The other reviewers are right - you should read the sequel "Heat of the Empire" before this one, not because it's easier to understand than AoLA (which is true, by the way), but because the earlier series has so much more to offer. Even if you plunge into the series in the middle (which is how I discovered) and haven't a clue as to what's going on, who's who (and why?), you'll still find a mammoth epic you can't put down.

Luther Arkwright is essentially a super-being, bred to psionic perfection in an alternative universe, or a parallel. We soon learn that existence is filled with so-called parallels (a misnomer since parallel lines maintain the same direction while the alternative universes here maintain some interesting differences; the fun is trying to identify how any of the parallels resembles our own earth, only to have Talbot yank the carpet from under our feet and show us the distinctions). Two of the parallels take the focus of the story - 00, being the home of a technologically and psionically advanced civilization which tries to maintain order throughout the parallels, and 072, a parallel in which the major imperial powers of Europe remain in power through the 20th century. Using an almost sentient computer called Wotan, 00 learns of another force that shares their power to cross the multiversal divides, but does not share their benign aims. Called disruptors, the enemy searches for an ancient weapon, one that will destroy all of existence. Only Luther, whose powers and origins remain a mystery to everybody, can stop the destruction. On 072, where England remains under the rule of the fascist and theocratic puritan dictatorship led by a descendent of Oliver Cromwell, Luther meets his greatest challenge. Cromwell, we soon learn, is the disruptor agent for that parallel; Luther must maneauver to secure victory for the anti-puritan royalists without giving too much power to the royal's imperialist backers. The challenge manifests itself when Luther discovers both the limits of his powers and the signs that others like him inhabit the parallel.

The dense plot guarantees that you'll be re-reading AoLA repeatedly, that you'll be piecing it together, and that you'll soon find its BW artwork superior to the color of the sequel.

We are told at Warren Ellis's website that Talbot knows nothing of comics history and yet made one of the best. It's true. There are certain stylistic faux-pas's both in the story and illustrations. Nonetheless, Talbot has single-handedly created the only comic I've ever read that was as exiting as Star Wars I. Everything is in place: Absolute Good (God) versus unthinkable Evil (Arkwright); references to traditions known from childhood done in a lyrical and hypnotic way; a bare bones plot with even barer characterization; and a refrain from a Rob Zombie song, before the particular refrain was made. (How's that for future anterior?)

If you enjoy comics, you're cheating yourself if you don't give this one a look over.

This novel is massive: not in terms of length, but in terms of breadth. Talbot weaves a complex tale that requires some work by the reader to fully appreciate. Mysticism, alternate realities, and geo-politicial struggles all play into this story of a man realizing the responsibilities the universe expects of him. I must add that this is not a good selection for someone who has not read a few graphic novels in the past. My suggestion is to first read the sequel to this book, HEART OF EMPIRE: THE LEGACY OF LUTHER ARKWRIGHT, and then read this. The two may share some narrative elements and characters, but structurally this work is denser and requires more attentive reading.

Yeah, neither do I. So if you want to spare yourself a couple hours of hearing big Bill yammer on, avoid this collection. Did I mention the cheezy musical fanfare all around Bill's voice on these cd's? It's like NFL films music run amuck for 2 straight hours. The pictures are good, but the book isn't much to read, and it's all so cluttered (does being hip and cool have to mean unreadable?) it made my skull ache.

If your looking for a book that has simply beautiful photographs about the NBA, it DOES'NT GET BETTER THAN THIS!!!! This book literally has hundreds of pictures ( big, small, colorful, black and white, etc. ) that chronolize the entire history of the NBA. It is perfectly decorated with big, sharp, bright, colorful pictures that strike the eyes as the pictures come to life with big, bold headlines and lettering that complimant the pictures. The pages are a smorgasborgh of important historical NBA moments and legendary players from the beginning up until the 2000 Lakers championship. These historical events are displayed in non - chronilogical order. You turn to a page to see the Showtime Lakers of the 80's, then you turn to the next page to see a huge picture of Jordan making a monster dunk. The next page after that, may be black and white pictures of the 60's Celtics. This book has words but it is basically for tantalizing the eyes with gorgeous photographs that cover memorable moments of the NBA. It will put a smile on your face as you relive these precious moments in this fun NBA scrapbook. The pictures you will see in this book are of the Boston Celtics (60's and 80's) ; the Lakers(60's 70's 80's and 2000) ; the Bulls ; The 76ers ; The New York Knicks(just to name a few), Magic Johnson, Micheal Jordan, Vince Carter, Larry Bird, Allen Iverson, Kobe and Shaq, Bob Cousey, George Miken, Dr J, Chamberlain, West, Gervin, Wilkins, Ewing, Auerbach, Russell, Barkley, Baylor, Havlicek, Drexler, Pippen, Malone and Stockton, etc., etc., etc.,. This is only a tiny piece of the pie. If you are a NBA fan looking for a fun little book with many beautifully photographed pictures, this would make the perfect gift. You will cherish this book!

I've been reading basketball books since I was a teenager and I have to rate this one as one of the best! It gives excellent insight on every memorable games and moments of american pro basketball from George Mikan to Vince Carter. The double CD is also superb with the live broadcast recordings. I recommend this to everyone who loves basketball.

This is a fine book, but WHY is it cross-listed under "Natural Disasters"? Geysers are no more "disasters" than trees or rivers are. I don't get it.

The Geysers of Yellowstone is best guide to Yellowstones thermal features I know of, but I wish it would include some of the non-eruptive hot spring and mud pots. Never the less, the book is packed with in-depth information on everything the ever erupted in Yellowstone at time. I am a Yellowstone visitor for 8 years running, and more than half this book, I still don't know! A MUST for any geyser lover.

Now in its third edition and completely revised, this geyser Bible remains the definitive guide to Yellowstone's erupting thermal features. Detailed maps of each of Yellowstone's geyser basins and colorful descriptions of every known geyser make the book both easy to read and easy to use when stalking eruptions of even the most elusive geysers. A fascinating list of all the world's other known geyser regions, many of which have suffered from geothermal development, makes the reader realize all the more what a special place Yellowstone really is.

Prebrication was the holy grail of modernism: the ideal way to rationalize the building process, achieve economies of scale, and bring good design to the masses. Sadly, the only manufactured housing to win wide acceptance was the trailer; architect-designed prototypes seldom left the boards. Arieff, who is senior editor of Dwell magazine, hopes that a new generation of architects may succeed where their forebears failed. She documents over 30 industrialized building projects, mostly from Europe, that combine practicality with design excellence. Sadly, it remains true that people who will happily buy one of a fleet of identical cars, become emotional and irrational when choosing their home. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

It looks like a coffee table book yet reads like a dream. This is not only one of the most comprehensive books on the subject, but easily the most lucid and engaging. The authors clearly had fun with the material and manage to convey a good deal of knowledge - including the history and future of prefabricated housing - without a whiff of pedantry or pedagogical claptrap.

As an architecture student now a working as a builder, I couldnt help but being drawn into this book. Organized into 4 sections: History, Production, Custom, Concept, with a wide array of photographs, plans and renderings cleanly presented. The history section does a great job of bringing any curious reader interested in this subject up to speed, creating a great departure point for the 30 or so contemporary projects that follow it. This book is well researched and really gets you excited about the potential of prefab by presenting a wide range of projects in the U.S. and Internationally, exploring a wide range of techniques / systems being developed today. The future of housing looks bright with prefab!

Its a great game and the guide is alright if you like page flipping. The maps were pretty good but the guide wasn't written in the order that you play the game. There is a hub type area called Windy that you have to keep returning to to further your progress in the game. In the Prima guide, you have to keep returning to the first chapter (Windy) to figure out what to do and then page ahead in the book and find where you go from there. The Brady Games book flows a lot better and they have a great multiplayer section!

The lay out for this guide could of been better , but it does its job. This guide will do its job and help you throughout the game. The manufacturer of this guide have printed quite a few good guides and this one is okay and worth having, if you persevier then this guide will be helpful

This guide is helpful and funny at the same time. For example, it gives you tips, and strategies on all 144 pages. Also it gives discriptions for everything in the game. When I said it was funny, I meant this because there is funny text, and doodles that are preferably drawn by Conker. I reccomend this one. Thanks.-

I guess we have finally reached the stage where anything written about the Vietnam War is considered a classic work. I was a student of the author in the late 70's, at which time his course requirement was purchase of this at the time unique work. One whole semester of this drivel. It was enough to make you wish you were in the foxhole with him and didn't survive. I guess if you suffer from flashbacks, this conjures up pleasant memories. What is next, poetry about the OJ Simpson trial, Chandra Levy or Desert Storm ? I guess it's easier to get published than we all realize.

This book, although not a classic, I agree, is a naked view of the war through the eyes of the soldier. This book addresses some of the most raw, most difficult things about war - the emotions behind the bloodshed. Previous writer may want to rethink their comments about the book, and read it for what it is - a bit of history through one man's eyes.

Wilfred Owen, Britain's warrior poet of World War I, could not have done a better job of describing war from the warrior's perspective. Bryan Alec Floyd has written a masterful collection of poems. Lovely stuff, really.

This was the first book I read when I was looking into international adoption. Having completed the process (twice now) I found it to be the best. Gives a good summary of the process and the magnitude of what you are getting into. One thing I would strongly caution readers on is that the book was published in 1996 and things change very rapidly in many countries. It is a guide, not an up to date reference. However, it gives you good ammunition to go to your first adoption meeting with.

A nice book worth reading.

The first critic is not entirely correct. Depending on the country you adopt from and changes in the law made since the book was published the author is generally correct. There have been some changes since then. However, a person or couple should check with several agencies before they continue. They best thing to remember is keep trying. If you are not a fit for one country's adoption standards you can try another. Plus the agency generally knows the correct procedures and rules governing adoption. If the first critic thinks that anyone can adopt that person is deluded. Many factors come into play durring the course of adoption. But these are obstacles to overcome, not impasses.

North American liberation theologian Bryan P. Stone provides an important contribution to an understanding of Christian ministry in his book COMPASSIONATE MINISTRY (1996). Stone argues for a reflexive understanding of the relationship between theory (theology) and practice (ministry). Through the exercise of creative imagination, Christians move from theological conviction to action in the world. Through the practice of spirituality (which aims for living the whole of life in response to God), Christians find resources for critically reflecting on their theology and ministries, thereby enriching the church's theological self-understanding as a community called to serve the needs of a suffering world. Fundamental to Stone's argument is the conviction that "what we do shapes and determines what we think," and that "what we think and believe shapes and determines what we do" (p. 52). Theory and praxis are thus flip sides of the same coin of Christian ministry.

By elucidating the process of how theology informs ministry and how ministry may shape theology, Stone's commitment to standpoint epistemology surfaces. "Where we stand," he writes, "makes a difference in what see," "in the way we think," and "in what we hope for" (p. 5). Social location shapes perceptions and theological interpretations of reality. Given this epistemological perspective, Stone voices a concern. If experience shaped by social location becomes the sole determinative factor in shaping theology and practices of ministry, then Christian theology collapses into a "a mere rationalization of what we already do and where we already stand" (p. 5).

Stone's proposal for overcoming this problem is perhaps the most challenging aspect of the book. This is the invitation to make a concrete commitment to the poor, the suffering, the marginalized, the victimized, and the oppressed. Making this move entails two consequences. In the first place, it means taking the "view from below" by listening to the poor and the powerless and by shaping the practices of ministry in solidarity with their needs (p. 13). Related to this is a second consequence: a preferential option for the poor and the marginalized in Christian ministry. It is the responsibility of Christians, Stone argues, "to adjust our wants in accordance with their needs, and to work together to place the full resources of the church and society at the disposal of relief, empowerment, justice, and community" (p. 16).

Stone provides theological warrants for this fundamentally liberationist conception of Christian ministry from the biblical doctrine of creation. This doctrine teaches an understanding of human beings as created in the image of God, a view which entails a creative and social conception of freedom as intrinsic to what it means to be human. Any person or social policy that compromises or deprives persons of this image-of-God freedom is a fundamental assault on their personhood and thus sinful. Going one step further, Stone draws on the biblical distinction between knowing God and knowing about God to argue that the exercise of compassion in the interest of justice - and not merely participation in the practices of piety - is the primary sign of friendship with God (p. 46). As Jesus says, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21 NRSV). "To know God," Stone concludes, "is to practice justice and to take up the cause and defense of the poor and the marginalized" (p. 49).

The real rub of a liberationist conception of Christian ministry and the compassion it must embody is its threat to the way many churches go about the daily business of being the church in the world. If one takes seriously Stone's conception of compassionate ministry as the attempt - aided by God's grace - to restore the imago Dei in persons by extending God's compassion to and living God's solidarity with the poor and the suffering in our society, then the priorities and budgets of most churches will literally be turned on its head. This is a revolutionary proposal. It prophetically calls most Christians and churches in our society to task for their failure to live the gospel. It also requires a fundamental reorientation and adjustment of ministry such that the wants of the relatively affluent are consistently subordinated to the needs of the weak, the vulnerable, the poor, and the victimized. And this means that the daily activities of ordained and lay ministers, the budgets of churches, and the agendas of vestries must actively embody the example of the One who came not to be served but to serve.

"Quite simply," Stone writes, "it is the effectiveness and faithfulness of ... ministry in carrying out God's justice and compassion that allows me to qualify that ministry as a Christian ministry" (p. 50). Some religious organizations, he notes, are "so busy being Christian" that they fail to extend God's compassion to the needy, while many so-called secular institutions that "never garnered one conversion to Christ, placed one Bible in a sack of groceries, or required a single homeless person to listen to a sermon before providing food and lodging were nonetheless counted as God's friends" (ibid.). After an honest examination of conscience and church practice in light of the overwhelming biblical mandate to serve the poor and the needy, it is difficult to simply shrug off Stone's criticisms.

If it is taken seriously, Bryan Stone's conception of compassionate ministry can serve as an impetus for Christians to examine their personal and ecclesial priorities and values to see if they conform to the moral preferences of God revealed in Jesus Christ and the scriptures. At a minimum, this requires ministers and their congregations to ask the following questions. "How is what we are doing or not doing affecting the poor, the suffering, the marginalized, the victimized, and the oppressed in our community?" "What can we do to more faithfully express the compassion of God in our ministries of inreach and outreach?"

This book is born out of Dr. Stone's work with a church community he helped to found in Texas. It shares with the reader some of the insights he gleaned, presented in such a way as to make them applicable to others hoping to do relevant ministry with the poor.

Stone does not pull any punches in his book. He questions whether it is possible to truly claim to be Christian when one does not enter into the suffering of the people. In short, he concludes that one cannot. Thus, the task of the church is to be one with those who suffer, one with those who are oppressed, and one with those who are disempowered. The purpose of this enterprise is to empower the poor, to make those who are told that they have no means by which to affect change realize that God struggles with them - that God's church struggles with them.

Stone's own Process and Liberation theological background shows through in this work, and some will find the book more, or less, appealing because of this. Nevertheless, however one may hold these influences, the book is particularly interesting because of the degree to which he ground his approach in his own Wesleyan Biblical tradition. He creates a bridge between these various schools of thought and offers a challenge to all concerned.

Some will take offence at Stone's strong assertions. But it is high time that we have books written from a more radical perspective that reclaim Scripture and authoritative teaching. The watered down hedgings of others are put to shame by Stone's fidelity to the Biblically grounded approach of his Wesleyan heritage.

This is a very challenging book! Good biblical foundations for a Christian commitment to the poor and for building community. Highly recommended!

At least, in that FASA has charted out the Battletech universe for a while. Why? If you look in the Field Manual series (go ahead, check out FedSuns and Lyrans, I'll wait...), you'll notice they include new technology. Most of this new tech was included in MaxTech, except for the Lyran new stuff.

Basically, this is, as they say, an official house rules book for Battletech. They add in a bevy of alternate rules, new accessories (Light Gauss Rifle, Medium-Range Missiles), and new systems (gasoline-powered AgroMechs, anyone?).

It's a pretty decent book. Most of the new equipment is experimental, and not that useful, but could be fun for short-term use. They also include a nifty Battle Value Calculator, and give ratings to each and every published 'Mech and vehicle as of printing. There are also nifty tables listing every single thing you could possibly put on a 'Mech you're building, which is also helpful.

If you play Battletech, this is a useful purchase. It's not a must-have, but I'd recommend it.

The book had tons of new rules for myself since I invent systems, weapons, and forces nightly (like multi-launch gauss rocket systems and anti-g) this started it all for me ( got before the BT MRules book).

A plethora of rules add on to expand your game. Take as much or as little of it on as you want. Admittedly, if you used every rule in it your turns might never end. highs: the rules for artillery make them conform more closely to real world. the expanded terrain is cool, and the modifiers for movement over 10 is included! Lows: the modifiers for the movement of the fastest units can make them quite literally impossible to hit.

I turned to this book based on my experience with
"Windows NT 4 Server Unleashed", which let me bring
an NT server up rather painlessly some years ago.
However, this book does not measure up. Not only are
there many places where it's obvious that a proofreader
was not used, but I found quite a few places where
text was simply cut-and-pasted from chapter to
chapter, resulting in duplication of whole paragraphs.
Look elsewhere if you're looking to understand the
differences between NT4 and W2K from the ground up.
If you're already experienced with Win2K, perhaps
you'll find this a good reference, but it's not for
beginners.

This book is intended to all expert Windows NT administrators only! If you're new to Windows Administration and you want to start from the ground up with Windows 2000, then this book is NOT for you. Although I praise the book for it's in-depth technical explanation of the great new features of Windows 2000, it doesn't have much of the details on how to actually use them from within the server or your application. This book discusses in detail the internal workings of Windows services and components, but not on practical applications of the new technologies available or will be made available (eg. ASP.NET on IIS 5.0). I'd say the author focused on the "why's" but less on the "how's".

I am a web developer and I wanted to learn all the technical processes and hardware requirements in setting up and administering Windows 2000 such as setting up a LAN, a name server to point my domain at and make it available on the web, or even just to connect my network to my ISP (like setting up a router, a hub, proxy server, etc.), but I was disappointed not to get even a single hint. I guess I failed to review the table of content beforehand.

Anyway, I still believe this book deserves a space on my shelf for future reference - when I am already an expert in Windows administration. And I will still remain a fan of SAMS Unleashed book series!

Windows 2000 Server Unleashed is a very productive book. This book covers a lot of aspects of Windows Server Advanced Server ranging from installing it into your server up to securing your server from hackers, crackers and script kiddies. The book also explains just about all you need to know so that you can successfully manage a Windows 2000 server. I like how the book explains all the different aspects of each part of the operating system. The information ranges from how the operating system actually works up to the different techniques that you can use to tweak the server. Another thing I liked about Windows 2000 Server Unleashed is that it tells you both the GUI way to do things and also the command line way. Tips to different parts of the operating system are scattered throughout the book and these tips are usually pretty useful. Overall the Windows 2000 Server Unleashed book is a very useful reference manual that should become a bible for any administrator who is thinking about a Windows 2000 network