I liked that Merlin when he was a little boy, was very much like me. I wrote a letter to Mr. San Souci, because I really love his books. I really liked when Merlin performed his magic and turned himself into an ogre. And when he turned in to that man, and when he knew what was going to happen. This book inspired me to read more of mr. San Souci's books. I think kids should read this book because it is very exciting about medeival times and they might really like it. Brian Kelly age 7 I read all his young books when I studied medeival times.

wow.

this book gave me the creepers. i read this short novel in a class on existential philosophy, and it's the only piece except for sartre's nausea that has stuck with me all these years.

without revealing too much, the plot revolves around several young boys at a boarding school who torture a fellow student-- to see what will happen in a philosophical sort of way. disturbing, haunting, suspenseful, beautiful, profound.

not for the faint of heart.

I've always treasured every Star Wars book I could find, but when I came across these books they really fascinated me! The whole is great. If were attracted to the book, but have doubts about buying it, look no further! My opinion is that these are very good books for any time, any place!

Most concordances let you trace an English word through the Bible. But, is it really the same word? Is ``infirmity'' astheneo (weakness) or nesos (sickness) in this verse? Both Youngs and Strongs give you the Hebrew or Greek word. However, Youngs gives you all the translations of the ``original'' word, so that you can trace just that word. One English word may actually be several different Hebrew or Greek words. Likewise, one Hebrew or Greek word may actually be translated by several English words. Straighten it all out with Youngs, without having to become a language scholar.

The War With Grandpa was a pretty good book, but it wasn't my favorite. It's not one of my top ten favorites, but it was pretty funny. I liked it when Grandpa pulled that dirty trick on Peter in the morning on a school day. It was pretty funny, but I wouldn't want it to happen to me because it was still pretty dirty. I liked the book a lot because it was comical and sad. This book also taught me to respect and love your elder relatives . I recommend this book to any other person that likes to read, but that's just my opinion.

I

WOW! this book is very good. I would recommend this book to people that love their room because the main character, Peter, does. His grandpa came to live with Peter and his family because his wife died and he was all alone. He sold his house down in Florida and came to live with them. Peter's mom and dad gave Grandpa Peter's room. Peter did some stupid stuff, like getting into guerilla warfare with his grandpa to get his room back. I think that is weird, but he did like his grandpa. You'll have to read the book to find out whether Peter gets his room back or not.

War With Grandpa is a good book.A boy named Peter and a girl named Jenny have a Grandpa coming to their house because his wife died from emphysema.The problem is that Grandpa takes Peter's room and Peter has to go upstairs!Then Peter goes to war with Grandpa,trying to get his room back.But Grandpa tries to get even by pulling tricks on Peter!To find out what else happens, read War With Grandpa.

Everyone should read some Jules Vernes. A late 19th century French writer, he influenced many people with his enthusiasm for things scientific. In Voyage, the protagonists are a scientist (who discovers a message indicating a journey to the center of the earth is possible), his reluctant nephew, and the quiet-man native guide. An expedition is organized immediately, and the adventure begins. Once you get past the writing style which may be strange to the modern reader, and you suspend your disbelief on certain things (like just how many supplies they were capable of carrying), the tale can captivate. Here is a writer who relishes the scientific advances and discoveries of his age, and is writing about them. The reader can absorb the geologic understandings of the period, as well as the way in which the scientific community operated. It is the age of the gentleman scientist, the ancestor to Indiana Jones. And Verne's delight is infectious. By modern standards it's less exciting than, say, a Jurassic Park. But there's underground seas, strange animals and plants, delirious visions, and hardships of thirst and being lost in the dark to entertain you. Be aware of different translations: our book group had much hilarity discovering the differences in our editions: some seemed edited and condensed compared to the others (and as it's not copyright protected, some of our tattered paperbacks didn't even give the original date or the translator's name), some had wonderful illustrations, some had illustrations that apparently were for a different book, and some had none. Some editions had footnotes, which were interesting in their own way, apparently dating from the original French. There are even different names for the uncle and nephew. Judging from my translation (one of the uncredited ones), it's no great literary effort. But it's entertaining enough to keep one reading, and to amazed at this seminal storyteller and his influences on many who followed him.

Jules Verne's classic novel Journey to the Center of the Earth is a must read for any science fiction book lovers. I rate this book four stars because this book has great imagery and is very believable considering the fact that this journey never took place.
This book deserves four stars because Verne's imagination makes this book an easy read with his use of vivid descriptions of the journey. The journey starts off with a scientist who finds a map to the center of the earth. Himself, his nephew, and a guide journey down an old volcano towards the center of the earth. On their journey they find all kinds of, thought to be extinct, animals and cavemen.
Although the three men find many exciting things they also encounter many hardships. The men are suffering from lack of food because they are miles from the surface of the earth, and they lack water because there are no water sources nearby. The men somehow find a river that is boiling hot due to the fact that they are inside a dormant volcano. When they find the underground world they also get food from the wild plants growing around them.
In my opinion this book is one of the greatest science fiction books that I have read. Jules Verne is an excellent writer who wrote many great books. This book is about three men who go on an expedition to the center of the earth. The question that you have to ask yourself before you read this is will they make it out alive. Well you will have to find out yourself by reading this great novel.

I liked A Journey to the Center of the Earth, because it was filled with action. I recommend it to anyone into science-fiction. A good knowledge of geology would better help people understand parts of this book, because Jules Verne uses a lot of science terms and phrases. If you like crazy things this book is for you, because a lot of wierd things happen and are seen (sea monsters, humans, large mushrooms) while the main characters are in the interior of the earth. This book is filled with action and adventure. There is not more than two chapters that go by without a major event occuring. If you cannot read very long you can still enjoy this book, because most of the 44 chapters are around 5 to 7 pages in length. Overall this book is easy to understand and very interesting.

A friend mentioned that this was an incredible book, and being a fan of "Stranger in a Strange Land" for nearly 2 decades now, I dropped my reading list for a Sci-Fi space escape... I forgot it was Heinlien; low and behold some of my favorite stomping grounds, a provocation of social values, moral values WITH analyses, all in the sterile environment of Science Fiction. Myself, being flung left of center, Starship Troopers reminded me of some of my more conservative "core" values regarding freedom, service to man, and duty... A Klingon's paradise. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I could cite chapter and verse that which Hollywood wouldn't dare touch (Their very own "31 crash landings" by which to avoid controversy)... but, "Hey!", I'm there for the F/X. Starship Troopers will make you think... and fan the fires of disagreement; this is a good thing. The usage of Sovereign Franchise as a form of government, the challenges to our "unalienable rights" (very poignant), the forwarding of duty as the application of "survival" toward the "group", and Heinleins "59" analysis of the end of the XX'th centuries social and judicial woe's was a prophetic indictment of the status quo. I didn't agree with the RAH's whole doctrine... Then again it wasn't a doctrine was it? It was a novel. A science fiction novel... put out as a model of a utopian society, I don't believe that was RAH's point. Let Starship Troopers stir the settled detritus of your social value system and leave you feeling like your back in college spoiling for moral debate... Then ask yourself "What's the point?".

The book is not the movie. Only some elements of the book made it into film, and they were grossly overshadowed by the weight of the director's distaste for his own perceptions.

The book is not the Amazon.com review. The reviewer's words connotate apology for having to write something positive; his/her statements about the necessity of military service to earn voting rights (it was Federal Service, only some of which was military) and the stressing of "beating children in order to make them into good citizens" (Heinlen discusses the uses of unfortuneately required corporal punishment) are a view of the book through aged and broken glass.

The book is part rollicking-good military action, part esthetics, part political philosophy. It reads well (as it should for its intended younger audience) and revisits well (as it should for the political philosophy and esthetics).

I'm an individualist, and found the conformity of the characterization difficult. One has to look for signs that non-conformity is tolerated.

I'm also a realist, and believe that a balance of authority and responsibility is essential to maintain a society that remains stable and rich enought to permit individualism (which requires a non-tribal level of economic and social development). The book brings these issues to the fore.

I took a point off, for a rating of 9, because Heinlein got caught up in 'mathematically provable' social assertions, leading to a greater degree of certainty in his social engineering than would actually work. In doing this, he was reflecting a recent (when the book was written) burst of optimism about formal logic. People thought that, with appropriate premises, formal logic would allow all sorts of problems to be definitively solved. They forgot, or did not know, that the social 'sciences' work with confidence intervals that would make a physicist burn his/her results. They also did not appreciate the difficulties of formal logic. One significant problem with formal logic is the creativity required to find solutions (something seen in all higher math) that makes it intolerant of automated (computer-based) resolution. Another (and to date, the major road-block)is the non-linear increase in solution difficulty when moving from simple propositions to complex ones. Proving a few assertions might take several pages of logic. Proving many assertions balloons out from there; speaking generally, it's easy to create groups of assertions that are non-computable.

Read the book! Think about the 'universal' franchise and the problems it causes. Think about the competing alternatives to universal democracy, and how Starship Troopers stacks up.

And enjoy a good read.

While I don't agree with much of the book, but I still enjoyed it. It's a nice mix of Sci-Fi, action, and thinking. If you've ever seen the movie, you know the basic idea of this book. The book and movie follow almost two different paths, so they have quite different stories. The movie's focus seems more on action and effects, while the book is more on details and thinking. Having watched the movie several times prior to reading this book, I found the book's version of the story very refreshing.

I really enjoyed the sci-fi themes and battles described in the book, and I didn't really mind the all the debates about morality, society, and etc. The trouble is that it is simply too much too often. I found myself just skimming or completely skipping whole pages, if not chapters, simply because I was sick of the endless rambling. I don't share a lot of the views that are frequently brought up in the book, so it's grueling to keep reading about it. The book sticks to a single view of things far too often. I don't think it's going too far to say it borders on blabbing when discussing morals and society.

As for the story itself though, it is very entertaining. It is certainly very funny and witty, and almost always enough to make you want to read more. With the many nice twists and turns in the plot, great character development, and some very good humor tossed in this makes for a great book.

- Rirath.com

Sister Carrie is probably best known for being the American example of the Naturalist school of writing. Centering around Carrie, a girl who comes to Chicago to live the good life in the big city, it follows her action from being a factory worker, to a 'companion', to a housewife, and finally to fame and fortune on the stage in New York City.
Dreiser sets the measure of the game early, on the first page, with the statement that all women are provided two options in life. One is to work hard, live, and have children. The other is to fall into a life of sin.
For those who don't hold with that line of reasoning, the book will be a bit hard to swallow. Dreiser operates along the same line of logic that Emile Zola set down when creating this genre. Every action Carrie makes is predestined, in Dreiser's eyes, by her surroundings. She will not and cannot make any decision contrary to her 'nature'.
While this is all very well and good for Dreiser, it is not so for Naturalism. Thomas Hardy's famous Tess, and Jude, make decisions contrary to their nature all the time, it is society that is at odds with the characters and not the other way around. Carrie's society seems perfectly willing to accept her, but it is her decisions that one finds appalling. The feeling is more like being on a careening freight train, with the outcome inevitable and predestined but terrible nonetheless. There is none of the same despair and void that one finds in Hardy, and somehow that is the books biggest flaw.
Hardy's novels, that were written a full forty years before Sister Carrie, explore naturalism in such a way as to make the character the hero and society the villain. Dreiser's Carrie is no such hero, she is just the unfortunate victim of circumstance.

This book was written at the turn of the century and it is a great portrait of American life and ideals at that time. It is the story of a young girl named Carrie who leaves her small town to go to Chicago to live with her sister and find work. She soon finds that living with her sister and her husband is very boring and that work is hard and dull. Soon she is a mistress of a pretty wealthy man, and the rest of the book is the story of her rise in society.

One of the main themes of this book is materialism, and how people would do anything for money. During the book I could see how innocent Carrie becomes a victim of circumstances as she tries to fit into the environment around her and becomes swallowed by the anonymity of the city. I love Dreiser's style, although he goes off on unneccessary little lectures at times, and I really liked following the plot. The characters were drawn so well that I would forget they weren't real. This is a great book to read and it accurately portrays American cities at the rise of industrialism and materialism.

This novel hooked me from the first page - who can forget the opening scene where the young Caroline Meeber is "spotted" by the travelling salesman Charles Drouet on the Chicago-bound train? We follow in this novel two seemingly irreversible life flows: Carrie uses her beauty and ambition to rise in life, and Hurstwood falls from his secure position of middle-aged, upper-middle-class success to utter failure, all for the love of a woman half his age. It's the stuff of melodrama to some, but not when handled by Dreiser, who takes the reader into a vividly realized urban world with well-drawn characters whose virtues and vices are equally on display. You leave the book feeling that Carrie and Hurtstwood could very easily have stepped out of the pages of today's newspapers, such is the zone of uncomfortable truth inhabited by the denizens of this brilliant novel.

This is a great book, but moves somewhat slower than the first two. I read it first a couple years ago, and now I'm kind of re-reading it and am about halfway through it. Unlike the first two in the series, the focus lifts off Rand as well as giving us a somewhat clearer view of events outside the knowledge of the protagonists.

The scheming of the Forsaken becomes less muddled, although the reader is still very much in the dark as to what alliances have formed among the Forsaken. It becomes obvious for the first time that the Aiel will play a MAJOR role in Rand's destiny and he will need their help.

As far as the main characters are concerned, Rand himself is in flight practically the entire book and Jordan doesn't spend much time on him. The pacing seems a bit off; Rand should be out-distancing the rest of the companions (because they have several adventures along the way, i.e. Perrin and Faile, the wolf-man, etc.), yet Moiraine manages to end up in Tear at about the same time as Rand! Maybe I need to finish re-reading it to understand how that worked.

As usual, Jordan shows his mastery of immersing the reader in the setting. The descriptions of the Stone of Tear and the final battle within are outstanding. The conclusion is very satisfying and henceforth Rand begins a widely recognized ascendancy as the Dragon Reborn, with promises of a gripping saga ahead!

I Promise: I'm going to be spoiler free.

This is the third and BEST book in the Wheel of Time (WOT) series. All of the tenants of excellent fantasy are there. Jordan is a great writer who builds an incredible world with a compelling history. In this book, Jordan gets the balance of history, character, exposition and action right.

Dragon Reborn is a treasure, but be warned: as of this writing Jordan hasn't finished WOT. By the end of this book, the series stands on its head and you are riding through this series at a great clip. You cannot WAIT to find out what happens next, so you HAVE to continue.

My guess is the end of this series isn't going to happen until 2006 (I believe there are going to be 12 books, but I don't think there's an official word).

Is it going to be worth it? I don't think so. WOT has gotten very complicated and is becoming turgid. Sometime around Book 6, the action began to crawl. Book 8 (the last one I read) was almost 700 pages and took place over three days!

I've read the first five books twice now beacuse it is too difficult to wait a year between reading books. (And he's coming out with them once every other year at this point).

My advice: Wait until Jordan's finished them all. It's best to read them one after another. By then we'll know if it was worth the wait.

You've been warned!

My grade for the series:
1. Wheel of Time: A-
2. Great Hunt: A
3. Dragon Reborn: A+
4. Shadow Rising: A+
5. Fires of Heaven: A
6. Lord of Chaos: B
7. Crown of Swords: C+
8. Path of Daggars: C
9. Winter's Heart (haven't read, waiting for Jordon to finish)

Well I finished book 3 the Dragon Reborn and all I can say is what a great book it was. I know some people didn't like it because Rand was not the main focus in the book.( to those people I say SO WHAT) I don't know about you but I enjoyed learning more about Egwene,Elayne,Nynaeve,Mat and Perrin. I mean from what I heared and saw Robert Jordan has 8 books out and I admit I've only read 3 so far of this series but I would think he could spare one maybe two books on the secondary characters so we could learn alittle more about them,they are just as important as Rand. I want to finish by saying I recommened this book and series(but I recommend you start with the first book The Eye of the World). If any one wants to e-mail me write to me at (pperalta@feaster.edisonproject.com). I all so enjoy reading the Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books.

...but not the worst.

After reading all the angsty and angry reviews of this book and series (the esp. nasty ones from people who've read most of the series really had me scratching my head), I decided to pick up just the 1st book and see for myself how good/bad it really was (and it was last minute decision, picked up while on vacation).

IMHO, not too bad of a decision.

I've read LOTR and The Hobbit several times over the years, plus I've read 2 of Eddings' series (The Belgariad and The Mallorean, both hilarious reads) as well as other fantasy series, so I'm no newbie to the fantasy genre.

Yes, it's a bit overlong, and towards the end I kept saying to myself, "Get on with it!" However, there were many passages where reviewers got bored and I didn't: Rand and Mat going from town to town and finding Darkfriends in them (and they DID start trying to sneak into towns after awhile; Moiraine describing Manetheren to the Emonds Field people; Perrin understanding wolves (bias: I *love* anything to do with wolves); Perrin, Egwene, and Elyas coming into contact with the Traveling People; the meeting of the Green Man. You get the idea.

Now the characters themselves.

Mat annoyed me no end, although once he got that dagger, I felt he started to get interesting (in a dark way). Rand seemed bewildered by it all, making him too goofy; humorous characters are fine, but he was too bumbling until some passages near the end of the book. Perrin was interesting from the beginning, and I thought his dealings with the wolves was one of the most interesting parts of the book. Thom Merrilin had me chuckling, and I was sorry to see him disappear (hopefully he's not dead). Lan was almost too distant for me, and I found him even more annoying than Mat (and much more boring).

The women are a mixed bag. I liked the way Moiraine used her powers and her stoic stance in the face of danger (at least that's what I got out of it). Nynaeve was too whiny and full of herself, and I have to agree with the one reviewer who wondered where the feelings for Lan came from: There weren't even any hints suggesting it! As for Egwene - what Rand sees in her is beyond me. She's petty, a tease, and stuck up, and I couldn't stand her. Maybe if there were more passages where we saw things from her p.o.v. I might have looked at her in a more positive light.

As to another reviewer saying that Egwene "lusted" after Perrin - I just don't see where this happens. She flirts with a young Traveler while Perrin is beginning to wonder about his wolfish abilities, but I don't remember reading anything about Egwene going after Perrin. Maybe that reviewer hadn't read this book in awhile.

So...all in all...a good read, and yes, I love detailed descriptions (although even I have to admit I skipped over some of it). Some of the characters were good, others were not, but overall, it's a decent story. I've already purchased the 2nd paperback, The Great Hunt.

I don't think this is something I'll read too often (unlike Tolkien), but it makes for an enjoyable read.

I decided that I would submit a review of The Eye of the World only, instead of spending the next 6 months or more trying to explain why I love this series. Simply put, it is the most amazing thing I have ever read. Yes, this first book is a little slow. I have always cautioned people to make yourself get through it, and by the time you are two thirds of the way through, you're hooked. The best thing about this series is that each book gets better by a factor of at least 10! The characters in this story have become my dear friends and my mortal enemies. I have read and re-read them all so many times I've lost count. Please believe me when I tell you that all of the seemingly useless information that Mr Jordan includes in the first volume is CRUCIAL to the storyline. Never think that just because a character goes out of the picture that they will stay gone. I have spent the last 7 years trying to figure out all the twists and turns that the author has thrown into the plot. If you love mysteries, read this book. If you love adventures, read this book. If you love romances, read this book. If you love storytelling at it's best, OWN this book. Trust me, you will re-live it over and over again.

The first book in a (seemingly) neverending series is one of the best in the series. Jordan has fleshed out an amazing world with credible characters. Paragraphs of descriptive prose. Like another reviewer said, you feel like you are in that world. People have compared it to Tolkien. I guess in some basic way it can be similiar (good vs. ultimate evil, hero starts with humble beginnings), but it definately isn't one of those "cookie cutter" type of fantasy novel. The female characters are much stronger, and you can argue that women run the show here. The pace of the novel is excellent, as the protagonists are chased throughout the land by evil forces. If you like fantasy books and you haven't read these books yet, shame on you!
If and when you do start reading it, take you're time! Jordan is on book 9 with maybe 2-3 books to go. If you blow through them you get caught in the waiting game and have to re-read them to remember everything (not that that is a bad thing). So sit back, open the book, and prepare to be transported to a magical, wonderful world.