Having been recommended this book by Amazon and hearing reviews comparing it to Gary Jenning's Aztec, I was expecting a whole lot more. It was like expecting Raiders of the Lost Ark and getting Remo Williams instead.

This book is painfully slow and I found myself stuck on the first 200 pages. The story of the Incas centers on the death of the current ruler. He has not named a successor though his various sons are vieing for the privilege. Just before his death the ruler had confided in a blue eyed girl who was stolen from another tribe. After his death everyone wants to know what was said to her and whether the ruler named a successor.

Meanwhile in Spain, there is a kind of scoundrel named Gabriel who escapes the Inquisition and somehow ends up with Pizarro. Pizarro tells of his gruelling trip to Peru and the gold that awaits there. He is trying to get together an invading force to sail to the New World and exploit the gold. All of this sounds way more interesting than the book actually is.

The book is followed by two more but I think I'll stop at this one. Read Jennings instead. The story of Cortez's invasion of Mexico is way better!

After reading the first two parts of the Incas trilogy, I can say that "The gold of Cuzco" is better than the first part, "The puma's shadow". The three authors have now achieved the consistency and class their book deserved.

In this second part, the spanish conquistadores are now a part of the Inca empire's life: there's no way to pretend they're not there, and after the death of Atahualpa it's the spanish that now rule de facto. However, the spanish Governador, Pizarro, must be an almost perfect politician, because he has to rule over the increasing fight for gold and power among the spanish officials and he must not let the remaining of the inca army to uprise again. Meanwhile, Gabriel and Anamaya, the main characters and love-duo of the first book, even in a crazed lust for each other, are not able to be together that often: Anamaya is the wife of the revered statue that represents all incas' ancestors, and Gabriel is spanish, which means that all incas see him as ruthless, evil and whose only interest in their lands is gold and raping women (not a beautiful vision).

The style remains the same: narrated in first person, the story seems to flow smoothly and continuously. But the plot is better, more exciting and interesting. The characters, though, at some times seem formulaic: the spanish are bad people, the incas are naïve, the inca princess falls in love with the only spaniard that stands for the inca people. Yes, I've seen it before, but "The gold of Cuzco" is nevertheless a good book. Descriptions of the peruvian Andes countryside are very rich and real. The slow pace of the narration provides the reader with a very accurate mental image of the scenes in the story. As I've written in my review of the first book in the trilogy, the three authors have the needed background to write the story mixing essencial historical facts with the right amount of fiction to deliver an interesting book of historical fiction.

Now, on to "The light of Macchu Picchu", the third and final part of the series.

Grade 9.0/10

Nowadays, the reader has to be careful about historic fiction. There is a big number of authors who, having made the smallest research about some point or other in history, give birth to terrible books advertised as "historic fiction", whereas "historic" is some tiny background barely mentioned in the plot, and the "fiction" is the worst possible.

I must admit I had this feeling about the Inca trilogy, but since there is very few fiction books concerning the Inca people, and I enjoy reading about pre-Colombian people, and (best of all) I received this one as a gift, I fave it a try.

About the author: in fact there are three authors (Antoine B. Daniel is a kind of compilation of their names); one of them is a history scholar, the other one is a awarded fiction writer, etc, and the story behind the book is that they gathered to write about the Incas like Jennings wrote about the Aztecs.

"The puma's shadow" (in Brazil, like in France, the title is "Princess of the sun") is the first part of the trilogy. In this first volume, we get to know the Inca empire shortly before the arrival of the spanish: the struggle for power between Huascar and Atahualpa, based on the visions of the female main character of the book: the strange, blue-eyed Anamaya. On the other side, in Spain, we are acquainted with Don Gabriel, a deserted young man, who seeks fortune in the new lands of Peru.

The first part of the trilogy is where the reader knows the backgrounds (the dying days of the Inca empire) and the motivations of the main characters.

I think this may be the slowest book of the trilogy, but it's very well written and the research seems well done. The three authors deserve the praise to have acomplished a good book with an unusual theme and fairly developed characters.

Grade 8.8/10

I have been looking for a "scholarly" Catholic commentary of the Bible for awhile. Navarre is limited in complex ideas, such as the justification question presented in Romans, and Collegeville is not detailed enough. Other commentaries, of course, come with a decidedly Protestant interpretation, watering down several key verses, such as Mat 16: 18-20.

As far as I am concerned, the jury is still out on the Sacra Pagina series. The Romans book was outstanding. Matthew, however, is more concerned with the relationship with Mark and the Synoptics Problem. The author presents as FACT the common synoptic solution that Matthew copied Mark. While the author shows some of the argument of the "traditional" side (written in Aramaic/Hebrew for example), he limply explains it away. Father Raymond Brown did a much better job in presenting both view points, while not totally dismissing either side. I don't think the Synoptic solution should be presented as fact, as the author poorly refutes the "traditional" side, merely dismissing it. No one has yet been able to explain to me, for example, WHY someone would write an Aramaic/Hebrew gospel AFTER 70 AD to the Jewish diaspora, who spoke Greek. Many scholars seem to forget the massive destruction caused by the Roman punitive actions, virtually destroying the Jewish nation. Jews in Antioch were mostly Greek speakers, so why and to whom would Matthew be writing AFTER 70 AD in Greek? Perhaps this book needs a second edition, as scholarship of today is beginning to question the dating of Matthew to before 70 AD.

The book actually doesn't have a lot of theological use in of itself. For example, the Beatitudes is explored in a limited fashion. The book is very good in its explanations and comparisions with the Jewish community and Old Testament relationships. However, time and again, Matthew is compared with Mark. While this has its place, I think the theological issues should have been explored more, rather than how the two gospels are similar and different. Also, I found the author's explanations of particular "Catholic" verses, such as Mat 16: 18-20 very limited. The author doesn't take a stand one way or the other, merely presenting the 500 year old argument from a neutral position. Although this might be a more ecumenical manner of doing things, I believe it again shows the author's limited desire to pursue theological issues or pursue ANY sort of point of view regarding Catholicism. If the author is Catholic, you wouldn't know it by reading this book.

Again, I was personally disappointed by the coverage of the book, as I hoped for a Commentary concerned more with theological issues, such as Matthew's concern with ecclesiastics, not the Synoptic problem. Whether the Sacra Pagina series will be the answer to the limited Catholic Commentary available on the Bible remains to be seen. I only have two, and Romans is outstanding in this regard. The Sacra Pagina Matthew is of limited use to someone desiring to read the Bible for its intend purpose. Read with the Navarre Bible, however, this book does have potential, as it does address many Jewish questions very well that Navarre doesn't.

As someone just getting acquainted with the Scriptures, I found this book extraordinarily helpful. First and foremost, Harrington excels at putting Matthew in its historical context. By tracing changes within the Jewish community from Old Testament times through circa 70AD, he clearly shows how this Gospel was intended to solidify Christian identity and Scriptural validity after the destruction of the temple, when competing theologies were battling for the hearts and minds of the Jewish people. His extensive translation notes are also helpful, as they explain nuances of meaning that would go unnoticed by a lay reader using a thinly-annotated text.

Two other themes of this commentary stand out. First, Harrington takes great pains to demonstrate that Matthew is not an indictment of the Jewish race and has been totally misinterpreted by some as a call to anti-Semitism--an important message in any age. Second, he continually compares Matthew to Mark, pointing out virtually all similarities and differences. While this is interesting (and indirectly useful in understanding Mark), I'm not sure how important these distinctions are in terms of grasping the historical and theological significance of Matthew. On the other hand, presenting Matthew and Mark in this way does highlight the uniqueness of each Gospel--no doubt a worthy end in itself.

While I'm only part way through volume 1. I will be purchasing more of this series. This is state of the art. Multiple opinions and views are considered and each position is well-argued and supported. There is a great deal of attention to detail. Those familiar with older commentaries will be pleasantly surprised by this.

I agree with the reader that wrote earlier about the "Handbook"'s focus on accesible buildings. That chapter is an extremely lucid and practical discussion, and it's worth getting the book just for that.

However, I was somewhat disappointed by the main part of the book; I don't think it presented a very wide range of materials. That's understandable given the constraints of time and space. Maybe the book should be published in series, as another reader mentioned.

One final thing that bugged me about this book is the author's repeated caveat that their goal was to 'discuss new construction materials in a non- [or multi] proprietary manner', but that such a discussion was impossible for some patented materials; furthermore, that some of the text essentially was content forwarded to the authors by the manufacturer, and not independently tested. I don't know if this kind of presentation was a result of lack of time or resources, but I do feel that it made the book less readable, and in a sense, less trustworthy. It seemed like 'alternatives to the alternatives' were not presented in this format.

I should stress that this is a good and readable book, but it could be better!

I am afraid Mr. Oliver may be setting the bar unrealistically high in his review of my book. The dilemma when writing an extensive text about materials that are not yet widely distributed, implemented or even present in the everyday vocabulary of architects, contractors, homebuilders and homeowners is problematic. It is the very nature of these materials, and their "newness" to the construction world that requires research along uncommon and non-traditional paths. Periodicals, textbooks, manufacturer's literature, sales representatives and contractor interviews are the only means available when discussing an item that is new to a particular market. I don't think Mr. Oliver understands this. I stand behind the book as an unbiased, well-researched text that has opened up a whole new world of materials to professionals in the homebuilding industry. Finally, Mr. Oliver is in error regarding his comment about material testing. Testing was performed by independent laboratories for ALL of the materials reviewed, whether it be Underwriters Laboratories or Factory Mutual. ALL of the materials discussed are code compliant as well. I trust that future readers of my book will find the book as an insightful, informative and easy to read text- and disregard Mr. Oliver's review.

Rick Bynum, AIA

The Handbook of Alternative Materials in Residential Construction was truly a fascinating read for me. I discovered there were so many things that I took for granted when it comes to home design and construction. Such a simple notion as how to make your home wheelchair accessible for anyone at any age at practically negligible additional cost is such a logical idea that I do not understand why more people are not building their homes with this in mind. The material was presented in such a clear and logical fashion that it was very simple to compare the common construction materials in use for homebuilding today to the "new and improved", innovative materials. Very enlightening. The comprehensive appendix in the back of the book also made it very simple to contact the manufacturers for more detailed information, product brochures and store locations.

Using the method of writing bits and pieces as you remember them rather than chronologically, the author gently encourages you to write your story whether you believe you are a writer or not.

More than seven years ago I decided to get some folks together to write our life stories. I haunted bookstores looking for the ideal book, and when I came across Lois Daniel's book, I knew it was the right one. That was her Third Edition. The updated Fourth Edition presents the same material, plus a couple of extra chapters.

The book has been ideal for our purpose. Lois Daniel's approach to writing about your life is to suggest that you write in bits and pieces, rather than starting with your birth and what I call "plowing through your life" from birth to the present day. That can be a chore for many; whereas writing about interesting incidents becomes an enjoyable challenge.

Grandma Moses, in her autobiography, wrote, "I have written my life in small sketches, a little today, a little yesterday, all the things from childhood on through the years, good ones and unpleasant ones, that is how they come out and that is how we have to take them."

That is the approach suggested by Lois Daniel. And the author makes it easy for persons who shy away because, they say, "I'm no writer." She suggests that you need not be a "writer", but merely to "write as you talk."

Our weekly class is now entering its eighth year, with 43 participants, both women and men. Since the class started, the members have purchased between 250 and 300 of her books, and, without exception, they are pleased. They find the book to be interesting, while at the same time it provides many suggestions and examples to motivate the writer.

I have taught memoir courses from this book, so examined most others in the field of writing one's own life story. This was the first, and I think, the best. Author makes the task manageable with "get started" topics that trigger memories, inspiring samples from her real-life writing classes, and helpful tips. Perfect if you have an elderly parent or grand- who should record his/her life for family archives...or if you want to do it yourself.

This book assumes knowledge of the internet. It is not for beginners. Does not define terms. It has a good section on the history of the internet.

Excellent book for broad description of how the Internet works. This book helped me understand both the business models and techologies. It was a great help.

This is a great guide to learn about Internet Architecturs. It is written at a managers level avoiding techno-babble that only an engineer could understand. This book helped me understand what the Internet was and specifically how my company can benefit from Virtual Private Networks (VPN's). I recommend this book strongly and do so to collegues and associates.

Going Postal was a big letdown. It follows the trend
of most horror anthologies today -- it's chock full of
'huh?' stories. At the end of each story, the reaction
tends to be "Huh? What was *that* about?" The only
blessing is that the stories are mercifully short!

If you love short stories of the weird and scary sort, this book is for you. Highly recommended!

Ever feel as though the thin rubber band of your sanity is just about to snap? If so, GOING POSTAL is just what the doctor ordered. This powerful anthology features stories by Bentley Little, Tom Piccirilli, and Robin Lochlann Spriggs, and explores every aspect of the woefully warped human psyche. Reading it might just save you from living it. Then again, it might not. At any rate, GOING POSTAL is one wild ride. Pick up a copy today.

When I read this book I was so disappointed at the author's attempt to paint Patriots as the bad guys! She has written a "politically correct" story of the Revolutionary War. Is there anyone out there who actually believes the British should have won, or retained control of the colonies? When I pointed out to my son's teacher the not-so-subtle message in the book, she removed it from the classroom. My advice: READ THESE BOOKS BEFORE YOU BUY THEM.

I was able to use this book as a guide in my second grade classroom. It takes you step by step though the Revolutionary War. I used the illustrations in the book as well. My students really learned alot.

Another great book. Provides useful general information. This is a great children's book - but also a good adult book!

Micah

As an authorized biography, and one written in collaboration (before her death) with Webb's daughter, it's not surprising that this volume is both informative of the minutiae of Webb's life and is almost completely uncritical of the man, his working methods, his relationships, and his works.

More annoying is the very poor organization. Facts are presented with little relationship to each other, and very little of a negative or human nature is passed along. Chronology is more or less tossed out the window. Particular works are referred to out of order, and rarely is much detail given about the shows themselves, or Webb's creative choices. Anecdotes are chock-a-block with each other, with paragraphs inserted, apparently at random, of laundry lists of Webb's cars, or his favorite foods.

Excessive space is given to mini-biographies of some of the major players in Webb's life -- and contributors to the book. Do we really need to know the genesis of Bobby Troup's "Get Your Kicks on Route 66" in a biography of Jack Webb?

The book's notes and bibliography are extensive, and it's clear the authors had good access to any number of important people. I only wish they had done a better job of giving us a better organized work, and had taken a more analytical approach to Webb and his work, rather than a 280-page press release of his life.

In his famous role as Joe Friday on the syndicated television series Dragnet, as well as later TV classics Adam-12 and Emergency, Jack Webb has become a beloved figure to more than one generations. This authorized biography, for which author Dan Moyer spent years working with Webb's daughter Stacy to research her father's life, describes Jack Webb's life from a hard childhood to an early radio career and finally stardom. Revealing Jack Webb as an artist personality whose passion for his craft sometimes caused problems in his relationship, Just The Facts, Ma'am: The Authorized Biography Of Jack Webb shows the humanity, triumphs, and foibles behind a well-known cult figure.

As one of Jack Webb's Mark VII and "Adam-12" producers, I want to applaud the authors for writing, "Just the Facts, Ma'am. The Authorized Biography of Jack Webb." The book, among many subjects, includes interesting information about Webb's talented and beautiful first wife Julie London and her second husband, jazz great Bobby Troup. The book brought other treasured memories back to me, such as my being the best man at Webb's marriage to the beautiful Jackie Loughery, Miss USA and the leading lady in Webb's film, "The D.I." Webb's daughter Stacy greatly contributed to this book and I was pleased to assist and advise the authors in the completion of this work. Much attention is given to Jack's radio days, and his TV "Dragnet," "Adam-12," "Emergency," and many other Mark VII projects many persons know little about. The book covers all of Webb's movies, and offers personal and unknown insights about Jack Webb. Numerous photographs were generously offered by Jack's closet family members and friends. They along with the story documentation, and chronology of Webb's life enhance this much needed biography of one of Hollywood's most innovative film pioneers. I highly recommend this authorized biography, and accurate book about my friend and television legend-Jack Webb. "Just the Fact's, Ma'am" is an enjoyable and enlightening read.

Not sure what book the person from Hilliard read, but this book is great!! Please, don't take someone elses word for it, read it yourself!

If you are considering a wireless network for clients in your restaurant, coffee shop, or bookstore, this is a great reference. The book clearly presents a picture of how cellular and wireless LAN technology will work together to form an infrastructure of hotspot networks.

The author emphasizes security and the use of the IEEE 802.11b networks. He is very thorough in his description of the practical use of the technology.

A great book. A must have on the shelf of any professional. This book is a very comprehensive tool for learning any aspect of hotspot networks. It is an excellent reference source for anyone who is involved in the business and technology of today's hot spots networks.

I cannot say enough good things about Minoli, he covers his bases really well. I would suggest this book to anyone looking to gain some in-depth knowledge on hotspot networks.

This story has a marvelous set-up and a brilliant ending. I recommend it, and look forward to Villasenor's next effort.

Four minor quibbles: 1. Because Villasenor is more a stylist than a storyteller, problems arise when he strays from the latter altogether. So when the story slows in the middle, the reader is left with the arid space of style for style's sake. 2. The author is overfond of the word "splayed." 3. The stylistic choice to not use quotes sometimes means a brilliant, seamless expression of thought. Sometimes it falls flat and only means more work for the reader. 4. Zach's "making lists" exercise is not concluded satisfactorily.

I have gratitude for this book. Daniel Villasenor
brings the reader deeper into the internal world
of understanding and feelings. He expresses the
strong desire to nuture and love. He reminds me
of a modern James Joyce: these are so-called
broken people who demonstrate a worldly capacity
to know, to love, to care for. The book is free
of devices to engage the reader into an emotional state.
It is real. It is honest.

I found myself unable to put this one down, except when I went to the dictionary to learn a few new words. You'll want to catch the nuances of each word in every sentence here, because the author uses every available word and device to convey a rich, full experience for his readers. Stream-of-consciousness lists, word combinations, extensive vocabulary, and Faulknerian sentences do not make this the easiest read, but the author "owns" these devices and uses them masterfully and judiciously to take the decided reader on a spiritual and thought-provoking journey.