General Crook minces no words in his autobiography, a book that gives you real insight into one of the nation's most renowned Indian fighters. A quiet man in real life and somewhat of an enigma to those around him, he had a unique understanding and appreciation for Native Americans and the injustices heaped upon them. In later life, he attempted to use his influence to help better their conditions. Crook never took his biography to a publisher -- that only happened long after he was dead. If anything, his narrative leaves you wanting more detail and less modesty about the role he played in history. The editor has done an admirable job in filling in the missing pieces. An important book for anybody interested in the people who built the West, or in influential military leaders in American history. I enjoyed this book immensely.

Wild Cards III: Jokers Wild is a novel, written by different authors. Each tells the story of one character: Melinda Snodgrass -roulette and her attempts to murder Tachyon. Leanne Harper - the Bag lady, bagabond Walton Simons - Demise, the black queen who survived Lewis Shiner - The annoying Fortunato, pimp in an endless quest against all sorts of things. John Miller - Wraith, a thief who can moce through walls. Edward Bryant - Sewer Jack, an Aligator man who's a friend of Bagabond. and, the highlight of the book, as well as most of the others: George R R Martin - tale o Hiram Worchester, the owner of the acclaimed ACES HIGH, a true anti hero.

Basically there are two plot lines - Wraith steals a note book from Kien, a minor villan from Wild Cards 2 and 3, and lots of characters get involved in the attempt to reach them. This is a 'McGavin' of the worst kind, though there are some nice twists to the tale, and after all this is a parody of Comic books. The other plot involves the Astronomer, who summoned TIAMAT in ACES HIGH. He wishes revenge on all the aces who attacked his Mason in that book. All these events happen during 'Wild Card Day', September 15, when NYC is filled with Jokers, Aces and tourists, and Hiram Worchester puts a huge party in 'Aces High', his restaurant( not to confuse with ACES HIGH, the second wild card book).

sound interesting? Well, it is, but it's also really confusing. Written by 7 authors, it follows 7 different tales, and they don't combine into a single one all too well. Oh, it's often exciting, but its difficult to follow, especially as some of the writers( Martin, Snodgrass), are far more powerful then some of the others( though they aren't the only talented ones, of course).

Another flaw of the book( a complain, rather), is that none of the main repeat characters are favorites of mine. I've loathed Fortunato from the moment I've first read of him, and while he improves occasionally here, he's not someone who's tale I particularily enjoy. But at least his stories feature the cool Astronomer( A true Comic villan, though I would have liked him to interact with the heros a little more) and other aces. Sewer Jack and Bagabond deal only with each other, and with equally dull and bizarre DAs and Mobsters.

Overall it's nice but I don't see the great varriety and uniquness of the first 2 books. Its neither a dark tapestry of interesting, if uneven stories like WILD CARDS, or a comics book with an edge story like ACES HIGH. Its just a highly readable, if disjoint, action novel.

I liked it, but I hope the next ones will be better.

Freytag writes about a life representative of many that reached maturity during the Great Depression and World War II: a life quietly heroic but as the decades pass increasingly narrow, cell-like. The Miracle is a lovely antidote. The book could have used more editing, but it's full of devastating insights, for example concerning the annoying absurdities of work in a large corporation, or concerning what happens when beauty and opportunity suddenly appear in one of those cell-like lives

If there is one area of recreational mathematics that is accessible to everyone, it is the practice of polyominoes. For in many cases, that is all it takes to solve the problems. While proving a result can be difficult, understanding the proof is almost always very easy.
In this book, you are taken through a series of steps starting with the basic construction of polyominoes and then moving through the basic sets of dominoes, trominoes, tetrominoes and pentominoes. A set of problems for each set is stated and proved. Both the problems and proofs are given in a clear and concise manner, making them accessible to anyone with the desire to learn and play. Some of the problems were unsolved at the time of printing, so there is still some opportunity for the reader to do something no one else has done.
The polyominoes are a subject that even children can enjoy. When my daughter was two years old she enjoyed moving them around and making things. I am a good deal older than that and I enjoy them just as much now as I did when I first discovered them decades ago. There are few things that can attract such a wide age group and this book as an excellent description of one of them.

Some people regard the Chambers as the definitive dictionary on the English language. I don't know why. I hear that it contains more technical words than most dictionaries but this is something I cannot verify, not needing any really technical vocabulary. However, over the years I have had need to use a Chambers and I have been disappointed by the lack of certain words that I needed. For example, I could not find "non sequitur" but then again, my edition is older than the one shown. On the other hand, if you thinking of splashing out on a really good dictionary I strongly recommend the Collins. In a word, it is superb. It is jam-packed with encyclopedic information as well as basic word entries which is something you will find immesurably useful, not to mention your children if they are at still at school. The Chambers is OK for general use, but if you want the best, go for Collins.

Some people regard Chamber's as the definitive dictionary for the English language. I can't imagine why!!! OK, so it has a few more technical words in it than some dictionaries but it misses out some frequently used expressions. In fact, even though it is an old edition I have, the Latin phrase "non sequitur" was nowhere to be found. I remember another time I looked for a word and it wasn't in. Today I looked up "Catherine the Great" for a reason that will not interest the reader. Yes, I know you are going to say "It's a dictionary, not a history book". I'm coming to that...bear with me. I also have a Collins dictionary which tells me everything I want to know, the entries are more detailed than Chambers and the Collins is encyclopedic too. In a word, it is superb. You can find "Catherine the Great" if you really want to alond with enormous amounts of other useful information. If you are going to splash out on a dictionary, then I would recommend Collins and not Chambers.

Don't listen to the other reviewer: Chambers is a superb dictionary. As to the other reviewer: I think it's a bit rich that one person can review the same book twice, especially since both reviews say essentially the same thing (though not quite: apparently, the reviewer was unable to find 'non-sequitur'. In one review, "CJ" seems to imply that perhaps this was because she/he was looking at an older edition; in the other review, "CJ" seems to imply that since the edition was older, he/she would certainly have expected it to be included). However, I have a 1988 edition, and it definitely includes non-sequitur. In any event, since CJ is reviewing a different edition to that advertised (but doesn't do us the courtesy of specifying which edition), the reviews should be ignored. I've used Chambers for years, both professionally (as a journalist and newspapers editor on several continents working with many flavours of 'English') as well as personally at home, and it has never let me down. Clearly, a dictionary is an important aid to spelling; but it is an even more important aid to meanings, and this is where Chambers really excels -- regardless of whether you speak English-English, Australian-English, New Zealand-English, Scottish-English, or any other variety.

this book has the distinction of being the most useless book I have wasted the time to read.

I like reading the gospels with George Martin because in every article of Your Word he uses his technical skills and spiritual experience to surprise me with a truth that both expands my understanding and inspires me. Your Word is a practical and personal book that anyone who wants to get more out of the gospels will find helpful.

George Martin is a remarkable writer. He writes clearly and simply about scripture, but his insights are based on the most solid and up-to-date scholarship. Almost every essay in this book contains at least one gem of an insight that opens a new door into the riches of the Bible.

Considering that the 1978 Yankee team is my all-time favorite, it was disappointing to realize that the first 200 pages of a roughly 360 page book was NOT really about the 1978 season. Kahn spends those first 200 pages talking about other "miracle" teams and great seasons, the origin of the Yankees, and Yankee owners and players pre-1978. If I hear about the "dreary CBS Yankees" one more time...

If you already have some grasp of baseball and Yankee history, that makes those 200 pages mostly a wash. That stuff, as well as mini-bios of 1978 Yankee ownership, executives, and players, should have been put into the first 10 pages or better integrated into an account of the '78 season.

Beyond that, Kahn seems a bit pompous and playing for history.
He has unfavorable things to say about more than one journalist from the era, while getting in things like how "The Boys of Summer outleaped (the New York) Times Snide and went to the top of the best-seller lists." (p. 247)

Great, Roger, but I was hoping this book would be less about your reminiscing about baseball, Yankee (and some Dodger!) history and more for the educated fan of the 1978 Yankees. "The Bronx Zoo," by Sparky Lyle and Peter Golenbock, while not up to the standard set by "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton, is still your best bet when thinking about picking up a book about the 1978 Yankee squad.

This is a terrific book that I could not put down.

I was so surprise by it's contents. Most sports books about a certain event, there is the obligatory "Background chapter" where a brief history is given and then a great deal of detail about the event. Not so here.

Mr. Kahn first presents a detailed history of the Yankees, a history involving money, sports and racism. In learning about the early Yankees and their special relationship with and the Red Sox, Mr. Kahn presents lot more pieces to the Babe Ruth Acquisition than I had known.

It was fascinating to read about the previous owners, their relationships with their Managers and General Managers. There are reminders of the days before free agency, when the owners virtually owned the players.

But more than just one pennant race, one great season, this is story about people. It is story about the self-destructing Billy Martin, the Powerful George Steinbrenner...it's a story about Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, Al Rosen and so many others. Its about how a baseball team is run and it is also a story about the reporters who covered them.

If you like baseball, if you like the Yankees this behind the scenes look at a century, a decade and especially a year is compelling. Just remember: The 1978 World series is the conclusion of a great tale, the book is about so muc more than one year.

Roger Kahn, who I consider the best baseball writer of all time, has done it again with October Men. In his gifted, wonderfully unique style, Kahn takes us through the zany 1978 season with the New York Yankees. But the book also gives us insightful backgrounds into the main Yankee characters and an interesting, informative historical perspective on the Yankee dynasty. By far this is his greatest work since The Boys of Summer (and he has had many great books since that 1971 classic) and is a MUST read -- not only for Yankee fans -- but for all sports fans in general. A truly great work from a truly great author.

Frances Perkins was a very interesting lady, one of the first female Cabinet members and an innovator of social legislation in America. This book unfornutely doesn't go too far in depth into her character, serving as neither history nor biography. Martin instead focuses on nonimportant anecdotes, which make for a few good moments, but hardly a good book overall.

George Martin has written a deeply intelligent, very well researched, scholarly biography of Perkins. Using Perkins' Papers at Columbia University he offers eloquent antedote as well as well constructed historical context for Perkins' contributions & life. Superbly written, wonderfully scholarly, well worth the read.

It seems unfair (or perhaps just ignorant) to criticize a book based on its author's other works, but Windhaven's faults are made all the more apparent because thanks to "A Song of Ice and Fire" we know what George R.R. Martin is capable of. If Windhaven were simply different because of style, approach, or content, it wouldn't be so easily comparable to his latest works. As it is, the same elements are there: a unique world, sympathetic characters, attractive yet conflicting philosophies. But unlike in "A Song of Ice and Fire," it's not taken far enough, and the reader never inhabits the story in the same powerful way.

The world of "Windhaven" is engaging; a mostly oceanic globe dotted with island archipelagos. The seas connecting these scattered homes are perilous, and ship travel chancy and slow. The bulk of inter-island contact is made via Flyers; an elite group of men and women trained to ride the constant winds on wings made from the remnants of the spaceship which first landed there. Flyers in Windhaven are nobility of sorts, with the precious wings handed down to the firstborn of each generation. The rest of the population is "land-bound," with a Landsman leader for each island, but mostly appearing to be merchant and peasant classes.

Maris is one of these peasants; a fisherfolk daughter. Although she is land-bound she worships the flyers and eventually gets the use of a pair of wings. As it happens she is a brilliant flyer, no happier than when in the sky. However, the surrogate father who lent her wings eventually has a trueborn son, and plans to strip Maris of both wings and title of Flyer, as tradition mandates.

Here begins the argument that takes one form or another in each of the book's three sections; should wings and flyer's privilege be inherited or earned? Maris's stepbrother has no interest or ability in flying, and Maris has both. Why should she or any other land-bound be denied the wings simply because of her birth? The first section, "Storms," describes her struggle to break tradition and become a flyer, the second section, "One-Wing," delves further into the flyer/land-bound conflict with a controversial land-bound flyer (Val), and the third examines flyer and land-bound rights in "The Fall."

The stories are lightly interesting, but are overly simplistic. Maris's argument to become a flyer is far too easily accepted in such a supposedly tradition-bound society. Val is distasteful but has "childhood trauma" reasons for being so, so is rendered far less potent. And in "The Fall," the weakest of the three, land-bound and flyer politics are muddled, people's actions and reactions unclear. Without giving away the story, a group of flyers gathers over a tainted city, circling in black, never seeming to rest. It's supposed to be a disconcerting image, meant to rattle the city's ruler and get him to yield to their terms, but it's never clear why it should. The flyers do not attack, do not say anything; they do nothing but fly. If the Landsman were to wait long enough, one would think the flyers would eventually have to go home; it wouldn't make sense that they would stay away from their duties for so little purpose indefinitely.

This is the main problem of "Windhaven"; a lack of power. We know people are experiencing life-altering issues, but they're presented so simply that they have little strength to move us. The conflicts between the different aspects of society (flyers, land-bound, Landsmen) would be interesting but are never truly explored. They're only mentioned in order to manufacture conflict between flyers. Martin's latest books brilliantly examine different sides of the story with the effect of tearing the reader in two, not being able to say what is right or wrong. "Windhaven" just glances in the direction of such conflict, choosing a simpler, more pat resolution.

It's always interesting to read an author's earlier works and watch the writing change over the years. A major change is dialog; Martin's years in television and movies have drastically improved his character's speech since "Windhaven." One thing that hasn't changed is his ability to open his world to us. The flying sequences are bright, while the land and seascapes come easily to life. If you don't look too deep, "Windhaven" can be a pleasant glide over a colorful map. It just isn't as interesting when you land.

I choose to read this book out of admiration for George R.R. Martin's other works.
On the whole, I enjoyed this book. The world was well developed and consistent. You understood and believed the sense of tradition/history that influenced the characters. I was impressed with this aspect.
I also appreciated that this book focused solely on the viewpoint of one character -- something a little different from the norm. It introduced others, and got the reader interested in them -- but the main focus was on Marin.
As a woman, I appreciated the authors interpretation of Marin. I have found in my readings that the authors either dislike women or idolize them -- but rarely do they portray them believably. This follows true for the other works I have read by Martin.
I am not familiar with Tuttles other works -- but, based on the plot aspects that did not follow Martin's style, I was reminded of Mercedes Lackey. The plot was somewhat simplistic and predictable -- but enjoyable nonetheless.
I recommend this book as a fun, quick read -- but nothing to take seriously or get excited about.

Don't buy this book expecting the Song of Fire and Ice. This is a much simpler story or collection of stories depending on your point of view. The story revolves around the life of Maris a land-bound who wishes to join the fliers (society's elite), and it is broken up into three sections at different stages of her life. As with his other books, Martin lays out the issues and lets the reader decide if the heroine's actions are for better or for worse. Much as with real life, the answer is not always clear. I thought the main point of this story was the idea that an individual's action have reprecussions. You can't just change one thing and expect everything to stay the same.

The characters in this book are simple, but developed enough in the time you read about them to develop an attachement to them. I thought the characters also acted realistically in many different situations.

I have read already a negative review of this book and I had to laugh. Just in general, can we stop comparing every fantasy novel to Tolken please! Yes, we all know how good Tolken was. And, yes The Lord of the Rings will probably sit atop the fantasy book pile for the rest of eternity as king, but let's give it a rest.

This book is a good, short, simple, light fantasy story. If you have not read any of Martin's Song of Fire and Ice, I would highly, highly recommend it.

Don't get me wrong, I have read all the wild card series to include the Card Sharks series. But these collection of short stories were just plain terrible. I think Deuces Down describes the writers better than it does the stories. The authors just showed that they don't know how to write a short story and most stories you just plain don't care about the chars or the story. I was very mad about one story that wasted my time being a BASEBALL story and almost nothing else.

There is only one story that is only Ok but it includes a well know char from the series. Most of the others were just below average to bad, hoping that putting some named Aces and other chars from the main series would make the story . . . well it didn't.

the sad part is that if you are a fan of the Wild Card Series, you will have to buy this bad read anyway since this is the first fix we have had in over 10 years for our Wild Card addiction.

"Deuces Down" is the sixteenth book in the Wild Cards canon, arriving after a seven-year publishing hiatus that had most fans of this wonderful series assuming that the franchise was pretty much extinct. For those who don't know, Wild Cards is a "shared world" series of book,s by multiple authors, that chronicles the adventures of people with superhuman powers in a "real-world" context. It is, simply, the finest example or prose superhero writing ever produced. (Skip those awful novels and short story collections based on Marvel characters like The Hulk or X-Men -- Wild Cards should be the first choice for the discriminating superhero fan.)

"Deuces" is a somewhat modest offering-- seven stories spread throughout history (a la Books One and Thirteen), with the loose theme being "deuces" (Wild Card lingo for characters whose powers are negligable compared to supercharged "aces"). The stories get better as the book progresses, with the opening story by Michael Cassutt being competent but uninteresting, and the final story by Kevin Andrew Murphy being an absolute joy -- partly by virtue of being the only story in the volume set in the present day, allowing longtime fans a glimpse into what the WC universe looks like in the new millennium.

Some breif commentary on each story...

Cassutt's "Storming Space" is a sequel of sorts to his offering in Book Thirteen. Cassutt's style is good, but his Wild Cards stories are so slight that they almost disappear. He tends to put some interesting things around the edges of his tales, but the actual meat doesn't really satisfy. It makes for an unfortunately modest opener.

John Miller's story is more fun. The story's primary flaw is that it gets bogged down in the details of baseball games -- and if you're not a fan of the sport, you might start to doze. However, his characterization of a teenage Digger Downs (a minor character in the series, most enjoyably utilized back in Book Seven) is affectionate and endearing. A good "origin" tale.

Walton Simons delivers a limp tale of two rather uninteresting new characters -- somewhat surprisingly, since his two primary Wild Cards creations, Demise and Mr. Nobody, are both great (indeed, both Demise and Nobody are used in "Deuces" by other writers-- and quite entertainingly!). Kind of drab, this one, and like Cassutt's, it's damaged by its feeling vaguely inconsequential.

The collection kicks up a notch in its second half, starting with Melinda Snodgrass' wonderful "Face for the Cutting Room Floor," a tale of Wild Cards Hollywood, every bit as good as Kevin Murphy's Hollywood excursion in Book 13. Starring Snodgrass' creation Bradley Finn (a "joker," or character with some unusual physical oddity rather than superpower-- in Finn's case, a body like that of mythical centaurs), it's filled with wonderful humor and clever little twists, as well as great characterization.

Daniel Abraham's story "Father Henry's Little Miracle" is quite nice. Abraham is a newcomer to the Wild Card Trust of writers, but he seems utterly confident in spite of this, weaving -- in fantastic prose -- a tale that takes place in the midst of the gang wars from Book Five. Abraham's new character, Father Henry, is fun and instantly likeable, particularly in an entertaining confrontation with Simons' Demise (perfectly characterized here).

Stephen Leigh's story, about a bit player from Book Fifteen, is warm, rich and evocative (if rushed in the beginning). Utterly inconsequential to the greater workings of the Wild Card universe, but still a great read in its own right. And it's restrained too-- mercifully not filled to bursting with the grotesquerie of Leigh's Puppetman and Bloat tales from earlier volumes.

Kevin Andrew Murphy's concluding story, "With a Flourish and a Flair," is alone worth the price of admission. A meditation on magic -- both real and artificial-- in the Wild Cards universe, it's layered and fascinating. It's also joyously packed with characters, some familiar to WC readers, and some of Murphy's own ingenious design. The "Jokertown Boys" are a fresh and fun new addition to the WC mythos, demanding more screen time in future volumes of the series.
Meanwhile, Murphy gleefully and unrestrainedly tosses in clever references to previous stories and old, half-forgetten characters-- his affection for the intricacies of the Wild Cards practically leaping from every page.

"Flourish" makes polishing off this latest Wild Cards volume a pleasure, and leaves the reader starved for the next installment in this happily-returned series.

Browsing in a bookstore circa 1986 I came upon the first Wild Cards book. Curious, I bought it . .. and devoured it in a night.That set a patern I would follow with the release of all the subsequent books. The premise, the shared milieu, the contributions of the various writers, the twists, turns, and thrills, it was just so much fun. Like other fans, I was sorry when the series seemed to end, but I understood that the death of Roger Zelazny might want to make the others involved retire the concept. What cause for celebration then to see the Wild Cards resurrected! So, okay, this is not the most exciting entry in the series, dealing as it does with deuces, wild carders who powers seem to be useless. Not so, of course, the authors are quite ingenious at making those useless powers pivotal. There are cameos by some old favorite characters, and the last story, involving a frantic search for a specific top hat, is quite entertaining. But this book does differ from its predecessors in that it does not begin, suspensefully continue, or slam-bang conclude a story arc. I miss that Saturday serial kind of anticipatory excitement, and uneasily wonder if that means the series will not be continued any time soon. If not, too bad. I always left the Wild Cards world wanting more. I always hoped for a story about the Harlem Hammer, or the Troll, and like most fans, wondered whatever happened next to the Radical. C'mon, George R. R. Martin and co., don't leave us hanging!