This book is a great addition to anyones graphic novel collection. It contains issues 8 to 16 from the popular witchblade comic book series (top cow). The artwork looks great. The writing is good. The story picks up after Sarahs first major battle with keneth irons. For anyone who just started collecting the witchblade comicbook series and want to get their hands on previous hard to find issues i would recomend this collected edition.

This graphic novel contains issues 20 to 25 from the popular comic book series witchblade. Events in this book takes place right after the huge family ties crossover event between the Darkness and the Witchblade. The witchlade is now in the hands of one of Sarah's greatest adversaries. Just like the previous issues the artwork is brilliant. There is one thing i don't like though. The artwork is done by more than one illustrator. Each illustrator has a very different and unique style of drawing. The look of the characters and story keeps changing. Besides that everything else is good. For someone who just started to pick up on the witchblade comic book series and want to get their hands on earlier issues this is a good collection to get their hands on.

Whether you are a fan of the comic, the book series, or the television series, you will enjoy this one. It is based on the comic book and, therefore, is made as such.

The Witchblade and its owner(s) are just as tough as ever!

I was glued to this one! Awesome!

This book is a great guide for both new X-philes as well as seasoned vets. Great background on all X-Files characters/actors. Excellent episode synopses, which always include comments that help fill in the gaps. This is one of the only books I've seen with a comprehensive review of all 4 previous seasons in one place. I was a new fan to the X-files this season (5th) and this book helped me locate and understand key episodes that I needed to see to understand the "conspiracy" storyline. I can't wait for the book for the 5th season!!

I treasure this book. It's got all the feel of a modern zoo, right down to the graphics and the discovery-type layout. The pictures are in color, reproduced on glossy pages, and the picture-to-page ratio is nearly 1.5:1. The paperback cover is folded to avoid fraying, and I love the weight of the book - not heavy, but sturdy. Definitely a must for trips.

I read this novel for an oral presentation in my 10th grade honors english class. This was such a good book, in fact, that I produced a 15 minute presentation and earned a grade of an A+ from a teacher that has NEVER given an A+ in 30 years of teaching.

In his shortest Novel of the Asian series, Clavell fills every page with meaning. His contant references back to Christ build his every aspect of the setting. The last two pages of this novel are the best two pages of literature that I have ever seen in my 16 years on this earth. I have read and re-read them over 100 times (honest!). I recommend this book to all audiences, but especially to those who want a book with heavy information.

"And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest 'was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats" (352).

This book is lumped into the "Asian Saga" series of James Clavell, and yes, it takes place in Asia, but bears no other true resemblance to the rest of the saga. It's shorter, of course, but it's also not an epic...it takes place in a POW camp almost entirely.

The character of King, the American trader who lives high-on-the-hog through his wheeling and dealing, is fascinating in the feelings of hatred & envy he generates. Everyone wants to be close to him, not because they like him, but because he can afford to give away cigarettes, share an egg, pour coffee, etc. He has learned to manipulate the system totally to look out for #1.

He makes friends with unassuming British fighter pilot Peter Marlowe, who at first acts and translator and later as partner and friend to King. His character goes through lots of development, and he is really the conscious of the camp. Although not written in the first person, we really see things through his eyes.

The book is packed full of colorful characters, many sketched only briefly, yet Clavell makes us see them all, and understand them.

THere are moments of high drama, where our characters are close to being caught or captured, and the plot moves at a brisk pace.

I found the ending of the story to be just a tiny bit rushed, BUT it made some powerful statements. When the war ends, the fear that sweeps through the camp, first that the Japanese will take vengeance on the POWs and second, the fear of "what do we do now," is very convincing. It's not what I ever thought the liberation of a POW camp would be like, and it really made me stop and think. And the dynamics that occur when the first officers from "outside" show up to help liberate the camp are fascinating.

This book is an exploration of the human spirit that is dramatic, moving, occasionally funny and always unexpected. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

In my honest opinion, this was one of the best books I have ever read. Its unique setting, plot, and characters make for an unforgettable read. The emotional roller coaster that King Rat takes you through is phenomenal. One minute, you could feel dire hatred toward the King because of his treatment of his fellow POWs. The next, you could be laughing hysterically due to the idea of Colonel Smedly-Taylor paying top dollar for rat legs. After that, you would be feeling sorrow and pity toward the King. No book I have read before has left such a lasting impression on me. After I was finished, I almost wished I were just beginning it so I could experience the ride all over again. I highly recommend it for anyone who wants a thoughtful, impacting story. James Clavell will forever hold a fond place in my heart.

Charles Dickens has been one of my favorite authors since I was forced to read him in high school. I had not picked up one of his stories since, but upon reading that David Copperfield was Dicken's personal favorite book he had authored, I decided to try him again. I was not disappointed. Dicken's creates an incredible cast of characters and paints a vivid portrait of 19th-century England. Aside from fulfulling those crucial elements of writing a novel, Dickens tells a terrific story. The initial serialization of the story into 19 monthly parts required Dickens to create many dramatic buildups and twists and turns that kept the audience buying the next installment. When it is all put together the novel is an unexpected roller coaster that has many climbs, dives, loop-the-loops, and sharp curves. In the end everything of course comes together beautifully and the characters all get their just desserts. This is yet another clinic by Dickens in how to write a well organized, though unpredictable, novel that maintains the interest of a reader through approx. 900 pages of writing. It is a wonderful experience that all lovers of good fiction should at least attempt.

David Copperfield, Dickens' favorite child, is an experience. Forget what your high school teacher or college professor told you. Forget all the terribly bad film representations of this book. Forget the glib one-liner reviews about Dickens people being caricatures instead of characters. READ this book. This book is one of the few Real Books in this world.

The great storm scene alone will thunder forever in your memories. You will encounter with Copperfield:
• the evil, chilling Uriah Heep,
• the mental and physical destruction of his mother by a Puritanical,untilitarian step-father,
• the always in-debt Mr. Mawcawber who somehow transcends his economic and egocentric needs into something noble,
• the betrayal of Copperfield by his best friend and Copperfield's shattered emotions by this betrayal,
• the ruination of another close friend's reputation, and her step-by-step climb back out of the mire,
• Copperfield's own passionate step into marriage while too young with an irresponsible, yet innocent child-woman, her death,
• Copperfield's own rise from poverty and orphanhood into worldly success but empty life until mature love rescues him.

Dickens has a real gift for creating people that irritate you, yet gradually you come to love them - just like folks in real life. If you never have read Dickens, come meet David Copperfield. You'll find that your impressions of David from the brief snippets by critics, teachers, reviewers, professors and know-it-alls completely different than the Real Thing.

This is my favourite novel by Dickens and one of my all time favourites.Some of his best known characters are here:the ever optimistic Mr Micawber,the stout hearted Aunt Betsy,the slimy toad Uriah Heep,the troubled Steerforth,faithful Pegotty, honest Ham,the nasty Murdstones, and so on.Even Jip the dog is brought to life with real character.No one has created such characters as Dickens.They are a sheer delight.Dickens has a wonderful sense of humour, which shines in this book.He also has a very readable style of writing.He can be overly sentimental, but this was expected by 19th century readers.Agnes, David Copperfield's second wife and true love is just too good to be believed.We can forgive Dickens these irritations, because he gives us the most memorable characters in literature.Also, there is a great deal of sympathy and affection for ordinary human beings and their foibles in his work.This is a novel which can be read over and over again during a whole lifetime, giving much pleasure with each reading.

When I first began to read Lady Chatterley's Lover I thought it was going to be quite a chore. I'm used to flowery language and all that, but I just wasn't in the mood for what I anticipated to be a sex-charged love story. Much to my surprise I got MUCH more from this wonderful classic.

D.H. Lawrence makes some striking observations about the state of the social classes in post WWI England, as well as providing some good insights into tough individual decisions we make in regard to relationships. I had limited knowledge of the post-war subject beforehand, but I felt that I learned a great deal in the process of reading. At times the book seemed repetitive, as if Lawrence were beating me over the head with his message, sacrificing character and plot in the process, but after all was said and done I couldn't say that it was a bad book. It's a very insightful, multi-layered work and I'm very glad I read it. The fact that the book was widely banned from publication in its early days is just another tempting reason to read it although, by today's standards, what was so risqué then borders on the ridiculous for us now. As long as you remind yourself of the time period in which it was written you'll be just fine...the laughs and raised eyebrows in conjunction with more serious themes are a pleasant mix.

This novel is not the explicit sex book that you have been led to believe. instead it is a flawless masterpiece that tells the story of Charlotte, the sexually deprived wife of an invalid husband and her search for true love and sexual fulfillment. As a woman, I have no idea how Lawrence was able to delve into the female mind so thoroughly, but so he has done. This book is a compelling argument in favor of the belief that sexual attraction is certainly one of the most important aspects when we search for a mate-despite what snobbish types may say about how looks don't matter and good sex and attraction grows with time. Baloney! Charlotte's attraction to Mellors was immediate and we watch her life developing with breathless anticipation. Some may feel the ending is too cute and tidy, but knowing the characters as they are, you feel that it could not have ended any other way. A profound book, thoroughly readable, and shockingly modern for its time.

I did not read this book until ten years ago - age forty for those who count - and found it a brilliant work. It touched on every aspect of life in that era, using a difficult premise at the focus.

One reviewer called it 'sexist.' In that era, women were kept removed from the world, so men were the ones who made the initial contacts with reality and their sexuality. If Lawrence had written about that society in any other way, he would have been inaccurate. Lawrence shows the social conflict with both subtlety and brutality. Yet, Mellor IS a lover. There are sexual descriptions which are explicit, but within the coccoon of emotional bondings.

The way that Lawrence has essayed the class structure of England in that era is brave and accurate in all ways. He makes the posturing of the aristocracy both frivilous and full of assinine criteria at the same time he understands the willingness of those in power to offer their lives in the defense of the general welfare.

Lawrence notes again with unpleasant accuracy the detriments of an unchecked Industrial Revolution on the social structure of the time. He has Constance both witness these effects and suffer the olfactory damage.

This is a literary work which has an effect across the full spectrum of the possible. Finely drawn characters searching for a better way to survive their lives in a scenario that is rife with obstacles and unpleasantness. He has the touch of the finest artist working with the lightest gossamer and the blunt force of an ogre swinging a stone axe.

This was published in an abridged version because it was felt that the societal message it conveyed should be allowed to transit the draconian (by the less filtered standards of today) censorship of the era which DID focus on the sexual descriptions but could NOT stop the voice of social criticism any more than the same group could stop Dickens a few decades earlier.

I don't quite understand many of the negative reviewshere. People describe his writing as adolescent or reminescent of a story from a writer's workshop. I was an English major in college and realize that to go after one's dreams in the literary field is not easy, simply because of the quirky characters you get involved with. Chabon is not trying to mold profound statements even close to the same league as Chekov or even Updike, but otherwise he works in the same atmosphere as early Philip Roth. He simply describes characters so easily and with such fruition (without overembellishing them) that we are hooked. "The Wonder Boys" is truly about the the emotional atmosphere of the literary world. Unlike medical or law school - writer's are encouraged to stay young - Grady's problem is that he's forty years old, holding on to youth is killing him. The Wonder Boys is not a light a read as I've heard many label it so. It's truly about that gray line between youth and maturity - and within that line resides hundreds of English majors. I loved it, read and enjoy - definitely not a book for anyone who thinks Nabakov is the beginning and end of the artistic plane.

It is unfortunate to discover a fine novel after seeing it as a fine film. I did not know about Michael Chabon until after seeing Curtis Hanson's film adaptation of Wonder Boys (robbed of a Best Picture nomination), and did not read Wonder Boys until much later, coming across several other Chabon works first. That said, it is hard to know how I would have reacted to Wonder Boys if I did not know the story in advance. Unlike the broader Kavalier and Clay, which is in all a better book, Chabon does not slip into occasional caricature here. Yes, the "doped-up novelist with writer's block" and the "spooky, haunted young genius" are archetypes, but Chabon's Grady Tripp and James Leer come off as original inventions due to Chabon's skill with subtlety. While revealing characters through a road trip is hackneyed, it comes off better in the novel than on the screen. Chabon's uniqueness lies in his combination of the mundane and the bizarre -- well-crafted characters wandering through a strange landscape. Wonder Boys is not the choice for a reader who wants just one Chabon experience -- Mysteries of Pittsburgh is odder and funnier, and Kavalier and Clay is bigger and better. But for a Chabon fan, Wonder Boys is an excellent diversion.

Wonder Boys, by Michael Chabon is an amazing roller coaster tale of a Professor Grady Tripp weekend. The novel is both entertaining and exhilarating yet still retains that Chabon charm that The Mysteries of Pittsburgh left me with. Chabon has a real knack for writing, he creates characters who are both quirky yet somewhat identifiable. Take Grady, a forty something, chronic head, college professor, and one time wonder boy... I felt myself feeling the man's pain. Suddenly I was getting a divorce, losing my job and impregnating my lover. I especially liked James Leer the college student, what a strange little bird! The book is a page-turner that's full of insight. Some may say it is quick read, yet I took my time to savor.

From the immediately engaging narrative voice of the protagonist, Benjamin Weaver, to vibrant descriptions of history and place and character, to lucid explanations of the workings of early financial markets, A Conspiracy of Paper, by David Liss, succeeds admirably. He strikes the right balance in the language of the book with his nods to both eighteenth-century prose style and the modern reader's sensibilities. Barring any glaring incongruities, compromises to accuracy in language and detail in historical fiction are acceptable, perhaps even preferred, if they improve the author's ability to communicate to a general audience of modern readers. In other words, it's my bias that history serves the fiction.

Yes, the plot is convoluted. Liss succumbs to the misguided notion, rampant among mystery writers, that complexity and cleverness in plotting are necessarily synonymous. And violence, certainly, is an effective method of getting to the heart of a matter. But Weaver's reversion to violence in the last 50 pages, after struggling with his friend Elias' deductive method for hundreds of pages, seems too much a deus ex machina, as though Liss had painted himself into a corner and couldn't find a way out.

These couple of reservations aside, A Conspiracy of Paper is an engrossing historical mystery.

A historical novel is a wonderful way to learn about the past, and A Conspiracy of Paper most certainly fits that bill. David Liss did a great job of not letting plot suffer so he could develop historical detail, or vice versa. All of the characters were very well developed, and the plot moved along quickly with surprises around many a corner. I found the relationships between the characters to be real and interesting, and learned so many quirky little details from reading this novel -- about boxing, the beginnings of the stock market, even the origins of the phrase "to double cross someone." I've seen many comparisons to Caleb Carr, and I suppose that they make sense -- chances are that if you enjoyed The Alienist or The Angel of Darkness, you'll like A Conspiracy of Paper. An informative and enjoyable read -- it will be difficult to put the book down until you know who Mr. Rochester is!

A Conspiracy of Paper is without a doubt the best historical mystery I have ever read-- suspense-filled, clever, filled with period detail, and written in a narrative voice evocative of the 18th-c without being precious or pretentious. Liss has created a hero who is irresistable and vastly complex. What makes this novel particularly remarkable is its pairing of financial intrigue with the development of probability theory, which is used to wonderful effect. The attention to Sephardic culture and boxing make this novel truly exciting and a pure reading pleasure.