When 'The Star King' waltzed away with the Hugo Award in 1963, John Holbrook Vance (aka Ellery Queen) was already a noted science fiction author. However, this first in the Demon Prince series was his first award. And for me and many others, their first exposure great science fiction. Vance has always been a world creator, and in this series he let his imagination run uncheck, creating world's, galactic topologies, entire cultures and countless creatures to go with them. This was a whole order more amazing than Flash Gordon and Superman, and in short order, I was a sci-fi junkie of the first order.

Forty years later, this first tale of Kirth Gerson and his quest for revenge on the five slavers that destroyed his people is still just as readable. Gerson's quest has led him to Smade's Tavern out in The Beyond. Gerson witnesses a killing that leaves him with the coordinates of an unclaimed world that is so beautiful that Attel Malagate (The Woe) is determined to have it. In a series of adventures and accidents, Gerson manages to engineer a confrontation with Malagate's henchmen and finally the Star King himself. I don't want to give away much of the plot because it's charm is in the reading, but expect many twists and turns as threads unexpectedly come together.

Gerson is a complex character. Formed by his grandfather's compulsive need for revenge, the hunter/killer has never questioned his reason for being. Now as the possibility for attaining one of his goals draws near, Gerson begins to realize that there may be life after vengeance. He is not completely comfortable with his own humanity, and this will increase in importance as the series develops. In any case, Gerson is not a pure hero. In some ways, he is as evil as those he hunts. Yet his strong, no nonsense approach to the hunt and a self-consistent set of ethics makes him an extremely attractive main character

Vance isn't happy to provide the reader with just a compelling plot and set of good characters. He likes to fill in all the details of the universe in which his story unfolds. Each chapter has its set of quotes, short essays, planetology reports and other tidbits that gradually build up the context of the books until it has a life of its own. In these jaded times we would no doubt find some of his ideas a bit naïve, but most are still every bit as good a literary device as they were forty years ago.

Vance is one of the few writers who does not bring out a sequel because it is a year later. Instead he waits until the story is ready, making a series that is consistently delightful. This is a piece of science fiction history as well as a pure pleasure to ingest. If you like hard science fiction so finely grained that it reads like fantasy 'The Star King' is something you will come to relish and reread.

Kirth Gersen (sometimes called Keith Gersen) is a formidable bounty hunter and occasional secret agent/enforcer for an interstellar law agency. Gersen, however, has his own personal agenda: to seek out and kill the 5 super-criminals (known as the 5 Demon Princes) responsible for the raid on his home planet that left everyone but him and his grandfather dead or enslaved.

To that end, Gersen has been transformed by his grandfather into the ultimate instrument of vengeance. As his grandfather told him following the raid:

"Many fine things your father had planned for you: learning and useful work; a life of satisfaction and peace. All this is gone now, do you understand? But the learning you shall have - the use of your hands and mind. And useful work: the elimination of evil men. What work is more useful than this? Finally, I cannot give you peace, but I promise you ample satisfaction, for I shall teach you to crave the blood of these men more than the flesh of a woman."

True to his word, the old man forges his grandson into an unstoppable instrument of vengeance. In fact, Gersen often seems more a force a nature than a human being, more machine than man in his single-minded quest for revenge. His fighting prowess and physical abilities are without peer; likewise, his mind is sharp and focused.

In Gersen, Vance has created a hero in the classic mold: strong, skilled, intrepid and resourceful. Yet, he must be all of this and more as he hunts down the first Demon Prince, a member of an alien race known as "the Star Kings". The setting for all of this is the "Gaean Reach", which encompasses those areas of interstellar space to which man has gone. Gersen's agenda, however, takes him far beyond this realm into an area where man has seldom, if ever set foot.

If, as was all too possible during the years when this series was mostly out of print, you happened to have started at the wrong end of Kirth Gersen's quest for vengeance on the Demon Princes, the 5 crime lords responsible for the raid on Mount Pleasant that left all but Kirth and his grandfather dead or enslaved, you might have wondered how his quest could have taken him so long, since in the later stages he had amassed impressive resources and connections in gathering information.

Well, he didn't start out that way. (Obviously not, since he and his grandfather lost everything and everyone they loved in the raid.)

This book doesn't begin with the raid itself, or even with Gersen's grandfather shaping him as a tool for revenge (although Gersen's brooding on his memories serves to provide us with both). This phase of his lifelong hunt begins at Smade's Planet, owned and operated as the private preserve of Smade himself. (Practically speaking, it's a worthless hunk of uninhabited real estate, except for the area around Smade's Tavern itself, that legendary neutral ground where troublemakers are thrown into the sea - an advantage to running one's own personal planet, in this universe where interstellar law is nonexistent, certainly as far as the Beyond is concerned.) Gersen, making a precarious living as a bounty hunter while pursuing his private quest, meets Teehalt, a professional explorer who talks too much when he gets drunk. Teehalt has just found a world so beautiful that he can't bear to turn it over to his employer - Attel Malagate. Since Gersen has only just peeled back the layers insulating the Demon Princes from the Mount Pleasant raid, destiny seems to have presented him with his first target...

Malagate is unlike the other Demon Princes in several ways. The Woe is the only nonhuman among them, being a Star King - that ultra-competitive species who only leave their planet if they can pass for human, and have a chance to beat humans at their own game. He alone is neither flamboyant nor given to flights of ego - which, coupled with his alien mindset, don't ease Gersen's task of hunting him down. We see little of the terrible crimes Malagate has perpetrated, apart those affecting individuals such as Gersen himself.

Gersen's quest takes place in a universe wherein humans have had starflight for centuries - how many isn't at first apparent, but the reader learns from a passing weights-and-measures quotation that the calendar referenced throughout the book treats 2000 AD as its zero-point. Most chapters begin with a quote from some work within this universe - a Cosmopolis interview with Smade about his planet, for example. We learn that there is no interstellar government - and in the Beyond, the only large organization is the Deweaseling Corps, who exist to lynch all 'weasels' - agents of the Interworld Police Coordination Company (IPCC). All in all, Vance does an excellent job of creating a densely textured civilization - so much so that if the reader encounters an unfamiliar term, the best policy is to keep reading until Vance makes its meaning clear shortly thereafter (either from context or another helpful chapter heading).

I had just recently heard about this series from a link, the art immeadiatly caught my eye as being fantastic. After ogling over the web page for a while, I finally picked up a copy, and let me tell all of you out there, this is the finest american comic book out there (aside from anything by Phil Foglio). The story is fun and enjoyable, the shifting between novel and comic is very original and interesting, and the art... the art is the best art I've seen in a comic (okay, so that's a tad bit of an exageration) but it great nontheless. I reccomend this book to anyone and everyone, this should be required reading! Boy oh boy, this series suddenly just jumped me and I don't regret a thing.

An amazing story about thouroughly interesting characters. It becomes obvious immediatly that M'oak's claim that he has been building this world & it's history mentaly for years must be true. This is a story from a mind that has very few creative limitations. No man could live long enough to tell the tale that I believe dwells in Mark Oakley (M'oak)'s mind. Regardless, I still wish that I could be here to hear it all. The artwork fits the tale perfectly, which is a rare thing. Not since "The Adventures Of Captain Jack," by MIKE KAZALEH went out of print have I read such an entertaining book. Not since Gaiman's "Sandman" have I read one so thought-provoking. Truly worthy of the term "Graphic Storytelling."

Oakley takes a unique approach to comic book-ing: He tells much of the story through sparsely illustrated pages of prose -- allowing him to show-off his skills as a word-smith and his control of character depth, motivation and development. But don't think *T&K* is lacking in action. On the contrary: Oakley's background in animation comes forwrd here, superbly! His action sequences are ploted and exicuted like a cross between *The Mask of Zoro* and Jackie Chan. There's not a simple, straight-forward sword fight to be found.

This is my favorite book. I could read it over and over again and never get tired of it. It has an excellent point of view from the animal and great scifi entertainment. If you love wild cats especially cheetahs and you like Egypt and it's history and you're into scifi I suggest you read Tomorrow's Sphinx.

I really enjoyed this book. The auther's wrighting style grabbs you in the first few pages so you can't put it down until the amazing conclusion. This is a totally worth-wile read.

Once I picked up this book, I could hardly but it down. This book was very emotional for me. It was the best book I've read for a long time. How Cleare Bell put everything together was total genius. Kechabo is by far one of my favorite charictors ever. I suggest this book to everyone that can get their paws on it. This book encouraged me to write a story on my own and I hope one day to be a great author. Just like Cleare Bell.

My only complaint with this book is that it's obviously the lead in to a sequel. Well, the title does say Book 1, but I wish authors wouldn't use this ploy to sell more books. This story is strong enough to stand on its own. The characters are engrossing, especially TJ Meridian. How many novels do you read where the heroine starts out paralyzed? It's a very reaffirming story though to believe that you can find love even if you suffer from a terrible handicap. I think too many unknown relatives are popping up just to provide a story line, but the story itself is engaging. You'll like this book, but you'll have to be prepared to buy the sequel when it comes out to get the end of the story.

I found that the author's pulled you into the story from the very first chapter. The main characters are flawed people dealing with their everyday lives. This story shows that each person is indeed unique and that you should not judge others based on what your family is known for. The ending was not complete to me. I am hoping the reason for this is that another book is in the works. These characters can continue to keep me reading about them in other books. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to see love transform another human being into a happy person despite the difficulties.

Set in the vast open spaces of modern day Texas, True Colours revolves around the life of a small town veterinarian and the crippled daughter of the most hated man in Meridianville. The reader follows how these two very different people face several tough trials together, and through it all build a loving lasting relationship. The proud rich TJ Meridian draws the reader in as we watch her struggle with her inner demons and her attempts to clear her name in the town her father all but destroyed. With the help of gentle Dr. Mare Gillespie, who faces a family struggle of her own, TJ finds hope and possibly the miracle she needs to get rid of her inner demons forever. True Colours is the kind of book you want to read on a lazy afternoon, entertaining and satisfying at the same time. The characters of TJ and Mare stay with you long after the book is finished.

This book is fantastic. I don't often actually buy non-fiction because I usually don't plan to re-read it. This is a rare exception. Quinones is 1st & foremost a great storyteller. You'd hardly notice that it's all true if it weren't for the fact that these tales are simply too good to be fiction. Quinones has a knack for noticing the seemingly invisible. The best example being the tale of Chalino Sanchez (who graces the cover). How could someone who completely misses the U.S. radar of popular culture become a folk hero and single-handedly create a musical genre selling millions of copies of albums in the process & then having at least 1,500 songs written about him? Quinones manages to make it sound perfectly believable. If you're anything like me you'll be mesmerized by these essays.

"This beautifully written collection of essays is a wonder and a delight. . . . Quinones has succeeded in finding 'another Mexico'. Intimately tied to the United States, it is at times far from God, but as this splendid book shows, it is also in the midst of a transformation."-Wilson Quarterly

Quinones' reporting gives you the best of both worlds--the clear-eyed objectivity and perspective of an extremely knowledgeable news reporter, with a feature writer's ability to dig into revealing street-level stories. Quinones belongs to the rare breed of reporter who can tell a compelling human-interest story without getting all weepy and sentimental about the people he's profiling. And he can keep a popular perspective while writing about the people pulling the levers of power, never mimicking their bureaucratic jargon or relying too much on dubious statistics. If everyone could combine the best qualities of news and feature reporting the way Quinones does, American journalism would be in much better shape.

The only time I sense him getting too close to a source is in his "Popsicle Kings of Tocumbo" where he misses the obvious parallels between the ice-cream vendors and Amway salesmen. (Maybe Amway would be more successful if it followed the popsicle kings' example and actually sold products people wanted at reasonable prices.) On the whole, however, he does a fantastic job, doing some especially intriguing fact-finding in the "Lynching In Huejutla" chapter.

Marty Appel bring us a signficant book about 19th century baseball, of which not enough is written. This book is also one of 27 that The Easton Press has chosen in its deluxe library of the 27 top baseball books. This books belongs. Many of baseball's present day problems can be traced back to the late 1880's when both players and owners rangled over such concerns as high salaries and the reserve clause. This is also the story of Cap Anson of the Chicago White Stockings getting fed up and ridding himself of the alcohol abusers on the team, Kelly included. Consumption of alcohol by ballplayers was considered to be a sign of manliness (how sad) and many of the players of this time died young and poor. We don't have many books available on 19th century baseball worth your time, but Slide, Kelly, Slide and a few others such as Where They Ain't (Willie Keeler and the Baltimore Orioles) and A Clever Base-Ballist (John Montgomery Ward), are exceptions. Appel's book will not disappoint you.

See a review in www.Sportsbookfile.com, Issue

Winner of the 1996 Casey Award, from Spitball Literary Magazine, as the best baseball book of the year.

I'm a college student and I work in a Science Center with several snakes from Texas; I'm always interested in learing more about snakes in the world. This book is amazing! It covers all topics related to snake's evolution, envirnoment, size and shape, scales, anatomy and movement, reproduction, classification of snakes, among other contents! With a gallery of beautiful and large pictures of these fenomenal creatures; the only problem is that it covers only 61 species that were chosen to be in the gallery to show readers the diversity of size, color, shape, and behavior, that is excellent! But I would've liked to see more variety of snakes. As a conclusion, this book is a MUST for people interested in learning more about snakes.

This book probably the BEST snake book I owned. Large of photo (I mean: really BIG photo!!, double pages). This book give you a very comprehensive section about the anatomy, how they hunt, habitats,and senses ...
It written in a very short informative way ....
I really love this book !! This book is "A MUST" for all snake lovers ...

This is a wonderful book, full of captivating pictures and beautifully written explanatory chapters. A serpent enthusiast myself, I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. Its excellent visuals guide you through the first few chapters which discuss several aspects of snakes themselves. The majority of the rest of the book looks at many different types of snakes..a page or two devoted to a certain individual species. I was impressed at the variety it covered, from boas to pythons to colubreds to venomous species. I applaud the author...this book will entertain beginners to professionals. This is a must for anyone who is interested in these amazing legless creatures.
--Lauren

"I am Lord Weldon! __I__ am Lord of Weldon Castle!!"

I must have been about 7 or 8 when I read those words, spoken by a 9 year old whose father was believed dead, to his evil uncle. The boy's mother stood by silently.

As a child, I sympathized with him.
As a female, I felt offended. I didn't understand why the little boy believed he outranked his fully grown adult mother in power and prestige.

As an adult with some historical perspective, it makes more sense.

This was a great story, about family love and adventure and history, and I will always be grateful to Clyde Bulla for awakening the earliest feelings of feminism.

I read this out loud to my 4-year-old son, who loves anything involving King Arthur, and he was captivated. His only disappointment was that there is no book to follow with more tales of the young Shan and his adventures. I highly recommend this as well as other historical fiction by Bulla. I have also read "Pocahontas and the Strangers" to my son, and he loved that as well.

Once your child has moved beyond easy phonetic readers, you'll want to find interesting books with large print that aren't too difficult or overwhelming for the new reader. Bulla's "The Sword in the Tree" fits this description perfectly.

Try reading the first chapter to your young reader to spark his interest. Then read the next chapter or two aloud together so he/she becomes familiar with the words and flow. Then sit back and listen as your child finishes reading this exciting book about greed, courage, and chivalry.

Another good book from Susan King. Her stories are so different from your average historical romance. Her writing is intelligent, touching and humorous. She brings the characters together constantly throughout the book...which is what we all want. Ms. King's lead male characters are always the right blend of strength, beauty, intelligence and vulnerability. I enjoy her work right along with Madeline Hunter. They're both 2 of the best writers in the business today.

Meg was beautiful and defiant, Dougal was strong and dashing, Iain was sweet and innocent, Sir Erik was dastardly and plotting...all combining to make the PERFECT historical romance read. This is the best read of the summer! It made me dream of going to the beach to find my own kelpie/silkie.

I could not wait for this trilogy to come out, and I am not disappointed!!! TAMING THE HEIRESS is a wonderful story!! It's full of charm and romance, passionate and charming, with great touches of humor, mixing Celtic legends with a nineteenth century setting. I loved it, as I have loved all of Ms. King's other books, which are medievals. Once again she treats us to her warm poetic writing style, and she draws us into a wonderful world where the characters are so real you wish they were your own family. Great start for a great Victorian trilogy! If you love Scotland and nineteenth century romances, or if you love Sootland for its legends and its magic--you will love this story.

Barbara Maher is an award-winning cookbook author who was born in Germany and brought up in England. She is fluent in German, French and Italian which allows her to conduct extensive research in a wide range of international cookbooks dating back to the fifteenth century. This is an amazing cookbook because it also includes a wide variety of cakes that you might not have heard of in an English/American cookbook.

This book is a collection of the world's finest cakes. There are such divine cakes in this cookbook, you will be seduced by lavishness. Not only are there full-color pictures displaying a bakeryful of tempting tastes, there are more than 100 recipes for cakes and desserts for every occasion. If you are looking for a light, airy treat for an afternoon snack you might choose lacy Florentines.

If you are new to making some of the cakes, there are easy-to-follow photographic sequences that demonstrate every essential baking and decorating technique. Whether you want to know how to pipe rosettes or sugar-frost flowers, it is all explained in pictures.

You can find recipes for: Luxury Layer Cakes, Chocolate Cakes, Cheesecakes, Flans & Tarts, Meringues, Fruit & Nut Cakes, Pastries & Cookies, Wedding Cakes, Children's Party Cakes, Butter Cakes, Sponge Cakes, Nut & Seed Cakes.

There are easy-to-follow instructions for:

Icings & Other Finishes
Piping Methods
Decorating with Chocolate
Cake Decorations
Fruit Preparations
Fillings, Icings & Toppings

There is an entire section on key ingredients and equipment used in cake making. This is the section where you can see all the basic skills required for baking. Basic ingredients are pictured. There are also "enriching" ingredients. The "bakeware" section is helpful because at times you can read "Balmoral pan" and have no idea what that is. I had never seen one myself.

I liked the "variations" on the butter Cakes recipe. You can chose to make a simple butter cake or turn it into a chocolate marble pound cake, a mixed spice pound cake or a fresh apricot pound cake which actually looks the best with icing dripping all over it.

I had never thought of using green grapes to decorate a cake. It is such a fresh beautiful idea. How about fresh cherries, mint leaves and chocolate curls?

Some of the delicious recipes include:

Fruit & Spice Cakes - could make a beautiful Christmas Gift that would not be soon forgotten. Chocolate Eclairs, Buche de Noel and Italian Easter Cake look divine.

Delicious Yummy Cakes that you will definitely want to make!

Also look for these books by Barbara Maher:

Cakes
Traditional Cakes and Pastries
Tempting Cheesecakes
classic Cakes

You wonder how much information can reasonably be put into a slim little volume like this (and confidently entitled "Ultimate Cake"), but in fact, Barbara Maher's book does an estimable job of getting the reader acquainted with a wide variety of information--everything from good kitchen tools to have to chocolate-decoration techniques to "basic, enriching, and decorative" ingredients.

Part of the Dorling-Kindersley "Living" series, "Ultimate Cake" does a fine job of providing a wide overview of many different types of cakes, from basic yellow cakes to pound cakes to regional specialties like genoise, tortes made with nut flours, and more. After the first third of the book is devoted to technique, ingredients, and tools, the rest has yumilicious cake recipes ranging from the simple (Pound Cake) to the exotic (Piskota with Walnuts) to the just-plain-delicious (Hazelnut Macaroon Cake, Rum and Citrus Torte, Swiss Black Cherry Cake, Poppyseed and Chocolate Torte, Apricot and Pecan Tea Loaf, and Nectarine Pavlova, to name just a few).

As with all D-K books, the photography is a big part of the equation. Dave King's sumptuous, richly colored photographs go a long way towards supporting Maher's concise and clear text. Highly recommended as a fine, basic cake cookbook.

Thank you so much for this wonderful book. It has been such a pleasure to use. I love all the illustrations and how the book walks you through things you might not know. Every recipe I have made from this book has enticed all of my guests. I grew up in California and most of my relatives lived in Germany, so my parents used to send us all the time, and for those of you that are familar with european desserts, they are wonderful. So many of the recipes in this book come from the european countries. It brings back great memories of my relatives that were wonderful bakers... Thanks again Corina Synowicki