I am a network designer/engineer and I own 50+ networking books, anywhere from Netware for Dummies book to super-duper-technical books about ATMs and Frame Relays, and by far this is the most useful book that I've ever read and owned. It is full of good all around information and very well written. I find many of my books to be either to introductory or too technical(too dry) or don't answer a lot of fundamental questions. This book serves as a good introduction book but with excellent technical mix. It explains things that I didn't quite understood how it worked before (eventhough I knew how to use those technology in the real working world). I learned more about data and voice communications through this book than my entire 4 years of computer scinece college education. Ever wondered how networks really worked? After reading this book you will finally understand how everything from the cable and hardware levels, to ISDN, FDDI, T1, SONET OC3, to routing, switching and etc, all work together.
This book covers computer networks as well as the voice and other parts of telecommuncations, which I wasn't particulary too familr with before.
If you are a serious student or professional who want to learn more about fundamental networking, you should pick up this book. I highly recommend it.

I've been in the computer industry for over 16 years in design and verification of processors, multi-media devices and buses (USB, PCI, etc.). I never had the opportunity to work on Data Communication and Networking projects. New to this field, I was looking for a book that gave me thorough overview of the topics with clarity and sufficient detail/analysis. I read quite a few 'latest' books but did not find any with clear explanation of fundamentals or detail covering all essential topics.

I found this book extremely well written. The descriptions have excellent clarity and gradually lead you to the real complexity of the topic at hand. No room for misunderstanding or confusion! Figures and Tables are liberally used and illustrate the topics really well. My knowledge of Datacomm/Networking increased tremendously after reading the book just for a few days. The book includes basics as well as the latest in data comm. protocols and networking devices. I highly recommend this book to a beginner as well as an expert.

This is a comprehensive introduction to data communications. The authors cover some topics I was surprised to find in an introductory text. The explanations are lucid and thorough. This is a first edition, so there are a few typos, but not many. It needs a more complete bibliography, but all in all, I liked the book well enough to buy a second to keep at work.

This book is a must-read for anyone who's ever been angry with their kids...in other words, every parent! In the second of her three incredible books, Ms. Samalin shows us that it is normal to sometimes feel intense anger toward our children. Using real-life examples from her parenting workshops, she describes the most common triggers for parental anger, and provides specific techniques for dealing with it in a way that we can be proud of later. In addition to helping me feel better about my own behavior, I know that responding in the ways Samalin suggests has helped me to provide a much better model of anger management for my kids. After all, this is not a skill that comes naturally; it is learned, for better or worse, at home. I am so grateful to have had this book to turn to when my children were still impressionable preschoolers.

This book takes a frank look at anger in both children and parents. Nancy Samalin helps parents to feel less guilty about getting angry and she offers useful techniques to help both parents and children deal with this often troubling emotion. Parents will recognize themselves and their children in the familiar stories she includes. This is an important book that can be a continuing resource throughout the parenting years. I highly recommend it.

Ms. Samalin gives us a handle on dealing with our children in an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding. Her book provides practical examples of how to speak to your child in an affirmative manner, get as good or better results in getting them to do what you want, and not leave your child brimming with resentment. When this same situation comes up next time, your child will be more apt to do it the way you would like. This book bears re-reading on a regular basis to keep these scripts accessible to you when you are in the heat of the battle. You'll find that you feel so much better and in control when you use calm language. And watch the results!

This is another of Ponder's classics. It is divided into Part 1: Basic Methods for Demonstrating Prosperity and Part 2: Other Ways of Demonstrating Prosperity. I suppose by now nothing is new as many other metaphysical writers have explained these same techniques, but Ponder has a uniquely inspired style and her writings have the capacity for immediately lifting one up out of despondency. I especially loved the following thought from Chapter 9: "There are those people who read self-help books and take numerous success courses, who get the idea that mind power is all there is; that if they just use mind power sufficiently, everything will come their way ... the time usually comes, though, when they realize that [that] is not enough, and they begin to "spin their wheels" spiritually." I agree with her that practicing the love concept will do more to help one achieve your goals than all the hard mental effort in the world. There is one thing I do not agree with, and that is the dogmatic concept of "tithing" since this idea has been very much abused by organised religion. I do not believe that giving should be prescribed in percentages and here I concur with other great metaphysicians like Dr Joseph Murphy that exact percentages are less important than the spirit of giving. Perhaps the best chapter in this book is the explanation of "divine restoration" which, if practiced, will help more people than all the anti-depressant medication in the world. I salute Catherine Ponder as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, and may her work continue to help and inspire as many people as possible to experience abundance and fulfilment in their lives.

I have read Ponders' books for over ten years now and each time i open any book it is for a reason of my own self lacking. When i read the pages, i am suddenly amazed at how quickly my life changes for the better. It brings me prosperity and luck. I realize love and hope. It is for me the book of miracles that will stay with me and inside of me for as long as i shall live on earth. It will continue to replenish my spirit limitlessly. This is trully a book to read. If you believe in miracles, read these books. Miracles do happen! Bernie Massari, DiHom, DD

I'm mistrustful of conventional religion, and biblical stories seem fraught with woman-hating messages to me -- so at first I had trouble accepting Ponder's Christian-based teachings. But she got my attention when she told her own story: she was a single mother in the 1950s, divorced, working as a secretary and living in a one-room apartment when she discovered these teachings. She describes how her life was completely transformed. She's really lived these teachings and embodied them in her own life. This impressed me with how these teachings can especially help women who may have blocks about generating their own wealth. Every time I work with the tools in this book my life changes for the better in remarkable ways -- new opportunities come up, doors open that I never even knew were there -- and I heal up from old mistakes. Thank you Catherine Ponder for your courage, genius, and inspiration.

I am a fan of Nancy Samalin's positive discipline techniques that are based on Dr. Hiam Ginott's philosophy of teaching kids right from wrong. I love this book because it
covers so many issues and so many tips and techniques to try with children of all ages-- tots through teens. I don't have the time nor the desire to read an entire book cover to cover that only addresses one subject. I just want the "how to's" in a nutshell. This book is arranged so that I may easily consult it--even in the heat of the moment, when I 'm at a loss of what to do instead of my knee-jerk automatic reactions of yelling, threatening, criticizing and nagging that simply aren't working anyway. I find that I get more cooperation from my kids (including my husband) when I am able to first change my approach. I realize that it is often HOW I say "it" that will determine whether I get the compliance I'm after. I would also like to highly recommend a wonderful pocketsized paperback based on the very same philosophy. So, if you have preschoolers like me, "The Pocket Parent" is written exclusively for parents and teachers of 2's, 3's, 4's, and 5's and is formatted alphabetically by behavior ( such as bad words, biting, gimmes, hitting, lying, whining, etc.) These two books offer many, many options about how communication can change for the better, still enforcing the necessary limits, while responding with understanding and empathy for the child's feelings. This approach includes many sensible, humane ways to solve problems that often require quite a bit of practice. I feel like I'm a much better parent when I am able to use this philosophy.

I have 4 children and have read many books on parenting. This one is my favorite (along with "How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk." I highly recommend "Loving Without Spoiling" for ALL parents. I like the way each chapter is only 1-2 pages, easy for busy parents to read. You can read the chapters in order, or skip to the section that suits your needs at the moment. This book is about effective discipline without hitting your child, and true to it's title it is not about spoiling. Most of the problems parents have with discipine are due to not being "connected" emotionally to their child (due to being too busy, etc.) This book is effective for ages 2yrs to teen years and I have found it to be very practical in real life parenting (not silly like some parenting books). Read it, you won't be disappointed!

I have recently had the pleasure of reading Nancy's latest book, Loving Without Spoiling. For those parenting skills that I know and use, it was nice to reinforce their value and hone them further. For those difficult areas that need improvement, I found the book to be a gift. It offers help in an easily disgestible format. The book is arranged like a reference book, which makes it easy to pick up and find information quickly and efficiently. The subtitles are easy to understand and practical in their applications. I recommend this book to all those parents who have both busy schedules as well as a desire to improve their skills at their most important role - that of parent to their children!

This wonderful book escaped my notice as a child, and now I know why--the local library doesn't have a copy of this, or any of the other titles in the series! How awful!

I first found Green Knowe through a listing in the "Best Books for Children" guide. It's now my absolute favorite! I won't attempt a synopsis here--you can read the other reviews for that. But I did want to say it's absolutely MAGICAL! The story is a bit spooky, definitely old-fashioned, mysterious, and sweet, all at the same time! I have to say, as someone who reads a lot of "kiddy lit," I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop in this book. In a lesser novel, the sweet old grandmother character would've turned out to be secretly evil, or a witch, or some such nonsense. Happily, she's a magical sweet old lady, and the relationship between this ancient one and her little (great) grandson is really charming.

As a matter of fact, the real conflict only comes in just at the end (with a scary scene I won't spoil), so parents who are overly-concerned that their child not read *anything* containing conflict, "bad guys," or evil, be forwarned--all is not goodness and light here. Personally, I find a story about the struggle between good and evil (in the same category as C.S. Lewis' Narnia books) uplifting. The magical "ghost" aspect of it is also treated in a way that promotes good feeling, in my opinion (I know some parents do not appreciate *any* references to the paranormal, either--so I wanted to mention it).

But for the rest of us--what a FIND the Green Knowe books are! I've bought a copy for all my neices and nephews. They're off reading Harry Potter and the like. I've read HP, by the way, just to be able to make educated remarks about it. It certainly wasn't the worst book I ever read, but I sure hope you parents are also giving your kids copies of: The Hobbit, and the rest of Tolkein, the Narnia books (Did you know C.S. Lewis and Tolkein were good friends?), the Edward Eager books (start with Half-Magic), the E. Nesbit books (talk about classics in Brit. Kid Lit!! C.S. Lewis cited Nesbit as a big influence!), and Lucy Boston's beautiful series!! Why not throw in Richard Peck's series? Wow--I've got a lot of books here--time to make a list! Happy Reading!

A lifelong reader, having children who loved to be read to allowed me to revisit books that I had loved as a child. Some had sentimental value; very few retained their magical hold on me as an adult. The Children of Green Knowe has the shimmering quality that forces one to regard the ordinary with a new hyper-awareness. Boston's beautiful prose situates one within the stone halls of her mysterious house, where wooden mice squeak, and rocking horses move without apparent animation. She gives the diurnal an extraordinary gloss: after reading her books, nothing else seems quite the same. A dream of a book. (The rest of the series is good, too. Someone should reissue these as a boxed set.)

I'd never heard of the Green Knowe books until I recently picked this one up. Too bad, this is a story I would have loved to have someone read to me when I was a kid and which I look forward to reading to my own kids. It is the magical, mysterious tale of young Master Toseland, who goes to spend the Christmas holiday with his great-grandmother Mrs. Oldknow at the family estate of Green Noah. Arriving by train, he finds the grounds flooded and the groundskeeper, Mr. Boggis, must pick him up in a rowboat to carry him to the house. It gradually becomes apparent that the house is temporally as well as physically isolated. First through overheard giggles and then by shadowy glimpses, it is revealed to Tolly (as Mrs. Oldknow calls him) that the house is inhabited by the spirits of children from generations long passed. In particular, Toby, Linnet and Alexander, three siblings felled by the plague hundreds of years earlier, romp about the building and grounds. Mrs Oldknow, who is well aware of the phenomena, tells Tolly stories about the children and the history of the manor, including a gypsy curse that was placed on a creepy topiary of Noah, which is how the place (originally Green Knowe) got its name.

Lucy Boston was inspired to write these books--this is the first in a series of eight--after restoring the Manor House at Hemingford Grey, which dates to the year 1130. The restoration process discovered all kinds of hidden fireplaces and windows and other reminders of the house's ancient past. This apparently awakened in her a sense of history on a human scale and reminded her of how easily we ignore such things. She set out to help others recall this sense of wonder:

I would like to remind adults of joy, now obsolete, and I would like to encourage children to use and trust their senses for themselves at first hand--their ears, eyes and noses, their fingers and soles of their feet, their skins and their breathing, their muscular joy and rhythms and heartbeats, their instinctive loves and pity and awe of the unknown.

She succeeded brilliantly. This enchanting book is suffused with an aura magic and a real spirit of joy.

GRADE: A

I absolutely love Catherine Anderson and this is one of her best books. Rarely do I find a book now that keeps me up all night but this one did. I just had to finish it. The characters are wonderful. You will be hooked from the first page. Ben Longtree is the sensitive, rugged male we've all been looking for. Chloe has come from a bad marriage with a sickly son who has sworn to never trust men again. Sound familiar? But Catherine Anderson has chosen her male character well. Ben is part Shosone Indian who is also a vet who has a certain "magic" to him. I won't spoil it for you. The other reviews describe the contents well. If you read only one book this summer, this better be it!

I picked this up as an airplane book and ended up reading it every evening while on my mini-vacation! It is the first of Catherine Anderson's books I've read and I'm definintely going to become a regular of hers. I loved Chloe's strength of character and the fact that she's believable, in a believable clerical position as a dispatcher. I could also readily identify with the Christmas store and Chloe's delight with the business. Her problems with Bobby Lee definitely raised the anxiety level of the plot, considering what side of the law he was on. His cunning, devious break in and the transmission to the dispatcher were both terrifying and believable. Ms. Anderson writes well and certainly knows how to envoke passion in her readers. The intimatacy between Chloe and Ben was just plain HOT. Wow!

After Annie's Song, Simply Love and Keegan's Lady, I thought that I have read all of Catherine Anderson's wonderful books, but I spoke too soon. The way "Only By Your Touch" was written will keep you enthralled till the end. The book itself was magical, and you do feel "touched" even after the final page.

Cathering Dee has a whole series of girl-friendly books out, including The Girls' Book of Wisdom and The Girls' Book to Life. One of her latest installments is The Girls' Book of Love.

Like the other books, it is a fresh and lively look at the topic at hand with a mix of poetry, plain talk and anecdotes. This particular book also includes quotes from some famous actresses like Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

This isn't the kind of book you sit down and read from cover to cover. Just pick it up periodically and read a few pages to give an extra kick to your day. If your love life is in the dumps, this book will cheer you up with advice on how to keep it together or, for the worse case, how to break it off easy.

The quotes are my favorite part. They are from both famous and infamous women and can definitely lighten your spirit or, at least, provide a little laughter. After all, what's funnier than love?

Give this book to someone you love, whether young or old. While it is targeted towards teenagers, it is good for all ages.
(Review from YA Books Central [...])

This book would make a great gift. I loved reading it myself, but it's also an excellent gift for the young women on my Christmas list. It's fun to read -- organized in an easy and fun-to-read format. I especially loved the parts where men commented on love. It's important for girls to know how men feel too. Multi-dimensional look at love from a girls' perspective. A great complement to the Girls' Book of Wisdom and the Girls' Book of Friendship written by the same author.

Catherine Dee's brilliant blend of quotes, poetry, stories, advice and honest questions are a must-read for every girl falling in or out of love. Everyone's heart is different-yet each can be touched by these pages. Just reading this book brought me on a journey through every emotion and love that I've ever felt.


This is the big sister that you always wish you had when it comes to matters of the heart.

"Julie", written by Catherine Marshall, was a book that I enjoyed reading. It was a realistic account of a girl's life during a couple of her teenage years. Julie and her family moved to Alderton, in an effort to get away from some problems they had run into in their old town of Timmeton. Julie's father buys the town's newspaper business, to try to bring it back to life. The family suffers through many trials such as poverty, flood damage, and disagreements with other town folks. Because the story is realistic, it provoked different emotions within me as I read along. I felt a love for Julie and an appreciation for those who were involved in her life. I thought this was a good book that showed how important God is in a person's life, and how things seem to work out when people stick together during good times and bad, mountains and valleys.

Julie Wallace is 18 when her family moves to a small town in Pennsylvania. Her father has invested the family savings in a floundering newspaper. Julie becomes its star reporter and, in the year the book covers, she matures into a lovely young woman.

Exploitative labor practices in the local steel mill, a minister who defies the town powers to provide support for downtrodden workers, Julie's youthful idealism, her father's illness and struggle to build his newspaper and establish himself in the community all combine with teenage awakening and a couple of natural disasters to make a highly entertaining and spiritually enlightening book. Turns out the book is autobiographical and it's at least as successful as Marshall's CHRISTY.

Marshall's style is light and entertaining, never "preachy." But she gets a message across by demonstrating the power of faith and love in her characters' lives. Characters are full and vibrant, the story line moves tantalizingly and the language of the book is delightful.

I can't imagine anyone not enjoying JULIE.

Now after reading both Christy and Julie, Catherine Marshall has made herself and her books a home in my heart for all time. Julie especially is a special story that I know will never leave my memory nor heart. Julie, forced to move from her home town in Alabama to a flood-prone town in Pennsylvania, helps her dad take over a small and dying newspaper. She meets alot of interesting people, some welcoming her family to the community and others discriminating against her. Randolf Wilkinson, a man from the Hunting and Fishing Club, an elite place of gathering for Alderton's wealthy, instantly provides comfort and protection for Julie and her family. Rand and Julie's love is a very special part of this book, and in the end provides the strength and courage Julie needs to survive. Spencer Meloy, a local preacher, inspires Julie to keep reaching for her dreams and offers a friendship from the very start. Other characters, such as Margo, Julie's best friend, and Dean Fleming, an instant friend to Julie's father and the struggling newspaper, also help illistrate the love and meaning of this extremely well-written book. With all her family, friends, and most importantly, God, by her side, Julie finally starts on her quest to fullfill her hopes and dreams- her life.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading "HomeFront" by Catherine Lutz. I moved to Fayetteville many years ago. I witnessed many of the things that Mrs. Lutz discusses in her book. I often wondered why Fayetteville developed as it did. Ms. Lutz does a great job of explaining the complex economic, racial and political dynamics that created Fayetteville, NC. As Ms. Lutz points out, the military has had a massive impact on America over the last 50 years. Perhaps the best example of the cost of the military in human and economic terms is Fayetteville, NC. I did take exception with some of her observations. I'm not sure Ft. Bragg is the largest military installation. I believe that distinction belongs to Ft. Hood. Additionally, it seemed that Ms. Lutz was at times overly harse about the military presence in Fayetteville. The information on the use of training areas also seemed inaccurate. The chapter that discusses the economic impact of the military on Fayetteville was especially well done. Her analysis of the economic impact was even handed and well-researched. Although the book is about Fayetteville, NC, her observations are really about America and the impact of the military over the last century. I'm amazed it's taken so long for some one to provide a unique and well-researched perspective on America's quintessential military town and how the military has changed America. The notes section of Homefront alone is worth reading. Ms. Lutz provides outstanding background information which attest to the great research that went into writing Homefront. As America fights another war, Ms. Lutz's book is extremely well timed.

This is an eye-opening, honest, and thoughtful examination of the role the military plays in our society. It is obvious that Lutz has thoroughly and carefully studied Fayetteville, NC, and she has delivered a powerfully written document of the effects an army base has had on the community. What makes this a brilliant work is that it invites the reader to consider the many arenas of our culture which have been influenced, even created, by the military complex we have embraced as our defense. Homefront is an extremely important book.

Residents of Fayetteville, North Carolina awoke one morning in April of 1954 to find the front page of their local paper carrying news of a nuclear attack downtown; they were informed that sixty-four thousand soldiers were being deployed to amend the situation, aided by six tons of maps and forty-six chaplains. The attack, of course, was a fiction, but the soldiers and their simulated nuclear reaction mission (Exercise Flash Burn) were very real. Catherine Lutz demonstrates in Homefront: A Military City that the life of Fayetteville cannot disentangle itself from the life of Fort Bragg, the nation's largest military base. This study by the renowned anthropologist from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is both as specific as a city history and as broad as a national story. Though Lutz uses Fayetteville as a zooming-in point, her argument-that the dichotomies of military and civilian, war-time and peace-time, are collapsing-is applicable to the country as a whole.
Fayetteville, a city of one hundred thousand semi-affectionately known as "Fayettenam," was chosen as the centerpiece for this project because of its long and bittersweet relationship with Fort Bragg. Lutz traces this history from 1918 (when the city's founding fathers first lured the lucrative industry to the collective pocketbook of the townsfolk), through the patriotism and turmoil of the World Wars and the bitter clashes of the Vietnam War, to the present-day Hot Peace. Relations between the base and the city are both interdependent and strained so that, upon the close inspection Lutz conducts, it becomes unclear where the line between the two is drawn, if indeed it can be drawn at all. Lutz describes Fayetteville's economy as engineered to serve the needs of soldiers on paydays. While other North Carolina cities chose technology industries as their major source of income, Fayetteville cast its lot with the base and the retail sales it would create. This plan has had the two-fold effect of making the few who own the businesses quite rich and the many who work in them, merely touching the money as it passes from soldier to civilian businessman, rather poor. The question of who is serving whom (soldiers training to protect the lives of civilians while civilians tend to soldiers' needs) becomes blurred, as does the question of whom is actually receiving the government paychecks. Further blurring the dichotomy between military and civilian are the many civilians whose presence in Fayetteville is attributable to the military-for instance, the refugees who have come from all over the world, and the "war brides" who moved to Fayetteville with their soldier husbands and settled down. Lutz posits that the draft further lessened the gap between military and civilian by presenting a difficulty in readily distinguishing between the two; the idea that soldiers were lower-class, uneducated, and crass was prominent prior to the World Wars, but suddenly college boys from good families were moving into the base, and some soldiers were the type of boys by whom local upper-middle-class families might want their daughters courted. Another assumed intrinsic difference between soldiers and civilians-that soldiers always see war as the right course of action whereas civilians are more peace-loving-fell during the Vietnam War, when thousands of soldiers protested the United States' involvement and eventually brought about the military's departure from Vietnam. As the differences between soldiers and civilians have become blurred, so have the differences between formerly binary options of war and peace.
Though hegemonic history usually describes time as a series of wars and their interstices, Lutz finds the concepts of war-time and peace-time becoming ever more complicated. While war was formerly viewed as an interference upon the normal state of peace, the periods between war are now filled with preparedness for war, making war the natural state. War games are one, often bizarre, aspect of this war readiness. Obscuring not only the distinctions between war and peace but also those between Fayetteville and Fort Bragg, homefront and battlefield, are the situations in which Fort Bragg's training missions take them into the city in the acting out of a war situation. Though Fayetteville's civilians are notified when the soldiers will be rehearsing for nuclear holocaust or an invasion of "Pineland" (the imaginary country in which Fayetteville lies during war games), such realm-blending upsets traditional ideas of what war is and where it takes place. The Cold War also called into question the nature of war, since only recently has it been true that one can exist in which no blood is shed. Lutz contrasts this state with the current one of Hot Peace-even when the United States is not technically at war, the military is active on peace-keeping missions internationally, assisting insurgents or established governments in the protection of America's best interests.
Homefront is meticulously researched in all manner of sources. Largely ethnographic, Lutz's research consists largely of interviews conducted with eighty residents of Fayetteville over a six year period. Lutz's interviewees include not only the traditional writers of history, but also those whose stories are often left to fall silent-the result is a less favorable military history than the red, white, and blue ones usually heard. The recounts of these interviews have an informal feel to them, occasionally interjected with questions from Lutz and usually accompanied by the interviewees' actual names and personal, unposed photographs. This very human approach should not be seen as a substitute for heavily researched scholarship-Lutz is adept at providing both. Also cited are records from Fort Bragg itself, as well as reports found in the National Archives, local newspaper accounts from the turn of the century, and history books of North Carolina. Lutz allows her subjectivity to shine through the text-though raised in a military family, her horror at the effects of war on all involved are apparent, and it is clear with whom her sympathies lie. With such a well-researched argument, however, Lutz's agenda is incapable of falling through the cracks of substantiation. In the end, Lutz presents a compelling picture of Fayetteville/Fort Bragg as one town, under a base, indivisible.

Catherine Spangler is a genius! Her SHIELDER series is just brilliant! I looked for the first book of this marvelous series forever and finally Catherine sent it to me herself when she asked me to review SHADOWER, the second book of this series. I have thoroughly enjoyed this whole series and SHAMARA is no exception.

SHAMARA is the story of Jarek san Ranul and Eirene Kane and what a story it is! This story takes us all over the galaxy and back again. Eirene is an Enhancer but she does everything in her power to try to hide the fact. Controllers have already wiped out the Enhancer population but a few still pop up every now and again. When Jarek suspects what Eirene is, he tries his best to get her to help but she's denied the fact that she is an Enhancer for so long she refuses and tells him he's mistaken. Unfortunately circumstances are working against Eirene and time is of the essence to Jarek. Jarek cannot let the Controllers wipe out any more Shielder colonies. It is just too heartbreaking to hear about another whole colony being decimated without one survivor. Pretty soon the Shielder population will be as non-existent as the Enhancer population. Can Jarek finally convince Eirene to help him and can they eventually admit their love for each other? What will Eirene do when she finds out that Jarek killed her father? How will Jarek tell her that her father was a traitor to the Shielder population and an evil man and that Jarek had to kill him so he wouldn't kill another Shielder.

This world that Catherine Spangler has created is as real to me as it can be. The characters are amazing and the fact that I can visit all of the beloved characters over again in each and every book is just a bonus in my opinion. Even though each story is a stand alone, the books are all that much better when they are read together! I eagerly look forward to Catherine Spangler's next book. Courtesy of The Best Reviews

I don't normally read futeristic romances, but I picked up Catherine Spangler's Shamara and found myself swept away! Jarek san Ranul is a larger than life hero on a mission to save his people. Eirene Kane has a big secret and is the key to Jerek's goal. You won't soon forget these two endearing characters--or their breathtaking story. Catherine Spangler knows how to spin a tale that captivates and entertains. I highly recommend this book and will definitely be looking for all the others in this series.

"Shamara" is one of the few well written world building futuristic romance books. Of Spanglers first 4 books, "Shamara" is the best book in the series.

Some authors believe that to be a Futuristic, all you need are some lasers and space ships. That is not what a futuristic sci-fi world is all about.

In "Shamara", Spangler describes: Eirine's world on Travern, where the women are like slaves; the culture of the Leors; life of a prostitue in a Pleasure Dome; the genocide of Enhancers & Shielders; the mental powers of the Enhancers & Shielders; laranxs; smugglers; alien enemies & bounty hunters; the Shens on Aldon; and much more.

There was a discussion on the Paranormal Romance Lists that if you take out the sci-fi out of a futuristic romance, can the story work, or is it really just another romantic plot that could be placed in any time period. This is one book that is truly a futuristic, it would not be able to exist if there were not any sci-fi elements. Spangler surpasses herself by creating a richly detailed universe.

Not only was the sci-fi level in this book great, but as a romance, it had just the right touch of angst, love, and loyalty.

Jarek, is a sympathetic hero, and although he is not a complete Alpha male, he will take control and do anything in his desperation to save the extermination of his people. Eirene, the heroine, loves him for his sincerity and loyalty to his race.

Both H/H were very fleshed out 3 dimensional characters. The reader could understand both characters emotions and actions. A lot of romance books tell you about the Hero being arrogant, take charge, dominating, stubborn, and courageous. While the heroine, is always fighting off her emotions and being basically stubborn as well. In "Shamara" the actions and emotions are felt by the reader and not just told like the typical romance novel. We see Jarek's desperation for an Enhancer's help and why he's attracted to Eirene. We also see Eirene's desperation in hiding her powers, her fear of the powers, her fear of being found by the Leor who her uncle sold her to, and why she is attracted to Jarek who is completely different from any of the men from her home planet. You also feel her confusion and anger when she finds out that Jarek was involved in her father's death. Both the character's had a rhyme and reason, and all I can think of is "Finally!"

They both fight their attraction for another not just because the typical they don't want to get involved, but because they are determined to carry out their mission: Jarek in saving his people, and Eirene in becoming a healer.

I cried when Jarek hid Eirene and Rani then tried to suicide. It was a very enjoyable and well written book in both the futuristic and romance category. I would highly recommend this book. It is not necessary to read any of the other books in the series to read this one.