I don't read Trek books compulsively, and those I have read, I haven't been too impressed with. Most read like novellizations of episodes, or just get silly. But this may have been the best one I've read yet. It has a wonderful plot that spans over three hundred years of Trek lore, from Zephram Cochraine, up to the Next Generation, and even a little beyond. Along the way, the Stevenses combine the plots of quite a few of the episodes, classic and new. The downside? The authors made a lot of interesting guesses about Trek prehistory which, unfortunately, turned out to be dead wrong. The recent release of First Contact negates much of what they say about Cochraine. But, if you can put that from your mind, you'll have a great time with this book. Heartily recommended to any Trek fan

Not only do original Star Trek fans get a real treat with this book, but also fans of The Next Generation. Anyone who has read or watched Star Trek Generations will love the inclusion of Zephram Cochram and the beginning of the Federation in this delightful novel. Spanning 400 years of Federation history, Judith Reeves-Stevens, Garfield Reeves-Stevens provide an excellent insight into the development of Federation ideals. You do not have to be an avid fan to enjoy this novel

I bought this book based upon the fantastic 'Prime Directive' which, until THIS book was released was THE GREATEST Star Trek novel in print--bar NONE. Judith and Gar have outdone themselves with a truly gripping story that is very difficult to put down. I at first had the impression that the crews of the original series would be 'mixing it up' with the crew of Next Generation a lot in this story, and without spoiling the plot, just DON'T expect that, and, well, it'd be hard NOT to enjoy this book regardless of what you expect. After reading it you can't help but notice the glaring storyline error's in 'First Contact' but don't worry about it, the book isn't about defining problems in the movies--it's about as good a story as you are likely to find in print, and written in superior Trek style. Gene Roddenberry would have LOVED to have these authors on his payroll--unless he DID and I am unaware of it. Gene was a visionary, and this book takes that vision and adds tremendous depth and entertainment value. Every Trek fan will find this a good read, but the true Trek Nerds will find it a GREAT book because of how the past is tied together so well, so seamlessly, so FUN. If you are struggling over which Trek book to read and 'Federation' is one you haven't got ahold of yet, well what are you waiting for? Grand Sci Fi in Grand tradition. As usual, read, enjoy and thank me later. Let me know what you thought of the book: rmgomske@lightcom.net Ciao!

It was a good book. Our whole family enjoyed reading the book. Garfield and Garfield's Pet Force are two favorite series of mine.

These books are defintly the best! I have read the first to and am waiting for the 3rd and 4th to come in. The first isn't the best-don't get me wrong-but it is basically just a set up for the rest of the series. Yes, i still like this one, but i think the second one is better. The series is funny even if you aren't a big fan of Garfield. Even if you've only read Garfield once and met the characters, you will get a big laugh out of this comedy/sci fi/fantasy book...it is great...

This book is really good. I havn't red the other Pet Force books, but f they are anything like the first, they're worth collecting. Garfield's Pet Force: The Outrageous Origin is a good book. The pictures move better in your mind whithout ruining the images because of the well-known charecter forms. Atleast, they run fine in my head. It starts out strange to a point where you have not much of an idea of what's going on, but then evens out when they get to the Garfield and Friends sceen. Little did they know... and then, ofcorse, they get into the "big battle" with Vet Vix (Or however her name is spelled). Anyway, the "big battle" doesn't really seem like a battle throughout the book, to me, because it is a comic strip steretches, extended, then put to more words and less pictures. The end is fairly good, too. In the end you wish it wasn't done and you either reread the same book or move onto another book. Wether it is Pet Force: Pie Rat's Revenge or a compleatly other author and topic.

If you have to read one Star Trek book in your life, read _How Much for Just the Planet?_, by John Ford. If you have to read a second, read _The Fall of Terrok Nor_.

Of course, once you read this, you will need to read the next two books in the series as well - both of the first two end in cliffhangers, and only the changes in setting and scope between the three books really prevent them from being a single novel in three parts.

In my opinion, this is the best of the three. The Reeves-Stevens are obviously thoughtful trekkies, and they do a very nice job of recreating the characters authentically and of addressing various tech or plot issues from the various series. In the first book, they keep the scope similar to the better TV episodes - there's a set of unsolved murders, a connection to mysterious events from the Cardassian occupation, and a mysterious collection of smugglers hanging around Quark's. The whole cast of characters get involved in one way or another, and the usual plot developments ensue.

In short, if you're the kind of person who wishes Paramount would make a DS9 movie, this series makes a close substitute.

I've read a lot of Star Trek novels over the years and while a great many of them have been enjoyable, there's been one trend, of late, that has started to worry me. Namely that a lot of good ideas for one, longer than average Trek novel are being stretched out to make series, so that readers are forced to purchase three or four books instead of one.

Leave it to DS9 to defy the odds and buck the trend. This epic length storyline is just that--epic. And you certainly can't complain about the overall size of the books as the first two are longer than the last DS9 trilogy combined!

But what really works is the story and how well it appears be setting up events for a three book run. It's placed firmly in DS9's sixth season and brings in a lot of players. There are appearances by Kai Winn, Garak and even Gul Dukat as well as a flashback to the time before Starfleet came to DS9. It's fascinating becasue the Reeves-Stevens are given time to set up events and give us some character development along the way, which is always appreciated. The major events involve a new series of Orbs that are rumored to open a new wormhole and Quark's gaining possession of one to sell. As always, there's a murder mystery, but it actually ties in well to the plot to set up events. The novels moves at a crisp pace and the characters are, generally, spot on. It's nice to see Jake get some development, especially as he virtually disappeared in the late goings of season seven...

It will be interested to see if this momentum can keep going over the next books in the series. If it does, this set may go down as one of the best Trek novel series of all time.

The first in the series of the millennium trilogy, is the start of one the greatest DS9 storys. Im afraid however, in purchasing this book the 2nd and 3rd books are a must to your shopping cart. The trilogy begins at the time of the dominion war, with Jadiza Dax still alive and well. The story explores time travel and the mystical prophets, introducing some of star treks other popular characters along the way. The books are excellently written with each character and intercharacter relationship perfectly defined. As with any classic DS9 show, the plot continues to unfold right until the final crescendo of action to reveal all the twists and turns in a true star trek fashion. With DS9 the series complete, this books fits well into the existing DS9 story lines, and helps define the complex relationship of that of the prophets and Ben Sisko. In essence set aside plenty of time, as you may find it hard to put the book down.

Well, so far, the Reeves-Stevens clan is definitely making me re-think my aversion to Star Trek books, mentioned in my review of "The Fall of Terok Nor". This second chapter of the "Millenium" trilogy is also a winner.

One of the most interesting things about the DS9 TV show was its ability to include the topics of faith, religion, spirituality and mysticism in the Star Trek universe, topics that were rarely touched upon in the original series and Next Generation. This book's primary focus is on those topics, which puts a fascinating spin on the events that unfold.

The second book brings on the titular "War of the Prophets", as the crew of the crippled Defiant, after witnessing the destruction of Deep Space Nine by a *second* wormhole at the end of the first book, finds itself in a distopian future (25 years ahead of the "real" Star Trek universe), with a Bajoran/Romulan-led Jihad consuming the entire galaxy. Starfleet is in tatters, humans, Klingons, Cardassians, and Founders are all but extinct. The leader of the Bajoran Ascendancy, Kai Weyoun (! ), is claiming he is the Emissary to the True Prophets (the Pah-Wraiths), and that Sisko's appearance heralds nothing less than the end of the universe itself. In the meantime, Captain Nog and Admiral Jean Luc Picard race against time and apocalypse, embarking on an extremely dangerous plan to change the past without destroying the present ... or the future.

Whew! This book had a LOT to keep track of, with no less than four major plotlines interweaving with each other, as well as numerous side plots or character asides to keep things interesting. Yet the story never gets unwieldy, even though I felt I was being propelled at warp speeds through the action.

Once again, certain characterizations are spot-on. Jake and Garak shine again, and Gul Dukat was pretty horrifying, but the authors really have got the obsequious (and now galactic messiah/warlord) Weyoun down cold. I miss seeing that smarmy little Vorta every week! :) However, again, Kira serves little more purpose than to provide strident counter-point to the less-than-spiritual Bajoran Commander Rees, which is a shame, given the fact that in this future, her people have become every bit as despotic as the Cardassians she fought to drive from her homeworld in the series. A couple of characters, most notably Picard and some of the Voyager crew, feel like they were little more than pointless cameos, though I reserve final comment on their use until the third volume.

The book ends with an even more jaw-dropping cliffhanger than the first volume. With the two wormholes in the Bajor system now joined, it seems the true "war of the Prophets" will be fought on a battlefield where time literally has no meaning. The final volume of this so far outstanding series has a lot to live up to, and if it does, this trilogy should go down as one of the best.

This is the second book of DS9's Millennium Trilogy, and I wish I could give it a six star rating, for I gave five stars to the first one. This novel is even more brilliant, albeit much darker.

It sends the Defiant and her crew 25 years in the future (from a sixth season point of view), a twisted future in that everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. It is a future so bleak, so hopeless, that its description is of a nightmarish quality that will force you to read on and on... more horrified and delighted with every page.

Imagine a universe without the Klingons. And virtually no humans left either (Earth was destroyed). Cardassians? They too are tragic victims of a holy war between what is left of Starfleet and the Ascendancy, a Bajoran/Romulan/Grigari Empire run by no one less than Kai Weyoun, Emissary to the Pah-wraiths.

In this timeline, there are actually two wormholes. Weyoun's plan is to merge the two, thereby achieving perfect and ultimate order; the destruction of the entire universe is merely a side-effect.

To stop that mad plan, Admiral Picard (95 years old and suffering from Irumodic syndrome) and his trusted Captain Nog are building the Phoenix, the largest starship ever conceived. Due to Admiral Seven (who negotiated a peace treaty between the Borg and the Federation) it is equipped with Borg transwarp technology.

The crew members of the Defiant are seperated at the very beginning of the novel; several of them (including Captain Sisko) become Weyoun's prisoners, while the remaining crewmen try to help Picard and Nog.

This book is full of surprises: we even meet our favorite lunatic Dukat and pay a brief visit to the Mirror Universe. And Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens were right when they said in a recent interview that the cliffhanger of the second book is the biggest one in Star Trek history.

This book is the perfect read for every DS9 fan. It really is the best Star Trek novel I have ever read. But be warned: unlike the Double Helix novels the Millennium Trilogy can not be read seperately, you'll have to read "The Fall of Terok Nor" first.

War of the Prophets is a GREAT book. Of course, the Fall of Terok Nor was a mystery, romance, religous look of a book. The War of the Prophets is a great, CROSSOVER type book. You have the Defiant crew trapped not in the past but 25 years in the future! Starfleet is involved in a religous war involving Bajor. The Enterprise-E destroyed and a new Enterprise still exist but without Picard for hes at Utopia Planita with Nog. Kassidy killed. The Founders, humans, and Klingons gone. The Borg have an alliance with the Federation due to Seven of Nine and the EMH; Voyager returned home and everyone from Voyager seems to be an Admiral; Seven, EMH, Janeway. This is a great book... all the DS9 regulars are in it. It even holds some truth in how Kai Winn departs... Dukat is in it too. With all these characters involved in one war effort to destroy Bajor, you will defently want to read it. Buy it!

I won't ruin anything for anyone reading this review, but the final third of this book were really a disappointment (with some exceptions). I agree with the other good reviews here in that the book is gripping and you can't put it down. I absolutely loved the first 2/3 of the book. Unfortunately, I lost all that excitement as the book started to wind up.

The #1 problem was my 'suspension of disbelief' began to fail. This was mostly due to one sequence where a classified-level aircraft is stolen. Finally, there were too many predictable tear-jerk moments towards the end. As soon as you read a paragraph about a new character that is being introduced near the end and her 'excitement about her engagement to Ben in Boston' you know that she's about to buy the farm. Two pages later, you're right.

Overall, I'd call this the Stephen King syndrome- The book starts out great, has super characters that you like pretty well, you can't put it down wanting to find out what happens, then what happens starts to wander outside of the credible.

I'm intrigued enough to try another by the Reeves-Stevens', but I wish this one had been edited down to lose the predictable moments. Overall, the idea for the book and execution is outstanding but a few sequences in the final third really bring down the whole.

Just finished Icefire, and thought that the action sequences on the Ice in the beginning were very good, but the suspense building moments in the Pentagon seem to bog the story down in a barrage of initials that even i lost track of their meaning. The Wave is portrayed in a truly frightening, and awe inspiring light. The sequence on the airstrip in Hawaii, and aboard a submarine was very moving, and scary. The hero Mitch Webber's ability to fly everything under the sun is explained, and I thought that the talent was an ingenius way to introduce to the reader ALL sorts of different aircraft. The last third of the book is excellent, but yes it does take a little time to get there. overall i say go ahead and buy it, but please be patient with it. Guys I still Love your work!!

I always thought my dad was crazy for reading all those Tom Clancy novels. Icefire turned my whole perception of techno thrillers around. As a reader who is just as interested in characters as plot lines, I found this book engaging from the get go. I also read to learn, and quite enjoyed delving into military jargon, solitons vs. tsunami, and my great love of the SR-71 Blackbird was quite satisfied with that amazing aircraft's role in the action. The Nevada Rain, of course, was just plain cool. The authors are also not afraid to kill people which I find painful and realistic. Death is the second inevitablity after taxes and it is a refreshing change from gold-plated characters who sometimes, maybe, get a hangnail or the poor "red-shirts" (the nameless guys in Star Trek who always bought it and were eulogized by a mournful Bones in some variation of 'He's dead, Jim.') The reader is energized and drawn into the drama because of this no nonsense, stark addition of death, no longer just irritated with those baddies but just aching to get the part where they get a taste of their own medicine. I have not heard about a film, but can't wait to see it should it become a reality. A great read, even if you don't much care for the genre because it incorporates so much more. It is so satisfying when you have a History Channel husband who starts with amazement at hearing CincPac roll glibly off your tongue.

This is a detailed, accurate and captivating narrative. Fire on the Mountain is truly a service to the fire fighting community because it dispels many of the inevitable myths and rumors about the South Canyon Fire. In 1996, I jumped a fire with Eric Hipke who was one of the most fortunate survivors on South Canyon. He said he was impressed by the efforts John Maclean was making to write this book. In April of 1995, Maclean quit a long-time career at the Chicago Tribune where he had been an editor, correspondent and reporter. He spent the next 4 1/2 years researching and editing material for Fire On the Mountain. The bookÕs thoroughness and accuracy reflect his professional experience and talent. John tirelessly researched every aspect of the story. Of the 49 firefighters at South Canyon, 35 lived. John interviewed 30 survivors. He gathered photos, dispatch logs and copies of anything that was written during or after the fire. Firefighters on the fire reviewed every chapter. This is the most authoritative work done on the fire. Much more detailed than the official report which took 45 days to complete. Maclean's account is very readable.

Comparing this work to that of his father's in unfair. Norman Maclean wrote with the introspective style of a novelist while John Maclean writes with the who, what, when,where,& why of a seasoned journalist. FIRE ON THE MOUNTIAN is a well researched, straight forward, and hard hitting which reflects John Maclean's life as a highly regarded newspaper reporter. This book is a great read and should appeal to a wide spectrum of readers. It should also be required reading for every wildlands firefighter in the country.

This is such a remarkable book. It satisfies on several fronts, creating a visual world that stays with the reader long after the last sentence is finished.

Maclean's research was complete and meticulous. He compiles his work into an astounding, captivating narrative that draws the reader along as the tragic events unfold on Storm King.

I felt as if I were there on the west flank line with the Prineville hotshots and the smoke jumpers. As I read this compelling book, I felt as if I'd known each of the victims for many, many years. I could actually feel the superheated air and smell the toxic gases coming off the blowup.

Along with a gripping narrative, Maclean incorporates analysis of events and decisions made prior to, during, and after the tragedy. This, again, is based on hours of interviews and meticulous research.

His reconstruction of the final moments of each of the victims was very benifical as well.

I've never been to Storm King Mountain, but after reading this truly exceptional book, I plan to go. I didn't know any of the victims or people involved either, but after reading John Maclean's exceptional book I feel as if I were there.

Buy this book, read it, cherish it, be moved by it.

It is a lasting memorial to those who died on the mountain.

Okay, so that's not a bad one. I've read Star Trek novels that were far worse (read "Vulcan" and you'll know what I mean). This one's nice - MUCH TOO NICE, actually. I really loved the beginning, the idea of Kirk being a fugitive, his shattered crew, the totally non-heroic situation (though this one advantage was destroyed in the middle of chapter one). The story was entertaining, though it suffered from a bit too little focus on Spock, in my opinion at least. It had its funny bits, though. But then there came the typical Star Trek syndrome, meaning that suddenly all was well again, and that spoilt pretty much everything. The terrible disaster Kirk was responsible for - suddenly disappeared, more or less. The fact that everyone in the whole universe considered our wacky captain a "world killer" - oh, just a little mistake, nothing to worry about. And so on .. I don't mean to say that I would have enjoyed to read about lots of aliens dying and about Kirk being hunted till the end of time, but I do think that Star Trek writers shouldn't introduce topics like these into the books if they can't deal with them in a manner that's at least A BIT realistic. So if you are into light entertainment, you'll like this one. Otherwise, you'll be disappointed, like me.

Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise stands accused of violating one of the single most central tenets in Star Fleet procedure - the sacrosanct Prime Directive prohibiting Star Fleet personnel from manipulating the course of history on other planets. The Enterprise had been monitoring a world whose saurian inhabitants stood on the edge of thermonuclear war...when something happened. When "Directive" begins, the Enterprise is adrift, battered and gutted - practically derelict and dead in space - because it got to close to the planet when war broke out. In an apparent attempt to prevent the war, the Enterprise may have caused its outbreak. Now the crew has been driven into hiding, the population of the federation roundly holding them responsible for the nuclear holocaust that had engulfed the promising population of that alien world. (Except for Chief Engineer Scott, whose presence is needed to bring the Enterprise back to life). Now Kirk and his crew work their way across space in disguise, trying to get back to the Enterprise, to reclaim their ship, find out what really happened, prove their innocence and perhaps even save the remnant of the battle-scarred world.

"Prime Directive" is probably one of the best "Trek" novels I've read. Apart from Trek stories written for war-gamers (in which detail is paid to ship class, weapon specs and rank), "Directive" focuses on space exploration, and manages to toss in both alien anthropology and even a sci-fi mystery into the plot. The story develops well, and the author wisely builds up the characters without worshipping them like in most Trek stories. The technobabble is light (the author has a gift with the pseudo-science of the 23rd century and manages to craft his Enterprise in a way that makes it look sophisticated, the creation of brilliant engineers). Forget those novels that rehash old episodes, boldly read this instead.

I have never read a more moving and powerfull first chapter then the one in this book. The book kinda loses some its luster after that but is still a very good story, that first chapter is a hard act to follow. The captain is dishonored and the crew is dispersed, what happened?. The story is told in both the present(trek, that is) where variouse crew try to cope with the disintigration of their starfleet careers and flashbacks to the past where the disaster happened. good stuff.

I bought this book at the suggestion of the manager of the local bookstore to keep me occupied during an unwanted month-long trip to Poland. I normally don't read Star Trek novels, because Paramount doesn't recognize them as canon. That means that they never happened. They're basically authorized fan fiction. In fact, this is the first Star Trek novel that I've read all the way through. It's actually pretty good. In fact, I read so much of it at a time that I had nothing to do to relieve my boredom for the rest of the vacation. It's written by William Shatner. Who better to write a Captain Kirk story than James T. Kirk himself? This story is Kirk in his own words. It takes place between the end of "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country" and Kirk's apparent death in the opening scenes of "Star Trek: Generations". Kirk joins a young woman on a journey to save her homeworld and, perhaps, recapture his youth and be young forever. Sure, we know that he won't be young again. Sure, we know that he'll survive the events of the novel. It's still fun and exciting to read, though. Don't let "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier" fool you. Shatner can write. The only complaints that I have are a few typos and Shatner's writing style. He often omits the word "and" in compound sentences, and he often uses incomplete sentences lacking subjects. He also writes a lot of the characters' thoughts into the narrative itself, which is supposed to be neutral. It's as if the narrator knows what the characters are thinking and agrees with them. Other than these things, which you can get used to, it's a good book. Shatner even references events in numerous TOS episodes and all of the TOS movies except for "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" (which really didn't need to be referenced anyway). The story is bookended with scenes of Spock, standing over Kirk's grave on Veridian III, thinking about his late friend. Some historical notes are contradicted, such as when phasers were invented ("Enterprise") and the time period of Cochrane's first warp flight ("Star Trek: First Contact"), by later canon material, but the main story itself can still fit into the canon. The ending sets up Shatner's next Star Trek novel, "The Return". Overall, "The Ashes of Eden" is a good story and worth your time to read. It IS James T. Kirk.

"The Ashes of Eden" takes place in the last years of Kirk's career at Starfleet, just before the events seen in the film STAR TREK: GENERATIONS. The plot, which is compelling written by Shatner, centers on a mysterious doomsday project that the Romulan and Klingon empires have put into place to destroy the Federation. Kirk goes to investigate it, and in his absence, a traitor in Starfleet convinces everyone else (including now-Captain Sulu, who goes to hunt Kirk like the professional he is) that Kirk has turned traitor. The novel is one of the best of the STAR TREK line. I was pleasantly surprised by Shatner's writing, but I suppose that I shouldn't have been. After all, the man has "been" Kirk for three decades. Which leads me to the other surprising element of the book. "The Ashes of Eden" isn't just an exciting STAR TREK adventure, it's also a look inside the mind of Capt. Kirk. Shatner uses the novel to relate what it's like to be a living legend. Kirk encounters young crewmembers who know more about his adventures than he does and who want details that he can't remember. Kirk's response that he and his crew didn't set out to be heroes, but rather "we were just doing our job" applies to Shatner as well.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, William Shatner has written what I would proclaim as a piece of fine science fiction and Star Trek literature. The story begins with a great mysterious/emotional awe as it opens with Spock at the grave of his fallen friend James T. Kirk. Then, the story sky rockets as Mr. Spock recalls their last adventure in the final days of the beloved James Kirks life! The story starts with Kirk reliving a simulation on Tycho VI where he lost his girl friend and relives a challenging moment with arch-villian Androwar Drake. In the end Kirk awakes from a simulation and drags on his last day virtually hopeless until a new young lady enters his life. A half Romulan/Klingon hybrid she leads Kirk and virtually gives a desperate Kirk hungary for a last piece of action hope. Kirk's friends think he is crazy but Kirk does not listen. Instead he gets involved with the young women and leaves Starfleet to aide her in defense of her planet Chal. This young woman named Telani gives him the Enterprise after Kirk learns his arch-enemy Androwar Drake becomes the CiC of the Fleet and plans to blow the ship to dust. So, Kirk returns with the Enterprise and old friends Scott to the planet! But that is one half. Meanwhile Checkov and Uhura go on a mission to find out Klingon's are selling weapons of mass destruction. While there both Checkov and Uhura run into a rogue agent of Star Fleet Intell and get ditched and left to die until Captain Sulu rescues them. Then the crew goes to the new CiC and the old gang along with Spock and McCoy are assigned to hunt down Kirk! Well, in the end the two sides meet in epic battle that only the reader will have to find out! Shatner blows the fans away with a great book! Long life James T. Kirk!

'As you like it' is one of those Shakespearean plays that is considered 'great' by critics, but never really found true popular acclaim, perhaps due to the absence of charismatic characters (the romantic hero is particularly wet) or compelling dilemmas.

It shares many features with the great comedies - the notion of the forest as a magic or transformative space away from tyrannical society ('A Midsummer night's dream'); the theme of unrequited love and gender switching from 'Twelfth night'; the exiled Duke and his playful daughter from 'The Tempest'. But these comparisons only point to 'AYLI''s comparative failure (as a reading experience anyway) - it lacks the magical sense of play of the first; the yearning melancholy of the second; or the elegiac complexity of the third.

It starts off brilliantly with a first act dominated by tyrants: an heir who neglects his younger brother, and a Duke who resents the popularity of his exiled brother's daughter (Rosalind). there is an eccentric wrestling sequence in which a callow youth (Orlando) overthrows a giant. Then the good characters are exiled to Arden searching for relatives and loved ones.

Theoretically, this should be good fun, and you can see why post-modernist critics enjoy it, with its courtiers arriving to civilise the forest in the language of contemporary explorers, and the gender fluidity and role-play; but, in truth, plot is minimal, with tiresomely pedantic 'wit' to the fore, especially when the melancholy scholar-courtier Jacques and Fool Touchstone are around, with the latter's travesties of classical learning presumably hilarious if you're an expert on Theocritus and the like.

As an English pastoral, 'AYLI' doesn't approach Sidney's 'Arcadia' - maybe it soars on stage. (Latham's Arden edition is as frustrating as ever, with scholarly cavilling creating a stumbling read, and an introduction which characteristically neuters everything that makes Shakespeare so exciting and challenging)

Anyone with a working knowledge of Shakespeare's plays knows that As You Like It is a light, airy comedy. It is clearly not one of Shakespeare's greatest plays. As You Like It is more obscure than famous. Even amongst the comedies it comes nowhere close to the popularity of plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Tempest, or Twelfth Night. That said, it is a treasure in its own right. This is so, if for nothing else, because it contains one of the greatest pictures of a woman to be found in Shakespeare's works, excluding the Sonnets.

Ah, sweet Rosalind. In her are encapsulated so many ideas about the nature of woman. She is first pictured in a rather faux-Petrarchan manner. This quickly fades as an intelligent woman comes to the fore. While the intelligence remains, she is also torn by the savage winds of romantic love. Rosalind, in all her complexity and self-contradiction, is a truly modern female character.

Most of the women in Shakespeare's tragedies and historical plays are either window dressing (as in Julius Caesar) or woefully one-sided (Ophelia, Lady Macbeth). This is not the case with Rosalind. Rather than being marginalized, she is the focus of a good chunk of the play. Instead of being static and [standard], she is a complex evolving character.

When Rosalind first appears, she outwardly looks much like any other lady of the court. She is a stunning beauty. She is much praised for her virtue. Both of these elements factor in the Duke's decision to banish or [do away with] her.

Rosalind falls in love immediately upon seeing Orlando. In this way she at first seems to back up a typically courtly idea of "love at first sight." Also, she initially seems quite unattainable to Orlando. These are echoes of Petrarchan notions that proclaim love to be a painful thing. This dynamic is stood on its head following her banishment.

Rosalind begins to question the certainty of Orlando's affection. She criticizes his doggerel when she finds it nailed to a tree. Rather than wilting like some medieval flower, she puts into effect a plan. She seeks to test the validity of her pretty-boy's love. In the guise of a boy herself, she questions the deceived Orlando about his love.

Yet Rosalind is not always so assured. Her steadfastness is not cut and dried. Composed in his presence, Rosalind melts the second Orlando goes away. She starts spouting romantic drivel worthy of Judith Krantz. Even her best friend Celia seems to tire of her love talk. This hesitating, yet consuming passion is thrown into stark relief with her crystal clear dealings with the unwanted advances of the shepherdess Phebe.

Rosalind contradicts herself in taking the side of Silvius in his pursuit of Phebe. She seeks to help Silvius win the love of Phebe because of his endearing constancy. Yet the whole reason she tests Orlando is the supposed inconstancy of men's affections.

This idea of Male inconstancy has made its way down to the present day. Men are seen, in many circles, as basically incapable of fidelity. Though a contradiction to her treatment of Silvius' cause, Rosalind's knowing subscription to pessimistic views on the constancy of a man's love places her on the same playing field as many modern women.

Rosalind takes charge of her own fate. Until and even during Shakespeare's own time women largely were at the mercy of the men around them. This is satirized in Rosalind's assuming the appearance of a man. Yet she had taken charge of her life even before taking on the dress and likeness of a man. She gives her token to Orlando. She decides to go to the Forest. She makes the choice of appearing like a man to ensure her safety and the safety of Celia.

Rosalind finally finds balance and happiness when she comes to love not as a test or game, but as an equal partnership. Shakespeare is clearly critiquing the contemporary notions of love in his day. His play also condemns society's underestimation and marginalization of women. However, the Bard's main point is more profound.

As You Like It makes it clear that the world is never picture perfect, even when there are fairy-tale endings. Men and women both fail. Love is the most important thing. With love all things are possible.

"As You Like It" is bar none, one of Shakespeare's VERY best works. It is probably the most poetic of the comedies and contains perhaps as many famous quotations as any other of his plays. Rosalind is perhaps his greatest female character and this work, along with the equally (or even more) brilliant "Midsummer Night's Dream," is the best example of Shakespeare's theme of the "dream world" vs. the "real" world. This play, especially the scenes in the forest, is a celebration of language and the power of the freedom of the imagination. It consequently can be read as a criticism of the "real world," here represented by Duke Ferdinand's court. Like many of the other comedies, Shakespeare is mocking the "ideal" which many in his society would have praised. Though this play deals with some pretty dark themes (which of his plays doesn't?) it is a light-hearted and fully enjoyable read!