Exploring and colonizing the stars is the theme, a classic science fiction idea. But only a couple of stories here have any chance of becoming classics. Many are bland and mediocre.

Two classic science fiction tales, A.E. van Vogt's "Far Centaurus" and Arthur C. Clarke's "The Sentinel, provide the inspiration for a mediocre story and a bland story. The mediocre one is Robert J. Sawyer's "The Shoulders of Giants" with a starship racing to a frontier already settled by humanity. The bland story is Eric Kotani's "Edgeworld" with its discovery of an alien artifact.

Also on the bland side are Jack Williamson's "Eden Star", with family conflicts played out on a planet with light-worshipping aliens, and Edo van Belkom's "Coming of Age" about colonists who discover that their children are doomed to permanent pre-pubescence. The weakest story, in terms of originality, is the entirely predictable "Full Circle" by Mike Resnick and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Even humor can not save this old plot about futilely trying to get rid of one noxious pest by importing another.

On the marginally interesting edge of the spectrum are Paul Levinson's "The Suspended Fourth", about a planet where birdsong may hold the key to avoiding disasters, and Alan Dean Foster's "The Muffin Migration", another of those stories where colonists rue ignoring the natives' advice about the local fauna. Dana Stabenow's "No Place Like Home" has a few plot holes but its black humor and mean-spiritedness make up for it in a tale weighing the relative values of human life and that of alien bacteria.

Both Allen Steele's "The Boid Hunt" and Tom Piccirilli's "I Am a Graveyard Hated by the Moon" are character centered stories. The Steele tale is a deadly coming of age story and an examination of courage before and during a hunt for alien predators. Piccirilli's mixture of virtual reality, nanotechnology, characters who think they're gods, and landscapes haunting characters doesn't quite work but is an enjoyable story reminiscent of Roger Zelazny.

Peter Ullian's "The Vietnamization of Centauri V" is not a strict retelling of the Vietnam War on an alien world but, rather, how three soldiers are differently affected by the carnage around them to which they sometimes contribute, sometimes balk at. Its plot may not be that original, but it rings psychologically true.

The best stories of the anthology, both very much worth reading and both sharing settings from their authors' novels, are Robert Charles Wilson's "The Dryad's Wedding" and Pamela Sargent's "Dream of Venus". Set on the same planet as the setting for his BIOS, "The Dryad's Wedding" features a woman's whose memories and personality were re-set by a trauma that almost killed her when she was sixteen. Nineteen years later she is set to again marry her old husband. Wandering the planet Isis, with its ecosystem lethal to any one not genetically engineered to live there, she has began to notice some strange things . . . like a mound of talking spiders. Set in the same universe as her trilogy about terraforming Venus, Sargent's "Dream of Venus" is about the conflict between artistic integrity and political realities. Rich, aimless, and young Hassan hopes producing a propagandistic "mind-tour" on the Venus project will be a ladder to the kind of Earth-side job his father wants for him. He's partnered with brilliant Miriam, a poor woman from the North America provinces. She has something different in mind other than a simple celebration of the centuries-long terraforming project.

This collection is worth reading despite the bland and predictable tales. There are enough interesting, if flawed, stories here, and a couple of very good ones, to make it worthwhile.

When we think of humans exploring and colonizing outer space, each of us has his or her own ideas about what it might be like. This collection of thirteen stories gives some very different perspectives from some top-notch writers.

Some of the entries are better than others, to be sure, but none of them is bad. Even if you find one not to your taste, it's short enough that you don't have to put up with it for very long.

One advantage to this sort of book is that it can give an introduction to a writer with whom you may be unfamiliar--and it's a lot cheaper to buy a collection like this than it is to buy 13 separate novels!

A good collection of stories. We start off with the obligatory Looking-to-the-Future Introduction by one of the editors, which I could have gone without. Must we start every science fiction short story collection by an introduction that mentions the moon landing, Isaac Asimov, and Mars, and tells us to keep dreaming? I mean really. At least it's kept short.

Which is good because it lets us get to the 13 stories in the book, none of which suck, and some which are inspired. Most of the stories are amusing even if they are given dark elements. 'The Muffin Migration', 'Eden Star', and 'Full Circle' are all told with a light narrative even when creepy and disturbing things occur. I like this.

The worst story in the collection and the one that seems to fit least is 'The Vietnamization of Centauri V'. The Message is so obvious and heavy-handed (as I'm sure the title gives away) that it distracts from the story, as you continue making the obvious connections between Centauri and Vietnam. The question I have is since the story is Vietnam set on an alien planet, why not just make it about Vietnam? The other strategy would be to make the connection less obvious and let the reader come to it on his own. The way it is now simplifies it all too much. Not a bad story at all, and there is some nice dialogue about God, but just the worst in this collection.

'The Dream of Venus' is one of the better stories if only because it takes the concept of terraforming Venus and gives it the story a fresh point of view. This, along with 'The Shoulders of Giants' and 'Full Circle' are stories that could have seemed trite or cliched if they weren't written so well.

Even if you're not a fan of sf, this collection should still be enjoyed. If you strip away the sf elements you're left with well-written stories about people. The collection doesn't insult your intelligence and it's solid.

Another passable book as the written series was trying to find its feet. The Hortas explored in the first Star Trek series are brought back here. The logic of bringing creatures on board a space station who can bore through anything is questionable and again its the Cardassians who are throwing a wrench into the plans.
It took awhile for the written series to find it's own feet, amazingly enough when the series went off of TV and was dependent upon the written series as the sole outlet.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Devil in the Sky written by Greg Cox and John Gregory Betancourt is a true to character novel about one of the universe's best miners... The Horta from Janus VI.

This is a two-plotted book with a fast paced theme within the major plot. The Horta were recruited to help rebuild Bajor's devastated mining industry after the Cardassian occupation. The planet's struggling economy needs a boost with the exportation of minerals and the Horta are the best miners in the galaxy. So, Mother Horta with twenty Horta eggs are on Deep Space Nine ready to mine away the rock.

But, this wouldn't be TREK without a hitch in the gitty-up... that is the Carassian kidnapp Mother Horta and her eggs are beginning to hatch on Deep Space Nine without their moter. Hortas can go through solid rock like us walking through water.

Kira/bashir are on a rescue mission to retrive Mother Horta (the first plot). Commander Benjamin Sisko is on Deep Space Nine with the twenty hatching,(the second plot). Horta hatchlings can be very uncontrollable without guidence from the mother.

I enjoyed this fast paced book and the characters of Benjamin Sisko, Jake, Rom, Kira, Bashir, Odo, and O'Brian were all very true to their respective characters. The storylines were woven with just enough of the story to keep you interested to the ending.

All in all, this was a well-written action-adventure with interesting characterizations.

I don't know about you, but I'm having a big ol' ball going back and reading some of these earlier Trek novels (See "The Murdered Sun").

Greg Cox and John Gregory Betancourt penned a wonderful, two-plot early adventure that ties in canon information about the Hortas with newer information about the Cardassians. This novel just sizzled with all that lovely hatred the Bajorans had for their (former) oppressors.

This one's also chock full of early Bashir attitude, before we learned about his enhanced genetics and certainly *well* before he got over himself about being a ladies man. Quite entertaining, I say, and darned amusing, too. In fact, this story abounds with perfect early characterizations of all of them - Kira, Dax, Odo, Quark, the O'Briens, Sisko, Nog, Jake, and Rom, and was a pure delight to read, this long after the series ended.

But don't worry about the Cardies or the Hortas - Our Man Bashir comes through in the end. Wait a minute, what am I saying? *Everybody* comes through in the end - of COURSE they do, this is Star Trek! And there's nothing wrong with that.

A-plot concentrates on a daring Kira/Bashir/Dax rescue of a mama Horta from the Cardies, and when you stir in the almost-goofy b-plot about 20 accidentally-hatched baby Hortas on DS9 (mmm...who managed that, don't ya wonder?), you've got a what amounts to a mighty grand escapade in the finest of Star Trek tradition.

Val Wilmer presents a complete ignorant and biased review of the life of many key figures in the jazz movement. Her writing is more akin to a groupie trying to "suck-up" to her favorite group. With her "band chick" approach and total lack of knowledge about music, Wilmer manages to string along several stories about these musicians, in which each experience becomes granite evidence of the validity of their approach to music as welll as proof of Wilmer's superior knowledge of Jazz and music in general.
PLease!!!! Wilmer loves this music because it dispenses with such unnnecessary items as Harmony, Melody, Time, and general ability on the given instrument..making it a music analyzed only in superlatives.
Some of the information on Ed Blackwell is informative - but she manages to contradict herself on many occasions. For example...Tony Williams, in Wilmer's opinion is no longer important because he still plays time which in her opinion is useless. However, five stars for Ed Blackwell...come on Wilmer, he played more traditionally than Tony Williams ever did.
For fans of Jazz and so-called free jazz - spare yourselves the Wilmer - "I am in love with these sexy Black Musicians" approach. Poor.

Wilmer's As Serious as Your Life stands, along with her own earlier Jazz People and books by Amiri Baraka (Blues People) and Ben Sidran (Black Talk) as one of the most important books on the controversial avant-garde jazz of the 1960's and early 1970's. Originally published in 1977, it is a fascinating and highly informed study that benefits from the race and gender politics in the air at the time without ever laboring to use this theoretical baggage in the service of the author's ideological purposes-the music and, more importantly, the musicians are always carefully kept in the spotlight. Starting with individual chapters on important and influential figures such as John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, and Albert Ayler, and including many other names both famous and unknown, the author draws on her first-hand knowledge of the musicians to construct insightful portraits of a people literally under siege by hostile critics and even by other less "political" musicians. She further develops her ideas in the thematic units which follow, including a section dedicated to percussionists like Sonny Murray and Ed Blackwell whose contributions to the music often went unacknowledged, and one dedicated to the women of the movement (most famously John Coltrane's wife Alice), both as sources of emotional support and, thankfully, as musicians in their own right. The result is a book which not only sheds light on the music but also illuminates its sociopolitical background. In the final unit, "The Conspiracy and Some Solutions," the author deals more directly with these problematic political issues, which are perhaps even more relevant today than when this book was first published: the place of jazz in the world of academia, the role of the media in the promotion of jazz, etc. Personal but professional, and humanized by a section of the author's photographs of the musicians, this book is an enjoyable "must" for the music of this period, and one of the rare books of jazz criticism that encourage the reader both to listen more and to read more. Although for this new edition a brief chapter bringing the book up to date would have been appreciated (or at least an updated bibliography), the list of musicians in the acknowledgements who have passed away since the last edition is a sad and sobering reminder of the of the lack of esteem afforded this generation of jazz even today.

Wilmer's "As Serious as Your Life" stands, along with her own earlier Jazz People and books by Amiri Baraka ("Blues People") and Ben Sidran ("Black Talk") as one of the most important books on the controversial avant-garde jazz of the 1960's and early 1970's. Originally published in 1977, it is a fascinating and highly informed study that benefits from the race and gender politics in the air at the time without ever laboring to use this theoretical baggage in the service of the author's ideological purposes-the music and, more importantly, the musicians are always carefully kept in the spotlight. Starting with individual chapters on important and influential figures such as John Coltrane, Cecil Taylor, Ornette Coleman, Sun Ra, and Albert Ayler, and including many other names both famous and unknown, the author draws on her first-hand knowledge of the musicians to construct insightful portraits of a people literally under siege by hostile critics and even by other less "political" musicians. She further develops her ideas in the thematic units which follow, including a section dedicated to percussionists like Sonny Murray and Ed Blackwell whose contributions to the music often went unacknowledged, and one dedicated to the women of the movement (most famously John Coltrane's wife Alice), both as sources of emotional support and, thankfully, as musicians in their own right. The result is a book which not only sheds light on the music but also illuminates its sociopolitical background. In the final unit, "The Conspiracy and Some Solutions," the author deals more directly with these problematic political issues, which are perhaps even more relevant today than when this book was first published: the place of jazz in the world of academia, the role of the media in the promotion of jazz, etc. Personal but professional, and humanized by a section of the author's photographs of the musicians, this book is an enjoyable "must" for the music of this period, and one of the rare books of jazz criticism that encourage the reader both to listen more and to read more. Although for this new edition a brief chapter bringing the book up to date would have been appreciated (or at least an updated bibliography), the list of musicians in the acknowledgements who have passed away since the last edition is a sad and sobering reminder of the of the lack of esteem afforded this generation of jazz even today.

I am currently going back and reading some of the ST:TOS novels that I either never read or read so long ago that I have forgotten them. THis one is a time travel/conspiracy story which I'm a sucker for. I feel the book could have used some editing but it has many nice moments including some particularly good writing of Nurse Chapel. Also, throughout the book we are told someone on the Enterprise will do something in the future and when we find out who it is I was surprised-- I had guessed wrong. Last word: entertaining, worth reading.

I dunno about everybody else, but I honestly didn't think this book was all that bad. Though a bit convaluted and extremely hazy, it was a story worthy of every other Star Trek novel I've ever read. And I was pretty happy Barbara took time to develope and expand on Christine Chapel's character. Chris has always been one of my favorite characters on the original series and I liked that Barbara gave her character significance rather than commiseration.

All in all, it was not that bad. There are worse Star Trek novels out there.

Set aside the photon torpedos. Prepare to make a command decision. On the outer marches, the U.S.S. Enterprise encounters an aging black starship. A Constitution-class ship, but one not listed on the Star Fleet registry. It's skeleton crew, a cosmopolitan band, claims to be freedom fighters from the Federation's future. This is a future where Big Brother does more than watching. The situation deepens when another starship, of unknown design, arrives claming to represent the future Federation. They want the "terrorist," but are unable to force the issue, fearing harming an unnamed crew member aboard the Enterprise. A person who will create the future Federation. What's Kirk's decision? What would be your decision?

I liked this book for several reasons:

1. The skeleton crew of the aging starship are the most interesting characters in the series since the first and last appearance of Dr.Evan Wilson in Uhuru's Song.

2. We see the crew of the Enterprise acting like a crew. Teamwork on all levels. It's not just the bridge crew, Scott, and Bones.

3. The future "propulsion" source is an example, in a crude metaphorical sense, of how a weed is any plant people have not yet found a use for. Except this "plant" is holy terror to the Federation of Kirk's time.

4. The Enterprise crew member who will choose the path for the future will do so with good intentions. An example of unintended consequences.

To compare your taste with mine, these are some of my favorites: My Enemy, My Ally / Final Reflection / How Much for Just the Planet? / Uhuru's Song / Ice Trap / The Romulan Way / Killing Time

Unlike the rest of the reviews here, this one isn't exactly a glowing recommendation. I found most of the principles in the story completely out of character with their established personalities. In the series, you were left with the impression that Picard was extremely upset with Ro Laren's betrayal, yet in the book, it's hardly even mentioned at all. Another point, the author does a good job of describing federation prisoners suffering thoroughly at the hands of the Jem Hadar and Cardassians while doing slave labor, while the main character completely forgets them at the end to start his own life, no longer caring about his suffering comrades who are still prisoners. He even forgets about his best friend who helped him get through the tough times. No, I was completely let down. The noble Picard acting like the brash young Captain Kirk threw me for a loop also.

This book concluded book 1. very nicely, I must say. As did book 1., this book moved smoothly. It also a couple plot twists that may not be expected.

This was a good book filled with original and good ideas. It has lot of action and unexpected, suprising events making this book very good.

But I think it focused too much on Ro Laren and the others. Only Captain Picard and Geordi are really involved in action. And the Enterprise and its crew are stuck in a starbase so dont expect whats on the cover.

And why the Enterprise lower shields while firing torpedos.

Originally published in 1955, this reprint is of the 3rd (1971) edition. In our era of out-of-the-box Go-to telescopes, these details of the English mounting and aberrations in a doublet lens may seem hopelessly dated. Yet there is lots of information here that is hard to find elsewhere. How much magnification is enough? How much is too much? Elsewhere you can find a rule of thumb; here you can find eight rules compared and evaluated. Sidgwick derives many formulae from the basic physics of light; he gets into the details of how vision works; he gives a more detailed analysis of 'seeing' than any other I've read.

3 stars for the average amateur; 5 for the amateur telescope maker or anyone looking to tinker with equipment.

Sidgwick's book is recognized as a classic, but the subject matter is presented rigorously and in the style of a text book. Originally published in 1955, Sidgwick's book relies heavily on British Astronomical Association archives and the overall book has a somewhat European bent. Most of the book is still very relevant and informative, but don't expect unbiased views of currently available super eyepieces or CCD cameras. However, if you want exhaustive information on different types of mounts (and their strengths and weaknesses), hard-to-to-find information on accessories like micrometers and spectroscopes, and analyses of image circles, telescope configurations, and metallic films, this book is for you. Indeed, it is the only book that I've seen with a section that Sidgwick calls "Personal Equation", that is, how much a given observation is influenced by innately human factors like visual acuity, overall health, and fatigue. It is an excellent book: just don't expect a lot of colorful graphs and eye candy.

This book is the best for amateurs. Recommended for al

This book is the worst of the worst and you'd be well advised to shun it like the plague. The plot is THE stupidest ever and the ending is very trite.

Masks was the first STTNG novel I ever read and it was a wonderful book, one of my favorites, I thought Picard's adventures on the Mask wearing planet and his learning about their culture and customs was very interesting! I also want to point out that this book has nothing to do with that weird STTNG episode with the same title, different stories all together! The TV episode called Masks (episode 169) was about Data and had him being possessed by some ancient artifacts and basically getting a machine's version of Multiple Personality Disorder.

"Masks" is THE best ST book I have read (and I almost have them all!!!) The world on which the action takes place is inventive and the use of masks within the culture is simply genius! Read it!

Set in the very distant future, this book showcases the triumph of the human spirit even in the face of universal apathy.

Mr. Brunner's eclectic British compositional style (as evidenced by the opening sentence of the novel) makes this a challenging read, but the atmosphere and pace of the book make it both interesting and rewarding. Nice ending.

Seeing this book in a used bookstore, I snapped it up, and was not dissapointed.

The golden age of humanity has passed, leaving behind a self maintinging organic city where the story picks up. A hobbyist astronomer discovers a meteor headed for earth. He tries in vain to warn people but everyone is too self-centered or apathetic to bother paying attention.

So he sets off into the world searching for answers, and discovers not everyone has well cultured plants to live in. Brunner leads us through a strange and greately varied earth of the distant future.

Brunner's unique style grabs ahold and refuses to let go until the end of the last page.

First, I will admit that I did not buy this book. I did read a a good amount in the local bookstore, though, including their entire section on one team (my Twins) and some more general material in the front. So, this review is incomplete-but I follow the Twins organization very closely, so I feel competent to analyze how this publication stacks up.

I was surprised with how limited the player analysis was, both in depth and breadth. Keep in mind this ignores players at lower levels, since they are unlikely to be "rookies" in the next year or two. The absence of recently-drafted players is not at all compensated by (as one would expect) more in-depth discussion of high-minors prospects. Benson also confuses the point of his book in my opinion...here's an example. He rated Justin Morneau #1 on the Twins list. However, Morneau would not debut until late 2003 at the earliest, considering he's one of the youngest players in AA. Behind him is Michael Cuddyer, who is ready (and now in the Bigs). Morneau is more talented, but I thought the point was players who were near the majors...

Benson also confuses the issue by discussing team's organizational depth as if his analysis was comprehensive. Since he ignores low-minors players, that is obviously not the case. Joe Mauer is not in the book, yet is the best catching prospect in baseball...he may not be ready, but nevertheless this publication is a limited analysis of a team's farm system. If you like a team that [is bad] I would definitely consider picking this up. Otherwise, stick with BA and BP.

This book always gets me in the spirit of the upcoming season, as it seems to be the first of many books to detail the beginning of the 2002 campaign (April seems soooo far away). The book isn't much different from previous versions, but the updated information is always welcome as the winter season is the time to fine tune your fantasy and roto-league rosters. The player reviews can sometimes lack the more detailed information that some may hope to find, but with the limited space they are informative and do give the basic information that many want (in particular the "new" players). The draft recap is also a very informative section for those who may have forgotten wher some players went, and where they fit into thier new teams plans.

This book is an annual release and one of the the better baseball books on the market, even if you are not a roto fan. The book goes through each team's minor league system according to position, each organization's best prospects, evaluation of past drafts, and a ranking of the best propects in the minors. The best parts of this annual are the organizational grid (similar to the ones used by major league GMs) and draft report cards (evaluations of how each MLB team did in their recent drafts). I look forward to this book and its companion guides every year. I did not give this book the highest rating this year because this edition does not really offer any improvements over previous editions and the majority of the player reviews are sketchy, at best. Those who have bought this book's previous editions will not be surprised.

First the good news: the actual writing isn't bad, in terms of technical competence. The characters were mostly handled well, both in terms of dialogue and interaction; Major Kira was a bit too hostile, but that was fairly standard for this early in the series, and Odo displayed a variety of intelligence that I don't expect to see from him, but otherwise the book was well enough written to make two separate fairly uninteresting plots passably readable.

But that's the bad news: the story behind the writing just wasn't interesting; it's a bad sign when the poker tournament at Quark's is more interesting than the obligatory station crisis.

This book was actually written as a collaborative effort between Dean Wesley Smith and his wife, Kristine Katheryn Rush. (Sandy Schofield is the pseudonym they chose for the collaboration.) If you are familiar with (and fond of) the individual work of either of these writers, you might want to try this one. But I can't say that I was overly impressed.

This is a pretty good DS9 novel, and an interesting debut for this psuedonym, but the biggest problem is that it doesn't really go anywhere.

The obligatory crisis situation comes in the form of subspace fluctuations which are threatening the power systems and structural integrity of not only DS9, but of everything from Bajor to Cardassian space.

The real plot of the book, however, revolves around the big poker game, and all the cheats, countercheats, plots, and attitudes involved therein.

While most of the characters are pretty well portrayed, there is too much animosity between Kira and O'brian, and the authors use to many ideas and characters from previous episodes.

This is an OK DS9 book, but not one of the good ones.

When Quark decides to hold a poker tournament on the station, things get out of hand, really fast. It's an very funny book, especially the Odo and Quark scenes. Who would have ever thought Odo could play poker? The subplot was a little boring, and the storyline slowed down towards the end, with nothing really happening. I felt the author just added extra sections to fill the required word count. But, it was a very enjoyable quick read.