what the problems are and where the different parts are most concerned in the discussion. it is not a scientific or theologically based book but rather philosophic. it presents concerns from each viewpoint, thus showing relative priorities in what each person discusses first and critisies as lacking emphasis in the other viewpoints. this is one value in a debate type of format, it can leave you with a prioritized idea of what people find important in the issues.
one problem however with this debate framework is that each person reading the book who already have committments to issues or positions tend to cheer for their side and boo down the opposing sides. this is evident from the reviews posted here, the young earth creation team is not the big names in the field, so it looks like in suffers from lack of heroes. nay, the two philosophers defend the position well given the page constraints they faced.
there is one issue running through the book i wished everyone had addressed in a more explicit matter, that is the difference in accepting the functional materialism of science versus the uncritical acceptance of a materialist world and life view of scientism. there is much confusion between the two, you can see it in much YEC criticism, in this book as well, of both progressive creationism and theistic evolution. naturalism is the idea that what we see is what we get, no god's behind the curtain, no skyhooks to come down and rescue us. there must be a distinction between how science uses this idea as a working hypothesis, as a functional means to an end, versus how a philosophy uses it as an axiom. of the 3 viewpoints, only vantil talks to the separation of the two. the YEC's fault the other two positions as if they accepted the materialism/naturalism as a deep committment in their systems. which as christian's is simply unacceptable from the beginning.
i liked the book. i think if you need a place to start it supplies one. however if you are already committed to a position you would be better off served by jumping straight to one of the major works in each viewpoint. and interact with that author without the polemics that form the debate structure of the book.

Used price: $3.38
Collectible price: $7.24
Buy one from zShops for: $8.54


If the writers are unqualified hacks, however, the mess resembles the result of a Creative Writing 101 final after the TA trips while carrying the manuscripts.
Can you guess into which category "Shadows Bend" falls?
Unqualified ha...I mean, writers David Barbour and Richard Raleigh have imagined a world in which two famous pulp writers meet in order to drop a coin into the jukebox from Hell in order to prevent the end of the world as we know it. "Oh," you think. "It's going to be that kind of novel."
Though HP Lovecraft and "Conan" creator Robert E. Howard never met, Barbour and Raleigh ask us to imagine that they did. Also, that Cthulhu and the rest of the Old Ones are real and trying to rend the fabric of time and space in order to occupy our universe. Also, that any godlike being would think our universe was worth occupying, but that's another matter completely.
It's an interesting premise, interesting enough to get me to plunk down my money and take my chance. But the result is something less than promised.
Lovecraft and Howard set off on a nostalgia tour down Route 66 in order to destroy "the artifact" that would allow the Old Ones into our parking space. Along the way they meet Glory, a college-educated former prostitute who has read the works of Lovecraft and Howard, as well as that of Clarke Ashton, who makes a brief appearance later, who joins them in their travels. Terrible things happen. They save the universe. Blah blah blah.
My quibbles with this novel are large, broad ones. Well, I have small, subtle ones, but I won't bore you with them unless you write and ask for them. First, it appears that Raleigh and Barbour did not even read one another's work as they wrote. In some chapters Robert Howard, a Texan, is portrayed as a fellow with a decent command of English. In others, he nearly eats the scenery by aw-shucksin' his way through his dialog like a cartoon cowboy. Second, do I really need to point out how damned unlikely it is that a woman in the late thirties would be educated in medieval literature, read pulp fiction and work as a prostitute? Third, Lovecraft is written as though he were Oscar Wilde or Quentin Crisp. Fourth, why didn't someone tell Barbour and Raleigh that Southwestern Indians aren't the cool mystical minority they once were? Fifth, well, the ending is so lame you won't believe it. I would assume that the reason a writer would want to include historical characters in a modern novel is because he has something to say about that person, or that person is just the right character on which to hang the plot. In this novel, Barbour and Raleigh might just as well have written about *me*. *I* can slip a coin into a slot, too. And I bet I would have picked the right one the first time out.
If you're a Lovecraft or Howard fan, you might want to read this, but my guess is that it would be just too painful to see these two men massacred in print like this. If you read only one book using Lovecraft and Howard as characters this year, um, on second thought, read something else.


If it's sounds tawdry, it is. But at the same time, Parry explains the political implications of each character's actions.
Definitely on my list of sinful delights.