DDA3: Eye of Traldar and DDA4: Dymrak Dread are the last published adventure modules setting in Mystara in D&D product line. TSR then moved the Mystara setting to AD&D Mystara line (sadly that only few modules were published in the line before TSR's bankrupcy) and the D&D line adopt the new Thunder Rift setting. As one of the three tailor-made first time module in Mystara (the other two are B1 and B11, though you can use one of the rest in B series as your starting.), a beginning DM will find it not hard to run. The story itself is attractive and not as simple as B1 and B11. The module here provides a good linkage with other moudules, like DDA4 or B10 which the players may play then.

Originally it provides a very good idea for a campaign setting. However, if you prepare to run a Mystara Campaign based on Gazetteer series, PWA series...., you may find that it is too easy to slip into Fort Doom, stronghold of the evil Black Eagle, and steal the artifact from it in the module. (Only a group of Level one adventurers can do this!) Do you think it is reasonable? Such a weak defense of the fort, the stronghold should have already been overrun by expert level adventurers/ civilians. This is just one point I don't agree in this module.

Reading a book like this is like trying to consume a banquet of innumerable courses. "The Grandmothers" is a book of stories, all true, all passed down as oral history or experienced directly during Glenway Wescott's boyhood. This is a book of vignettes, each vignette demanding attention and wrenching gut reaction. Overwhelming at times, dense with a particular brand of old-fashioned writing ornate, yet deceptively simple, it must be read slowly to be fully understood and savored. Almost every paragraph in this book is so dense with action and information it could easily be expanded into a novel. And in every paragraph, the reader is transported into an era of unrelenting labor and unforgiving illness, of breathtaking ignorance and blind social injustice. Survival was all there was, and this was the kind of life everyone lived. A note: this book was extensively quoted in Michael Lesy's "Wisconsin Death Trip," a first hand, harrowing account of life in rural Wisconsin at the turn of the last century, culled from newspaper clippings and documents. "Wisconsin Death Trip" in turn inspired Stewart O'Nan's "A Prayer for the Dying," another exceptional, bleak, truthful look at life in the "good" old days. I recommend these three books highly.

A lovely and informative book that is beautifully illustrated.

After reading this book, I was amazed at how much information I retained. The graphic detail and vivid descriptions of each setting were amazing. Following Dr. Lou through a tale of the beginning of his life was truly inspiring. Not only recovering from drug addiction, alcohol, and bad relationships, this man could put a plane engine together in one try! Great content, wonderful plot, and an amazing story all come together in Hippie Daze, Recovery Knights.

This is the story of Anra and her people, who have been given the ability to communicate telepathically by the Wanderer, a comet controlled by the cybernetic intelligence called Homesmind. When another comet/planet arrives it threatens to destroy them by seducing them with visions of dead loved ones and dreams that no one wants to awake from. I read this book many years ago as a young teenager and found it fascinating. It was one of the first science fiction books I had ever read and I've been hooked ever since.

Firstly, it is an introductory module for first time DM and players. There are 3 Basic D&D modules which are tailor-made as your very beginning adventure in Mystara. In 70s, there was B1: In Search of Unknown. In 80s, there was B11: King's Festival. In 90s, there was DDA3: Eye of Traldar. They are all very simple, especially this one. As an adventure itself, I rate this the last, compare with the other two. Not because of the story line, the dungeon is indeed too small. (Only about 30 rooms,even smaller than the one in Basic DM Rulebook, only half of the module is adventure part. It is only a mini-adventure) However, as a guideline for DM, I rate this highest among the three. It provide a guideline of being a good DM in details. You can hardly find such detailed articles in any other modules and even rulebooks!

Due to its rarity, it should be at a higher price. (compare with other B series modules except B10) Should it worth the price, depends on what benefit you want to take from it.

The Marklands decribes two Greyhawk lands at the time of the "From the Ashes" box set. I think around 591 c. Anyway it goes into the political and military intrigues of Furyrondy and Nyrond. If you like Greyhawk I recommend it as a source to build lots of adventures or wars.

A good over view of how watercolor caught on in America and rose to the standard of English work in that medium. Worth getting for the chapter on William Trost Richards, who really ought to be part of an American Watercolor Triumverate, along with Homer and Sargent. There are out of print monographs on Richards but this seems to be the best place to see examples of his work if you can't get your hands on them.

This is the last volume of Pamela Sargent's stint as the Nebula anthology editor, which is unfortunate because she excels at editing these types of varied story collections (such as her Women of Wonder series). There's more work involved in editing a volume like this than you might think--given a limited amount of space, trying to cover an award that is for novels as well as short stories, one must carefully pick and choose. It will be interesting to see who SFWA finds to replace her.

Now as for the material itself:

"Solitude," Ursula K. Le Guin -- I am not a big Le Guin fan-in fact, you could say that I dislike most of her work excluding the Earthsea books. So, when I say that I enjoyed a Le Guin story then it must be special indeed. "Solitude" is a story of culture, one alien to our own. Le Guin posits a world in which past overpopulation has led present society to become the ultimate introverts. Not only do the women live apart from the men (as seen in many feminist SF stories in the past), but they live apart from each other. But it is the method of the story, putting a young child in the place of the observer, in which Le Guin achieves something new here.

"Death and the Librarian," Esther Friesner -- Except for the early part, in which the chameleon-like nature of Death is revealed, this story plods along. When it comes down to the talking heads at the end, I was ready to toss it across the room. Sure, Friesner can write welt enough, but this doesn't have anything Nebula-worthy to it. A disappointment.

"Alien Jane," Kelley Eskridge -- A nice SF tale, taken from the pages of Oliver Sacks, or at least, that is the way it reads to me. Well done, with a satisfying ending.

"Think Like A Dinosaur," James Patrick Kelly -- I haven't road a story this good in a long time! This is the kind of tale that can only be done in SF. Basically a study of what "true" matter transportation would be like, including what the hard choices would be. The result is the best short story I have read in two years.

"The Lincoln Train," Maureen F. McHugh -- An alternate history story with its jumping off point being the survival of Lincoln, except as a handicapped president. The concept is interesting, and the story has a nice moral center, but there was nothing that truly thrilled me here.

"The Resurrection Man's Legacy," Dale Bailey -- A baseball SF tale, reminiscent of Bradbury in its nostalgia and feeling. I was never a Bradbury fan, especially of his warmed over reminisce s of the 5O's, plus I dislike the reverence people give to sport (as opposed to games), so this one really didn't stand much of a chance with me.

"You See But You Do Not Observe," Robert J. Sawyer -- Physics and Sherlock Holmes? Okay, so it was a cute idea, but this is a best of the year. I trust that Sawyer's novel, which did win the Nebula, was much better.

"Enchanted Village," A.E. Van Vogt -- A story from the Grand Master, possibly a little long for the result, but at least it is a result worth reading for. A spaceship crashes on Mars, leaving one lone survivor, who finds a deserted Martian village. The Village may be able to provide for him, but only if he can somehow teach it his needs. Good ending.

"Old Legends," Gregory Benford -- A memoir and essay about SF's role in society, especially American government policy, this was entertaining and enlightening. Benford's goal in this essay is to justify the long held claim by SF fans that stories lead to science just as much as science leads to stories. While I have my doubts about SF's influence today (especially in these times of endless Star Trek novels), Benford shows that it was a very powerful force in the not-so-distant past.

"The Narcissus Plague," Lisa Goldstein -- Cute idea--what if there was a virus that, when you caught it, all you could do was talk about yourself? I liked the conceit, and the story showed promise, but the ending was disappointing.

"Last Summer at Mars Hill," Elizabeth Hand -- A nicely told tale of death and unknown beings. Its power comes not from the fantasy element, but from the portrayal of the characters, each well-drawn and believable. The writing and characterization was so well done that I really wanted to like this story more, but it lacked that sense of the fantastic that I expect from a fantasy story. Great mainstream work, I just want more in my fantasies.

Overall, this was a very rewarding volume. Of the stories, Kelly's "Think Like A Dinosaur" was such a gem, that I will likely be recommending it for years to come. The other highlight was Benford's essay.

Wallace is better known as "the other man" in the history of the discovery of the natural selection concept, and for his early studies on biogeography and tropical nature. But--and this is one of the things that makes him a fascinating figure for study--he was also an avid supporter of spiritualism. This book collects five of his essays on spiritualism (the three that went into the original edition of 1875, plus two added to a new edition published twenty years later). Wallace was a thoughtful and excellent writer, and the three main essays, at least, provide some very interesting fodder for thought--especially the one on David Hume and miracles. Unfortunately, nowhere in this collection can one find any indication of why and how Wallace's adoption of spiritualism fit into his overall worldview, natural selection and all, and why this over 100 year old work is still relevant to today's concerns.... Instead, one ends up scratching one's head and wondering, "Can any of this be true...?" Still, this is just about as good a treatment of why one should be interested in the subject as can be obtained, even now.