This is a nice book for basics. I borrowed it from my friend and am reading it as a supplement to an advance level NURBS course that I am currently enrolled in an University. This book is easy to read and understand. But the price is exhorbitant. There are other popular advanced level Computer Graphics books available for almost half this price. I would give 4 star rating had not the price been too high. Recommended for all interested in Computer Graphics and Geometric modeling basics, If you can afford it.

Games of terror:Halloween, Friday the 13th,and the films of the stalker cycle is a fascinating diagnosis of the genre and avid horror movie fans won't be dissapointed. The Friday the 13th section is particularly informative and gives one an idea of how the atmosphere was created. However for casual horror fans this book might prove a little dissapointing. For example the Halloween section only went over old facts and wasn't very good. Vera Dika does write a good description of the rapid rise of the slasher genre and that was the most interesting part of the book. In conclusion all casual fans would be better off buying a DVD of their favorite horror title, for that has interviews and directors commentary which is better. For seasond horror fans add an extra star to this review and buy it!

As can be seen from the title, this book steps outside the realm of "normal" Arthurian legend simply by stating that Arthur and Guinevere had a child. The writing is good but not great, and the story is enjoyable but not completely gripping. Parts of the portrayal of Urselet seemed incongruent with other parts of the same book. Ambris's character was more believable. Though I have read better, I think anyone interested in Arthurian legend would enjoy this book, and I recommend it to them.

This modestly-sized book is primarily concerned with listing the location of all medieval manuscripts and manuscript fragments in New Zealand. Now, that seems pretty obvious, based on the title, but you have no idea how literal the title is until you peruse this book.

Some of the better items are pictured in the section of the book devoted to plates. There are a fair number of both black and white and color reproductions. Otherwise, the book is mostly one huge list of title and provenance for New Zealand manuscripts. While the provenance items often contain some interesting tidbits about manuscript history, there is not really enough to make the book truly informative and useful for someone not living in New Zealand and looking for a list of manuscripts to request access for study.

I thought, based on the title, that this would be an exhibition catalogue of some sort, but it is not, not really. It's just not in the same league as Weick's Painted Prayers and other works of that ilk. Nor is the text informative enough to put this book at the same level as, say, de Hamel's A History of Illuminated Manuscripts.

That said, the book does have some good qualities. Again, there are a number of interesting tidbits contained in the various lists, and a number of the plates are artistically interesting. I would not suggest that someone looking for a coffee table book select this volume, but it is an acceptable addition to the collection if you collect books about illuminated manuscripts.

Unlike the Disney Mouseworks storybooks, this one was assembled using frames from the movie. The images therefore tend to be a little blurry. The text has some inconsistencies with the storyline as well. Its shortcomings would be glossed over by its young audience, of course.

This rewriting of Romeo and Juliet is not convincing at all because the Nihilists are reduced to sectarian fanatics, the Czar to a manipulated tyrant, the courtiers to bloodthirsty powerhungry wolves, the Czarevitch to a romantic puppy suddenly grown adult. Vera, the most popular and feared Nihilist, will kill herself out of love to save the Czarevitch who is on a trail of reforms after the assassination of his father. This caricature has nothing to compare with Gorki's The Mother, nor Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children. It is yet interesting to see how Oscar Wilde is far from understanding what simple suffering people can be in Russia at that time and what the psychology of the Nihilists was. He uses quite many clichés and does not get into any depth. So the superimposing of a pale Romeo and Juliet ending does not give depth to something that is shallow.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University of Perpignan

About as improbable a story as I've ever picked up. Fiona comes from a Scottish castle, but runs a high tone secretarial service in the city. But takes on the difficult client personally when three previous assistants fail to cut it. She charms, she works instinctively with nary an error. And it gets worse. All the men are gorgeous, including the Greek God ex-husband, the Oklahoma oil baron boss (Redford look alike) and his unlikely business partner, a 6'4" "heroicially handsome ... pale copper Apollo." Then we move on to the bodice ripping, complicated misunderstandings, and so on. Ad naseum.

One of the silliest things I've chanced upon.

I quite enjoy Vera Cowie books, and given that most of them seem to be out of print, have been trying to get hold of them, and looking forward to new ones. So I'm wondering, why didn't anyone tell me that this book was just an abbreviated version of Secrets, which I read at least 10 years ago? The book in itself isn't particularly bad, but having read the complete version (Secrets), I much prefer the original - it goes into a lot more character development, and the plots are far more fully explained, and they make a lot more sense for being fully explained.

Living in Australia, it takes about 3 months for books to get here with standard shipping - it was a big disappointment to wait that long for what I thought was a new book, only to receive a very shortened version of a book I'd already read.

The book itself - maybe 4 stars; the fact that it's an abbreviated version, and nobody told me - two stars.

Average, 3 stars!

I recently read this book for a Latin American history course and I must say its the least interesting book I have read in a good while. A topic of note to be sure, however the author's style makes for some plodding reading and the book itself is not structured very well for those not instantly familaur with the subject at hand. In any case one does gleam a substanial amount of understanding of the conflcits between the secular and nonsecular clergy, as well as interesting gender and racial conflicts which existed at the time.

Certainly not a book for a general reader of history, although more then likely of interest for upper-division students of early Latin American history and those studying womens issues within the Church.

I bought this at the bookstore, paying full price, hoping to familiarize my three-year-old daughter with the dentist prior to her first visit. Unfortunately, the plot line which has Vera jumping from the dentist chair and running around the block when faced with the whirring tooth polishing machine frightened her, rather than bolstering her courage. She got the idea that the dentist was someone to fear, rather than someone to care for you and your teeth. Our visit to the dentist a week after reading the book every night (her choice) was filled with tears and her crying "I want to go home!" And, yes, for those of you who think we just read the book with no discussion -- please! We had long talks about the dentist, how she counts, cleans and checks your teeth, how the chair is big and she uses various instruments and the room might smell funny and you might hear unusual sounds . . . The only thing my daughter DIDN'T do was leap out of the chair and run around the block. But only because I stationed myself at the door to catch her if she tried. I'd recommend for older readers who have been to the dentist before!

You should be aware that this book is only useful for reading to babies no older than, say, two or three years old. Each page (with a few exceptions) contains only one word and a picture that describes that word. But in some cases, for thoses children who do not know the word, it is difficult to determine what in the picture the word is describing. For example, on the "scarf" page, one sees a picture of what looks like a little boy wearing a cap, scarf, and jump suit standing in front of a large window with prominent white curtains and snow falling outside. So what in that picture is the "scarf"? And to make matters worse, the scarf and cap are identical in color and virtually touching so a young child might think they are one item. Of course a parent could clarify this to the child, but why should a parent have to work at clarifying the shortcomings in this book? Save your money and let this book remain on the bookshelves.