Richard Lee Byers returns to give us yet another excellent novel, which I bought immediately after having read his book Netherworld. Someone is roaming the streets of a calm city in the South, draining humans recklessly and thereby endangering the Masquerade. At the same time, the local kindred find their financial assets under attack, their art all over the world is being destroyed, and their Prince has mysteriously fallen ill. The Toreador elder Elliot Sinclair must get his act together and take charge of his city before it is too late, for all of this is only meant to weaken the kindred before the final attack... In one chapter you get to follow the respected Toreador elder, and in the next a Caitiff neonate, both fighting for the same cause but still enemies who don't meet until the end of the story. What nobody knows however is that this is part of a battle between two Methuselahs, and in the end the stakes are higher than anybody could have imagined.

I strongly recommend this book, it has everything you could ask for in a V:tM novel. Byers doesn't fall for the temptation of creating characters with powers they shouldn't have (common in WoD literature), which only makes it more interesting. The kindred act just the way a member of this or that clan should, and even the most noble of them have to struggle against their bestial nature. In short, this book can be used as inspiration for your own roleplaying, or simply for the joy of reading a great story.

this was recently read on our WPRadio Chapter - A story that a son rediscovers the journey of his mother, a most naive Irish girl who lands in Chicago, about all those she lives with and then later of his father - who she only met 2 times before he proposed and she accepted - he tells it so tenderly. the father's family is Jewish and hers, Irish Catholic- and in that era, a forbidden match. but his mother Sarah finds her way in life overcoming many losses of relations with their disapproval- on both sides - he discovers who they were and writes it with a way of seeing then and now and all the weaving of the many characters that we all find in our family history. I loved it and want to buy a copy to keep and reread.

The third book on the life of poet and novelist Robert Graves is the story of his achievement of great public success, and then what? So many poets have achieved greatness only to spend the rest of their lives in a hapless chase to regain it. Graves' unique pursuit of his path should be a salutory example to all that it need not be so. Along the way we also find out about his new muses and other new relationships both with his growing family as well as with the world. Particularly interesting are his lectures and synopses of his remarks on other poets including Lawrence, Hopkins, Yeats, Pound, Eliot, Auden, Thomas and Byron, most of whom earned his displeasure to a greater or lesser degree. There are also amusing vignettes such as Graves' introducing J.R.R. Tolkien to Ava Gardner when neither one had ever heard of the other. Although Graves' last decade is almost too sad and his pursuit of younger women sometimes a bit pathetic, overall it is always a moving, intriguing and enjoyable story. The second volume of this work does not seem to be on Amazon, which I find a horrible omission.

Temple University Press has published some notable team histories in this on-going series. The Sox Encyclopedia however, is at the top rung of the ladder for its completeness, quality of photos, and crisp writing. Even Cub fans are envious, considering how badly done the Cub book was, in comparison. Only a true believer and a died-in-the-wool fan could have produced such an epic labor of love as this -- 600 plus pages of facts, figures, trivia, stories and Sox folklore. Lindberg is controversial in his opinions. A lot of Sox fans don't agree with him, but few doubt his knowledge of team history. Fans of the South Side team who haven't read this book are really missing out on something. Lindberg concludes with the 1997 season. I hope there is an update in the works. No one writes books about the Sox these days, let's face it. But then again no one writes about the Sox like this guy either.

Frank Wesley Craven presents a concise work introducing us to the lives, conditions and experiences of Virginians in the 1600s. Euro-American, Native American and African-American experience is capsulized in this compact volume. The portraits given are terse and sharp.

This is one of the most comprehensive coast to coast whitewater reference books available. This extensive volume contains info on planning a whitewater trip on virtually every continental US whitewater river and stream. It's organized by state and also contains maps, hydrologic & gauge info, telephone numbers, access info, best guidebooks for each river, permit requirements and contacts for additional information. There's special sections on the Wild & Scenic River System, whitewater schools, organizations, festivals and a listing of books & periodicals with first aid & safety info and boating techniques. Appendices also include AWA Safety Code and Permit & Reservation Application forms.

So many rivers.....so little time.

You may be as surprised by this book as I was - I bought it thinking that I OUGHT to read it to learn more about a river-running legend, but I didn't expect to enjoy it all that much. I was wrong. Author Richard Westwood engagingly tells the story of Georgie White Clark and how she came to be one of the most celebrated pioneers of Western United State river-running, especially on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. In surprising detail (including the names of many of her passengers and boatmen) this book describes the trips, travails, and triumphs of Georgie's long career here in the United State and elsewhere. The book gives brief details of Georgie's early years, but focuses on her river-running years starting in 1945 when she and Harry Aleson swam from Diamond Creek to Lake Mead, through 1992 when she died.

To the author's credit he does not dodge the controversies that have marred Georgie's legend. Westwood frankly acknowledges and, in some instances, documents the validity of some of the criticisms leveled at Georgie over the years. He states what he knows or what his considerable research revealed, and leaves the conclusions up to the reader.

Through this book you will get an unvarnished portrait of a unique individual, someone who left her imprint on a sport that largely didn't exist when she started and was a multi-million dollar industry when she died. You'll learn about an incredibly complex person: alternately engaging or aloof, compassionate or driven -- but always a pioneer. This very readable book includes over 50 photographs and maps that bring to life much of what is written, and give the reader a glimpse of Georgie's world.

Every bit as intense as the new WWII airwar novel I just read, "The Triumph and the Glory", and as action-packed as any of Clancy's best, "Iron Gate" is a super book, I was very impressed with it.

This is an action-packed thriller for readers who like fast actions and war scenes. Unlike Tom Clancy, (who slow down the actions with too much tech-data), Richard Herman does not waste too much time to bring the readers right into the actions. The flow of the story is smooth and the writer keeps readers interested at all times. I would recommand reading Dark Wing before reading Iron Gate (although the story is not as smooth, it gives you more information about the main characters).

Dale Brown and Tom Clancy are great, but Richard Herman is the best! His only equal is Stephen Coonts. The only problem I have with Herman is that he kills off his main characters (eg., Muddy Waters and Jack Locke). I am presently reading Iron Gate and cannot put it down. Keep up the good work Mr. Herman!

This book is a reasonable rules set for the larp folks. It's not a thrilling read, being mostly rules and mechanics, however it doesn't claim to be anything different. There are a lot of things it leaves out which I feel should be included, such as Hunters, Magi, Garou, the Faithful, and other world constructs, however these are published in other books, presumably to rake more cash out of the roleplayers. And while it's not the most clearly written of any White Wolf product, it's not cryptic. If you like vampires and live action, pick this book up.

If you larp as a vampire, you need this book. Contained within are rules for most of the likely situations- combat, diablerie, etc.-, the ranks and offices of the Camarilla, as well as all the clans with all their disciplines. My only complaint is that there are higher levels of the disciplines that are not listed in these larp rules. Definitely a must have for live action gamers.

umm.. I like it. it will make dwiggit happy.

Dyer's study is extremely fascinating, and his reading of "Night of the Living Dead" alone makes the study worth reading. He repeatedly shows how race introduces itself where we least expect it, and his attentiveness to detail in film representations is careful and illuminating.

The study does have its blind spots, particularly with regard to politics. There is a vehemently progressive bent (as scornful of liberalism as of right-wing Thatcherism) that separates the texts Dyer reads occasionally into "good texts" but---and this is far more often the case--into "bad texts" which he proceeds at times to pathologize more than analyze. His distaste for the middleclass popularity of "The Jewel in the Crown," for example, seems to prompt him to unleash real vituperation against it, and to read it very shortsightedly (he almost entirely neglects to mention, for example, that the serial is adapted from a series of novels by Paul Scott which address many of the points he believes the serial omits). This is a smart book, but it's often lacking in critical distance.

Dyer's study of whiteness is a comprehensive piece. It covers all the grounds you'd expect and a few more. His style of deceptive academia (the way he explains theory and collates data from various complex sources, making them understandable and ready to grasp is a wonderul feat of writing) that strays from the usual school of academic over-writing is a true breath of fresh air. His personal insight, and anecdotal examples, are witty and vividly illustrative of his points. After his other successes in the past ('Stars' and his brilliant BFI book on 'Se7en'), Dyer firmly sets himself out as one of the finest film academics around. 'White' is exceptional.

Dyer is one of the most important film critics in the west. His exploration of what race and politics have to do with entertainment is absolutely crucial to understanding movies better. They are not only entertainment but a key to the way modern politics work in everyone's imagination. The only other popular culture critic as astute on this subject is the American writer Armond White and Dyer's latest work makes a welcome pair with White's The Resistance. To challenge film viewers to analyze their own relationship to the ideas and images on screen is among the most significant work a contemporary critic can undertake. Dyer's chapters on Jewel in the Crown and his analysis of western art and the influence of its ideas on popular culture will be important for as longa s there are movies.