Corto Maltese, worldy-wise seaman and romantic, travels from Caribbean islands to South American jungles to Venetian palaces in this slightly disappointing sequel to 'Banana Conga'.

Like the previous collection this book contains 4 adventures. In the title tale Corto and his seedy friend Steiner stop by a small Caribbean republic where they discover that the beautiful Soledad Lokaarth, who shot Corto in the earlier adventure 'The Seagull Is To Blame', is being tried for voodoo practices by a viciously corrupt government. Next Corto sails into the Amazon as little more than a witness to the decline of a hallucinatory deserter from the trenches of WWI. In the next story Levi, the South American curiousities dealer, enlists Corto in a mission to rescue the enslaved son of a wealthy South American doctor. In the final story Corto arrives in Venice on the trail of a map to El Dorado. He becomes involved in a murderous plot involving the devious Venexia Stevenson, who was thought dead in 'Banana Conga'.

Although full of Pratt's fascinating characters and geographical detail I thought the first two stories were rather weak, and the moral of the third a bit too blatant. But who but Pratt creates thought-provoking graphic novels?

I read this book because I was curious. Sandra McPherson, Alfred Corn, and Marvin Bell (the three judges who chose this book as the Lamont Poetry selection) are all accomplished poets, and I wondered how they had come to choose a book published by a small, feminist press like Firebrand books. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I ended up pleasantly surprised.

Pratt doesn't use rhyme, meter, or classical forms, of course, but this book still conveys a careful craft. Her words are often well chosen, and the arrangements feel original enough. A few of the poems might be too simplistic, but others are anything but. Also, it might not mean much to literature, but for a general reader like myself, the book was a darn good read. A story builds from the first poem to the last, and the story moved me. It was well put and well taken. The strong story made it closer to a page-turner that I thought poetry could be.

A squeamish reader might be turned off by the subject matter, I suppose, but I was taken by Pratt's honesty. I didn't catch a whiff of either pretense or empty politics in this book. I wouldn't put Pratt on the same level as the modern masters (Derek Walcott, for instance, or Elizabeth Bishop) and I still question if this was the BEST of all the second books of poetry published in 1989--but the book was pleasureable in more than enough ways to make it worth reading. I give it 3 1/2 stars.

It's a classic. Pratt put a lot of work and detail into it, and it does contains the basics. It also has typo's on some (bunches) of the formula's, transforms, etc. that are annoying if you know about them (hazardous if you don't). Due to the bugs, this would not be my first choice in a DIP book, but I don't know which one would, either. If you are forced into it, find an errata for this book and mark it up, then the book will serve you well.

This book was a great questions and review book before our regular veterinary school tests and to practice for the boards. My classmates and I regularly use these books to quiz ourselves before tests and some teachers use questions quite similiar. Awesome book!

I bought this book in hopes of finding a good science fair project that could "bring home the gold." But all that I found was a kids science book that showed you what happened to fruit-flies in the light and other stupid stuff like that. It was nowhere near what I expected in such a highly reffered book. If you are looking for a good science project for someone above the age of 10 I would not recomend this book!

~SammieG~ -shibby!

I picked up this book for my son in 6th grade after reading so many glorifying reviews about Van Cleave's books and the fact that she has so many books out there. Boy were we ever disappointed! These are not "science fair projects" that a student can use for doing a science fair project in grades 5 and up, rather, they are trite projects for little grade school children or kindergarteners. How can a project that asks the question "what are the parts of a fingernail" and for materials required lists only a magnifying glass for the so-called experiment which is consists of a student holding the magnifying glass over his/her fingernail to observe, how can this possibly be a "best" science fair project? How can this be any science fair project at all? Where is the hypothesis, what is the real experiment, how could a student enter this in a science fair? Don't waste your time with this one, I returned it for a refund.

I first saw this book in the library and decided I needed a copy of my own. I like it. I have two children in the age range targeted by this book - aged 12 and 10 - and a younger one I will use it with in the future.

We are using it in our classic-education style homeschool, and I find it a good tool for helping my children learn how to think, research their topic and write it all down. The book does not lay out every step of preparation for the projects, as previous reviewers may have expected, rather it gives a good basic and practical overview of the scientific method, and fifty topic ideas to spark the imagination of the child. It is not geared to the highschooler - VanCleave has other books that are for that purpose. The child still has to do the work themselves in putting the project together, and to my mind that is a large part of the value of the book. My children learn far more from their own research and experimentation than they do from following steps and copying the research of others. There were ideas in this book that I would like to try!

I have shelved this book at least three times in disgust and frustration. Each time I pull it from the shelf, I think: "There must be SOMETHING useful in there". Hours later, I re-shelve it again, wondering why I don't just throw this amazingly content-free book away. All the other comments about typos etc. are absolutely true. This book takes a confusing subject, adds 500-odd pages to it, and does absolutely nothing but leave the reader at the starting point, wishing for the hours of his/her life back.

I'm a newbie to this Zope, and would really like to see some working examples of this product, so I can at least compare what is correct to what is in this book. None of the examples I've come across so far work! What's worse; I cannot figure out what's wrong with them because I DO NOT KNOW ZOPE YET! I bought this for $., and I guess for examples, its ok. But man, if you want to come across as an authority in something, it wouild be helpful to make your books' examples workable.

This book has had a slating from several reviewers, mainly due to the fact that the code supplied for Chapter 3 doesn't work as is - at least on current versions of Zope. I found that by removing the quotation marks from all the dtml-sqlvar variables it then worked perfectly, and the code from chapter 4 had no issues at all.

Other than that, this is a fine introduction to many aspects of Zope and well-known Zope products, though perhaps becoming a little outdated now (summer 2003) with the advent of Plone and the imminent(ish) release of Zope 3. There are some typos, and the book is written in a charming European English: these shouldn't cause you any real problems.

The book "jumps" around a lot. Many concepts of the Database are not clear or confusing.I take a Database design class which requires this book, but I absolutely don't recommend it to anyone looking to get some knowledge in SQL.

I didn't choose this book, it is required for an SQL class I am taking. In our class we are using Microsoft SQL Server 7, and the book tells you that the code will work on any flavors of SQL (or maybe I misread) but it actually focuses on Oracle. Some commands are really different for MSSQL,which uses Transact-SQL, and I have to do a lot of searching to find the equivalents in Microsoft's version.

The book is made for beginners, real beginners. It tells you a little bit about the history of SQL and stuff. Then it starts talking about databases in general, but it never gets really far, it just briefly explains what databases are, and I think people would want more than what is said here.

Then it starts with SQL scripting and all the normal chapters.

One thing I didn't like, is that in the first chapter it jumps you to the code, before explaining what it does. And it never really explains the code thoroughly. It could use more examples with different situations.

One more thing, this is the kind of book that you have to follow the little game. "We are building this database...", it's all been done for you, you never get to design or understand the concepts of designing a database, and doesn't explain a lot about foreign keys and relationships. It tells you "it's a real world database"...but you never really learn anything until you do it on your own.

I wouldn't recommend it...

Sketchy at best. Gives some good examples but does not cover all of the SQL language. Jumps around a lot. Definitely not worth the 30+ dollars.

Batman: Harvest Breed is yet another example of DC putting out a Hardcover that wouldn't even fly as a regular edition comic-book.....I remember when a Hardcover was a rare thing, and fans got excited over them because they meant that the story was so special, so well-Written and Illustrated, that only a Hardcover format could do it justice. Arkham Asylum. Son of The Demon. These were important, well-done stories....Now, DC churns out Hardcovers like there's no tomorrow, battering expectant readers with junk like Dark Knight Dynasty, Fortunate Son, and now, Harvest Breed....

Where to begin...? With the art that is often impossible to follow? With the murders that form a pattern on a map, one that is SO CONVOLUTED that no matter how many times I read and re-read it I still didn't understand it? How about the starting with the characters? Batman has NEVER been written more out of character than he is here. He belittles his only friend, Commissioner Gordon, and actually HITS HIM!!!HUH?? The supernatural element is ridiculously out of place here, and the image of Batman fighting a giant Devil actually made me break out laughing. It seems like Pratt saw "End of Days", and decided "Hey!! Imagine Batman instead of Arnold.....HMMMMM....."
Pratt does manage to create some atmosphere during the Viet Nam flashback sequences, but otherwise the book is a laughable mess. The revelation of the killer is a joke, as is their motivation. And why does a girl born during the Viet Nam War appear to be a teen-ager? This book is just awful, and if I could go lower than 1 Star, I would. And in the future, I'll be VERY careful when purchasing a DC Hardcover, since they seem willing to publish any old crap....

If you are one of those Batman readers who is hoping for a mature, daring work that breaks out of the Batman formula ("Dark Knight Returns," "Arkham Asylum," etc.), the cover art for this new book - an abstract painting of a demonic Batman crushing Gotham with his fists - makes you think you've come to the right place. Your hope: is this one of those once-every-four-or-five-years breakthrough graphic novels that wades through the mediocrity to take the Batman to a new level of imagery and narrative? Naturally, as is the case with most everything Batman-related these days, the answer is: no.

"Harvest Breed," whose title seems completely unconnected to anything in the book, is just another example of the standard DC formula for making Batman "edgier": use some non-traditional art form, add some transgressive plot element (here, it's demonology and the black arts), and of course pour on the violence. To be sure, "Dark Knight" and "Arkham Asylum" invented this formula, but their superior plots and characterizations worked with these other elements to create true masterpieces. In comparison, "Harvest Breed" is just a hollow shell wrapped in well-executed paintings and lots of darkness and gore.

"Harvest Breed's" plot . . . . hmmm . . . what can I say: if you're able to keep a straight face when confronted by a Vietnamese peasant practicing Haitian voodoo, geometric patterns for murder sites (yes, you've seen that one a million thrillers before, but never as incomprehensibly done as it is here), secret revelations in melodramatic war diaries, a little paranormally-enabled orphan girl who helps Batman out with astral projections of herself, and a final showdown between Batman and Satan, well - you're a better reader than I. Oops, I almost forgot the man who can heal people with his hands - AND foretell their deaths! That's two cliches in one! I guess I should also mention the "surprise" ending, which you can figure out pages ahead by asking yourself: "which character did the author go out of his way to describe as innocent and insignificant?"

Then there's the dialogue, which ranges from the hackneyed to the ham-fisted. Here's Batman taking a stab at psychological realism: "I'm losing it. Getting too violent. Not thinking straight - harder to keep myself in check!" In other words, in case you didn't get the reason why Batman just attacked Commissioner Gordon, let us ram it on home to you in words a four-year-old can understand. For me, this and the other clunkers with which the book abounds sounded best when I imagined William Shatner uttering them.

Even your average episode of "Batman Beyond" takes a more mature and nuanced approach to narrative than this piece of trash. Save your money.

Batman: Harvest Breed is the newest in a long line of hardbound Batman released comics. There is much to praise about this most recent graphic novel, yet, there is also a sense of disappointment. Pratt has used brilliant colors and sketching to delve into the Batman mythos. The story is, however, week and not extremely well developed.

There are times this story brings about tension between Batman and Gordon that is interesting. But, they have had tension in their relationships before and it is unbelievable that this crisis would pose any threat to their strong friendship...All in all, if you are a true "hardbound" collector, then this book is a must...

This book wasn't what I expected. 24 years of living with a crow should amount to much more interesting experiences than a handful of personal observances of how this crow felt and how it schemed, which seemed too one-sided.

I felt the book touched on the basics but never really gave me anything to start my own business. Many of the pages were filled with large photograhphs instead of in-depth knowledge. I was hoping for a book that would tell it all so that I could go out and begin a faux painting business...with confidence. Not impressed.