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Book reviews for "Jones,_Stephen" sorted by average review score:

New World Noodles
Published in Paperback by Robert Rose Inc (September, 1997)
Authors: W. A. Jones, Stephen Wong, and Bill Jones
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An excellent noodle cookbook
A wonderful cookbook full of recipes that actually work, take little time and taste fantastic


A Spectrum Reader: Five Years of Iconoclastic Reporting, Criticism, and Essays
Published in Paperback by August House Pub (May, 1991)
Authors: Bill Jones, Stephen Buel, and Phillip Martin
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Masterful stuff, Mr. Jones
Bill Jones and his many fine companions have compiled a truly noteworthy collection of stories, reviews, columns and more. I spent hours and hours poring over this distinguished work.


Thirty Strange Stories
Published in Paperback by Carroll & Graf (March, 1998)
Authors: H. G. Wells and Stephen Jones
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ALL IN ONE
THIS HUGE BOOK HAS ALMOST ALL OF H.G.WELLS BEST WRITINGS. THE STORIES ARE AMAZING AND THIS BOOK IS A MUST FOR ANY SCI-FI LOVER.


Exorcisms and Ecstasies
Published in Hardcover by Fedogan & Bremer (December, 1997)
Authors: Karl Edward Wagner, J. K. Potter, and Stephen Jones
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Limited Buy
I really excellent read. Will really chill you through and through.

Superb
This collection is an essential purchase for Wagnerphiles. Buy it now.

Buy It Soon Or Miss It
This book was printed in a hardcover trade edition of only 2000 copies (which is the version being sold here at Amazon) and a limited edition of 100 signed copies. The book is excellent (see the other reviews for details), so do not delay if you are interested in buying a copy. The editorial review for this book should state that this is a very limited offering.


Shadows over Innsmouth
Published in Paperback by Del Rey (28 August, 2001)
Authors: Stephen Jones, Dave Carson, Martin McKenna, Jim Pitts, and H. P. Lovecraft
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good addition to your pulp library
this collection contains a good deal of good stories like daoine domhaine and the church in high street. stories by campbell, lumley, copper, sutton..... not the most inventive stories i have read, but good storiess, well written. this is in fact one of the finest pulp collections

Qualified lessers step up to the master's plate
H.P Lovecraft, while unappreciated in his own time, is now widely regarded as one of the true masters of horror fiction. His proficiency at creating deeply unsettling locales and creepy atmosphere is legendary, while his imagination is viewed as limitless in its breadth. He was also very giving when it came to other authors and his personal inventions; his Cthulhu mythos, centred on beings of hideous visage and infinite age (the "Old Ones"), has been taken up by countless authors since, at his own bequest.

It is only natural, then, that his other stories also be used as fertile ground for the imaginations of others. Stephen Jones has commandeered this challenge, corralling an impressive group of authors to edit together homages and emulations to one of Lovecraft's most redoubtable tales, "The Shadow over Innsmouth." The result is much in keeping with Lovecraft's own writings; they are by turns gripping, frustrating, brilliant, and overall, unforgettable.

"The Shadow over Innsmouth" leads off the collection, an atmospheric yarn of a tiny Massachusetts hamlet which harbours a dark secret. Into this town comes a curious young man with an interest in architecture; what he discovers is a village who claims allegiance to the Esoteric Order of Dagon, a strange religion with more than simply surface connections to the sea. In what is essentially a chase novella, Lovecraft weaves an atmosphere so dank and damp, you can practically feel the sea breeze on your skin, and smell the unpleasant aroma of rotting fish.

Lovecraft has penned an exercise in suspense, a unwholesome tale of insanity and beings beyond imagination. It also displays some of Lovecraft's lesser traits; he has a prevailing habit in his writings of describing entities which "cannot be described"; things of such loathsome natures that his protagonists cannot bear to remember their features, much less describe them for the reader. As well, his dialogue, minimal though it is, is rather stilted. Stephen King, in his memoir/treatise ON WRITING, states that, in all the millions of words Lovecraft put to paper, only five thousand or so were spent on dialogue. It shows. (King has also dabbled in Lovecraft's world; see his short fiction "Jerusalem's Lot" in NIGHT SHIFT, and "Crouch End" in NIGHTMARES AND DREAMSCAPES.)

That aside, "Shadow" is a marvellous tale of the macabre, and lends itself easily to other writers's themes and styles. Nonetheless, a severe fault with this compilation is that some author's follow Lovecraft's style too lavishly. Basil Copper's "Beyond the Reef," an almost direct sequel to "Shadow," is rather confusing in its melange of Lovecraftian wordplay and Copper's plot. This is not to mean that it is worthless, far from it. It has moments of true terror and mystery; it simply doesn't hold together in the end. However, Ramsey Campbell's "The Church in High Street" manages the feat of successfully combining both Lovecraft's expressions and Campbell's ideas.

Of the stories that can trace direct themes and atmosphere to "Shadow," Michael Marshall Smith's "To See the Sea" is the most accomplished. Transferring the basic plot to the English shores, Smith tells of a tragic love story, family mystery, and horrors from beneath the waves. It is mesmerizing in its balance of the sanity of an outsider and the insanity that religion can provide. Brian Lumley's "Dagon's Bell" is almost Smith's equal, in its telling of archaeologists, hidden monsters, and local customs for dealing with said monsters. (Lumley has some experience in this area; he's used Lovecraftian themes and characters in his writings for years.)

Despite the inclusive quality of these stories, the least of them suffer somewhat through a necessary knowledge of their forefather. Reading the tales on their own, without the fortuitousness of familiarity of the original, lessens their impact. More striking and memorable are stories which take certain aspects of Lovecraft's prototype, and venture forth into new dimensions of fancy.

Neil Gaiman's entry, "Only the End of the World Again," benefits from his unusual take on the denomination of Dagon. He almost repeats the tale, but adds the unforeseen element of lycanthropy to the mix. Like the best of Lovecraft, it is eerie, confusing, and sticks in the mind long after the pages are closed.

Arguably the most entertaining piece is Jack Yeovil's "The Big Fish," which goes in a direction Lovecraft likely never dreamed of; detective fiction. In Southern California, a private eye gets enmeshed in a case involving a sultry yet off-putting screen siren, a missing child, mobsters, and human sacrifice. Yeovil conjures up a mix of Dashiell Hammett and Poppy Z. Brite, resulting in sheer enjoyment. It would make a good duo with Clive Barker's tales of his supernatural investigator Harry D'Amour.

H.P. Lovecraft is not an author for every taste; his style is far more esoteric than, say, the mundane horror fiction of Dean Koontz or Bentley Little. Yet there's no denying the influence he has had on a generation of authors. SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH is a prime starting place for anyone who craves more than Koontz can provide.

There's Always Been Something Fishy About Innsmouth...
...and it's all right here.

Lovecraft's own inspirational story, "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" - curiously, one of his own least favorite, but one of his best - leads off this terrific collection of clever spin-off tales by contemporary authors on the same theme: namely, that there are isolated seaside places around the world where the inhabitants not only pray to, but interact with, ancient subaqueous demon-gods from other worlds.

Many of the tales are more or less sequels to Lovecraft's seminal story, set in and around Innsmouth itself, the fictional Massachusetts town the author first "sailed" the concept in. Each of these reads very well as its own stand-alone piece, successful entirely independent of Lovecraft's story, but all the more entertaining for being one way or another connected to it. Other tales, such as Ramsey Campbell's "The Church In High Street," are set in other locations, like the decayed, dockside areas of Great Britain, where similar interbreeding with noxious hellspawned water-gods also is occurring. One especially good story, Kim Newman's "The Big Fish," actually reads like a credible direct sequel to Lovecraft's original, and is all the more perfect for essentially performing like a 1930s noir-horror film. Even Neil Gaiman gets in on the act, with a skin-crawling little bit of nastiness about an Innsmouth descendant coming to terms with his gruesome genetic heritage.

One thing you can count on, in this collection: something in it will definitely appeal to your Lovecraftian tastes - so long as that taste is for fish.


Dark Detectives: Adventures of the Supernatural Sleuths
Published in Hardcover by Fedogan & Bremer (November, 1999)
Authors: Stephen Jones and Randy Broecker
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Just so-so
This book was something of a let down. The stories were a little dry. I never got that nice chill that I get when I read a good spooky book. Most of the characters in the stories are Sherlock Holmes want-to-be's. But they try to hard, aren't that clever, and most of the spooks come out of the Scooby Doo stories.

Don't spend the money, and if you do, buy it used.

Another winning Stephen Jones anthology
Although all the stories collected here involve the same subject, psychic detectives, they are diverse in mood and storytelling. Even if you've read any of these stories before, as I have, it's best to read this collection from cover to cover as a whole. There is also some great stuff here that I'd never heard of before like the Brian Mooney and Jay Russell tales. The whole book is weird fiction, and some of it is quite dark, but Jones places the comic relief at just the right moments. I only wish he would have included one of Seabury Quinn's Jules de Grandin stories; most of which have never been reprinted since their original publication in Weird Tales. Newman's wraparound story alone is worth the price, simply because, like so many great British authors, most of his work hasn't seen U.S. print.

Excellent mystery/horror stories
This is a group of mostly newer detective stories. But these aren't your average private eyes; these people del in the supernatural and occult.

Among the authors represented are Clive Barker, William Hope Hodgson, Manly Wade Wellman, Neil Gaiman, Brian Lumley and Basil Copper. In seventh century Ireland, a rural innkeeper and his wife are being terrorized by unnatural noises. A story set in rural England early in the 1900s has a wonderful title, "The Adventure of the Crawling Horror." What looks like a grandfather clock with four hands, and strange symbols where the numbers should be, actually has a much more hellish purpose. Another story has to do with John Wayne supposedly being buried in a pink dress. Kim Newman contributes a multi-part short novel about a fist-sized ruby with the power to destroy mankind.

I am not much of a mystery or supernatural reader, but I really enjoyed these stories. They work as detective stories, and the occult part is sufficiently strange. This is well worth reading.


Stephen Fair
Published in Paperback by HarperTrophy (25 April, 2000)
Author: Tim Wynne-Jones
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stephen fair review
This book, of a teenager having strange dreams was, how should i put this... confusing. This is because they dont say who "brenda" is until the centre of the book, there is nothing telling apart the dreams from real life and doesn't keep you interested. Once you get to part 2, everything comes together and you realize, "wow, this IS a great book."

wonderful
I read this book many times through elementary school and high school. It was absolutely wonderful. It influenced many of my reading choices afterwards... like the maestro another excellent read by tim wynne jones. This is one of my all time favorite adolescent novels

Tim Wynne Jones (the best)
I feel That this book is very well writen. I ahvr read all of his books and feel that this one compleats the list so far. I feel everyone should read this book because it is a very good introductoin to young adult readers.


Others Unknown : The Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy
Published in Hardcover by PublicAffairs (October, 1998)
Authors: Peter Israel and Stephen R. Jones
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Good on the facts but needs to go deeper
Others Unknown put into print what the majority of thinking Americans sensed about the Oklahoma City Bombing.

There had to be more people involved.

It all started with the FBI drawings of mystery man number 3, who was described by no more than 3 people to have been with McVeigh. He looked Middle Eastern. Hmmm, nope no terrorist acts would ever occur on American soil right. Then the second little facts that weren't put to light, the bomb making materials that they had receipts for would never have been enough to do that sort of damage. And on it goes.

The interesting thing is that Stephen Jones (the author and McVeighs attorney) even points the finger at Osama Bin Laden back in 1998. Hello is anybody listening. Hindsight is great, but I think we all knew there was more than meets the eye about this ordeal.

The weakest part of the book is that MR. Jones never delves deep enough into why the government cover-up. He barely scratches the surface, but I think that is the real mystery. Why was the government not screaming that we know there was at least one other person involved and we need to find him? Is it simply that Bill Clinton didn't want to rock the boat? Could it have been that he was trying to create a legacy for himself, other than ????gate (you fill in the scandal)? Did he think naming an Arab as a suspect might destroy peace talks with Israel and Palestine? These are all only conjectures but the book should have hit these issues harder.

Overall a good book, especially for the ignorant Americans who are spoon-fed their daily dose of propaganda from CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Etc., and think its news.

The Government Given Way to "Power, Venality, and Display"
Stephen Jones, the lead counsel for Timothy McVeigh, writes an engrossing book that is not only about his client's case, but gives equal treatment about a nefarious government reminescent of Rome of the Roman Empire. In his writings Jones not only presents many deficiencies in the Federal government's case against McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing, but also paints the picture of a government agency completely hell-bent on "winning." Jones, in advocating for his client, contends that the prosecution's case was incomplete and circumstantial; exculpatory evidence was either withheld or stalled that could have helped in giving McVeigh a fair trial.

In his analysis, Jones does raise enough doubt in McVeigh's "direct" involvement in the bombing, and more that one can of worms is opened. For example, an extra leg is found in the Murrah Building rubble that does not belong to any victim. Additionally, several red flags that are discovered by Jones and his team may imply that the bombing was planned from abroad. For example, how can only two men plan and execute such a bombing of such magnitude, something said to be impossible by bomb experts in other countries where this kind of thing is routine? Jones questions Terry Nichols' ignorance of the OKC bombing plans. Nichols made several trips and many telephone calls to the Philippines, a hotbed of terrorist activity -- that's never taken seriously in connecting Nichols, much less in mitigating McVeigh.

Jones' book is also his own biography foray into a high profile case that transformed his life and his beliefs about U.S. justice. His book, as he writes, is not meant to cash in on this case, but to expose the truth. Jones believes McVeigh should have been found not guilty (Read especially the acknowledgements!), and portrays his client as a man, not the demon characterized by the press. Although Jones does not offer why McVeigh was involved at all, this would seem to be covered by attorney-client privilege. Despite this, whether or not Jones convinces the general public of the facts that McVeigh did not receive a fair trial and that the government successfully hid the truth is left for the reader.

Eye opener.
This spring I enrolled in PSCI 398 Domestic Terrisom. As part of my outside reading, I came across this book. I found that it was very informative and offered a new insight into what happend in Oklahoma City. Though I read this book on my own time, it gave me lots of good ideas on how to explore the question that plagued my class "What is domestic terriosm?" This books explains why everyone including the guilty deserve a defense.


The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution
Published in Hardcover by Cambridge University Press (November, 1992)
Authors: Stephen Jones, Robert D. Martin, and David R. Pilbeam
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The need for a new paradigm: intelligent design
The pieces of the puzzle simply don't fit. One doesn't have to go through the subjects of the prebiotic soup, the origins of life, the cambrian explosion, irreducible complexity of molecular machines, the fossil record, micro and macroevolution, the fine-tunning of the universe for life, to make that clear. It is already abundantly clear. That is one of the reasons there should be a place for intelligent design in science. The other, of course, lies in the fact that intelligent design has already presented itself as a viable research paradigm. It is not enough to say, as evolutionary theorists like to say, that, as Dr. David L. Haury puts it, "science has no statement to make beyond the natural world". The problem, though, is that science may be working with a flawed conception of natural world in the first place, by conflating nature with matter. The fact is that information may be a structural and internal part of nature, as it is a structural part of computer "hardware" and "software". It is impossible to deal with computers from a purely naturalistic or materialistic perspective that excludes intelligent design in advance. The same may be true about the "natural world", and science has certainly something to say about that. Naturalist "scientists" may want laugh and scorn of intelligent design. But theirs is a partial, interested and biased laughter, as is the laughter of a Republican towards a campaign finance reform bill proposed by a Democrat. This kind of laughter must not be taken seriously.

up to date, wide range and scientific yet readable book
this book fully covers the subject and gives all the scientific details in depth and up to date. many contributors and many graphics. few personal biases, discussion in a scientific style where other books are narrative / prosaic.

Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Evolution
Excellent work. In depth treatment of the subject yet accesible to everyone.It covers every imaginable aspect of human evolution by the men and woman that are at the frontiers of this science.


Sir Walter and Mr. Jones: Walter Hagen, Bobby Jones, and the Rise of American Golf
Published in Hardcover by Sleeping Bear Press (November, 2000)
Author: Stephen R. Lowe
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Know what you're getting!
This is a serious work by a professor of history. It ISN'T filled with anecdotes ("And then Walter said to Bobby ..."), descriptions of shots ("Bobby then drilled a quail-high mashie between the towering pines ..."), gossip, swing analyses, etc. If this is what you're looking for, you'll be sorely disappointed. It's fairly dry -- make that extremely dry -- but is well-researched (hundreds of endnotes) and will be fascinating for anyone with an interest in the history of American golf. The format is a dual biography of Jones and Hagen in which their respective careers are compared and contrasted to give the reader an understanding of the rise of American golf in the era 1900-1930. The two men were so different in virtually every respect that this approach is very effective. Those who think golf began with Palmer, Nicklaus or Woods will gain an appreciation of what "gods" Jones and Hagen really were during the era in which they played. Hagen especially tends to be overlooked, but this book is an important reminder that he was one of the true greats of the game in addition to being one of its two or three all-time "characters." I didn't have the feeling that the author was particularly knowledgeable or avid about the game -- instead, this is a work of historical research, just as you or I might produce a history of badminton if we were willing to spend the time to do the research. When you're done, you won't "know" Bobby Jones as well as you'd know him if you read his and O. B. Keeler's own voluminous writings, and you won't be a fount of anecdotes, but you will have a solid grasp of Jones' and Hagen's place in history, how golf became an American obsession and how American golf eclipsed British golf. All of this for the price of a couple of dozen Top-Flite x-outs.

Great read
After reading this book, I found that Dr. Stephen Lowe really brings to life the lives of Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen. This book is written in a descriptive oriented reading. Before reading this book, I found that golf was not much of a sport. I found that there is truly a rich history in golf that I have come to respect and want to learn more about. I applaud Dr. Lowe and hope to read future writings.

A Very Insightful Book!
A meticulously researched book, an asset to any avid golfers bookshelf.


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