One of SF's most eclectically intelligent writer. Watson provides the reader with a plethora of ideas; the strange, weird, mundane, and eerie, then blends in his own brand of originality and supburb story mastery to give the reader a taste for more of his work, and it's nothing short of brilliant. Gary S. Potter Author/Poet

Ian Watson's The Great Escape is an incredible anthology of nineteen uniquely original and awe-inspiring short stories, ranging from a group of fallen angels determined to escape Hell, to a vampire with a weakness for confectionaries, to the difficulties of caring for aging parents inside of one's brain rather than in a more traditional nursing home. An amazing selection of vibrantly original, eclectic, and sometimes darkly satirical stories that run from one end of the spectrum of the fantastic to the other, The Great Escape bombards the reader with the new, the unexpected, and the stories that just can't be put down.

Oracle is only the second Ian Watson book I've read, but I am very glad to have found this visionary sci-fi author. Like "Flies of Memory", "Oracle" is written in a very inventive and sometimes startling style. It also rattles along at a cracking pace and is an almost perfect blend of thought-provoking time travel yarn and political thriller. Let's face it, all sci-fi devotees love the time travel theme, and this one is better than most. The attention to detail is exceptional - one of Marcus' biggest problems is coping with lower case letters and non-Roman numerals for example. I also felt an immediate empathy with our reluctant hero Tom, who drinks real ale and knows which bridges have speed cameras on the M1! My only adverse criticism would be at the occasionally heavy-handed politics, which some may find irritating. Overall though, an extremely entertaining read, which leaves the way open for a fascinating sequel (please Ian!).

A tremendous roller-coaster ride from the quiet midlands of England to the cosmopolitan heart of Brussels. When you first pick up this book you wonder if the science or the story is going to take precidence. Actually the shear tension and excitement -, the booing at the villans, the hooraying at the good-guys - keeps you addicted until the tremendous finale, regardless of the hows and whys. The Kirkus review tells it all, but the energy and *reality* of the settings makes this a triumph of storytelling. Buy it and enjoy it, you won't be disappointed.

I found this book to be very poorly written and unsatisfactory. It contained lots of bad algorithms and poor coding. Much of the code was unusable and the methods explained were very simple. I could have done without it to be honest. Avoid this book if you want to learn how to program properly

Im not an advaced programmer, but reading some parts... I learned a lot of good things. I couldnt describe them here, but i will implement them on the future projects ahead. Things that I think are essential to the industry grade programmer and to becoming one.
The material was delivered clearly, not necessarily simple... but it is clear. The book is worth all my hard saved money... and im glad to have it, and its fun to read too...

When seeking a reference, most experienced programmers will rather buy a reference that focuses more on the advanced issues than the language concepts itself. Mainly because almost all decent compilers come with extensive help files that cover most of what the programmers might need regarding the language itself. This book doesn't explain much about C, but instead uses C as a tool to explain some very useful issues that are crucial to almost all advanced programmers.

The book wastes no space on trivial stuff like how to open your compiler or use a non-standard C function. Instead, it goes directly into what's important, explaining the concepts and giving concrete examples where appropriate, all using ANSI C.

Since most of the issues aren't dependant on the implementation schemes, almost any advanced programmer would benefit from this book, even if he/she is not programming in C (assuming advanced knowledge of C, of course). The only exceptions are the topics that talk about the ANSI C rules and code organization and optimization. The only disadvantage here is that this book doesn't cover object oriented concepts, but that's not a surprise of course as the book is titled "C Unleashed." But still for anything else other than that, this could be a great help even to C++ programmers.

The book chapters have been written by more than 10 experienced programmers, 6 of them are really good, which makes each chapter standalone as a small tutorial on some issue. The writing style of Richard Heathfield and many of the co-authors is very nice to read and clear to understand. Some parts, of course, do not have that nice writing style, but throughout the book, the technical information is very clear and easy to comprehend.

I wouldn't recommend this book to any new programmers. But for the more advanced ones, this is something they would want to check.

-Mokhtar M. Khorshid

I almost gave up on this book. Watson's quirky style; almost stream-of-consciousness in places and frequent changes of tense and 1st person, made "Flies" quite difficult to get into. Suddenly though, things clicked into place and the hidden layers within this powerful fable came bubbling to the surface. Politics, religion, sexuality, jealousy, friendship, mob culture, class, sanity, the human spirit etc; Watson has something profound to say about each, all in his inimitable style. The sometimes startling use of imagery is particulary vivid and I often found myself thinking "I wish I'd written that!" (a sure sign that I'm enjoying this book). OK, so sometimes the science may be a bit questionable; the survivors on Mars and the erm... unorthodox method of matter transfer seemed rather unlikely scenarios to me - but made for a highly entertaining read. Clearly Star Wars this isn't! If however you like your Sci-Fi to be a little more thought-provoking and demanding, then you won't be disappointed with "Flies". I found the ending well-balanced and logical if rather enigmatic. Is there a sequel on its way Ian?

This book is topsy turvy. Alex Winter, a survivalist from 2000, is embarking on an experiment, which involves a sort of time freeze, where Babylon has been moved to the Arizona desert and frozen in time, in 323 BC before Alexander the Great's eventual demise. The story starts out as an affection aimed at a fellow traveler named Deborah Tate. The story keeps on throwing monkeywrenches into the works. And many ironic situations. And, of course, Alex creates a dizzying intellect that causes him to come up with the most intriguing conspiracy theories.

I live in Sweden and have done a fair amount of traveling around the region. I own several of Rick's books, including his UK book which was quite good for our trip there last month. However, this book is second rate in content and quality.

The book is very thin and leaves out both very significant places and essential details about the places it covers. Scandinavia is fabulous, but this book won't get you too far. Unfortunately I haven't found one that will. ....

The quality of the book is horrible. I was chasing pages down the streets of Tallinn cursing Rick's name two days ago. A tour book should be able to hold together. Carrying it around is really the point, right?

The best reccommendation he made in Copenhagen was Richard Karpen's walking tours of Copenhagen. Richard is a transplanted New Yorker. He does 4 different tours of Copenhagen (we wound up going on 3 of the 4). Each tour was about 2 to 2 and a half hours. We met him outside the Tourist Office near Tivoli near the HARD ROCK CAFE. The walking was fun, the sights and insights were excellent and the price was right ($6.00pp) When we called Richard to get the details he promptly returned our phone call. Reservations are not necessary.

Great book. Concise. Easily understandable and useful. Wonderful tips for any travel in the back of the book. Recommendations for hotels very helpful. Rated this highly due to practical tips and money saving that ensued.

Reverse stereotypes are still stereotypes. This is a male author attempting to write a woman protagonist, and not doing it convincingly. For instance, what society lead by women would have "heroines" - a diminutive form? Society's leaders don't use diminutives. The author also expresses negative stereotyping of gays. This is a person of limited vision expressing his limits.

Let this story depart into a well deserved obscurity.

The possibility that something else exists, that a male can write from a female point of view, that things are different,that the world is divided, never occurded to me before this book. I have read and reread it since I bought it 13 years ago. I love it. Take the time to alter reality for a while.

To think that on an alien world, an alien would write a story about a big worm in a river, in correct english from our point of view (and what would she call herslf anyway - a hero?) is nonsense.

I am a huge warhammer 40k fan but this book was horrible...I wanted to burn the book after I was done. None of the characters were written correctly and they all have the dumbest quirks. Events in this book have no explaination...suddenly a character states that everyone should turn around three times and say banana...and everyone does. And then a interdimensional portal opens. WOW!!. It makes no sense.

Another thing I was intensely disappointed with was the complete lack of action/combat. And when there was combat is was glazed of nonchalantly -- it was painful to read-- (yeah. that guys shot some gun. And yeah some other person was hurt and didn't like it)...But when someone found a rock on the ground the author uses four pages to compare it's hues with the sun or moon. AHHHHHHH!

don't read this book unless you are searching for a way to waste money and time.

Thank god they translated some of the Latin in this book. Harlequin is an excellent follow up to Draco even if it's not quite as good. The writing at the beginning and the end of the book didn't seem to flow well, it seemed as though Ian Watson was forcing Draco and Harlequin to fit together (Petrov having 2 arms again on page 281 after losing one to a flamer on page 243-246 made me wonder). The author also has bouts of being excessively verbose in his descriptions while not really making his vision any clearer. Once the story hits it's stride it's an excellent tale.

To sum it up, if you enjoyed Draco, you'll enjoy Harlequin.

As anybody who has read my review of "Draco" will know, the Inquisition War trilogy is one of my favorite SF series of all time. The first book was a masterpiece of its kind, and those who have not read it should do so before reading "Harlequin".

After getting the story off to a cracking start in "Draco", Ian Watson continues at a steady pace. The events of the book, especially his encounter with the Hydra plot, have shaken Inquisitor Draco's worldview to the core. Now, adrift in a universe of chaos and uncertainty, he sets out with his companions in search of answers and explanations. What he finds are more questions, complications, and enigmas than he ever thought possible.

It seems that the Inquisition, sworn to keep watch over all of humanity, has declared war on itself. Although utterly loyal to the Imperium in theory, Inquisitors are developing their own mysterious agendas-- agendas which may place the entire universe at risk. The ancient Eldar, a race on the brink of extinction, exert their enigmatic alien intellects in an effort to bend the factions of humanity towards their own mysterious ends. In the depths of warpspace, mighty spiritual entities gather their strength.

In this time of crisis and change, Draco must strive to find his own role in the course of events. For it is clear that he has a part to play, whether he wants to or not. What he discovers, and what he must do, carry both his party and his readers into the most mysterious reaches of the Warhammer 40,000 setting. The human race, and the entire universe, are headed into an epoch of unprecedented cataclysm, from which they will emerge into a new era of greatness-- if they are not destroyed forever.

Draco and his companions continue to interact with their surroundings and with eachother in fascinating ways. As more and more of their most basic assumptions disappear into uncertainty, the characters find themselves moving closer and closer to the breaking point. Can they achieve their objectives, or at least find meaningful answers, before they are all driven insane?

Ian Watson's powerful, energetic writing style continues unabated in this book. Strange settings and stranger events zoom by at a rapid pace, but they never seem gratuitous. Everything that happens contributes to a satisfying, if unsettling, whole.

IN RESPONSE TO THE PREVIOUS REVIEWER (The one from "Overthere"): At first glance, it's true that some of the events of this book seem implausible based on what we know of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. However, there is one MAJOR fact that you must remember: Draco is acting under some form of divine guidance. The exact nature of his supernatural benefactor may be open to question, but it clearly allows him to do things that would not otherwise be possible (this was clear even in the first book).

I haven't quite read every book, but this could possibly be the worst book ever written. The story focuses on linguistic theories about embedded language. The problem is that if you don't have a background in linguistics (universal grammar, embedding, recursiveness) then you will have trouble understanding it. Either way, the book is horrible. The characters are shallow, the action is forced, and the plot is unbelievable. At some points the writing is so bad I had to put the book down. It's a nice effort, but it just can't hold the reader for more than 2 or 3 pages.

This book tells three stories about: an experiment involving children, to find out if they can develop their own language with the aid of computer altered English; a secluded Brazilian tribe of people who speak two languages, one which is a drug enhanced version of the other; aliens who are discovered orbiting Earth in a ship while taking an extraordinary interest in the English language. Throw in some politics, and you have a story with much potential. Unfortunately, I found some of the ideas and details a bit hard to follow at times. The overall pace was mostly slow. These factors made it difficult for me to maintain any interest in the ultimate connection of the stories, and I'm certain the author's intended effect escaped me. Interesting at times, though finishing the book was an exercise of discipline. I hoped it would pay off. It didn't.

Contrary to the other reader review of this book I found it to be one of the most thought provoking SF novels ever (this from a thirty year afficianado of Clarke, Asimov, Bradbury et al). Watson weaves an engrossing tale with tanatlising sub plots and questions the very fundementals of language and communication with massive implications for SETI planners and participants. I heartily reccomend this novel to any reader capable of discerning original SF thought from Star Wars 9. It is dissappointingly currently out of print so get down to your library or nag the publisher!