The first sentence of this book should grab just about anyone. Right off hand, you know this is a suicidal heroine, but you don't know why. You also get the idea that one of the characters might be an unidentified wizard, but you don't know that for sure. And it is very much to the author's credit that both questions are resolved by the end of the book in such a way that's true to the characters involved, rather than carrying them over to the next book.

Obviously, THE FALL OF ILE-RIEN trilogy will be concerned with revolution and social change in this land of magic and of wizards. The beginning book deals with the attack and conquest of this land by the Gardier, a mysterious enemy helped by their evil wizards. Tremaine Vallarde who lacks magical skills but possesses a sphere which has within it power to defeat the Gardier finds herself along with a female student wizard, a former guardian with wizardly powers, and a young security agent who's apparantly enamored of her transported to a strange world. The Gardier are using a base on this world as a gateway to Ile-Rien. The wizard hunters referred to in the book's titled belong to a race which knows only of the evil wizards who misuse their magic.

This alternate world's distrust of those who work magic along with the initial inability of the two races to speak a common language causes an uneasy alliance, and so the story and adventures go from there.

One of the good points of this story is the lack of romantic entanglements in spite of the fact that two of the five younger characters are comely women. The strong characterization of these characters makes it obvious that there'll be no fast blooming infatuations or love here, although I expect that will change in the middle book of the trilogy.

And so vivid characterization, deft plotting, underlying logic and unanswered questions make this a most enjoyable read with a quite satisfying ending, and yet a yearning to read more about Ile-rien. Highly recommended fantasy adventure.

I've been hooked on Martha Wells since I stumbled across The Element of Fire. She's managed to make it to a very elite list of mine - the buy on sight list. Wells has an ability to draw excellent characters without sacrificing any attention to plot or setting. In fact, throughout her books (The two stand-alones and the Il-Rien books), she's managed to explore new and interesting worlds and people them with characters you want to spend time with.

This new book, the beginning to a trilogy set in Il-Rien (at least initially) doesn't disapoint. Tremaine is one of her most engaging heroines, especially as that's probably the last way she would think of herself. As is usual for Wells, secondary characters aren't stinted; there aren't any two-dimensional people wandering around in the background while your attention is supposed to be focused on the leads. I keep reccomending Martha Wells to friends, and at this rate, I will be able to keep on doing so.

Martha Well's new novel, the Wizard Hunters, is a great epic adventure story. I love the characters of Tremayne, Ilias, Gililiad, and the sphere. She does a great job building new worlds and societies. I enjoyed her prior books (Wheel of the Infinite, City of Bones, Death of the Necromancer -- which features Tremaynes father, Nicholas Valiarde) This is her best novel yet.

Martha Grigg, author of BREAST CANCER AND YOU: BETTERING THE ODDS, takes a distinctly proactive approach to breast cancer. Leaving as little to chance as possible, she embarks on a two-pronged attack. One strategy is to research medical information about the disease, and the other strategy is to learn to deal effectively with the emotional fallout. Grigg takes her readers on a no-holds-barred roller coaster ride from initial shock to successful grappling with this insidious disease. In addition to addressing medical, emotional, pharmacological and therapeutic issues of breast cancer, the book wins high marks for the inclusion of a fine bibliography and index. The inclusion of these dimensions raises its value from supportive memoir to a solid reference work.

I had to order this book for my clinical year. I found it extremely helpful. The book reviews simple units and conversion factors to detailed calculations. It offers many practice problems and their answers worked out for you. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone starting out in the field - especially if math is not your strongest point.

Traditional Home Remedies is exactly as the title claims. This fantastic book is filled with remedies, healing folklore, and basic how-to instructions for nearly every ailment under the sun. It's a valuable resource for those of us who consider doctors the very last measure. The chapters cover: Kitchen Gardens & Medicinal Herbs, Infusions, Decoctions & Tinctures, Poultices, Salves & Ointments, Elixirs, Tonics & Aphrodisiacs, Food for Health & Well-Being, Women's Complaints, Midwifery & the Moon, Aromatics to Calm & Revive, Caution & Common Sense This book has remedies for earaches, kidney complaints, menstrual cramps, yeast infections, and so on. A definate must have for families large and small.

Why drill your own well? Because it's useful to have free water where you need it, especially if you have no water on your property or are using expensive city water to maintain a large garden. Bringing in a professional well driller can be expensive, and, besides, why should he have all the fun?

Unlike old-fashioned, large-diameter wells that put you in the bottom of a hole that might collapse, modern wells are small-bore affairs, and you stay safely up on the surface.

WATERHOLE describes with perfect clarity the process of digging a modern four-inch-diameter well using only hand tools. In doing so, he not only shows you how to drill your own well for practically nothing, but he gives you a complete course in doing so safely and correctly, so you end up with a well that's safe to drink from and doesn't vector contaminants into the water table.

He then shows you how to install PVC pipe as a well casing and how to select and install your pump. This slim little volume has everything.

The text is fun to read and is lavishly illustrated.

I have nearly finished rereading this book, after having read it once about 5 years ago. I had remembered it as being pretty good, but nothing to write home about. Impressive is the word that I would use now. Martha Wells must have a wide knowledge of both Arthurian legend and traditional Celtic mythology because she combines them skilfully in an unusual and interesting way in this book. What I liked most about it was that though it is a traditional Arthurian style fantasy (king, fay half-sister, unfaithful queen, etc.) Wells made it into her own story with the addition of Thomas Boniface, sardonic Queen's Guard, and his romance with Kade Carrion, the fay half-sister. Why not 5 stars? Mainly because I didn't like very many of the characters--they were all very well drawn, but only a few were sympathetic. If you don't like cliches, don't read this book, but if you can appreciate new, humorous, intelligent reinterpretations of cliches, read on!

This is an amazing magical book. I loved it so much that I had to to stay up until 3am, just so I could finish this book.

I cannot believe it is no longer in print.

Wonderful, devious, swashbuckling fun! The characters were fantastic and interseting, the world alive and the story kept moving. A beautiful example of what a fantasy tale ought to be, and full of wit and twists and politics and magic and a suitable dash of swordplay. I cannot gush about this novel enough.

...and a little bit of a waste of time. I DID manage to pull through it, though, and Wells' idea about a city made on different "levels" ( ; was actually a good one. Now if the plot could have done justice to the idea... Another problem is that there are too many capitalized words! A real maelstrom of pointless dialogue. I do not understand how the characters ended up saving the world. There was not a lot about Kit's (is that his name? I have read this book a while ago) "species." All-in-all, it could have been better, but with all the unecessary gloom and annoying magic...well, it wasn't as good as I expected. I can usually stand a lot of gloom but the setting made the mood seem a tad bit absurd. Still, if you have read all the books in the world besides this one and are bored to death, I suppose you ought to read it. And don't let me stop you from trying it and getting your own opinion about it--just don't buy the book. Borrow it from the library. It would be a waste of money--money that you could have used to buy one of George R. R. Martin's books, Patricia McKillip's, Frank Herbert's, Tad Williams', etc, etc.

_City of Bones_ is about a hunt for ancient artifacts in an arid post-apocalyptic world; but reading the book made me forget that this is a well-worked theme. The book is hard-packed with a persuasive plot, complicated characters, and a remarkable depth of detailed originality. And it is cunningly executed: the lush upper levels of the city hang in rumour over the narrative, and the ghastly lower tiers murmur beneath it, creating a very effective atmosphere of craving and dread. If a holocaust ever comes upon the world of fantasy fiction, the books that survive will be like this.

Most readers look for a story the enthralls them, characters that relate to them, and overall, simply an enjoyable time. "City of Bones" has all that and more. Really, the book was more than I could ever have hoped for and I recommend it to anyone who wants a little more "reality" in their fantasy.

I bought this book and "The Child Whisperer" by Matt Pasquinilli on the advice of a professional. I was having difficulty getting my child to listen and follow through with simple tasks. It was affecting her school too. She is such a wonderful child, so kind and caring.

The problem was that she gets distracted easily, and daydreams too much. "The Child Whisperer" was so profound in its simplicity. It created a foundation of basic skills that changed my relationship with my child.

The man who recommended these two books suggested I read and reread "The Child Whisperer" first, then after trying the techniques within it for a few weeks, I was supposed to start reading "The Successful Child:What Parents Can Do to Help Their Kids Turn Out Well." Fantastic advice!!! "The Successful Child" is chock full of easy to use advice and insights that will build your child's confidence and esteem.

All children are wonderful and start out completely innocent. As parents, we can use all the help we can get to raise happy and healthy kids. This book helps!

I bought this book and "The Child Whisperer" by Matt Pasquinilli on the advice of a professional. I was having difficulty getting my child to listen and follow through with simple tasks. It was affecting her school too. She is such a wonderful child, so kind and caring.

The problem was that she gets distracted easily, and daydreams too much. "The Child Whisperer" was so profound in its simplicity. It created a foundation of basic skills that changed my relationship with my child.

The man who recommended these two books suggested I read and reread "The Child Whisperer" first, then after trying the techniques within it for a few weeks, I was supposed to start reading "The Successful Child:What Parents Can Do to Help Their Kids Turn Out Well." Fantastic advice!!! "The Successful Child" is chock full of easy to use advice and insights that will build your child's confidence and esteem.

All children are wonderful and start out completely innocent. As parents, we can use all the help we can get to raise happy and healthy kids. This book helps!

This is another really well done book by Dr. and Mrs. Sears. Maybe much of this information is available in his other books, but if you haven't read "The Discipline Book", "The Baby Book" or "The Attachment Parenting Book", I could see this as being a really exciting and thought provoking work.

I just had to comment on the negative reviewer's obnoxious remark to the effect that simply having children does not make you an expert. Dr. Sears raised his children to adulthood, and they are now successful and happy people. Two or three of his children actually are physicians who practice pediatrics with him. One of them is even starting to take over some of the media responsibilities by appearing on shows such as Good Morning America.

In a world where so many kids are estranged from their parents, this is really really nice to see. Anyone that can raise kids to be adults like that has some good advice to offer the rest of us.

SEE: Chronic Illness and the Twelve Steps: A Practical Approach to Spiritual Resilience by Martha Cleveland, PH.D.

For a support group using this book as its text, subscribe to Chronic Pain Anonymous WECARE12STEPS@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU

Due to pressure from groups like ours, Hazeldon is once again publishing this treasure of spiritual help for dealing with the emotional turmoil those with chronic pain and disability are prone to suffer.

I have had a f2f chronic pain group and found this book is most helpful.

I now own a wecare12step group on the internet and this is our group text. I highly recommend this book. The name of my list is WECARE12STEPS@maelstrom.stjohns.edu. For those who cannot afford the book, we do have a book fund to pay for your cogy!

Nicolas Valiarde is a thief; but is he a thief with a noble purpose? His true goal is to discredit and eventually lead a Count to execution in vengeance for the wrongful death of his foster father. Meanwhile, unexplained deaths are discovered in Vienne--deaths which may have something to do with Nicolas's foster father's experiments into necromancy.

Wells's narrative immerses the reader into her world. The world of Ile-Rien is painstakingly designed and researched, a world not unlike late 19th century Europe. She invokes all of the senses to realize the ruined noble houses, the depths of the sewers, and the activity of the streets.

I can only describe this novel as a mixture of Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, with a bit of sorcery thrown in for good measure.

Wells reveals hidden information about her characters throughout the novel, thus revealing their motivations and personalities like peeling back an onion. It's not until the end of the book that the reader sees into their core.

I probably would not have picked up this book on my own since I usually read books in the space opera or pure fantasy genres, but this was selected for my SF Book Club. I'm glad I didn't miss this one.

Have you read "The Alienist" by Caleb Carr? Add magic, and an imagined world as textured and rich as our own, and you end up with "The Death of the Necromancer."

First, the good: Wells creates a fantastic setting that strikes closer to home than most fantasy offerings. Instead of knights and dragons traipsing around castles, she presents us with ghouls chasing gentlemen in the depths of a prison catacomb or the heights of society in a setting resembling the late 1800's. Everything good can be said about the author's ability to construct a fantasy world and populate it with interesting ideas, magicks, and a fearsome grimoire.

Now, the less-than-adequate: Nothing happens to the characters. Not quite true (they do have some exciting things happen to them), but on an emotional, spiritual, or psychological level the cast remains virtually unchanged at the end of the book. I understand that this is an adventure book, and as such I shouldn't compare it to "The Great Gatsby", but I would've liked more character development, not just characterization (which was excellent, by the way). For example, the lead character Nicholas begins the story with a cool head and a predatory disposition, and he ends the story the same way. The only thing he seems to learn from 300+ pages is that revenge is bitter.

Ultimately, I am trying to find something wrong in a book that is exceedingly original and well-written. The humor in the book is exceptional and dry, and the plot is paced like a freight train. Despite my one complaint, I highly recommend this book to lovers of fantasy, mystery, and horror.

I didn't choose this book expressly. I was in a shop with a limited selection of English books and it looked like the best option I had. I didn't, frankly, know what to expect from it. It looked a bit like an Anne Perry novel + magic from the back cover. I hoped for reasonably entertaining at best.

I ended up with a book that I couldn't put down. The characters were well-crafted, the world they moved in was richly detailed. The system of magic Wells created was so well worked-out that we didn't need everything explained-- the characters moved through the world in a natural way and everything became clear enough (while still leaving much room for information about this society in later novels.)

Excellent example of the genre. Not great literature, but certainly high entertainment.