...Axler has left behind some of his "immaturity" (ie. the Deathlands series) in his new series...it is well thought out, the action is not as gratutious and the plot lines make more sense...He's also managed to tie a number of questionable historic events (the Roswell Incident) in with the new series...get it, you won't be disappointed..

Destiny Run, the second in the new Outlanders series is as good as the first one, but in different ways. The characters are developed more, with some fascinating mystical elements that remind me of the better X-Files episodes.Though Outlanders is a sequel to Deathlands, it stands on its own and can't really be compared. One of the improvements over Deathlands are more complicated, faster-moving plots with lots of rich background detail. The women characters really stand out, too.As a female, though I enjoy Deathlands, a lot of the books had very little for women readers. This is not the case in either of the Outlanders novels.I really enjoy this series and look forward to new books. I urge anybody who enjoys fast-paced adventure novels with interesting heroes to pick this series up. I hope it lasts, because I'm hooked!

I enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting, and the situations were unique. I definitely recommend this book

Wow! I've followed Steven Barnes for a long time, and this is definitly his best work so far (although I haven't read Iron Shadows). I suppose, in hind sight, that there were so other logical courses of action. But my response to those comments and others like them is: "But if they did that, there wouldn't be a story!". I was captivated by the plot of this book, and i whole-heartedly recommend it.

As anyone knows, I'm a tough sell. It takes a lot for a book to capture my imagination and make me want to really, really read it and regret it when I reach the end. Blood Brothers was just such a book. What makes it a good book?
"In L.A., young black computer games programmer/hacker Derek Waites is horrified when a cop attempts to abduct his children- -promising teenager Troy and lovable young Dee--and his ex-wife Rachel. Recently, Dee has been going into trances and reporting messages from a certain Dahlia Washington. The connection? Well, Derek's family is descended from Dahlia and slave-owner Augustus DuPris; now hundreds of years old, DuPris is a sorcerer who rejuvenates himself by feeding on the life-forces of his descendants. Dahlia says that a man named Tucker can help Derek. Tucker, it emerges, is white, has connections to neo-Nazi groups, and is rotting in jail for murdering his family! But--aha!--Tucker is descended from another sorcerer, The African, DuPris's partner, who preys upon Tucker's family just as DuPris preys upon Derek's. So, even if Derek can bust Tucker out of jail, can the two set aside their differences to save Derek's children and defeat the sorcerers?"
That's the basic set-up but what makes this novel compelling is how each character actually has a personality. The novel does tend to jerk a little at the end, unfortunately the strongest books of this nature can't live up in scale in the end. That's a given when the book is really good. The trade-off is that the story really pumps as Derek and Tucker genuinely don't like one another, for self-valid reasons. At the heart of this book is themes of racism and underlying relationships. It's one of the first books that I've seen that suggested a physical and spiritual need for a cooperation between Black and White people, I think that's what makes this book outstanding. You could point out that Derek and Tucker as archetypes are reversed for socialized views of what they should be or should know---Derek has no "killer instinct" (his hesitancy puts him and others at risks and at the same time makes him invaluable as he stops and evaluates each move, like a chess player and Tucker is constantly acting without thinking (his greatest strength but also his greatest limitation).
I personally believe that the link between all the People's of this here planet Earth is basic, perhaps even down to the blood and the magic realism/sci fi-esque field will explore this area quicker than other forms of literature. The summer after discovering Steven Barnes I then found his name as a note on a Tananarive Due books, all three which are excellent as well. Between the two of them there is a slow but steady emergence in the Fantasy (? I have no idea what to specifiy this field as, it covers so many areas but I do believe that at a point it is firmly grounded New Literature).
This book then lead me on to another Barnes book, Iron Shadows and the measure of a book is whether or not one will go out and buy a book by the author again. Steven Barnes delivers.

I picked up this book after many people recommended it to me. I was sorely disappointed.

The story starts out pretty good. Elia, a holocaust survivor and all around good guy, has come across a locket that he gave to his long-lost wife back during World War II. He's been searching for her for years, and this is the biggest clue he's found yet. The owners of the flea market stand he found it at offer to conduct a search to find the people who they bought it from. Meanwhile, Elia starts telling him his story. The search and the story telling continue over many weeks.

The ending is the real disappointment of this book. It's overly sympathetic and formulaic. It reminds me of a badly written chain email designed to make you examine your own life and how good it is compared to the story of some poor, downtrodden man or woman. I felt almost manipulated. As opposed to a believable, well thought out ending, we're subjected to something that was obviously designed to make the Harlequin romance crowd get teary eyed and introspective. It made me distrust what I considered the good parts of the book - Elia's description of the horrors of the concentration camp. If the ending was an obvious ploy to pull heartstrings, I can't fully trust that the rest of the book wasn't doing the same.

The character development is flat. People are either good or bad, not a great design in a book that at one high point has Elia explaining that the reason he can't blanketly hate all the camp guards is because to hate them would mean he'd have to hate all Germans, and if he hated all Germans he'd have to hate the Poles that helped the Germans, and so on and so forth. The two subplots running through the book seem to be there more for filler than anything else. Why spend several chapters reviewing the history of one particular friend of Elia's? Sure, it's somewhat interesting, but once again I have my suspicions that it was only included to have yet one more sad story for us to cry over.

Overall, I had a very strong bad reaction to this book. I felt ripped off and manipulated. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

The story of Elia and Anna follows predictably along, and even Elia's journey to find her through Ukraine and Poland had no hidden surprises. But, some of the descriptions of life in the death camps - of the Jewish workers and their survival of places like Treblinka - were very revealing. I have been to many of the places in the book, have read a lot about the holocaust, but some of the details presented in this book are new, or at least have been described in a new way to me. Buy it used.

"Goretsky lay still, his face a bloody pulp, unrecognizable. The solider swung his boot and kicked the motionless figure. Goretsky's lifeless body flopped like a sawdust doll, then settled facedown into the earth." (p. 30) This is the least detailed sentence I could find in this book. The rest is absoultely graphic and really reaches out to my heart. Elia is the main character and he is one of the few who survived the massacre at Babi Yar, where thousands of Jews were slaughtered by Germans. Elia returns from Babi Yar when he finds Anna, his wife gone. She had gone to another city for their daughter's safety. It is Elia's love for his wife, Anna, that keeps him going despite the winter cold, starvation, injuries and Germans looking for him. Years later when it is all over, Elia tells his story to Liz and Cia who sells objects at a flea market. Elia met them both when he discovered the locket,in a box full of jewerly, that was once a gift to his wife. Liz and Cia set out to find Anna upon Elia's request. Very hopeful book. Throughout the book, I only hoped that Elia would find the one thing he had always loved, Anna. This book has left me pondering about how Elia never once gave up and that showed such great courage, hope, faith and true love for Anna. I would reccomend this book to anyone who seeks truly moving stories.

Elia Wise is an stellar visionary. I found myself fascinated as she offered answers to questions I have felt within myself, but have never been quite able to articulate. Her perspective, full of compassion and encouragement, is told with a precision of language which is truly astounding. I could literally feel my brain having to expand to take it all in.

Letter to Earth is a must read for anyone seriously inquiring into the nature of the Self and our place in the cosmos.

Letter to Earth, by Elia Wise, is written in a question and answer format from the point of view of a consciousness that is able to address some of life's deepest and most intriguing questions. Among the many subjects it answers is how we create our reality (it may not be exactly what you think) and how we interact with the larger universe. Probably more important is the information on how we are evolving humanity as a whole and as individuals.

Letter to Earth begins with a letter that the author is writing to her young daughter. The letter is very touching, full of love and gentle explanations of why things are the way they are and the opportunities her daughter faces. This is a nice introduction to the book as Ms. Wise continues with a clear, almost affectionate tone throughout the book as she explains the human level of consciousness and it's opportunities for growth. The reader can directly apply this knowledge to her or his life as the book is read. Indee! d, the readers are the lucky recipients of Ms. Wise' deep and abiding knowledge and love.

I'm a bit in awe of Letter to Earth. It is like no other book I've ever read or held. First of all it's physically beautiful. The book jacket has amazing designs that somehow seem like it encapsulates knowledge from far away. The book cover itself is a deep purple and the pages have a bit of a ragged edge as if it was a very old book. If you're sensitive to "vibration" then simply holding the book or being near the book is a great experience in itself. The vibration of the book is visceral and I actually feel great while I'm reading it. But the best thing about the book is the content itself. The chapters easily flow from one subject to the next. I am constantly having that "aha!" experience as I read. I have read the book three times now from cover to cover and I know I'll be reading it several more times over the next months and years. It is truly a great text that I think! of as contemporary with the world's great texts on religio! n, spirituality and human growth.

Letter to Earth is to be experienced and not simply read. The book will expand your consciousness many times. It is a true treasure of our times.

Letter To Earth is one of the most miraculous books ever published. I have never read a book before where I could only read one sentence at a time, then I must stop and think about each sentence for a few minutes before going on to the next. There is more wisdom in each sentence than in entire chapters of other books. The description of how Elia acquired her wisdom (written about in the book) is equally miraculous. It's a difficult read, but if you take your time and read the book more than once, the grand ideas & concepts will eventually become part of your consciousness. The funny thing is, when I saw Elia at a live lecture, she talked in a very practical style, giving everyday examples in very simple sentences. I told her she should write another book in this simpler style sometime. But when you carefully read Letter To Earth, you realize the way she wrote it is the only way the concepts can really be communicated in their pure form.

Mr. Nelson "gets it." This book is the first book written by a clutterer for clutterers. I own every organizing book on the market and not one spoke to me the way this one does.

Cluttering is not just a problem with having a messy kitchen or closet. For those of us who are clutterers and hoarders, it is a psychological and spiritual blockage that limits our lives and even destroys relationships. Yet, while he treats the subject seriously, his humor shines through like the sunlight of the spirit. The stories of clutters are honest and touching, but you have to laugh at the one who has 27 refrigerators in his yard!

The medical and psychological information, full of quotes from experts in the field, (family counseling and Obsessive Compulsive Disorders) is well-written and understandable to a layman. Where the book really shines is in the practical, yet spiritual approach to deluttering our lives and then our living spaces.

Mr. Nelson's practical advice for dealing with debt and bill collectors (which often accompanies cluttering) is priceless. His family relationship chapter will help so many non-clutterers understand how to save their marriages.

Our nonprofit organization, Clutterless Recovery Groups, has recommended this book to all of our members and adopted it as our "Big Book." Kudos, Mr. Nelson, and thank you. You will touch the lives of millions with this book.

This book was one of the few I have bought and actually read cover to cover (versus browsing or skimming) on the subject of clutter. Mike knows first hand what is like to be a clutterer, and how to get to the root of 'why' we do it. He has some practical suggestions, good references for further help, and most importantly a 'lifeline' to throw to fellow clutterers that have struggled for years to get clutter under control. Thank you Mike, I was impressed enough to start a group in my area for mutual support. No one understands a clutterer, like someone that has been there!

I already was trying to declutter my life and this book was just what I needed. It answers the "why?" as well as the "how?" My clutter is not obvious to others, but 25 years of packratted stuff from a bygone marriage lurks in hidden places and I spend way too much time trying to find things.... I also found dozens of small things I had fruitlessly searched for in the past. But the greatest benefit is the good feeling I get when I shove things into the trash or yard sale boxes and then stand there enjoying my nice tidy space. Nelson has provided self-talk which has me questioning why I am holding on to things that I neither need nor like. Magically, similar things start gravitating toward each other in a process of organization. I still have places to unclutter, but I now look forward to what I'm going to rediscover and a feel-good opportunity. Some day I may write my own sequel to this book.

If you are seriously interested in thermodynamics, you have to read this book. Most textbooks treat temperature and entropy as ultimately indefinable, while the definitions in this text are so elegantly logical that they will quite literally blow your mind and force you to rethink everything you have been taught on the subject. I recommend this book not only to students of thermodynamics, but also to anyone who loves science and was never satisfied with definitions of temperature or entropy. This is easily the best textbook I have ever read.

Having learned first-handed from one of the authors and used it several times as a textbook in a graduate course, I am convinced that this is one of the best available thermodynamic textbooks and its influence will last for a long time. In addition to the removal of the vicious circles and ambiguous definitions presented in most thermo books, the definition of entropy is particularly enlightening. Entropy is defined as a property of any system (large or small) at any state (equilibrium or nonequilibrium). By repeatedly exercising the first law and second law of thermodynamics to solve engineering problems, entropy is not a monster to the students any more, rather, it is a fundamental property associated with all thermodynamic systems. The purpose of this book is not to give recipes for a few typical problems but to provide the foundation of thermodynamics to the readers, so that they can use their own knowledge to find the solution for many known and unknown engineering problems. For this reason, it is not the easiest textbook for use in a thermo class, and frustrations could occur at the beginning of using this book. At the end of each semester, however, most students felt that they had gained a unique experience and learned much more from this textbook than other books. I hope to see this book republished soon. If revisions are to be made, my suggestions would be for the authors to consider (1) adding more homework problems, (2) incorporating the international temperature scale of 1990 (ITS-90), and (3) using the new steam table (IAPWS-IF97).

As a teacher I am greatful to the authors, Gyftopoulos and Beretta, for providing me (and other teachers of thermodynamics ) with this novel, logically consistent and enlightening approach to thermodynamics. I use their exposition as the foundation of my teaching in both my graduate and undergraduate engineering courses in thermodynamics. I start with an expanded version of Chapter 14 of the book. This Chapter gives a concise summary of the thermodynamic concepts that constitute the basic structure of thermodynamics. Actually, the authors have a paper, found in the Proceedings ASME, Vo. 266, pp 206-217 (1993), in which they outline their presentation of the basic concepts in a sequence of 10 lectures. In that sequence, as in the book, there is a seamless flow from one concept to the other, without arbitrary statements, or non-rigorous derivations and misconceptions, as in most of the thermodynamic textbooks. For instance, unlike others who insist on talking about heat from page one, in spite of the fact that the concept of heat cannot be understood without the Second Law, Gyfropoulos and Beretta introduce heat towards the end of their exposition of basic concepts, where I believe it actually belongs. The above paper summarizes the order of introduction of concepts which I copy here:

"System (constituents and parameters); properties; state; energy(without heat and work) and energy balance; classification of states in terms of time evolution; existence of stable equilibrium states; available energy;entropy (without heat and temperature) of any state (equilibrium or not) and entropy balance; properties of stable equilibrium states; temperature in terms of energy and entropy;chemical potentials; pressure; work; heat; applications of balances"

My experience is that with this exposition of concepts the students end up with a better understanding of the structure of thermodynamics and a clear mental picture of the framework of basic concepts on which they can attach the application treatments they subsequently learn. I share the entusiasm of the two reviewers from Blacksburg about the book and its presentation of the entropy and the energy-entropy diagrams and I would like to add one more element: the treatment of the concept of reservoirs and the resulting extremely simple derivation of the Carnot Coefficient.

Don't expect to find a football book you can use exclusively from the rest. This is a good supplement to books like "The Pro Football Encyclopedia" (by Maher/Gill). If you're into statistics this is one of the best to have. Whereas "Pro Football Encyclopedia" has players longest gains, which this book doesn't, this book gives you kickoff and punt return stats for all players, the encyclopedia doesn't. This book is mainly about the NFL. I bought it for the statistics. It's also a good book to use if you want to find out more about a specific player (statistically speaking). Chapters like "The 25 Most Memorable Regular Season Games" and "The 300 Greatest Players" etc.. are not what I got this book for. I would prefer a book that leaves out author's opinions. I've seen games I'll never forget that I knew wouldn't make the list and also players. Although these chapters are somewhat interesting along with others I could live without half this book easily but like I said, it's a good season by season individual stat book that has information other books don't. It mainly depends on what you're buying this book for. There are statistics here excluded from other books but there are stats left out that ARE in other books, like blocked punts for instance, which may not seem to matter to most, but it all depends on what you're buying it for. It has stats other books don't, that's what I bought it for.

Being an avid Football fan, Total Football is a dream come true. It gives me fast reference to players and their statistics, positions, high schools, and even hometowns. However, there is one glitch that keeps popping up. After referencing through the book many times, i finally realized that a player must have played in a game in order to have been given credit for being involved in football that year. Therefore, a player could have been not played in a game, or sat out the season on injured reserve, and the book does not give him credit for playing at all. If a player was on a team's roster, but missed the year because of an injury, that should be noted. With the way Total Football is, I wouldn't know if a player was injured for the year, on the roster but didn't see action, or just sat out the year. To me, that's a big deal.

This revision of "Total Football" is amazing! Without a doubt, when i read it, i knew this book should be own by every serious football fan. The analysis, the statistics, and the information provided makes this one of my favorites in my collection.

As far as I can tell, the only reason anyone has ever bought this is because it's cheap in the used book stores and sez "Nobel Prize Winner" on the outside. (At least (blush) that's why I did).

People, stay away. This may be the worst book ever published. I say that after careful thought; this cannot be dismissed as shallow dark-and-stormy-night-ery, formulaic flatulence, or pathetic poetastery - it is bad on a much larger scale. It is a truly monumental combination of mean-spirited misogyny, flimsy characterization, dumb Dumb DUMB dialogue, and story line stolen from a whiny junior high school diary. To this day I cannot imagine why I stayed with it to the end, and regret having done so. If you are currently in the middle of this book, STOP NOW - don't throw good brain cells after bad.

It has occurred to me that Auto-da-fe is perhaps a bold experiment aimed at exploring the boundaries of literature - can one write a good novel without believable plot, engaging characters, human sympathy, or readable language? The answer is "no".

Perhaps the translation is at fault - perhaps the original is merely a badly written, pretentious, over-wrought mistake with maybe even a redeeming feature or two. In this case, the translation ought to be an object of careful study in the world's academies of translation technique (do such exist?) as an example of How Not To Do It.

Another thing I regret is that when I purged this malignant tumour of a novel from my shelves, I took the cowardly and unprincipled action of donating it to a charity book bazaar rather than consigning it to a dumpster; I expect St. Pete to have a few words for me on this subject when I show up at the pearly gates...

Peter Kien explores the innermost horror of his mind. He lives in a land of books until his solitude is invaded by the blue skirt - the horror of worldly feminity.

He is forced out of his secure environment into the fear of the city.

Canetti wrote the novel after seeing the University of Vienna in flames. He saw a man outside the university, unconcerned for those burning inside, crying "my papers, my papers". He saw Peter Kien. He saw humanity, civilisation.

After this, the most astonishing of novels, he concerned himself with the study of crowds and the politics of crowds.

On Brecht he said, "an overbearing man!"

One of the greatest novels of this century, this is a book you will not forget. It is a true masterpiece written, astonishingly, by a man hardly 25 years old. Chillingly prophetic, it is also stylistically of an overpowering beauty. A work of genius, ranking alongside the best of such giants as Kafka, Flaubert, or Dostoyevsky. It is a breathtaking descent into the darkness not only of an individual soul, but of a tormented century. It is Canetti's greatest triumph

"The Defense," by the same author, was riveting, and "The Prosecution" has some of the same qualitites that made the former book so engrossing. Joe Antonelli is a fine protagonist and the book has sharp dialogue and a brisk pace. The problem is the last quarter of the book. The resolutions to the crimes are too convoluted and unrealistic. In an attempt to keep the reader off balance, the author throws in too many twists and turns. He is game playing, which does not make for good plotting. Buffa should have reduced some of the plot complications at the end, and he should have attempted to make the characters' motivations and actions more realistic. This book had the potential to be first rate, but it missed because of the over-the-top ending.

Buffa is a terrific writer and this book, the second in a series, is a great read. I really enjoy the characters in these novels and through the authors skill, I felt close to them and cared about them. Grisham wishes he could write this well. Don't read this book until you have read the author's "Defense" novel. You'll understand this one much better after the complete setup that occurs in that book. I read this book and then turned around and read it through again. I don't believe I've ever done that before. Enjoyed it both times.

If you like legal thrillers set in courtrooms, then who better to read than an author who has been a defense attorney for ten years. Buffa isn't your run-of-the-mill attorney turned author. His characters are a step above the rest and his storylines keep you guessing. While reading his books, you are as unsure of a guilty/not guilty verdict as are the attorneys prosecuting and defending the cases.

In this book, Joe Antonelli, who was a defense attorney in Buffa's first novel "The Defense", resurfaces -- this time as a prosecuting attorney. Those of us who left Joe off, after reading The Defense, weren't sure if he would ever return to practicing law. He was so disenchanted by the events surrounding his last case, that he went into retirement. Fortunately for the reader, he is convinced to reenter the courtroom by another mentor and friend, Judge Horace Woolner. Since this case is so close to home for the Portland D.A.'s office, Antonelli is brought in as a special prosecutor. It turns out that Woolner has received information that could implicate the city's deputy district attorney in his own wife's death. Up until the verdict is given by the jury, you're not sure which way it's going to go. Of course, you'll have to read the book to witness one of the best legal minds out there today.

And, just when you think that this one case may just put Joe over the edge again, he is asked to defend Horace's wife who has now been arrested in connection with the death of a member of a prominent Portland family, who also happens to be her "good" friend.

Buffa gives us two mysteries in one in The Prosecution. I read his first book The Defense a few years ago and was immediately drawn to the main character Joe Antonelli. He's ruthless yet sensitive, educated but not overbearing and very, very vulnerable at this point in his life. I look forward to entering the courtroom once again with Joe Antonelli in the future. If I could give him one piece of advice, after reading these two books, it would be to pick better mentors and friends!!!