This book started great like the first two of the series. However, midway through the book the plot just got horribly convoluted and made no sense whatsoever. Or maybe it wasn't the plot but the author's rather haphazard way of writing. It seems as though the author took his time the first third of the book, but the rest was just written with no thought as to explaining things so the reader could follow what was going on and why the characters were doing what they were doing. Very, very dissapointing, especially since the first two books were so good. Let's hope things pick up with book 4.

First of all, I am not a Clan fan; vampire politics just isn't my cup of tea. However, someone pressed me to give the Dark Ages series, particularly the Cappadocian novel, a try. I am familiar with this author's previous work and did enjoy his Year of the Scarab trilogy very much, so I gave the old fogey vampires a chance.

Anyone familiar with the World of Darkness knows how intricate and, well, downright dry vampire politics can be-the angling for a better position for one's clan, the kowtowing for fear of retribution, the lengthy verbal quests for information and/or favors, etc. Andrew Bates has a way of not wasting words, and the words he does end up using are carefully chosen; this clean and terse style brings fresh air to the musty wheelings and dealings of the undead. Bates draws a picture and adds shading, but doesn't beat you over the head with cloying details. The story he weaves involves several vampire characters (Markus Giovanni the scholar, the cryptic priestess Constancia, the mad Alexia) that are all out on parallel quests, which intersect at a single goal-possession of the Sargon Codex, a mysteriously divine artifact that may make or break the Dream that is the reign of vampires. One of the most attractive parts of this book is how that intersection of quests is handled ... without giving away any juicy bits, the climax is skillfully prolonged such that the conclusion is quite satisfying, a true page-turner, and at the end inspires natural feeling to the oft-repeated but never-tired question, "So what happens next?"

Like any skilled storyteller, Andrew Bates relies on sidekick characters to add intriguing texture to "Cappadocian." And what kick-(...) sidekicks they are! My favorite by far is the ghoul pair consisting of Beltramose and Falsinar, servants of Markus Giovanni. Their easy friendship and wisecracking dialogue kept me immersed until the end as much as the travels, battles, and the elusive Sargon Codex did.

"Cappadocian" is a great example of how simultaneously elegant and adventurous the combination of blood, madness and mysticism can be. Vampire stories are cool ...who knew?

The several walks that I tried were awful. They were prepared by people with some personal link to a particular neighborhood, and were unbelievably self-indulgent.

I believe it was walk 12, "Jagged Symmetries", that consisted largely of the author pointing out homes and restaurants where he had once hung out with Andy Warhol. The Peter Singer walk involves him pointing out buildings where he had offices when he was writing various books. Virtually no architectural information, or interesting historical information. Just personal reminisences that would have been best shared only with close personal frieds.

I like this book very much. I was in New York City for four days, and I did one walk each day. Each walk (there are twenty three walks in total) is written by a different author, who has memories, passions, or experiences with a particular neighborhood. As I was walking in one neighborhood, I was trying to find the old pickle shop; in an other neighborhood I was looking for the cabaret theatre/restaurant. I did all the things written in the walk chapter I was reading. I ate the desert in that French cafe and I bought some cheese from the shop mentioned in the chapter. This book is, I think, for people who love history, life, art, people and food. I recommend reading the particular walk chapter in advance, and then reading the same chapter piece by piece as you do the walk.
Next time I will do the next four walks that I already chose.

This woman is so vapid that she uses knitting designs, beauty advice and recipes as filler. There's nothing behind that million dollar smile.

Do not get this book because you are looking for a literary masterpiece. Buy this book because you are a Wheel of Fortune fan! How many of us can say that we are the best in the world at what we do? There is no question, Vanna is the world's best letter turner (now letter presser). She performs her job with a fluidity of motion that no other letter turner can approach. Yes, there are others who do this. I have seen substitutes for Vanna on Wheel of Fortune, and Wheel of Fortune equivalent shows in other countries. (The most amusing is the Hungarian version where there are more vowels than consonants.) Vanna is the best.

I have to admit to some level of prejudice. I met Vanna when I appeared on WOF as a contestant. The answers to your three questions are: (1) $55,618, (2) the money is taxed as income, (3) Vanna is very nice, but we do not keep in touch.

Although there is very little writing involved, the authour did his work on this one. An impressive compilation of stats and tidbits about the Toronto Maple Leafs. Worth a pickup, but a bit out of date. However, if you are looking for neat anecdotes on the Leafs, look elsewhere.

Chicago Chronicles vol. 3 is a decent source for a campaing in chicago, and the added section on milwaukee adds an extra setting. But this volume has rather useless information and things are repeated. the book is tedious and not at all as usefull as the other 2 for shicago by night, but the milwaukee section makes it at least worthwhile. I recommend gamemasters using chicago buy the first 2 books, Chicago Chronicles vol. 1 and 2, but the third is only necessary if you want an added area like milwaukee.

I have ben searching for a book on Armani for years and as soon as I saw this book... I snapped it up. It is not as comprehensive as I had hoped, as it has only 79 pages. The written section appears to be a collection of comments from interviews over the years and the second section includes photos of a sample of his fashions from 1982 to 2000. Anyone in love with Armani fashion will be keen to buy this book. I would love to see a larger volume with more of the same, including more information on Armani's philosphy of fashion design and his everyday work methods.

In the world of web design you need to know a lot of information in order to create and design web pages that are both complex yet effective. Formalized training is where most people start, but what if that is not an option you can afford?

With this course you get to learn at your pace, go over the areas you are having trouble with and best of all you can do all of this from you own house. The cd is easy to install and I had no trouble and was up and running in a matter of minutes.

It is imperative that you disable any virus software until after the install is complete. Also there is a book that coincides directly with the cd and is easy to follow. You'll be working with hypertext, learning web page navigation, using multimedia formats like gif and jpeg is but a few of the areas covered.

While virtual reality is covered topics like CSS, DHTML, tables, forms, frames have been left and these may keys to basic web design. More experienced users may find this book more useful than the beginners but everyone should be able to get something out of the book.

Primarily a history of an impressive project to analyse the layers of snow fall on the Greenland ice cap, the book suffers from lack of focus and from unfortunate efforts at being easily approachable and topical. It is strongest at revealing the influence of variation in earth's orbit on local Greenland (and nearby North American) climate, but even here the information is presented hurriedly and one comes away knowing little more of the various climaticaly significant orbital changes the data reveals.

At it's weakest point however, there is a sad attempt to relate the ice core data to global warming. This could be parodied as "there is no evidence of recent dramatic global warming in the ice core data, therefore global warming exists." To be kinder, the author feels "since I know global warming exists from other sources, the lack of data supporting global warming in my ice cores means this must be an entirely new sort of warming." There clearly is an easier explanation.

If you're interested in global warming and climate change, you're probably aware of how politicized the area has become, and how much hot air has been spewed by proponents and opponents of the idea that we humans are changing the climate, perhaps to a dangerous or catastrophic degree. In The Ice Chronicles, climatologist and arctic explorer Paul Mayewski and author Frank White bring cooler heads and cold, hard facts to the controversy.

The book, published in the fall of 2002, centers on the findings from the two-mile long ice core that Mayewski's team pulled from the center of the Greenland Ice Cap. This ice core, labeled GISP2, allowed scientists to track a wide range of climate variables in exquisite detail over the past 100,000 years. It produced many important findings that can help clarify the highly politicized climate controversy. The core reveals that Earth's climate is far from steady. Even without any contributions from manmade greenhouse gasses, ozone-depleting chemicals or particulates, regional and global conditions have swung from hot to cold and wet to dry many times, often with dramatic suddenness. Mayewski repeatedly makes the point that the climatologically calm, benign Holocene--the time period during which human civilization appeared and has developed--is a myth. The ten millennia or so since the end of the most recent ice age have been marked by two large global climate shifts, the Little Ice Age and the Medieval Warm Period, and many less drastic but still potent changes. He also presents intriguing evidence that some of these changes contributed to the downfall of several ancient civilizations, including the Mesopotamian Empire around 1200 BC, the Mayan Civilization around 900 AD, and the Norse colonies in Greenland around 1400 AD.

My only real criticism of the book is that it may present more of the nitty gritty history and findings of the GISP2 project than most readers want or need. Still, most of this is put into boxes which readers can dive into or skip as they choose.

While the research findings and their implications are fascinating, perhaps the most important contribution the authors make is their perspective. The data Mayewksi himself uncovered show that the climate is a complicated and sensitive system, pushed from regime to regime by a variety of natural forces. But Mayewski is equally clear that human activities, most notably the marked and well-documented increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, have joined the party, and must be considered in order to understand current conditions or predict future climate change. And he is clear that unless we take sensible steps to reduce our impacts on the system, we risk not just global warming and whatever changes that would bring, but increased climactic instability and unpredictability. To the authors' credit, they attempt to bring some calm into the climate debates by propounding ten realistic, commonsense principles. The reflect that, "No matter what we do, the climate will change." But they also admonish, "We should strive more for climate predictability than control," and "If we cannot have global control of climate policy, we must at least have global cooperation."

The Ice Chronicles is well worth reading, both for the hard-won scientific facts it presents and explains so clearly, and for the constructive, down-to-earth perspective it provides.

Robert Adler, author of Science Firsts: From the Creation of Science to the Science of Creation. (John Wiley & Sons, September 2002).

This was Lawrence's first published novel in the UK, and represents the writer's early experiment in the quest for an established style.

Far too much descriptive detail, and too little narrative, to be considered an enjoyable read. It is however interesting to note the early appearance of themes that were to dominate later Lawrence works. In particular, the nature-civilisation dichotomy, which became a Lawrence trademark, is apparent here in the relationship between the cultured, educated narrator and his best friend, the raw-boned but affable farmer, George.

Readers wishing to introduce themselves to Lawrence would be better advised to start with the book published two years later, and that marked the beginning of his literary reputation: "Sons and Lovers"