I ended up picking this up at the coffee shop that the author runs in Winter Park. It's a good guide to use in conjunction with the Trails Illustrated mountain biking map on the area. It suggests some loops and gives some impression of what to expect in the area.

Book includes way too many ads. Only has about 15 loops/out and backs described, I'd like to see more. It also ended up falling apart after a weekend of use.

I have ridden 80% of the rides in this book and have found a good variety of trails. If you are looking for some adventure and a chance to get away from the lift-served biking at the resort, this is the book for you. Like with any guidebook you should expect trails to change over time. This one was published a few years ago, but is still quite valid. While no single guide pleases everyone, I think this is an excellent book and feel comfortable recommending it to anyone. Be sure to drop by Pepe's to meet the author and get some more local trail info.

I too picked this book up at the author's coffee shop, and was blown away by the fantastic riding I found. From simple rides in and around Winter Park to the trail which other reviewers could not find -- I did not have any trouble -- it was one of the better mountain bike guide I have found. True a few less adds would help, but not enough to lower my review.

As other reviewers have noted, religious overtones predominate the last half of the book. Although one would expect some religious discussion in the biography of a saint, the predominance of the author's religious message in the last half of the book overshadows Vladimir's life during the last 25 - 30 years of his life. For example, very little of the biography deals with his relationship with his wives or children. Once has to refer to the endnotes to find out more about them. Although the author's writing style makes the book very easy to read, the apparent lack of objectivity prevents me from giving this book a higher rating.

St. Vladimir, prince of Novgorod at age 12 and the great-grandson of Rurik, is one of the most influential (and most mythologized) figures in Russian history. Warlike and ambitious as well as shrewd and progressive, he spread his rule from the Baltic to the Black Sea and from the Dvina River to the Volga. The Orthodox Church regards him as 'Equal to the Apostles' and the author, whose books have received a number of distinguished awards, obviously agrees with that judgment. Based on Russian, Greek, German, Icelandic, and Arabic sources, this first-ever complete biography reads quite well -- if one works around the sometimes obtrusive religious message.

Superficially at least, the subject of this book -- the Viking presence in the preChristian land of Rus -- is of great interest to me. Historical records and artifacts reveal that Scandinavian seafarers had been raiding and trading among the Slavs for at least a century before 855 AD. According to legend, upon that date the Slavs, whose diverse tribes were incessantly warring amidst themselves, entreated the Danes: "Our land is rich and vast, but there is no order in it. Come and rule over us." Rorik (Rus - Rurik) of Jutland responded, and settled to reign in Novgorod. The Vikings brought with them their Norse Pantheon, which was accepted and Russified by the Slavs. AllFather Odin (Rus - Svarog) and His son Thor (Perun), god of war and thunder, took their honored place among the ancient Slavonic deities.

Vladimir (Norse - Valdimar), protagonist of this book, was a direct descendent of Rurik. His grandmother Olga (Norse - Helga) had ruled Rus for many years, but had been converted in her old age by the Church in Constantinople. In a polytheist society, Christian converts were tolerated as merely devotees of yet another god. Vladimir, raised by his aged grandmother, had been exposed to her religion, which no doubt influenced his own, much later, conversion.

Prince Vladimir 1 has been canonized by the Orthodox Church as the Saint who imposed Christianity upon the people of Rus. I began reading the book aware of that historical fact, but I was not expecting its content of blatent religious propaganda. The author makes no apology for his personal Christian bias or for his use of the Church publication "The Chronicle of Bygone Years" as his exclusive reference source. It is disconcerting enough to read that polytheistic pagans are "godless", their rituals "evil" and even "satanic". But the text does not stop there, and similarly vilifies Jews and Moslems. It even gets in a swipe or two at the Roman Catholic Church, longtime adversary of the Eastern Orthodox.

The conversion of Russia did not occur peacefully, as Vladimir systematically destroyed the images of the Slavo-Nordic pantheon, burned the villages of its worshippers, and forced baptism on the reluctant survivors. In his glowing description of this violent evangelism, the author apparently misses the irony: the Slavs are saved from their idolotry of wooden heathen images, that they can exchange them for wooden Christian ikons. In the footnotes is explained the "charitable" reasoning behind the "excesses" of the Eastern and Western Churches: "heretics would be burned in this world so that they would not burn in the next"!

From the perspective of a pagan reader, it's a shame this most interesting history is contaminated by such intolerant religious chauvinism. One anecdote is heartening, however. After tumbling the colossal image of Perun in Kiev, Vladimir ordered it thrown into the Dniepr. To "cleanse" Russia of the pagan presence, the image was to be carried over the cataracts and smashed to pieces on the rocks below. However, the deity survived the journey intact and came to ground on a beach thereafter known as Perun's Hill.

Thus, the Chronicle prophesied, paganism would never be erradicated completely from the people of Rus, but in fact would flourish after a thousand years. Indeed, the Russian language still retains many of its preChristian roots. "Odin" is the word for the number One; priroda, the word for Nature, invokes the most ancient of Slavonic deities, the rodiy, daughters of the Moist Earth Mother Herself. Slavonic heathenism is experiencing a reawakening in post-Soviet Russia. The Orthodox Church, also reempowered after 70 years of Communist repression, is again trying to erradicate paganism and other "false" faiths, through alliance with the new government to establish itself as State Religion of Russia.

"Vladimir the Russian Viking" is therefore a timely read. Although I had hoped for a Russian history sympathetic toward the culture of the Vikings, the Christian-Supremist overtone of the text was unwittingly eye-opening.

Unless Amazon made an error these books are exactly the same. I bought Tiny Tiny Houses a year ago and just discovered that the contents of A little house of my own is the same.

I have been looking for ideas for a cabin I plan to build and live in full time. This book did not offer much along those lines. The variety of "houses" was surprisingly vast, but as far as structures one could actually live in it was slim pickin's. From an ice fishing shanty to a canvas house this was an interesting read, but didn't offer the sort of home where one would place the computer desk and hang a picture. As a collection it is interesting and sometimes fun. But I don't regard this book as much help for someone wanting to actually wind up with a place to call home.

What was the average home like in Plymouth Colony? What is meant by "living in a bandbox" (Philadelphia town houses in the Federal period)? Do you want to look inside several "gingerbread" cottages at those Methodist Church summer colonies? Can "America's first architect", Thomas Jefferson, bring the same style and elegance to a very small structure that he brought to Monticello? Where can you turn to for a modern timberframe cabin (or two) that combines style with a pre-cut kit? In "A Little House of My Own", Lester Walker gives the answers--in prose descriptions that hit the high points by explaining useful features; in lovely color pictures of exteriors and interiors; in three-dimensional scale drawings that show rooms as they were furnished for use.

The author's selections of experimental small houses take us "inside" the architect's profession to show readers how one uses cutting edge materials or meets special housing needs. Unfortunately, these projects usually only exist as cut-out models and they are not as compelling as the built forms that have stood the test of time in so many of our communities. My conclusion: this is a book I have read and reread with great interest...and I bet you will, too.

Perhaps I'm just getting tired of reading the same information, repeated by different people. The temptation with three points of view of the rapture is to be complacent (there's no need to worry, we'll be safe), or scared (because we don't have the facts). But then, what if I'm wrong in my choice of one of three? What if all three of those viewpoints are wrong?

The point I'm trying to make is there cannot be 'three' viewpoints on the rapture. Sometimes I wonder if authors raise more questions to mask the fact that they cannot answer the question directly. But somewhere in the Bible there is only 'one' answer to this question.

It is interesting to read Three Views on the Rapture but I'm convinced that none of three views is biblical. I am a Postmil and I believe that the Bible gives enough evidence that the Great Tribulation already happened during the period 67-70 A.D. during which period the Lord unleashed His vengeance on apostate Israel. John himself, in writing Revelation, specifically mentioned that the Tribulation was SOON to take place and the TIME IS NEAR. Moreover, the message of Revelation was specifically addressed to the SEVEN CHURCHES WHICH ARE IN ASIA. These 7 churches existed during the 1st century and suffered greatly in the hands of Apostate Israel. Finally, John mentioned about the great temple which was in Jerusalem that was to be handed over to the Gentiles to be destroyed. History shows that this actually happened. No rapture took place during this tribulation period because it was the will of God for the true Church to endure the sufferings as He himself suffered in the hands of the Jews. Nowhere in the history of Christianity has the Church suffered so horribly than during this period prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.

The format, three predominant views of premillenialism set side by side intrigued me. I was a little bit disappointed because all three scholars are from the same school, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. I was also slightly disappointed because the book is quite dated, going back to the an early 80's prophecy conference. A lot of prophetic viewpoints have changed since then, which affect interpretations and schools of thought in eschatology.

But, overall I was duly impressed. Feinerg, Archer and Moo are fine conservative scholars, and each make an impressive case for their stance as to the timing of the premillenial rapture. In my opinion, Archer stands out among them, and does an excellent job of setting forth the mid-tribulational rapture.

Not a great eschatology work, but an adequate synopsis of widely held views. I agree with the other reviewers that it is not for the novice, but for someone already familiar with premillenialism and end-times prophecy. It's a read and pass-on, no permanent place on my shelf kind of book.

This book documents version 1.0.2 of JDK. Sun is up to version 1.3 and has made dramatic additions since 1.0.2. Don't buy something so out of date.

This book does not worth your money. This is very much like the API doc on the web, there is NO example. Better save your money to find a better ref book such as the Chan & Lee...

As others have pointed out, there isn't much here that isn't in the freely available JDK documentation. Also, most computer books lag behind the actual software they cover. There are a few indispensable "classic" computer books out there, but they're all about stuff like UNIX, TCP/IP, and C, targets that don't move as quickly as Java does.

But I don't think I'm the only professional programmer in the world who appreciates having printed documentation. It's handy to be able to take a book on the road, or to the nearest couch, and flip through the pages at my leisure. I like putting a finger in one page and a pencil in another while I flip to a few cross-references. I doubt that online docs will ever really replace the Real Thing for me.

O'Reilly is one of the two or three best computer book publishers out there (Addison-Wesley and Prentice-Hall are also excellent, but pricey). This book is typical of O'Reilly's stuff: practical, dependable and inexpensive. I do Java GUI programming full-time, and I've used this book a lot. So far as I can tell, every method for every class is covered at just the right level of detail. If you want an authoritative, exhaustive reference that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, look no further.

The book jacket holds promise. A story set in Renaissance Italy filled with political intrigue. But what a miserable book. There are many books out there where it is obvious that the author did his/her homework and thoroughly researched the subject. Some can weave an interesting story with their knowledge and some just regurgitate it back. This is a regurgitation and a poorly written one at that. It is full of cliches, (writing about "her full lips" should be illegal - in the same category as "it was a dark and stormy night"), badly constructed sentences, typographical errors and non sequitors. The author desparately needs an editor. The only reason I finished it was because I was amazed at its' awfulness.

I am the author of 'Bianca", which has received generally favorable review in the the trade press. I am somewhat surprised at the `lack of courage of a 'reader in San Diego,' who writes a vitriolic review, but has not the courage to allow his/her name to appear. On the other hand, the general illiteracy of the letter and the banality of the thought processes are rassuring. He/she obviously does not have either the intelligence or the education to appreciate even a popular novel.

ALTHOUGH I AM NOT A RICHARD NIXON FAN, ROBERT ELEGANT, THE AUTHOR OF BIANCA WAS ONE OF HIS FAVORITE WRITERS.I READ THE BOOK BEFORE MY THIRD TRIP TO VENICE AND FLORENCE AND I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK AS A MUST READ BEFORE GOING TO EITHER CITY. THE STORY TAKES YOU INTO THE HEART OF THE CULTURE OF MID SIXTEENTH CENTURY MEDICI FLORENCE. THE SHENANIGANS OF POLITICS SEEM TO NOT HAVE CHANGED MUCH BUT THIS LOVE STORY IS TRUE. BIANCA CAPELLO WAS FRANCESCO DI MEDICI'S MISTRESS AND LATER HIS WIFE.IT IS AMAZING THE FLORENTINES WHO HAVE BELIEVED THE MEDICI VERSION OF HISTORY HAVE TRIED TO ERADICATE THE MEMORY OF BIANCA. FOR THE ROMANTIC HISTORY LOVER THIS IS A REAL TREAT.

Have you ever seen one of those action movies where you have pretty much figured out what's going to happen after about ten minutes: who will die and how, who's going to be in trouble, etc.? This book reads like that. It's like a rejected Ah-nold movie script, completely lacking any joy, imagination, originality, etc. In about half an hour, I had pretty much guessed how the book would turn out and I got it all right except for one guess.
[SPOLIERS AHEAD]
The main character is a mercenary, but don't let that make you uncomfortable. He was a GOOD mercenary: made a lot of money, killed bad people only. He goes back to his boyhood hometown after thirty years or so only to find everyone has made a pact with the devil except for a few key characters like the plucky teenage girl / sidekick (I'm sure the character had a name, but it doesn't really matter). Luckily, Our Hero is a military expert (not much of a tactician, more of a "let's just shoot people and blow stuff up real good" sort of action hero). Still, even though he is warned that he is fighting the Supernatural Forces of Evil and that guns will not be the answer, it turns out that guns and explosives really do a pretty good job.
There are no surprises, no suspense, things pretty much work the way the characters think they will, they don't seem to be surprised by anything, scared of anything. I know that actors in a movie can look like they're sleepwalking through a role, I didn't think it was possible for characters in a book to do the same thing.
You may have seen the cover of the book, with the skeletal guy playing a piano. There is a possessed piano that we are introduced to early in the book. In a Stephen King book, there would be some doubt to the ultimate outcome. The piano would seem possessed to only one person or that person would have other problems that would make them question what they are seeing. After all, a haunted piano that plays by itself, rolls around the room and tries to kill people is pretty out of the ordinary. But in this book, you are told right off the bat that the piano is possessed. No question about it. It doesn't really figure in the plot except as a conversation piece to anyone who comes over and it does play songs with foreshadowing titles which leads me to believe that the authors scoured at least several albums looking for record titles that would fit. Probably the only original bit of thought in the entire book.

This is the first and hopefully only book that Mr. Johnstone writes with a co-author. The story is fast pace and very scary for the reader. It has some humourous moments and at other times seems a bit disconnected but overall the story leaves the reader wishing that the sequel would be written and released soon.
The story deals with a old mercenary returning home to retire and relax. The problem is a old friend of his is having a problem with a old upright piano he bought. The hero agrees to investage the history of the piano and the horror ride starts for the reader.
I hope that if they ever rerelease this book they won't change the cover. That skeleton dressed up in a tux peering at you (the reader) over his right shoulder promises you a wild and scary ride in the book. If you can find a copy of this book I would recommend that you read it in a well lit room because it will give you nightmares.

This is one of the "lost books" by a forgotten female writer who didn't make it into the literary canon.

Unfortunately, that's probably a good thing. The book purports to be the history of a "woman of genius" and the intro to my edition of the book waxes eloquent about authenticity of voice and how Grand was able to capture the mental and emotional growth of a child from birth onwards.

The problem is, the book is badly written. Grand contradicts herself time and time again in her characterization of Beth. Beth had "no ear for music" on one page and then on the next she possesses a "great talent for music." Beth is "painfully sensitive to others' feelings" yet her favorite passtime as an adolescent is to beat up on her younger sister.

Where it really gets strange is in the final quarter of the book. Here Grand throws in everything but the kitchen sink: drunkenness, immorality, prostitution, and vivisectionism.

The book ends up being more polemical than anything else, which may have been Grand's point, but to call this good writing is to besmirch the memories of the truly fine "forgotten" women writers.

My friend found this jewel of a book (The Beth Book) at a Garage sale for ten cents. Now in our small town teachers and waitresses are discussing the profound nature of Sarah Grand's masterpeice.

Originaly I was intrigued by the oldness of the book, but was swiftly engrossed in the details of Beth's life, upbringing and the changes she makes from sheer determination. The inconsistancies in her nature make her real. The loss of her Father is eloquent and vivid.

Adolecense is as troublesome for beth as is anyone. The author gives a great story of someone whom we can understand and not understand at times. She is all human. Both great qualities and some not so great accompany Miss Beth's diverse if not contradictory charater. The woman she becomes is to be admired.

The Beth Book is seemingly a biographical novel of a genius female raised in the days that her peceptions and intellegence is squashed and suspect. Rather than be beaten down, comes through life triumphantly. The Beth book is not only a story of life, but one of abuse, feminism and true love.

I highly recommend The Beth Book. I anticipat learning more of Sarah Grand and reading more of her works.

The Grand Hotel is an anthology based around a single setting: a hotel in London, where the various characters either work or are guests. It's an interesting concept, and one which should, in theory, make the stories appear less as unconnected vignettes and more as 'chapters' in one longer story. But in practice, The Grand Hotel didn't turn out that way. It's something which could have been achieved quite easily, had the authors been given a plot thread which would weave throughout the individual stories and be resolved in the final one. As it was, the stories were very much stand-alone, with only brief references to common characters.

Carla Kelly's The Background Man is probably the best of the bunch, which is hardly surprising. Charles Mortimer, the assistant manager, is rarely noticed, because of his ability to blend into the background. However, substituting for his superior, he comes to the notice of Miss Carrington, a somewhat unusual guest. He falls in love with her immediately, and barely dares to hope that she will return his feelings. She does... but she's hiding a secret from him. Will this destroy any chance for them? My problem with The Background Man was mainly that it was too short, a common problem with anthology stories. The relationship really didn't have enough time to develop, and I wanted to see more of Charles and Millie together.

In Elisabeth Fairchild's Love Will Find A Way, Lieutenant James Forrester is about to meet, for the first time, the widow of his late commanding officer. Yet he feels as if he's known Annabelle Grant all his life. (Incidentally, Annabelle is a widow. Why does Fairchild refer to her as 'Miss'?). James, we see, had to read all her letters to Archie, her late husbamd, and once Archie was too ill to respond on his own, James wrote to her. He fell in love with her from her letters. Now, he has a few days only to get to know her and persuade her to consider marrying him. This is an interesting idea, and a nice, gentle love story - but again rushed by the pressures of coming in at under 65 pages.

Anne Barbour's The Castaway is the most disappointing, given Barbour's undoubted talent. A woman called Martha Finch arrives at the hotel to keep an appointment with Lord Branford, acting on behalf of the Marquess of Canby, the man whose granddaughter she claims to be. The reader is shown very soon that Martha is lying about her claim, and Barbour does not give her particularly sympathetic motives. I was hoping throughout that she would be exposed and that Branford, the hero, would reject her. Her lie is, of course, found out, but a far too convenient solution then emerges. This is one heroine I did *not* want to see end up with the hero.

Next, we have Barbara Metzger's The Management Requests. Captain Arthur Hunter (who should, in fact, be Captain Viscount Huntingdon, if Metzger paid proper attention to protocol) needs a room on the ground floor because of an injury. None is available, so he persuades the manager to let him have the room behind the reception desk. Because of this, a guest - Hope Thurstfield - mistakes him for the manager, a misapprehension Arthur chooses not to correct. (Why?) The secondary characters in this vignette almost drove me crazy, and I didn't especially care for Hope. Another miss.

And finally, we have Allison Lane's Promises to Keep. Maggie Adams has arrived from America to try to make peace with her father's family, from whom he was estranged after eloping with her mother. She bumps into a Marcus Widner at the hotel, who just happens to be related to her mother's family and who offers to help her in her quest - but who warns her off making immediate contact with her father's family. Lane lives up to her usual standards here by inventing the usual crop of one-dimensional villains, completely unbelievable in their audacity and villainry. I liked Marcus, but that's about all I can say for this story.

All in all, not worth the new purchase price, unless you're desperate to complete a Carla Kelly collection. My copy is going to the next charity shop collection.

The only reason it rated as high as 3 stars is due to Carla Kelly's short story. It was fabulous. She has a gift for opening a window to the lives of ordinary people - proving that ordinary romance can be the most magical of all. However, the rest of the stories were sadly flat and shallow by comparison. Still it's worth buying just for the Kelly story.

Although I'm not terribly found of anthologies because the brevity of the format inevitably results in shallow, partially-drawn characters, I found myself enjoying this one more than most. Why? Mostly because it included the romances of some ordinary people, not just those who are rich and titled. Also because it was (for the most part) the heroes who fell in love first and "loved from afar," instead of the women. And because some of the characters and events were intertwined in other stories and gave the impression of a single book instead of an anthology by five different authors. I'd like to see more anthologies like this one!

I bought this book and have to say I enjoyed it alot. It was a cool and original story with fantastic artwork. The story gets kind of shaky at times with complicated and confusing panels thrown in, but overall it was enjoyable and I do recommend it to any Manga fan.

I must admit, I am more than a little confused by the somewhat violent and decidedly unpleasant reaction others have given this graphic novel. I actually rather enjoyed the thing, and I believe the main reason for that is this: I never saw ANY of the "Bubblegum Crisis" animes before I read "Grand Mal." Science fiction fans, on the whole, are a rather obsessive and unforgiving lot. I should know, I'm one of them. However, my obsession with all things sci-fi has not left me so closed-minded that I will not accept any variations on some favorite characters of mine. A fan of the original "Star Trek" first, I stll gave "Next Generation" a chance, and ended up liking it better. Here, unfortunately, the BGC fans who have read this comic do not appear to have given it a chance, which is exemplified by the somewhat angry remarks I have seen, which were colored by this. For point of clarification: the story is good sci-fi, and the artwork is a good example of Adam Warren's "middle-period" drawing style. Now, as for whether or not this is good "Bubblegum Crisis," I still can't say. However, on it's own, I can say that this is a good comic.

Adam Warren is somewhat well known for his deeply sarcastic, satire-ridden, dark humor-laced writing style. Interestingly, he does not do much of that in "Grand Mal," which has to be the darkest and most serious of all the stories he has worked on(and I've read them all). However, some of that satire is still present, particularly in the depiction of the media, and in the "poetry" seen in the story, which is a blatant humorous imitation of the incredibly pretentious urban street poetry of New York, Paris, London, and yes, probably Tokyo.

The story itself is nice little piece of "cyberpunk"-class science fiction, involving an attempt by a brain-damaged, seizure-prone, and decidedly suicidal ex-mercenary to complete his final mission, two years after it originally failed. The "Knight Sabres," the main characters of "Bubblegum Crisis," just happen to be in his way, which is likely why so many BGC fans were miffed. The mercinary is the true main character of the story, and everything centers around him. Personally, I find it interesting when one can see known characters through the eyes of a third party, so I see no reason why a BGC fan wouldn't like this story.

The artwork: yes, it's a bit lacking compared to some of Warren's other work from the period, but there is a reason for that. This was the first comic Warren ever did in color, and an artist must alter their style accordingly to go from black and white to color. Warren didn't quite catch on here, but did make the proper shift eventually with "The Dirty Pair: Fatal But Not Serious" the following year, which looks excellent. Even so, the artwork is still clean, and nice to look at, and as I've said elsewhere, bad Warren art is still good art by most sandards.

So, "Bubblegum Crisis: Grand Mal" may not be ideal BGC, but it is still a good book. Personally, I like variations on a theme, and I thusly enjoy all four incarnations of "The Dirty Pair," especially Warren's version. Any long-time "Bubblegum Crisis" fan should have no problem enjoying "Grand Mal," so long as they keep an open mind. Highly recommended to sci-fi fans, manga fans, Warren fans, and yes, BGC fans. After all, there really isn't much BGC manga out there in the first place.

GEN 13 writer and creator of the English DIRTY PAIR comics Adam Warren gave of us this sweet slice of colorized manga heaven in this U.S. interpetation of Keichi Sodana's "babes in armour". This 4-part mini-series is actually a prequal to the original BUBBLEGUM CRISIS video series, but taking place after A.D. POLICE FILES. A runaway Boober threatens to destroy Megatokyo, and the Knight Sabers assemble to take care of him. This was one of Warren's best anime off-shoots and he did a brilliant job of colorizing it. The action is hot hot hot, and Priss is even hotter than that. If you liked either the BGC OVA or the BGC: 2040 remake, then you must try this out for size!