This fourteen story collection consists of tales mostly written in the 1970s and 1980s yet remains timely in their exploration of what is the essence that makes a human? Each contribution is cleverly written so that the casual fan has an exciting story to read. It also enables those of the audience who relish philosophy pondering the meaning of life. The stories run much of the speculative fiction gamut but peels down to what is humanity? There is obviously a Jack Dann revival going. Between this anthology and his recent JUBILEE work (released in December) we get to know the author and like what we read. Thus his myriad of fans have plenty of solid reading matter worth perusing.

Harriet Klausner

the first part is really great. the events of a convict's life is presented in an interesting way. the convict finds a means to escape, sort of a meditative way, that makes him fly to far off places. but the story doesn't really develop or continue from there. instead it ends up being a bit boring, although starting promising.

I started to write a review over two years ago after I read this piece, then stopped, deciding to wait, wanting to know whether such poignant effect on my thinking and outlook could last. IT HAS! This little-known work by Jack London is a masterpiece, through which my perspective on life- in particular during times of disappointment, loss, or pain- has been placed in new and better perspective. Mr. Morrell conquers the heartless cruelties inflicted by his captors, and London's amazing talent leads the reader vicariously through it.

This is a brilliant, beautiful novel. The idea of escape from a reality of suffering is presented to the reader through wonderful short stories that are layered within the theme of a prisoner condemned to death. Particularly those who are interested in Eastern philosophy will enjoy this immensely. The rest will simply read a masterpiece. I will never forget it.

I was impressed by the variety in these stories. Some of them are only meant to be light entertainment, but others like "Jack Be Quick" and "The Favor" really get to you. I especially liked "Scat" -- which uses the title word in four different meanings.

These are superior stories, and they're all different. She can make you laugh in one story and give you chills in the next. The title novella is a fantastic piece of writing.

Of the Pohl books I've read, this took the longest to get to being something I could warm up to. The first two books seem to more or less build up to the last (and without the background the last book would be nearly impossible to read), with the last story drawing out the imagination of the reader. Definately a journey for the destination, not the journey itself.

If Heinlein had mixed "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress" with the semantic subtheme of his short story "Gulf," and seasoned it with Clarke's "2001" and Disney's "The Black Hole," he could have cooked up this story. I would say the quality of the writing qua writing is competent but merely average, whereas the theories, especially regarding the nature of stars, are stellar. If you have read Harry Turtledove's historically-flavored science fiction, you have experienced this combination. An important thing the book did for me was to reduce the incomprehensible magnitude of space to a mentally graspable size. And--it was a real page-turner

Having just finished the tedious Next Gen novel Ghost Ship, Perry's Planet was just what the doctor ordered. The Bantam novels in general were much more simple, streamlined affairs than the Pocket novels to follow. No space wasted on character interaction or inner monologues - just a bare-bones story (pun not intended).

Perry's Planet is almost magic in the way it evokes the original series. The novel sounds and feels uncannily like an episode. The plot, like so many of the original series episodes, is a recycled hodge-podge from other episodes, including a Landru-esque society and computer program, and a pacifying virus akin to the spores from "This Side of Paradise." A Klingon death vow starts the novel off with a bang but otherwise does not live up to its promise. Wonderfully concise, Perry's Planet provides a couple of hours worth of mindless, enjoyable entertainment.

The crew of the Enterprise is dead-tired and badly in need of shore leave. As they pick up scientists for transfer, they prepare to head to Starbase 6 for needed rest and repairs. While stopped briefly to make some adjustments to the failing dilithium crystals, they are suddenly attacked by a Klingon warship that seems to come out of nowhere. When the threat is averted, the Klingon captain appears on the screen, and swears a blood oath to kill Kirk in revenge for killing his brother.

With that now hanging over his head, Kirk must divert to a planet in an unsurveyed sector, that has sent an application for admission to the Federation. As it is deemed that this must be answered without delay, the Enterprise is diverted there. After beaming down, Kirk and company find themselves unable to commit the smallest act of a violent nature. A virus has been created on Perry's Planet, which acts to disable the individual when the biochemical buildup to violent action is begun. With the Klingon ship in wait for them, the consequences could be disasterous.

Jack Haldeman is the older brother of Joe Haldeman, noted science fiction and Star Trek author, and an accomplished short-story writer on his own merits. Haldeman crafts a strong if short tale here, which seems to have been padded some from a short story length. Haldeman effectively uses the characters, and keeps them IN character, including giving some time to Scotty, Uhura, Sulu and Chekov. The writing is not soaring, but it is solid, and the story will keep the reader interested.

This is one of the great 'non-episode' Star Trek books. This is one of the few books true to the spirit and style of the original stories. It's funny how many times other Trek fans have mentioned this one as one of their favortie Star Trek novels. It keeps coming back into print and I would love to see it re-released - say in a collection with some other Star Trek classics. If you are a fan and you haven't read it then this is a must have. It will really take you back to the old days.

What a great and original talent Vance is! I have read all five "Demon Princes" in the space of two days and found myself wishing for more. I personally think this one of the best of Vance's stories, since it combines his personal unique trademarks: unbridled imagination, curious and original writing style, etc., with a first-rate space opera plot. I could go on about all the amazing qualities of Vance's writing, but they really have to be experienced to be believed.

Vance's trademark of delightful style, bizarre yet somehow logically consistent future planetary societies, and imaginative plotting reaches a peak in the "demon princes" series. Some of these tales I have not read since they first came out decades ago, yet many of the characters and events stick in my mind almost as if I'd lived it myself (well, not quite... if I had gone through all that I'd be a wreck from flashbacks). Jokes, tortures, detective work, deep insights into twisted human personalities and social structure: Vance has poured everything into this. Classic and classy

These first three books in the Demon Princes series are some of Jack Vance's finest work. You've seen and heard this story a thousand times but seeing it through the strangely colored glasses of Mr. Vance will bring a new freshness to this tale of a young man seeking revenge. Keith Gersen hunts the Demon Princes with a determination that would make Bulldog Drummond proud. He allows no obstacles to slow his search, no feeling, no doubts. Man, you just know this guy is going to come crashing down if he finally gets all the bad guys. Guess you'll have to find out for yourself. Buy it

This is actually my favorite in the series of political books by Germond/Witcover (henceforth, G/W). I will praise it and then criticize it.

It is worthy of praise for its excellent coverage of the immolation of Gary Hart and Joe Biden. It also does an outstanding job giving the history of Republican and Democratic parties in elections since 1960.

The weakness comes from the obvious liberal bias that Germond has. They get angry with George Bush and the campaign he ran - although when they get back around to covering the 1992 election, they don't mention the dirt that Bill Clinton threw without any network complaints.

They book also demonstrates that the liberal elite just don't get it. In the final analysis, there's a complaint about the GOP hanging Vietnam around the necks of Democrats as being "unpatriotic," and imply Bush merely continued that. But Bush actually succeeded in playing the kind of superficial game that Democrats usually play at the polls - and their only anger is because he won.

For example, it is common for the Democratic Party to say that the GOP will "cut" Social Security. I have debates on tape going back to 1960, and this argument has been made by every Democrat since 1976 (at least). But they know full well this is mere demagoguery. In fact, G/W do not bring out enough the fact that Dukakis was demagoguing that very issue - or the fact that he said he was a "card carrying member of the ACLU" in the primary but considered it "negative campaigning" when Bush hung the ACLU around his neck. The only problem the journalists have is NOT with the superficiality of elections, but the fact their chosen guy got beat.

However, if one looks past the usual liberal jargon, it does read very well. They also have an excellent chapter on the Michigan caucus (GOP side) that Pat Robertson exploited. Their hatred for Robertson is evident in the book, too.

Seasoned Washington professionals Jack Germond and Jules Witcover take the proper critical approach to a presidential campaign that in many ways represented a tragic slap in the face of democracy. Voters were so turned off that participation plummeted to 49%. This was the campaign where Willie Horton and the Pledge of Allegiance dominated. The book's subtitle of "The Trivial Pursuit of the Presidency" was accordingly apt.

When the media-orchestrated campaign of Roger Ailes, known as "the mudmeister," along with cohort Lee Atwater, who had been trained by none other than Richard Nixon, reached fever pitch, and a "news event" consisted of Republican nominee, Vice-President George H.W. Bush, visiting a flag factory, Dan Rather and his CBS news cohorts refused to cover the event. CBS explained to the Republicans that if they wanted serious coverage then the campaign needed to get serious and talk about substantive policy matters rather than hide behind the flag and expect to receive prime time attention. Voters in other states envied the Nevada prerogative of voters, which permitted the alternative of the truly turned off, a vote for "None of the above," which turned out to be a popular category.

Germond and Witcover present a detailed account of a campaign where glossy imagery and mud slinging obscured the real issues, beginning with rising American debt, which would continue to burgeon after Bush's victory over Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis. A highlight of the Republican's campaign was his promise at his party's New Orleans convention of, "Read my lips! No new taxes!" This was an irresponsible promise in view of the pervasive reality that economic circumstances vary and policies need to reflect those current circumstances.

Fellow political junkies think I'm crazy for considering 1988 such an entertaining election, and they have a point: '92 featured the Perot boomlet and the eventual winner running third in the polls in summer; '96 had Buchanan's shocking New Hampshire win and Clinton's strange comeback; and 2000, was, well, 2000. Maybe it's just that '88 was the first campaign I followed. But it was a dirty, sleazy fight, with two unappealing nominees. Both campaigns were riddled with mistakes -- Bush's choice of Quayle, then-frontrunner Dukakis refusing to campaign during August. Most interesting is the desperation inside the Democratic Party as they see their best shot in years collapse before their eyes. This is just a good, solid campaign book in the tradition of the old Making Of The President series.

For the very beginner in astrophotography( like me) it is all you need( at least for a while).Dickinson and Newton used a clear text adding their expereance. The book begins talking about the universe, then goes to the basic camera on tripod( comets, moon and Earth shine, star trails, etc). To follow the Earth's movment(for those 10 minutes exposures), I learned and built my on Star Tracker - It is very precise and useful because I could find the south celestial pole in my first try as I learned from page 70. As I still didn't buy my own "good telescope", I am not the best person to say about Part 3: Probing Deeper- through the telescope; but it covers all the inicial steps,adaptation, films and filters for lunar /solar photos.The last part tell us how to use the CCD tecnology:choosing a CCD camera,how to color the image and to process it.For the one who want more detail on digital imaging, this is not your book. Bad points are: it does not teach you where(all) the "subjects" are ,missing on CCD shoftware; almost anything on Southern emisfere sky. Good point: a lot of amateurs photos, showing that you can do it. Finally, this is a very good inicial book FOR THE BEGINNER ASTROPHOTOGRAPHER.

I really like everything about this book. It offers great, practical advice on learning how to take "astro"photos. Many beautiful pictures also. I am currently building my own camera mount based on guidelines in book. Anyone interested in astronomy and/or photography should get it!

The book is great. Terry and Jack did a wonderful job. By the way I am on page 64 with the camera tracker. I noticed a typo on this web page under table of contents. You have Sides versus prints and should be SLIDES verses prints.

Clear skies Gary Boyle Observer's Group Chairman Ottawa Centre, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

For those who loved the original five volumes of the Well World series, the sixth will come as a disappointment. Gone are the vivid characters, well-realized portraits of alien (i.e., hex) life, and satisfying progression of the plot. Instead we are presented with vague heroes, implausible character development, scant action (in favour of long-winded explanations), an arch-enemy and his arch-nemisis who are all but absent, and a hurried ending that ends in an anti-climactic cliffhanger.

Preserve your fond memories of Mavra, Wuju, Nathan, and Obie by staying away from the latest installment.

An interesting variation of the same original well world series. The first book is only an introduction to the second book. The characters are well disguised remakes of his previous characters. Almost all Well World series have Drug Lords with their planet fortresses, Evil Conquerors ( and their guilt ridden proteges ), body swapping and its psychological repercussions. But then thats what we all like about the well world series. So if you are a fan, go ahead and make your day.

I have been Chalker fan since the publication of the first Well World novels, and have read every book he has ever written. That being said, I have found the recent attempts to revive the Well World to be sorely lacking. Until The Sea Is Full Of Stars, that is. I have found this to be the most enjoyable book that Chalker has written in years (I found Watchers At The Well to be less than satisfying). This book, however, seems to capture the spirit and adventure of the original novels. Which makes it all the more unfortunate that the second book does not live up to its potential