The Ancient is a science fiction techno thriller, a 491 page galactic adventure interlaced with a touch of romance as a family suddenly and unexpectedly find themselves the target of a sinister ruler's quest for revenge. Jerried Flakkinbarr's life is cursed when an ancient journal falls into his possession. It's a thing that brings with it death, destruction, and an unexpected revelation that is abhorrent to the scientific mind. The journal is a kind of mirror into a forgotten past and leads to a dark secret that is capable of altering the destined course of human kind. A gripping read from cover to cover, The Ancient is highly recommended reading for the dedicated science fiction enthusiast.

I couldn't put this book down once I started reading it. I was captivated right from the prologue... This book moves well with some out right shockers thrown in to totally blow away the reader. I won't say much here, but you better hang onto your hat as you read this book because you're going to be blasted away by the turn of events that happen as the book progresses. The characters are an extremely well constructed group that you'll learn to love, hate, and feel for as the plot moves along. There is a lot of action, especially when the TeMari and the Miranrians tangle. This has a similar flavor as STAR WARS, but on a totally new level of action/adventure. I think the subplots work well to bring a total picture of what is happening in the TeMari Corporate and the sinister leader who's head of it all. I'm looking forward to the next book. A MUST READ for any STAR WARS fans out there.

I had to read this book twice! From the very first moment the reader steps into a world filled with mystery, treason, and betrayal... The story is fast pace and moves well with quite a number of suprises along the way that will cause the reader more than one startling moment... THE ANCIENT has a flavor similar to STAR WARS but with a whole new dimension of characters and worlds... I definately recommmend this one for any STAR WARS or STAR TREK fan...

My 7 year old son, Aaron, and I have just finished reading Macon Treasures Remembered. He was totally fascinated with it! What a wonderfully done work. It was so special to me to be able to tell him about the town in which I grew up.

This book has been needed a long time! The photos are spectacular! The anecdotes tickle your tastebuds for more. It makes you want to go on a tour of each home and learn more. Thank goodness these authors preserved the memories of times past and talents shared of people who cared about building a city of warmth and beauty in which to live out their lives and for generations to appreciate over a hundred and seventy years later. A great book to sit with by the fire and take a journey back in time and be inspired for today.

This is a wonderful book. Venture into the world of antebellum Georgia as you relive the characters and mansions of beautiful, historic Macon, GA--the city that Sherman by-passed but General Layfayette visited. The authors and photographer have taken extraordinary pains in recreating the old South. Outstanding photography and dynamic history. Every home should have one gracing their living room coffee table. Excellent Christmas present for people who have everything.

I found this book to be an engaging and interesting overview of events that constitute the roots of today's protestant "church". It provided me with a framework from which much "church" history can be understood. It includes Apostle Paul, papal history, Anabaptists and relationships between protestant denominations. Although lightweight in many areas, it covers a wide range of church history, which makes it very readable. Many topics may not go into as much depth as you like but there is enough to identify interest. This lack of depth is what makes the book so readable, never becoming bogged down in uninteresting topics, it keeps moving while providing stepping stones for additional reading.

What I did not like about the book is its tendency to deviate from a mostly chronological presentation. I found this was particularly annoying in the first several chapters. Later, I got use to it. There are "Protestant Pearls" (quotes) thrown throughout the book. Literally, they seem to have been thrown, having no relationship to the text. I think they should have been presented in the context of the relevant text. I would liken it to getting blips within a documentary movie have no bearing on the current scene. I found them distracting, breaking the flow so to speak. I adjusted by reading the "pearls" separately or when reviewing previously read text.

If you liked Complete Idiot's Guide to The Bible, then you'll like this one. I've known Jim Bell from his well-known Christian books, so I'm glad to see the Idiot's people have picked up one of the best for their religion books. He really breaks down what Protestants believe and why in an easy to understand way that doesn't make you feel stupid. I'm going to use this in my Bible class over the summer.

It's an excellent book that has great words to describe the story. It's good for visualization. The book makes you want to read more and more. I read five cahpters in one hour because it was so interesting.

This comments on the previous review. The title character whose name this reader has forgotten is unforgettable. Excuse me, did I miss something?

A reflective look back at a definitive page of time. Steven Macon's poetry is a sounding of guitars and amplifiers through the printed word. Page after page of HOUSE OF THE WIND is a written snap shot of the Flower People's Generation.

Although this book is a reflective look at the troubled times of the late 60s and early 70s. Steven Macon's collection of poetry contains some vivid science fiction and fantasy poetry of those decades. The title poem, HOUSE OF THE WIND, is an especially vivid rendering of something very Tolkien-ish in concept. Throughout this entire collection one will find sci-fi / fantasy verses that reflect both futuristic concepts and fanciful worlds, both dark and bright. If you have a taste for sci-fi / fantasy poetry, then add this to your plate.

THE STORY OF THE FOUNDING AND DISBANDING OF THE SHL TEAM THE MACON WHOOPEE. THE BOOK WHILE ONLY 130 PAGES LONG IS PROBABLY THE MOST ENTERTAINING BOOK ON ICE HOCKEY THAT I HAVE EVER HAD THE PLEASURE OF READING. THIS BOOK IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND WILL BE THROUGHLY ENJOYED BY HOCKEY FANS. IF YOU ENJOYED THE MOVIE "SLAPSHOT" YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS "ONCE UPON A WHOOPEE".

I was fortunate enough to read the draft copy of this book - it is outstanding. The Macon Whoopee is one of the most original nicknames in all of sports. The original incarnation of the Macon hockey team in 1974 is a classic story. It combines humour, human drama, and pathos all into one package. Read this book if you read no other sports related or human interest related books in the next year. The Gris and Mr. Buckley have written a classic.

This book deserves to be re-printed. It's simply fascinating. Did Morphy really anticipate Steinitz? Did masters understand the "principle of early development" even before Morphy? Shibut has many interesting things to say about the evolution of chess, with reference to games and history for support. It's a fairly scholarly work, but not a dry one. I think a club-level chess player could learn a bit about chess from this book, while enjoying the lessons of history.

The meat of the book lies in the chapters comparing Morphy to a)Anderssen and the romantics, b)Steinitz, c)Barnes, who scored more points off him than anyone, and d)modern players (via Reti's assessments). Here you will find dozens of Morphy games with an unusual sort of annotation. Shibut does not give us many lines of variations, though he does sometimes point out tactical shots. More often, he assesses the postions qualitatively, showing us the sorts of plans that Morphy used. He also includes a great many references to the specific ideas and refutations of other authors, often pointing out THEIR mistakes. All of this gives you a sense that Morphy was both far ahead of his time in opening theory, and competitive with anyone alive today tactically.

The games in these chapters are (mainly) real struggles, rather than the dashing brilliancies we are used to seeing from Morphy. Shibut explains, "The effect of such presentations in countless beginner's texts has been to reduce Morphy's games to a collection of fables. Their moral is understood to be something about developing pieces, or the evils of chasing pawns in the opening. Whatever the pedagogical value of such portrayals, the games, so presented, can't help but appear shallow compared to modern grandmaster warfare." Shibut wants to show us what Morphy was really capable of when tested.

Then there is a fun chapter on Morphy's blunders, showing him to be fallible afterall. And there are examinations of his opening and endgame knowledge. After that comes a complete compilation, hundreds of complete (but completely un-annotated) Morphy games. This might be the most useless part of the book, since you could get at least sparse annotation from Sargeant.

One thing this book is great for is the section on games at odds. It amounts to a treatise on how to play such games, analyzing various opening strategies. If you want to play an odds game (eg remove the f-pawn before the game) against a much weaker opponent, I suggest that you take a look.

There are essays on Morphy by Steinitz, Znosko-Borovsky, and Alekhine. And finally, Shibut provides several indices: Morphy's openings, his opponents, and games not involving Morphy. However, there is no subject index, nor endnotes on sources.

After reading this book, I began to wonder how Morphy would fare against Fischer in a King's Gambit, each at their peak. Clearly, his chess was far deeper than I'd imagined.

One drawback: Although the notation is algebraic, it lacks capture (x) and check (+) symbols. This makes it very difficult to follow without a board.

Finally a book that sets the record straight and puts Morphy in the proper context. If you are sick of chess anthologies that provide one or two of Morphy's skittles games and try to pass this off as indicative of the style and quality of 19th century chess, you are going to love this book. Mr. Shibut totally destroys the popular misconception that Morphy was the "missing link" between Anderssen and Steinitz. The concept that Wilhelm Steinitz enlightened the chess world with new and revolutionary ideas of positional play is shown to be utter nonsense. By analyzing Morphy's serious games as well as those of other great 19th century masters Mr. Shibut does a fine job of showing that Steinitz's "theories" offered little that was new to the understanding of chess at the time. The main theme of this book is that Morphy's strength was not due to some unique understanding of the game that was later articulated to the world by Wilhelm Steinitz. Paul Morphy was simply the best chess player of the 19th century. No more no less. I highly recommend this book to any serious student of the game.

I loved this book. It richly describes the old 'General Store' days of my grandfather. Some may have been sitting in the sun playing checkers, but times were hard then, and most people worked from sun-up to sun-down.

This books lets you hear, feel, and smell those old places. It introduces you to some of the old pioneers of The NC area. You can almost feel their hard cracked hands, as if the author had you shake hands.

With this book you can actually drive and see some of the old stores still standing. But more fun, was visiting the ones that are STILL in business.

If walls can tell stories, then they surely bend MS Woodys ear! A very enjoyable read!

From the cover:, " The students, none of whom had ever been to Aunt Arie's before, were awed, drawn inexorably into the little circle of activity that surrounded this 5' 6" dynamo who laughed and pecked on each of them and tapped their shoulders and grasped their knees and tried to remember their names and loved them, instantly, and without reservation-strangers all". This book is wonder full, and heart full, and shines a little light into a way of being that is fast becoming a just catchy phrase on a hall mark card.

If you have any family lines that are from Macon Co., GA or passed through, this book is a must have. There is so much information crammed into it that it is a genealogist's delight.