I have been familiar with both the Robertson biography of Geroge Mallory and its contents since well before its first appearance a generation ago becasue I belong to the Mallory family. With respect and appreciation for all the risk-taking, adventuresomeness and care shown by the 1999 explorers, I think that the Mallory cannot be fully understood without knowing about the family and personal context of George Mallory's life, and this biography, wirtten within the family, provides that larger persepctive.

The first, and possibly hardest descision that a biographer must make is to choose someone new and interesting to write about. All too often the focus of a biographer's gaze falls upon well established household names such as political 'heroes' or Silver Screen 'personalities'.

Praise must go therefore to David Leigh for the subject of his biography: Howard Marks; an international drug runner, who naturally, due to the nature of his business does everything he can NOT to become a household name. Leigh follows Marks' career in the drug trade from its very beginning, in the 70s, through to its present day conclusion. Writing with a clarity of prose and an intensity of purpose that creates a breath-taking pace and begs not to be put down. Leaving questions of morality up to the individual reader Leigh shows Marks as human, intelligent, fallable, but most of all likeable. A man with whom you could comfortably have a drink.

Leigh didn't have to work hard to make a story out of his chosen subject material: it is a compelling story by its self. But he did need to steer his research and keep it capped. (He has to cover nearly 30 years worth of material, with each drug run having fascinating complications and intricate requirements) And for this too, congratulations are due. He handles the subject well, informing the reader without preaching; the end result being a thoroughly good biography.

This is one of the few good book you can find, you can't find one like that easily. It is the best thing you can get that tells you all what you need to know on that topic, if you want a good book, buy this one.

My husband and I are the proud owners of a very cool, amazingly intelligent Somali cat named Sunday. However prior to acquiring her, we didn't even know what a Somali cat was. Now, we are always eager to learn about their habits, characteristics and needs. This is a very imformative little book with a lot of great colour pictures. We've discovered some new facts and tips about our cat . . . and there are other things mentioned in the book where we just say that is so, so true of a Somali! All in all, we're really pleased with the purchase. It's a great book to have on the reference shelf.

For those of you who read "Into Thin Air" and were somewhat fascinated by the story of George Mallory's attempts to climb Everest in the 1920's and the later rumor of the discovery of his body by a Chinese climber in 1975, then this book will only heighten your interest.

I had thought about buying this book, but I came across it at the public library and checked it out. I'm kinda glad I didn't buy it, because the text isn't that well written--people are referred to by their last name and then formally introduced several pages later, some details are left out, other details are repeated, etc.--but the photographs from the 1920's expeditions and of the items recovered from Mallory's body are absolutely captivating. It just fascinates me to no end to think about these guys making the first attempts to climb Everest, experimenting with oxygen tanks, and reaching a height on Everest not surpassed until the 1950's.

I think the main problem with the book is this: the authors had made two expeditions to find Mallory's body in 1986 and 1995. They were unsuccessful. Another team was successful in 1999; this was documented in a PBS/NOVA documentary and they have their own book, which deals more with the discovery of the body. It seems like the authors of this book pulled out the material they had been working on and wrapped it up somewhat hurriedly to capitalize on the publicity (as another reviewer has also noted). So they don't talk much about their own attempts to find Mallory, and they don't talk enough about the successful team's discovery of his body (because they weren't there).

There are many books on the market dealing with the summit attempts of George Leigh Mallory. No one tome has yet encapsulated the adventures to stand out as the consummate work. It will be necessary to read several books to lay claim to being fully informed. The great strength of LAST CLIMB is in its wonderful collection of vintage photographs from the 1920's British Everest Expedition and its members. Its one thing to read of gentlemen climbers in tweed and quite another to see it, a picture being worth a thousand words and all that. The many dozens of photographs, some taken by Mallory himself, breath life into a much exhausted realm of discussion. Mallory was an aesthete and I believe he would not want his story to be told in the mere blandness of words but exhorted on the artistic level provided by the beautiful photography collected here. Hats off to MR. Breashears and Ms. Salkeld for presenting these heroes in all their glory.

It states in the prologue that this book was started prior to the discovery of Mallory's body on Mt. Everest. With that said, after reading it; I'm of the impression that it was completed quickly and rushed into print after finding the body so it could sell the maximum number of copies.

I've now read what I think are all the post discovery expedition books. This is an excellent book. There are wonderful pictures of the early British expeditions which are not found in other books and the writing was concise and tried to cover all areas. After reading it, the historical aspects seems to be a greatly pared down version from Audrey Salkeld's previous book with Tom Holzel "The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine".

Overall this is a wonderful coffee table book. It covers Mallory's history with Everest; has plenty of 1920's photographs; a section on how he went into legend like he did: pictures of what was removed from the body and a section which reviews the clues based on where the body was found and what he had on his person. If you have a casual interest in the topic, this is a great book to choose. If you are looking for something a bit more involved, try the aforementioned "The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine" by Tom Holzel and Audrey Salkeld. Looking for a book on the history of the expedition to find clues on the disappearance? The exclusive team story is in "Ghosts of Everest". Conrad Anker's version is in "The Lost Explorer" (he's the one who actually found Mallory's body). My favorite of the expedition books however, was "Lost on Everest" by Peter Firstbrook. It covers historical background on Mallory and the early Everest expeditions in more of a conversational yet detailed manner, and this I found overall the most intriguing.

Okay. I have to admit that sure, it wasn't the most exciting of his books, but jeez, what'd you expect? It was the background thought behind the Belgariad and Mallorean. For all you who thought that the Silmarilion was better, I have news for you: The Silmarilion was very very BORING! I could at least read this. I put the Silmarilion down after the first 10 or so pages. But I really shouldn't say that. :-) It's rude. This book was basically everything and anything you wanted (or didn't want) to know about the Belgariad, the Mallorean, and then some. Sure, Eddings had some momentary lapses of "I'm a great writer, yay!", but I think he has a right to that. For crying out loud, he's been a fairly successful author. He's been published! He's been a New York Times Best Seller! He has many many web pages...I mean give the guy a break. All in all, the book wasn't as interesting as I had hoped it would have been, but it certainly wasn't boring. It's more of a leasurely read for a rainy sunday. But that's just my opinion...

David and Leigh Eddings have done every Eddings fan an enermous favour and privilege by releasing this. The Rivan Codex is the "back story" the working notes from which the Belgariad was produced. Any Eddings fan will love these documents, original style writings that reflect the different chartachers and cultures, from the epic Battle of Vo Mimbre to the History of Tolnedra with notes by Master Jeebers to the Book of Torak. Eddings' show us the basis of their work, the hard work that created this world before the Belgariad was produced. While I would not encourage this as an intro for Eddings work, it is of interest to anyone who loves his work, hs read his work, or is interested in how a grat fantasy work is written. And I think those of us who are into medieval literature woudl also get a kick out of it. I highly recommend this, even just for the intro - where we are told how the Belgariad was written, and the top ten things a fantasy novel needs list is a winner.

Highly recommend it, but read it after the other books - you will get much more out of it! And it looks great sitting beside the others :)

This is a great book, so long as you have already read the earlier books in the series.

I repeat, THIS BOOK IS LIKELY ONLY WORTHWHILE IF YOU HAVE ALREADY READ AT LEAST THE BELGARIAD (and preferably other books in the series as well).

There, now that that's out of the way, this is actually a really interesting book! If you're looking for a plotline, or new stories of Garion and Polgara, sorry. Not here. What this book does contain, however, is the fascinating history of the work BEHIND the 12 books written thus far set in the lands of the Belgariad. It opens with a short introduction by Eddings, giving some of the history behind the series and some of his reccomendations for the budding fantasy writing. The remainder of the book was actually written before any of the other books of the series. It consists of the histories and texts Eddings designed to give himself an idea of what his world would be like. As I said, no plotline whatsoever. What it does give, however, is a rewarding look in the mind of Eddings. What's more, it made the next time I read the series itself even more rewarding than the last (or the first, for that matter). If you haven't already read the series, it won't make much sense. If you have, however, this is a must-read if simply for the appreciation of the work Eddings put into everything.

Few religions invite critical analysis more than the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons). Although Mormon leaders were initially bullish on the prospects of vindication in the eyes of science, today they speak of "the ever-present challenge from the so-called scholars or intellectuals." [Talk to the All-Church Coordinating Council, Apostle Boyd K. Packer, May 18, 1993]

Clark's book is intended to placate the fears of Mormons who fear their religion is inconsistent with modern science, and to reconcile "scientific thought with LDS theology." It is surprising, therefore, that the most notable thing about this book is the way it ignores its principal thesis. It not only fails to reconcile scientific thought with LDS theology, it hardly even touches the subject. The book studiously avoids any detailed and specific examination of real conflicts between Mormonism and science, focusing instead on out-dated arguments and nebulous philosophical concerns.

For example, there is no discussion about any of the major problems with the Book of Mormon, such as its claims for great ancient-American civilizations that domesticated chariot-pulling horses, raised old-world fruits and grains, had domesticated cattle, used elephants, wrote in Hebrew and Egyptian, and smelted iron and steel. [See Stan Larson, "Quest for the Gold Plates: Thomas Stuart Ferguson's Archaeological Search for the Book of Mormon."] There is no discussion of the problems with the Book of Abraham, and the near certainty that the scrolls Joseph Smith claimed to have translated were nothing more than common funerary prayers, and that his "translation" has absolutely nothing to do with what's written on them. [See Charles Larson, "By His Own Hand Upon Papyrus: A New Look at the Joseph Smith Papyri."] Nor do the contributors adequately deal with the Church's public teachings denigrating organic evolution as a doctrine of the devil. Although the book's jacket suggests a resolution between science and Mormon doctrines that preach of a literal worldwide flood (which was the earth's baptism), there are just a few brief sentences on the subject. And there is virtually no reconciliation between science and the Mormon doctrine that the earth's continents were literally split roughly 4,000 years ago.

The book's points can be roughly summarized as follows:

1) Generic arguments purporting to show the existence of God, and focusing mostly on arguments about design.

2) Implied arguments from authority in the form of personal testimonies and conversion stories.

3) Arguments purporting to put all conclusions out of reach, and pleading with the reader not to reject Mormonism until everything is known.

4) Arguments to the effect that Mormonism has no official position on the subject of evolution.

Although several of the contributors argue for a generic creator, none of them speak directly to specific problems involving the traits Mormons attribute to God. In fact they seem to make a point of ignoring them. For example, Joseph Smith (who founded Mormonism) taught:

"... I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see. ... He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth...." [History of the Church, Joseph Smith, Vol. 6.]

This description calls for an explanation of how God could be the creator of a universe in which he, himself, evolved in his pre-divine existence. Or how a physical God with a head roughly the same size as yours or mine could have infinite knowledge. Yet these subjects are studiously avoided throughout the book. Instead, the contributors make sweeping and vague arguments for a generic creator using arguments about design that are similar to those used by the institute for creation research (a fundamentalist Christian organization devoted to a literal translation of the Bible).

Several of the contributors argue that science cannot prove anything, and that until it does, open-minded people will refrain from concluding that Mormonism is false on the basis of perceived contradictions at present. The most remarkable thing about these arguments is that they are so broad they can be used to justify belief in anything.

A few contributors argue that God used evolution to create bodies for mankind. However, in doing so they fail to deal with the fact that evolution is a natural, undirected process, and that evolution does not need God to create species anymore than rivers need God to create canyons, or the moon needs God to orbit the earth.

Other contributors argue that the Mormon Church has no official policy regarding evolution. For example, Bart Kowallis quotes a private letter from President McKay to William Stokes, claiming that the Church has no official policy in the matter. In doing so, however, Kowallis fails to inform the reader that McKay equated "evolution" with "change," and that McKay rejected evolution as a process that did not require God's interference. Kowallis also studiously avoids the vast number of statements from high-ranking Mormon leaders who have said things like:

"There is no harmony between the truths of revealed religion and the theories of organic evolution." (Bruce R. McConkie, "Mormon Doctrine", p. 256)

After reading the comments of the previous reviewer I felt obligated to share my thoughts on this book. The book was not intended as a scientifically-based defense of LDS theology, but rather as food for thought for those who are already converted to the doctrines of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or those who are interested in learning more about those doctrines. As an active member of the Church and a student of the sciences, I found the book delightful and thought-provoking reading. It was recommended to me by a college biology professor, who had many Christian students with concerns about the theories of evolution that he was teaching, myself included. I had been taught as a child, both explicitly and implicitly, that religion and evolution (along with much of scientific thought)were diametrically opposed to one another and that a person had to choose between the two. Reading this and other books, together with thought, prayer, and actually studying the scientific theories in question, helped me to understand that, as Henry Eyring puts it in one of the essays in the book, everything that's true is part of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm no longer afraid of science, nor do I feel the need to choose between ways of gaining knowledge. It was a very exciting journey that has brought me closer to God and opened up whole new worlds of discovery to me. I recommend this book to those who have had similar struggles with religion and science.

David and Leigh Eddings are masters of the fantastical world but this time they take a stab at the thriller genre. Regina's song is about a set of Twins. One of them is rather brutally murdered and the other is so traumatized she must be instituitonalized. Well this is background you can get from reading the description of the book...but the book itself?

I bought this book at 3:30pm this afternoon, and by 9:30pm I was finished. I never do this with a book. David and Leigh Eddings put much emphasis on banter and personality quirks in their novels. This is no different. While reading this your almost forced to like the main carachter, Regina, and her care-taker/big brother Mark. For me, this was the reason I couldn't stop reading...I wanted know what happens to that girl, and you want everything to be all right for her. The dialogue maybe a bit childish, and the science behind the story a bit unresearched (i think they would have done well to make this book much bigger), but the story line is heartbreaking and you want to keep reading it. It is a great read. And you come away feeling emotional.

First off, this is not the Belgariad. However, like the Belgariad, I couldn't put it down. Amazing story. Wow.

Lightly exploring the relationship shared by identical twins and hinting at the loss that a twin would feel after the brutal murder of her sister, Regina's Song is more than a crime novel, yet falls far short of a crime novel in the actual crime aspect. What kind of novel is it? Beats the heck out of me, but I devoured every page.
The string of violent murders that try to overpower the story are, while central to the story, not why I continued reading. I wanted more "Twink" (the surviving twin) and less of the "Big brother and his over protective graduate student friends".

I'm a guy, so I probably shouldn't admit this, but the relationship stuff was interesting. Although, I was disappointed in the apparent celibacy of every main character.

If you've read and enjoyed The Losers, give this one a try.

Yes, as other reviewers have mentioned, the Eddings' writing is fairly predictable - especially if you've read their stuff as avidly as many of us have. The major plot twist was given away early, but the ending was not.

Eddings and Fantasy are two words that fit so perfectly well together...up until now that is. With this novel the duo reach into the world of fiction & suspense and do a pretty fine job if I do say so myself. I'm not too familiar with the genre, but to me, the book was quite excellently done. The tale here involves two identical twins, Regina and Renata. Unfortunately one of them is murdered, but do to certain events, no one is exactly sure which one. Mark, the surrogate big brother of sorts, believes the survivor to be Renata. After the murder, Renata spends some time "away," and is eventually "returns" from her trip. Mark and his house-mates aid in her progression back into society. At this point in time, strange things begin to happen. A serial killer seems to have emerged in town and is striking in the surrounding areas of the city. No one has any idea as to who it is, until a clue that sheds a great deal of light onto things is found. Mark and company begin to suspect things, but can't really prove it. Speculation, the legal system and other fun moments come into play. In the end though, things turn out quite different than expected. The book is full of wit, charm and so much more. The Eddings have been masters at writing tales that grab you and allow you to explore various emotions. This book is no exception. The plot flows rather smoothly and is not too jumpy, and the language is easy to understand. I recommend this book to just about anybody. Anyone who has read any other book written by Eddings will enjoy this one, as would anybody who is up for a nice, easy and quick read. So overall, Eddings has taken a step in a new direction, and hopefully it won't be the last step they take, as they most certainly have a talent for what they do, and that is to entertain.

I have been a die hard fan of David Eddings since I laid my hands in Pawn of Prophecy. I got Althanus as a gift because I told everyone to read Eddings, I was very happy when I saw it, because here in Chile where I live, is very dificult to came up with a book like this. Anyway, first thing a noticed once I started reading: is this Althanus character The Belgariad's Silk (Prince Kheldar)?, ..... I continued...Is that Polgara in the House at the End of the World?.....I could go on, I think you get my point, the characters are the same as in the other book(wich are still graet). The only good thing about this book, is that it's David's and Leight's Eddings...I wont stop liking them for one downfall, I stiil have the Belgariad, Malloreon, Tamuli, Elenium, Polgara, Belgarath and the Rivan Codex the thank them for, but this Althanus mmmm.. not their best, I gave them three stars so they can try to go back to the old books, and perhaps take a litlle more time and review their work and improve the characters before hand... My Advise: But this book to support the autors.

A surprise to me, after reading and re-reading the Belgariad books. I was prepared to hate it, as it did not have the same characters, but instead I found myself wishing the book wouldn't end. Loved it!

After having read all of David Eddings other books and for the most part enjoying them, I found myself faced with the pleasure of reading the redemption of althalus. This book is by far my favorite of all of his books. the main character is an absolute riot to follow through his many adventures and his supporting cast is well developed and enjoyable to read about as well. It was a nice change of pace to finnally get away from Belgarion. Perhaps the best praise i can give this book is that it has quickly become my favorite from amongst the eddingses publications and i have thoroughly enjoyed them all.