I purchased this book after reading the reviews on this page but thankfully my bookstore let me exchange it. I found it hard to follow and the writing is not very clear or good in places. I swapped it for The Complete Idiot's Guide To Frontpage and I must say that (to me) it is a more practical and easier to understand book. The experts may recommend Stanek, but for the novice, I'd tell you to stay away from this one.

Certainly the best FrontPage 98 book available. I give it my highest recommendation. At $31.99 for 1000 enjoyable pages it is a steal and definitely a great value. Buy it, you won't regret the decision.

Mr. Stanek is my favorite computer book author. But that's not why I bought this book. This book is obviously the result of a lot of TLC. Stanek makes it so easy to learn FrontPage! Lots of useful examples and helpful advice.

With over 15 years of programming experience and no experience with Java, I found this book difficult to follow. I normally like to dig right in with numerous examples so I can test what I have learned. This book has few meaningful examples and when they do exist, the author uses concepts which have not been covered yet. Confusing! After reading half the book I am now searching for a more beginner book.

This book is a very good text which explains concepts like object oriented programming in java, basic concents on java, working with real world applications and much more.
Written by Peter Norton in his unique style it is a good guide & text for beginners and intermediate level.
Explains user interface design, file IO, awt and much more.

USEFUL AS TEXT BOOK. -niteen.

Ideal for anyone that wants to become an advanced Java programmer. Covers applet and application development in grand style! When other books run out of gas in the beginner/intermediate topics, this book is picking up steam and carrying you all the way from novice to advanced programming and expert-level topics.

I was very skeptical when I picked this book up. Sovereign Rule, yeah righ. I let it sit on my night stand for a week befire I finaly picked it up. I read the book straight through. I could not put it down. One of the things that made this book even better that this could really happen and we'd never know. It will make you question what is true and why it is true!

This book was such a page-turner I could not put it down. I read it in a matter of days. If you like a very good thriller, with lots of twists and turns, puzzles and adventure, Sovereign Rule is it!

I Loved this Book!!!! I didn't want it to end. This raises the bar for all other thrillers. One of the few books I've read that I know I will read again. This absolutely wonderful book can be summed up in one word. WOW! In fact, I think I said 'wow' after every chapter. This is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm telling everyone I know to read this book. I've never done that before.

Robert Stanek's latest book, Sovereign Rule, is a triumph. It has completely unanticipated plot twists, fascinating characters and a great story. You will not want to stop reading this book for ANY reason but every now and then you may wish to pause to let your mind caught up with your racing heart. This is a book that should appeal to anyone looking for a thrilling page-turner.

i have seen books on writing that are worse, but after reading it I felt that it was lacking something. Much like a novel without a good ending. However it does have it's plus sides. There is some very good sound advice in there, some things that beginners may not have thought of. But the book is very much a beginning guide, of much more use to someone who has never done a writing course or done alot of reasearch into writing. Is this book useless? absolutly not. But if you have done a writing course or have already started writing a novel then it may not be of much use. But if you have not written a word yet, then it could be worth a read.

So, you want to write a novel was a good book. I won't say great because it could use a little something extra, but it was good. It helped me when I was suffering from what they call writer's block or laziness. The exercises were helpful and helped me get back into the swing of the writing process. I keep my answers in a notebook and often go back to them to create characters. I did a lot of excersises in one sitting and they kept me writing. That is what I like most about the book, it kept me writing and that is very important to a beginning writer. So you want to write a novel, is definately for beginning writers, because it doesn't offer enough ideas for the experienced writer, they would just lose interest (but then again, you never know). I of course finished the whole book and will use my answers later on in my writing life. I give Lou, a big round of applause for writing this book. It was one of the first books I bought when I began considering writing a novel. I plan on keeping the book and using some of the exercises in a writer's group,(whenever I find the time to start one). Continuing to write is very important, if you want to be successful, so if you're stuck with writer's block or laziness, pick up "So you want to write a novel" and try some of the excersises you might learn something you never knew.

This book was SO much help, I've never felt so confident in my writing before! The exercises are not only creative, but fun, and this book helps! Instead of telling you 'you can't, you CAN'T YOU CAN'T!' this books says 'its simple, just follow the steps and soon you'll have a novel!' Pointing out normal mistakes people make (and telling you how to fix them) makes this book worth TEN stars! yay Lou!!

This book is *awful.* It's full of unconnected dribble.
Can the author carry a thought through? What is she
doing writing at all, let alone writing about writing?
She has a PH.d. in what?? Better to do some searching
in the deja archives about getting ideas for writing.
The author seems to float in and out of dreamland. That
might be ok for the process of thinking up fiction, but
not for writing about writing. Now if she was going to
show me how to float in and out of dreamland, and how to
make that dreamland actually interesting, that would be
another thing. Her dreamland was boring.

I have read several of this "creative writing books", and believe me, a lot of them are not worth the plastic they come wrapped in. This is definitely NOT the case.

The author instructs you in simple yet effective techniques to set your creative genius on the loose. After you read the book and apply some of the ideas in it you will start to see that there is a potential story in almost every event, object or person that you encounter, just need to add a little imagination and you have your story.

The best part is that the author has quite some experience on teaching and educating aspiring writers, so the book is structured in a very didactic, simple and solid way. You can even read it orderly or just concentrating on the parts that you're interested, and still get the whole idea of each chapter.

Among other things she shows you how to get a story from everyday objects, how to get a story from events, how to help shape your character through action rather than pure description, etc.

As I told you before, I have lost quite a load of money on useless creative writing books, and I can tell you: THIS IS A MUST HAVE, perfect for us writing newbies that keep looking around for the perfect story to tell.

I picked this book up and flipped it open at random, then started chuckling at how corny the ideas were. How could anybody write a story based on a fairy tale? Based on the Bible? Hasn't it all been done?

But then the ideas started flooding into my mind. I literally cannot read this book on the subway anymore because I can't get my notebook out in time to record all the story concepts this book triggers one after another.

The key, I've found, is not taking Stanek's suggestions literally, but allowing your mind to free-associate. Yes, the ideas may be corny, but they all work. I'm convinced there are trillions of stories in this tiny paperback book, just waiting for you, the author, to let them out.

I am a huge fan of fantasy and have read dozens of books from many authors but after reading the same cliched plots time after time, I gave up on the genre for a long time--until I discovered Ruin Mist. I was immediately enchanted by the fantastic world and its characters. The world isn't filled with archectypical characters (ie boy wonders, missing heirs, heroes trudging off against a dark lord) and definitely doesn't follow the formulaic/cliched/overworked standard fantasy plotlines.

WHY READ RUIN MIST CHRONICLES:

1. THIS ISN'T YOUNG CHILD GROWS TO GOOD GUY BEATS DARK LORD AND MARRIES BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS. In the typical fantasy, that's what happens and all the good guys live while defeating hords of enemies. I may be exaggerating a bit BUT you get the idea. After reading this type of story over and over that plot cliche gets old.

2. YOU ARE TIRED OF HEROES WHO WALK ON WATER AND CAN'T DIE EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE IN CONSTANT DANGER. Hey in real life, heroes die and magic DOESN'T bring them back either. So why do all the heroes live forever? Heroes in real life have failings/bad habbits and so do Stanek's characters.

3. MYSTERY AND INTRIGUE. You are tired of the entrenched lines of good guys and bad guys with stupid villains. You are tired of ONE SIDED bad guys who are PURE EVIL. Life isn't that way, often the nicest people are the worst and the people who seem bad are really good. You want a bit of mystery in your fantasy and Robert Stanek definitely DELIVERS!

4. MULTIPLE VIEWPOINTS. Hey, what one person thinks is bad may be quite the contrary to another. So why shouldn't it be this way in fantasy? If characters have different backgrounds, religions and beliefs they may see good and evil in very different ways. Robert has even created an alternate reality for his alternate reality.

5. LEGENDS OF YORE. Why should the best characters be the ones that are in the here and now? Why can't some of the best characters be in the past? History and legends give the story texture and make it real and exciting!

6. PLOTS & LAYERS Books that end tidily with all plotlines carefully tidied up aren't very realistic, so why do most fantasy books end this way? Real life doesn't end when the fireman saves the child from the burning building--it only begins. RUIN MIST has many plots and subplots, and lots of layers that make it a wildly interesting place to visit. And best of all, you don't always get closure at the end of every book. Some stories are resolved. Some are evolving.

7. CHARACTERIZATION. No matter how rich the fantasy setting, its the characters that we ultimately fall in love with. But in most fantasies characters follow specific archetypes that are easy to read. It like there's this big dividing line between the good guys and the bad guys. Stanek's characters aren't like that, they're gritty, deep, dark and we learn many different things that help us see characters in new/different light.

8. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. I could go on and on but in the end, you'll have to make the decision. I believe it is worthwhile.

A very good book, and it can be so difficult to find a good quality fantasy. Stanek is telling powerful epic fantasy complete with a large cast of characters, extensive backstory, great world setting, terrific action. I noticed that reviewers seem to give either 5 stars or 1 stars. I have read several books recently with stellar reviews that were absolutely terrible: spelling errors, grammar problems, no plot, etc. This is not one of them. The book has no editing or grammar mistakes and the author's writing style is truly exceptional.

How deep you get hooked will depend on how much you like the characters, and care about their lives. Stanek has a rotating point-of-view where each section is told through different characters. It works really well. Each chapter gives you a peice of the story, everything starts to come together. The events are masterfully done. Most of the characters are compelling, some aren't so likeable but still genuine. Adrina - the heart-broken princess. Seth, the clever elf. Vilmos the troubled boy with a dark past, deeply conflicted.

Keeper Martin's Tal largely concerns the power plays between King Jarom, the king of a southern kingdom, and Alder family, the ruling family of Great Kingdom. The king, Andrew Alder is old, not in as great a favor as he once was. The death of the queen changed everything, including the lives of everyone in his family. As you might expect, it all ends up in a war, but it's all well-crafted and meaningful.

I have not read the other books in the series yet, however, I plan to. It's a series I want to read to the end. It seems there are much worse dangers ahead: The dark lord who's returned to the elvish lands, the breaking of the alliance, the whole issue of elves and men being mortal enemies.

My kids are the ones who got me reading these books. I went in not expecting much and got about 1000 times more than I expected in my wildest dream. Why? It's a fun read, a very, very fun read. Other reviewers have been right on saying it has a lot of action, intrigue and mystery.

WHAT DID I LIKE MOST? The characters are great! If you let them the people in this book will become your new best friends. I loved Vilmos! He's got a lot of spunk like my own children. Adrina, Emel and Seth are other strong characters.

HOW IS THE PLOT? I enjoyed the book's plot twists. Don't let the straightforward, easy to read prose fool you. There's a lot going on in this story.

IS IT TOLKIEN? I would liken the experience to Tolkien's The Hobbit more than Lord of the Rings. Its an epic quest with 3 bands of heroes who eventually come together to battle a great evil. As a first in a series, it's a strong start, and a good start on what may be a wonderful fantasy series for readers of all ages.

IS IT THE STAR WARS OF FANTASY? My kids call it this, their friends do to. It has to do with the amount of action scenes and the good pacing. The book has plenty of battles and action for the patient reader. I like the fact that there are separate adult and children's versions. My sons have rarely finished books but they finished The Kingdoms & The Elves of the Reaches books 1 and 2 in a few days.

DO I RECOMMEND THIS? Yes, very much so. But everyone has different tastes. If you don't like it your kids or someone else you know surely will. I also find it wonderful that this book is from a small press. The little guy gets squashed too often by big corporate publishers, so it is great to see the little guy get a leg up. Great to see a BIG book from a small press.

Stanek is my favorite computer book author and this is my favorite Stanek book of all time! I had so much fun with this book. I followed everything Mr. Stanek talked about and saw great results. The results are ultimately what made all the difference. Building Web traffic takes time but the end result is worth it. I knew at once when my site was finally entered into the databases and lists and the difference was dramatic. Stanek talks about promotion techniques no one else ever dreamed of until he pointed them out to the world. Buy the book and see why the pros are selling Stanek's techniques to their clients for big bucks. Quite a return on a book that costs $19.95.

A solid book. Practical and useful. Following author's advice my traffic increased 5X. My home page got listed as the cool site of the day! The book is supported by a companion web site that is well thought out and useful. To access the resources you need the book, it is setup on a chapter by chapter URL. The book includes STanek's web promoter's log book. This is something I would have paid for by itself. If you've never read a Stanek book I believe you are in for a treat.

Stanek's hands on approach is absolutely refreshing. This book is the how-to guide to promoting a Web site or home page. I learned something new every step of the way and I've been publishing on the Web for many years.

The "in a weekend" approach works and it works well. I started out on Friday evening and it was smooth sailing all the way through. Stanek's advice helped my site get listed as the Cool Central Site of the Day.

This book may be OK for those new to administering Windows NT or network guys who have no programming experience. But if you have any experience with Visual Basic, ASP, VB Script, or even if with old MS-DOS, I think you'll find the book to be of little value.

This book is an excellent resource for any NT administrator who seeks to utilize windows scripts to maximize their productivity. The first six chapters covers windows scripting and the last five chapters provide a good overview of Visual Basic and Java Scripting. I, too, have found the errors mentioned in a previous review but the errors are obviously typos and don't detract from the value of the book. I sent the author an email and he responded promptly with a URL for online errata that covers all the errors that I have found. Before I found this book, I was using an odd assortment of Dos 6.0 scripting references that were clearly out of date and I didn't utilize Visual Basic scripting at all. Now I am producing much better scripts and am quite pleased with the return I have received on my time spent reading the book.

You got to get this book! No excuses. This is the best scripting book I've found. The approch is thorough and the book well thought out. I use this book everyday when I script. HIGHEST recommendation and you won't be disappointed.

I bought this book together with the IIS 5.0 Beginner's Guide from Osborne McGraw-Hill. Since I have both, I can honestly say that I rarely pick this one up to use it. I'm one of those people that buy up all the books I can on a subject when I have a job to do. While this book is well-written, it seems to be little more than the help features built into IIS 5.0.

Windows 2000 and IIS 5.0 Administrator's Pocket Consultant is the most useful IIS book I've ever bought. I use this book more than any other, so glad the cover is thick and the spine capable of handling a beating. The rounded corners are good so that the corners don't curl/bend like on other books. I found the detailed information to be very good and in most cases there's more information in this book than in the huge references I used to use. Excellent resource and highly recommended.

It is a very complete look at Windows 2000 and IIS 5 administration. It features lots of detailed information as well as the step-by-step procedures that are absoltely necessary to being successful. I haven't found another IIS book that was as useful in day to day. I would have to say this should be part of every IIS admin's library. Some of the chapters are really worth the price of the book, especially when Stanek's expert advice gets you out of a jam. I had a lot of problems with FTP and SMTP before I got this book. I also used to have problems understanding IIS security. You should buy this one without a doubt.

I ordered this book for a little inspiration only to find out I could barely get through the 1st paragraph! This book contains some of the longest run on sentences I have ever seen. I even gave it to my sister-in-law to read and she came to the same conclusion. I think the author was trying to hard to het the point across and wound up pushing the BORING button. I am sending this book back pronto for a full refund.

Another great memoir-writing instructional guide to help you capture your life experiences and turn them into compelling nonfiction. Filled with lots of exercises and invaluable techniques.

We all have memories of people, places, and events in our lives others would enjoy reading about. My problem all these years has been finding a starting place. Dr. Stanek solved the problem for me, and I recommend you let her solve it for you. I read her book all the way through without putting it down, it was so much fun dredging up memories. I have pages and pages of notes about people, places, things, pets, adventures, embarrassments, and other fun things to write about--all from reading this little book. I'm now starting over and doing her exercises. What fun! Your children and their children and their children will bless you for writing your life stories. And you'll feel good about yourself too. Read this book soon!