I enjoyed this book, but I think it could have been told better as a short story or novella. The basic plot is good, and the implications for the fate of the universe really got me going, but the plot tends to drag, and the characters go in circles, not accomplishing much. Mind you, I think it's pretty apparent from the writing that this was intended: fairly thin characters serving to introduce the reader to an interesting situation (and not even explaining it, necessarily). Overall, however, I don't think that this style would appeal to first-time readers, and I can understand why some don't get into his works.

i've read ballard at his extremes (crash, empire of the sun) and found this short book to be economically told, filled with wonder and dread. what i truly appreciated was ballard's willingness to leave things open-ended, to describe rather than explain, and to let his nightmare world function fully under it's own logic. now if i can just get these crystals out of my arm...

Even by the most basic definition of "science-fiction" this book barely makes the cut . . . it doesn't really take place in the future, doesn't feature new technology, doesn't try to rewrite the laws of physics, you can even understand it without a degree in higher mathematics. Ballard's always been too concerned with the psychological and what lies inside the human heart to be a real SF writer but in the end, it's the story itself that counts, whatever genre label you want to slap onto it. What makes this book so effective is the calm contrast of the utterly unfathomable with the completely normal. Dr Sanders receives a letter from friends in a part of Africa saying really weird stuff about everything turning to crystal . . . curious, he travels there and finds that there weren't speaking metaphorically . . . everything, trees and all, are slowly being converted to crystal, and there's mounting evidence that the rest of the world is going to soon follow suit. Against this backdrop Ballard lets Sanders attempt to make some sense of what's going on. The unwaveringly calm tone of the novel only accents the subtle creepiness of the whole affair and every time you think Ballard's run out of ways to describe crystals and jewels, he figures out yet another one. Symbolism and imagery run amok in this story, there's definitely some sort of quasi-religious (or at least good/evil) aspect to all the crystalization going on but I'll be darned if I can figure it out. Which is another good thing about the book, unlike most SF writers Ballard doesn't take the conceit that everything we encounter in this Universe we can understand and while possible explanations for what's happening abound (most of which don't make any sense anyway) there's never a definitive reason given, so at the end of the book you're left with a lot of questions, but the good kind, the kind that make you think. Thus readers expecting neat and tidy endings are advised that will be disappointed if they go into this book with that sort of attitude. In the end it's Ballard's realistic tone set against fantastic events and his ability to draw the reader into his world and make it come alive (even while the world itself is fossilizing) that causes the book to linger in your mind. His haunting depiction of a crystal world won't be something you'll easily forget.

I bought this book because it covered a wider range of crystals than the only other crystal-healing book I had, (Crystal Enlightenment by Katrina Raphaell). However, I have found I use Stein's book far less. It crams a great deal of information about a wide range of crystals: however depth is often sacrificed as she goes from one crystal to another in a few words. Because of this information-density it can be hard to find what you are looking for. There is an index but it's not uncommon to look up several entries on the same stone, only to find lots of short, not very informative mentions. Tighter structuring or indexing would have helped greatly.

I also found the women-only tone a little irritating at times. I consider myself to be a feminist but did not feel it needed to be marketed as a specifically "womens" book. I did not feel there was information in there that warrented a separatist approach. She had a tendency to generalise about the nature of women-as-healers in a utopian way, which I thought was unrealistic and also a little suffocating.

Diane Stein has improved as a writer since then: for those who are interested in other forms of healing, "Essential Reiki" is a great, ground-breaking book. (She also tones down the preachiness for that one). For a book on crystals, however, I'd recommend Katrina Raphaell's "Crystal Enlightenment" far more.

I just got the book and immediately checked out the high points, reading the prologue, bits here and there, etc. I knew this was something I could get into. Diane Stein has put into words the same conclusions that it has taken me years to reach. I have not read the entire book, but I will devour every word. The main topic, explanatory from the title, is woman's place in healing, that woman has always been a healer.

She has sections about auras and laying on of hands, of crystals and gemstones and their powers. My sister was in a head-on collision the first of June. It's a miracle she's alive. I took her a necklace of amethyst, which is a healing stone, and it is really making a difference. Diane also has a section on chakras and colors. I am not yet familiar with chakras, but I know from experience the power of color therapy. My bedroom is done in shades of blue and I have a sound-effects machine that simulates the ocean. Oh, yes, it works!

I highly recommend this book, even though so far I have just skimmed off the overflow. Another plus - she expresses herself in plain English. There is not a lot of technical jargon to plow through and say, "Say What? " If I could only keep one of my Christmas gifts, this would be it. Thanks for listening to me.

This book teachs you how to heal yourself. It works. I highly recomend it for any woman looking to take charge of their own health.

Some parts of the book--which is presented as a compilation of personal interviews--are extremely interesting. However, the author's choice to over-represent practioners of T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Aikido weakened what could have been a very important book for women in the martial arts. An explanation may be that the author herself studies T'ai Chi, but with so many women now training in so many different styles, I feel there should have been a more inclusive mix.

being a man and having practiced with one of the women mentioned in nthe book, I found it intriguing and eye opening to see women martial artists and their perspectives on their arts and how it has affected their lives.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a new perspective on their martial arts practice and their lives... I know it changed mine

As a female student of the martial arts, I found this book very inspiring. Our lives as girls and women are often filled with men as role models, particularly in areas such as martial arts and certain sports, so this book offered a connection to other women out there who are leading powerful, peaceful lives helping themselves and in turn, others. I also like the structure of the book; you don't have to read it cover to cover, you can skip around & read the sections that catch your eye first. Also, the photos are realistic, they help show us that these are REAL women in REAL life, they are not model-types posing for appearance. The variety of women here is truly inspiring and made me want to find people like this in real life to connect with. And men: get this book for the woman martial artist in your life (or any woman searching for inner strength), she'll really feel you care about her, it was one of the best gifts I ever received from a guy! :-)

This book is a good intro to Aconcagua (history, geography, etc), it helps plan a trip with good tips on preparation and local arrangements. However, it does not spend enough time describing the trails and the difficulties of each route. Even the normal route, the most popular one, is not described in depth.

Anyone thinking about this climb should get this book. It, along with the video that's also available from amazon.com, make a good combination to get you mentally prepared for Aconcagua.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Secor's guide. I read it before climbing Aconcagua and when I was on the mountain I felt as if I had already been there because of the accurate description in the book. The book has also good general advice on equipment, guides, weather, and acclimatization. Definitely a good companion for a wonderful adventure.

"The Clue on the Crystal Dove" is a typical Nancy Drew book. Nancy, Bess, and George are off to visit Nancy's aunt Eloise in New York. While they're there they plan to also visit the grand opening of a collection of glass birds. You should know by now that Nan can't go anywhere without stumbling into a mystery. I found this book especially predictible in that I figured out who the culprit was the very first time we met him/her. Reading this book, however, is not a bad way to spend a summer afternoon.

As everyone knows by now wherever Nancy Drew goes there is a mystery awaiting. And she always seems to jump on a clue or something to solve it. You could say she is 160 of 160 in cases. I have read about 150 Nancy Drew books from the Nancy Drew files, Nancy Drew, and Nancy Drew on Campus. I find they are still good books to read in my pastime because there is still some mystery to them and most books keep you guessing.

In this installment of the forever lasting Nancy Drew series we have Nancy, Bess, and George going to New York City to visit the magnificent bird collection of the Van Hoogstraten family. The birds were supposidly done by Julius Van Hoogstraten the starter of thier empire. But as Nancy and her friends go to visit Dell Van Hoogstraten who is a friend of Nancy's Aunt Eloise things get out of hand as a crystal chandelier falls out of nowhere scaring the hell out of the guests. Things follow as the most prized peace of the collection the Crystal Dove is stolen. As Nancy is trying to solve a mystery in the present she must dig deep into the past of Julius Van Hoogstraten to find the sinister serect. As we all know she came through again but this time guessing who did it wasn't that easy. Still a good read.

From the minute I got hold of this book, I couldn't put it down!!!!!! The plot's good, too. Most Nancy Drew fans would love it!

I should know better than to read a 1985 reprint, regardless who the author is. 18 years ago, Romance novels used plotlines and devices that come off dated or even offensive now. Crystal Passion, the first of a trilogy written by otherwise excellent author Jo Goodman, has as its hero and heroine 2 wonderful characters - Ashley Lynne and Salem McClellan - who for the most part are caring, loving, heroic and admirable. But midway through the book, Salem rapes Ashley while he's delirious from a fever. He is "unaware" that he has done this. He has loved her from the moment he met her and can't understand her terror of him after his illness. This is the premise for their love and later family life. As a Romance reader in 2002, I found it disgusting that this scene was included, also that Ashley's evil guardian Nigel, chained her with shackles to the bed earlier in the book. Otherwise, Salem's family is warm and loving and parts of the book are what I expect from Jo Goodman. I do not recommend this book because of outdated, offensive plot devices and an exorbitant amount of American history. If you want to see what Goodman is truly capable of, try the Thorne Brothers trilogy: My Steadfast Heart, My Reckless Heart and With All My Heart. These 3 stories kept me up for nights on end and were worth every bleary-eyed morning but Crystal Passion, however, was a shambles. Stay away from it - you've been warned.

Crystal Passion is a re-release of a series that Jo Goodman released years ago. The author of The Thorne brothers trilogy and the Dennehey sisters series.

The first in this series is about Ashley Lynne and Salem McCellan. When Salem visits England, he is surprised to find a beautiful girl in his bed. Assuming she is the "evening entertainment" he plans to seduce her. Immediately he finds that he has been set up and Ashley is not there at her own free will, but at her evil uncle's insistance. Planning to rescue her, Salem doesn't count on her actually rescuing him from prison and escorting him back to Virginia.

During the voyage to Virginia the two fall in love, but Ashley belives that Salem is her brother. The two realize they are not related, get married and the Revolutionary war begins.

Crystal Passion is a good book, but just doesn't have the "passion" that is found in many of Jo Goodman's other novels. If you're a fan of Jo Goodman, this is a good book to read. Jo Goodman is true to her writing style by combining a great love story with great history.

I do not like historical romances based in America, in my opinion there isn't enough history. But this book shocked me. I thought it was wonderful! This is my first book by this author, but it won't be the last. Check it out. I'm suprised the other reviewes aren't better.

This review is to show my sincere gratitude to FASTPLANET for making the Workshop books available (Quick Start and Power User). The books provide excellent information in a concise manner. They provide excellent formats that are easy to follow. They provide excellent exercises. They make a complicated and powerful software easy.

I was able to go though most of the two books in a weekend and have been very productive in modifying Crystal reports. We have saved a significant amount of money by not relying on the service of outside consultants to modify most of the reports that we can do on our own.

Again, my sincere gratitude to everybody at FASTPLANET for making the books available.

A very happy user

This advanced book is constructed to allow non technical students to appreciate complex functions and programming concepts. This is the only Crystal Reports book that I have found that allows my students to gain a solid understanding of complex topics in an efficient manner. Again Fast Planet has produced a courseware package that ensure that students can being using the concepts in just two days. If your looking for courseware or trying to learn Crystal on your own, stop looking , buy this book and its Quick Start version now.

Excellent for instructor led training. Just as the description says, the book has many hands on exercises, and covers all necessary topics to take a student from the beginner level to a more advanced stage. I always get excellent evaluations from my students when I teach this class.

As a work of fiction, this book may have some merit. But, please be informed that this book IS fiction and not fact. It is currently being protested by the aboriginal community of Australia as a fabrication and outrageous exploitation of their culture. Please see their website on this matter at www.dumbartung.org.au/report2.html

I have most if not all of lynn's books and they are the most informative and interesting books I have ever had the Honor of reading. There is one book I do not have. That Is Crystal Woman. I work with crystals in my daily life I feel this book will help me on this journey of crystals and as always Lynn's books are always my favorite to read. Thank you, Michele

I have read most of Lynn Andrews books (I started with Medicine Woman) and even though her first experiences and journeys were quite fascinating, this particular narration explains much more about female spirituality and what a woman can give to herself and those around her. Through Andrews different experiences in the Australian aboriginal landscape (they are many), we see that once you start on your spiritual quest, you receive/acquire more and more gifts that are directly related to your spiritual courage. "Crystal Woman" truly moved me - and I've been into New Age studies since for the past twenty years!

I have used many SAMS books in the past and have been VERY happy with their books. Normally they are very to the point and allow you to quickly get to the "meat and potatoes" of how to get things done. Based on that history I chose the SAMS book when I needed to learn Crystal Reports. This book is nothing more than an overpriced "marketing tool" for Crystal Reports. This book did not deliver the "caliber of substance" I have come to expect from SAMS.

I received this book 2 weeks ago and I am still studying each chapter every night....This is a great book for beginners like me and I think the exercises are very well written and easy to follow...I am working on exercise 18 and to tell the true I feel very comfortable now.......

I am new to Crystal Reports 9 and this book is totally awesome! It is very straightforward and easy to understand. This book is layed out very nicely and walks you through all of the steps you will need to create your reports, from how to get into Crystal Reports 9 to how to deploy the reports. I am only through Chapter 9 and am feeling very comfortable that by the time I am finished with this book, I will have no problems writing reports. I hightly recommend this book.

The author does a good job of outlining several "problems" that should be considered when designing a web site. It assumes a basic understanding of HTML, but that is it. If you are preparing to create your first complete web site, this book will be very helpful. If you are a more accomplished web designer, this book will be a good reminder, at best, of what to do (and not do). The book offers a thorough list of items that are basic to all web sites -- hence the title "Universal Web Design." Among the items covered are making sure all the links work, testing the site on a variety of platforms and browsers, minimizing file sizes for graphics and other goodies, and keeping your audience in mind. The author lists numerous ways (and web sites) for you to use in checking your site. The CD is full of utilities, but I couldn't get mine to work correctly on Windows 95. There are also plenty of visual samples of what works and what doesn't work in designing your web site, which are very nice. However, the vast majority are black and white, which causes some problems when the author refers to the colors in the example. Several times throughout the book she reminds the reader to keep websurfers with visual disabilities in mind as they create pages. At times these constant reminders became annoying.

Regarding accessibility, thinking in terms of versatility is a key. Pragmatic versatility is sort of an ergonomic approach for the mind and eye. I often find that once I have found a web site I must examine it carefully to attempt successful navigation and obtain the information that I seek. More than frequently this is accomplished via intuition. Many sites remind me of those puzzles you would find in the back of old comic books where you have to find the hidden picture within a picture. Someone told me that if I took my stubs from Yankee Stadium and entered their official web site, I have the ability to enter the seat number and a photograph of the field would pop up taken from the angle and perspective of the seat. It is not a high priority in my life, but after two months I still can not find this feature on the site. I am a persistent fellow and I do not intend to be outdone by a machine. Yet as I ponder that standpoint, machines are an extension of our own inventiveness and manifest the results of our own creative abilities. It is an interesting concept that if I purchase this book that purports that it will broaden my awareness and skew my perspective of universal web design by taking into account accessibility considerations I will simultaneously be admitting a lack of my own awareness and a lack of self creativity. I admit that by sporadically entering the New York Yankees' web site over the past two months just to locate a place where I can enter my seat number does appear to be rather a waste of time better well spent on more loftier things. However, this seemingly mundane exercise and defilement of one's purpose in life did accomplish two things. Firstly, its stands as a testament that the New York Yankees' web site is in dire need of analysis and overhaul. Secondly, I found out where to get their daily box scores. Honestly however, this book is good for those who are slowly beginning to acquaint themselves with the potential of good web page design. Captivating the user and directing them in such a way to utilize the full potential of the site by having addressed all factors and judiciously incorporating them into the site is prudent and necessary. Still, I regard a good portion of what this book offers to be common sense.

I found this book very helpful in raising my awareness of accessibility issues. Someone who has been online for years may not find the information new, but anyone who is fairly new to designing web pages will be glad that they read this book. Creating accessible web pages is becoming a necessity, not an afterthought, as disabled persons' organizations are moving toward approaching the issue from a legal standpoint.