Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes is a vividly written piece which could easily have been featured in our travel section but is presented here for its literary value as a passionate survey of famed British novelist Robert Louis Stevenson's birthplace. His notes include history and social insights as well as commentary and bring Edinburgh alive.

As I meandered through the local book store I spotted this paperback on display and immediately noticed two familiar names in great literature, Robert Louis Stevenson and Clive Cussler. I wondered what type of novel a Stevenson relative could write, that would top his namesake's literary contributions, and earn Mr. Cusslers praise. After finishing "Torchlight" I now realize that Robert Louis Stevenson III will be bringing us tales of excitement and intrigue equal to those of his namesake for many years to come, and highly deserves Mr. Cusslers glowing recommendation.

You literally picture yourself alongside Drake and Henderson as they dive on the Norfolk. With the current political turmoil you have no trouble believing the actions and attitudes as given in this "action and intrique" piece of fiction.

A GREAT read and I'm already standing in line for Robert Louis Stevenson III next one.

As a scuba diver I was very impressed with the realistic nature of the diving scenes. The characters and plot were intriguing and I look forward to futures efforts by this author expanding on the exploits of the books' heroes. Excellent, clear writing style with aplot that made the book hard to put down.

My perspective on this book is as a diver who tends to stay in the classic literature section. I happened upon this book while looking for an older Cussler novel; hopefully one less haughty than his more recent works. I found this to be exactly what I have been looking for - a well-paced, mostly believable nautical story with characters well developed, but without soap opera character twists. There were a couple of weak spots, but never more than a page or two, and RLS never lost this reader's focus. For those of you who love a good adventure, but decry the "made for TV screenplay" type of writing which has come to replace true literature, this is your book. If his first story is any indication, RLS will leave Cussler in the dust. Can't wait for the sequel.

Set against the backdrop of the Wars of the Roses, The Black Arrow is an intriguing look at the life of young Richard Shelton. Richard's life is shaken when he realizes that those he had thought to be his friends are really his enemies, and he is forced to make choices that will determine the course of his life. Although the characters are well-developed and the plot is fascinating, this book is not for the squeemish or lazy reader. The description is not only vivid, it is often gorey. The language is sometimes difficult and a dictionary might prove quite handy. But anyone looking for a well-written, action-packed classic should read this book.

The Black Arrow is, without a doubt, one of my all time favorite books, just as Robert Louis Stevenson is one of my all time favorite authors. I find it hard to believe that The Black Arrow is probably the least well know of his great adventure novels (the others being, of course, Treasure Island and Kidnapped), as it is certainly the best as far as I am concerned. As far as the story goes, it is one of the most entertaining plots that I have ever encountered. It is filled with more twists and turns than I would have thought possible, but remains very clear and fast paced. The characters are wonderful, as is the description and the writing itself. Granted, some of the language is a bit archaic, but I feel that this adds a lot to the authenticity of the story.
The Black Arrow is not a very easy read at first, but once you get into it it really flies by. It is as entertaining, exciting, and intriguing book as you will find, and I would recommend it to anyone.

This book is one of the best I've read. It is what every book about the middle ages should be and more, with suspense, action, disguises, escapes, and of course, the occasional love scene. Robert Louis Stevenson lived in the mid-1800s, and is renowned for his many works, includingTreasure Island, Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, andKidnapped. The Black Arrow, written originally for a magazine, was written after a serious illness in Stevenson, and was published right after Treasure Island.

Dick Shelton, a boy of sixteen, is quickly thrust into the conflict of the War of the Roses. He battles against almost any kind of evil - bloodthirsty pirates, a murderous priest, and even his own legal gaurdian - Sir Daniel Brackley. Through the whole book Dick strives to become a knight, and to rescue his true love. The Black Arrow is a sure winner for 6th graders and up.

In the first ten pages, Stevenson has 1) the perfect General traveling to meet 2) the perfect industrialist/philanthropist who, along with 3) the perfect woman, working in 4) the perfect building/research facility, create 5) the perfect weapon.

This book contains every mistake that a novice writer can make to sidetrack the reader from the storyline. Every paragraph (at least for the thirty-two pages that I was able read) contains cumbersome phrases such as "Electrical cables dangled to his left, the thick strands a dull orange in the penumbra of his dive light" and "catching sight of one of his team gliding past him like an angel of death, the silhouette of a sound-suppressed Heckler and Koch MP5 clearly visible against the lighted base ahead." Said base being viewed while under a parachute from an altitude of 29,000 feet and 30 miles away.

As an avid reader, I was extremely disappointed with a book carrying the Robert Louis Stevenson name...

This book was recommended to me by Amazon and I took a chance on it. It was well written, interesting and fast paced. I did not read the other book so I did not know the main character, but that was a minor deficiency.
The problems I have is his research. There are no Lieutenant Commanders in the Army, not in my lifetime. A HALO jump means High Altitude Low Opening, if you jump from 30,000 and open the chute at 29,000 that is a High Altitude jump. He does not really dwell that you have to be on oxygen when you jump either.
The glaring error in the book was his lack of understanding how classified data is transmitted. He assumed incorrectly that it was computer to computer and that the crypto coding was in the computers, not so, not at all. Classified data of the nature of Bright Star would be double or triple encrypted using NSA devices that no hacker could defeat just by playing around. He would need a Cray 2 and about a month to get one message that was just encrypted once. Also the encryption keys are changed on a daily basis, so when you broke the first message, and tried to use that key on a second message the next day you would have to start over.
The glaring technical errors took my rating from 5 to 3.

A very good techno-diving thriller. Stevenson actually manages to live up to the obvious marketing advantages of his famous name. Along with Cussler, Poyer, McKinna, and a few others,R.L.S. the IIIrd delivers excellent deep-sea genre fiction, heavy on the diving.

The book Kidnapped was a very good book filled with excitement and adventure. As I read this book, I could actually imagine what was happening. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading books about exciting adventures. It was fun to read about how a young Scottish boy, David Balfour, finds himself in a horrible situation after being betrayed by his uncle. David is only seventeen years old and is robbed of his inheritance by his own uncle. David must try and find a way to prove himself not guilty after being accused of murder and he must try to stay safe while doing it. Read this book and find out what David does to protect himself on his incredible journey.

Let me tell you now that 'Kidnapped' is my personal favourite, and I've already read it four times! You'll never get a moment to pause to take a yawn. R.L. Stevenson with his superb writing capabilities writes of a young man named David Balfour. When his father dies, he is told to go to his uncle's house. After several failed attempts to kill David the wicked uncle sells him off to a skipper of a ship. In the course of his stay on the ship David meets the Jacobite, Alan. I can't describe the novel in words you gotta read it to know what you are really in for! This is the greatest adventure novel I've ever read. If you have read Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' then you won't be disappionted with this one.

I was surprised to see some reviewers didn't like this wonderful book. If you have trouble with the Scottish accent, read it out loud, use your imagination, and if you still can't figure it out, skip a bit. (Do you insist on understanding every single word spoken in a movie?)

This is the story of a young man overcoming adversity to gain maturity and his birthright. It moves right along, in Stevenson's beautiful prose. Read, for example, this sentence from Chapter 12: "In those days, so close on the back of the great rebellion, it was needful a man should know what he was doing when he went upon the heather." Read it out loud; it rolls along, carrying the reader back to Scotland, even a reader like me, who doesn't know all that much about Scottish history. Kidnapped is by no means inferior, and in many ways superior to the more famous Treasure Island.

Only two points I would like to bring up: I bought the Penguin Popular Classics issue, and have sort of mixed feelings. Maybe some day I'll get the version illustrated by Wyeth. I'm not sure whether this book needs illustrations, though. Stevenson's vivid writing is full of pictures.

In Chapter 4, David makes a point of saying that he found a book given by his father to his uncle on Ebenezer's fifth birthday. So? Is this supposed to show how much Ebenezer aged due to his wickedness? If anybody could explain this to me, please do.