Fans of popular writing duo Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child will not be disappointed with Mr. Child's first solo attempt. The futuristic theme park "Utopia" is attacked by terrorists who have infiltrated the intricate robotic, holographic, and computerized infrastructure of the park. Roller coaster riders' worst fears come true in the exciting opening chapter that draws the reader into this imaginary world. Mr. Child's inticate imagination comes alive in his detailed descriptions of Utopia's four worlds--Gaslight, Camelot, Callisto, and Boardwalk. You'll find yourself wanting to book a flight to Las Vegas to drive out into the desert and visit "Utopia" as it all seems so real. In a break-neck pace, Child takes us through a day of terror as the heroes of the story, Dr. Andrew Warne, engineer of the park's robotics, Angus Poole, an ex-military specialist visiting the park with his family, and "Wingnut", a robotic dog all race to save the park from destruction. If you enjoy "edge-of-your-seat" thrillers and sleepless nights, this book is for you. Readers who enjoyed this book should also try these other Preston/Child best sellers: The Cabinet of the Curiosities, Riptide, The Ice Limit, Thunderhead, The Relic, and Mount Dragon. Utopia certainly stands tall amongst its companions. I've already pre-ordered my copy of Preston/Child's "Still Life With Crows" (scheduled for release July 2003) simply based on the strengh of Utopia and these other novels. Enjoy!

If you are in the mood for a fast, fun piece of escapist fiction, then "Utopia" is the book for you. Start with a futuristic theme park on a scale with Westworld or Jurassic park, where historic realism mingles with next generation robotics and holography. Add a string of mysterious problems with park robots and rides. Then throw in a techno-savvy band of terrorists that threaten the lives of the park's 65,000 attendees. The result is an edge-of-your-seat thriller that has future movie written all over it.

Lincoln Child has produced an admirable solo effort in depicting the four fantastic worlds of Utopia and their systematic sabotage. He deftly mixes fast-paced action, a peek behind the scenes of a large theme park, a colorful cast of characters, and some comic relief through a lovable robot pet named Wingnut. Unlike many thrillers in the recent past, this one has a satisfying ending that left me smiling.

After seven great novels (and one in the can) with Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child decided to stretch his legs as a solo writer with "Utopia". As a long time fan of the two, I couldn't have been more impressed with the result. Like his collaborative efforts, "Utopia" offers a genuinely original story wrapped up in all kinds of neat technology. What makes "Utopia" shine, though, is the excellent back-story and the superb characters.

"Utopia" is set in an amusement park of the same name, but this isn't just any amusement park. It is an enormous glass dome in the middle of the Nevada desert. Inside, one can find astonishingly realistic recreations of Victorian England, a turn of the Century American seaside boardwalk, Camelot and a futuristic spaceport (and, Atlantis: Coming Soon!). Of course each area includes the most fantastic rides one can imagine, as well as restaurants, live shows, reasonably priced forty dollar t-shirts and...casinos. Moreover, Utopia is the owner of hundreds of patents relating to holograms , robotics and computing.

As one might imagine, all of this money and technology makes for a tempting target, and right on cue, John Doe appears to insert chaos into this little piece of paradise. At the same time, Andrew Warne, the creator of the park's robots, arrives to troubleshoot some strange problems that have been occurring (with daughter in tow). As mayhem breaks loose in the park, Warne struggles to decipher Doe's plan, and stop him before it's too late.

The story is unlike anything I have ever encountered before; a rare unique effort in a world of rehashed ideas. But it was the characters that impressed me the most. In addition to capturing their current concerns and fears beautifully, Child is constantly dropping little hints about their pasts: where they came from, what they do, who they love, etc. At the same time, he never let's himself get distracted; he doesn't diverge from the story, but rather inserts little asides to flesh out the characters without delving into reams of details. He is particularly successful with John Doe in this regard, and the result is a compelling, but mysterious character.

"Utopia" is a fast paced thriller with a lot of heart. Wrapped in a high-tech wonderland, there are characters with believable, rich lives. The pacing, structure and use of language are all likewise excellent. I have to admit, having been a long time fan of Child's joint work, I was concerned about his decision to go solo. I needn't have been, as "Utopia" is an excellent novel by any measure. Now I just have to wait eagerly for Preston's solo effort later this year!

Members of our book club recently read this book. One member liked that all the women met without regard for personal or political differences. Another member would love to be invited to one of the dinner meetings (...). The description (p. 144) of the priorities of the women senators impressed another member. "Not compelling, but intermittantly inspirational", commented yet another member. One member wished that the biographies for each senator were compiled in one chapter rather than the current "bits-and-pieces" format. In addition, she would have appreciated the cover photos identified so that stories could've been matched to people. The final member was inspired to run for the school board. The afterword (in the latest addition) was a nice addition which showed the current dynamics of the Senate.

The Senate has long been characterized as the Old Boy's Club, a place where the political process is insulated from the pressures of cultural change. The nine women currently holding seats in the Senate have been, in very diverse ways, part of the winds of change that have swept through the American legislature. Nine and Counting chronicles the personal and political travails and triumphs of these extraordinary women. Though they come from very different backgrounds, they are consistently advocates for their constituents and have been important role models for women who are committed to public life. The book's narrative thrust is aided by skillful commentary from Catherine Whitley, interwoven with personal stories and comments from each of the Senators. The book is easy to read and steers away from explicitly political agendas or advocacy, instead focusing on the realities of women's lives and the importance of bringing diverse voices, male and female, Democrat and Republican, to the legislative process. As a young woman in politics, I found it fun and, in its own way, inspirational.

The nine extraordinary women of the United states Senate have collaborated with writer Catherine Whitney to present an informative and absorbing read. Following the lives of all of the women who've served, Nine & Counting intermingles the fascinating personal stories of each of the nine women currently holding office. This is the greatest number ever to serve at the same time. And that's the point. The women of the Senate want to inspire others to join them. The first woman Senator, the formidable Rebecca Felton of Georgia, was appointed as a token gesture, and allowed to serve only one day in 1922. And it was stunning to be reminded once again that women didn't have the right to vote until 1920. Political offcie for a woman was a rare accomplishment. Dedicated to the Girl Scout Organization, with all proceeds from the sale of the book going to them, Nine and Counting is a lot of fun to read. It was obviously written to inspire young women to emulate today's nine women Senators, to show them what courage and perseverance can accomplish. And that's exactly what it does. An entertaining, enjoyable read, it should become a lasting part of the historical record of this great nation.

This book is about George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party during the sixties.

This book is interesting because it shows who becomes a Nazi and what characteristics they have. Rockwell was once a McCarthyite fighting communism, but after reading some information about the Jewish influences on communism became a Nazi fighting "Jewish" communism. He also was not a believer in the ability of a person to become smarter by the environment they're put in, but thought there was racial differences to intelligence due to heredity and genetics. He also could not be manipulated by sentiment easily and did not like novels such as the Grapes of Wrath that allegedly played on people's emotions rather than use reason to get its point across. Rockwell was generally insensitive to what others thought of his views no matter how unpopular; he ended up sacrificing his financial security and family to "save the white race".

Rockwell and the American Nazi Party allied themselves with the Black Muslims during the sixties who were also anti-Jewish and racial supremacists and separatists. They were for each races' self-determination without being entangled with the destiny and culture of another race. Many Jews did not support separatism though; one black leader Stokely Carmicheal complained that his organization, SNCC, no longer received money from Jewish supporters once he began preaching black pride and separatism.

The book has a lot of amusing incongruities in the book such as the strange case of Jewish Nazis that worked and even lead a branch of ANP for awhile.

The most important idea in the book was the issue of free speech and how one group usually only wants to have free speech for itself and tries to get the other opposing groups to shut up through legal maneuvers. Free speech is hard to defend; usually the police, generally hostile and indifferent to Rockwell's cause, had to protect him from ensuing riots because of his speaking his inflammatory truth as he saw it. Freedom of speech was probably more prevalent back then; Rockwell was given a lot of opportunities to speak at various colleges. There wasn't a double standard on what blacks could say and what whites could say on racial issues; there were no hate speech laws or stultifying political correctness.

Rockwell used a lot of lowbrow Vaudeville style racial humor to get his point across to the lower classes. He did not solely want to go highbrow and speak to those who practice "tea party politics". He got his Vaudeville style from his father, who was a Vaudeville comedian, and ironically, a friend to many Jewish comedians.

Many of the men who joined up with Rockwell in the early days were military types and ex-convicts. Some were eccentric intellectuals. Some were successful in the work world, many were not. There wasn't much financial or sexual reward though so many left unless they were totally committed to the cause.

A weakness to the book is that the author does not refute many of Rockwell's claims such as the Jewish influence on communism, Jewish CIA employees giving away secrets to the enemy, racial inequality in civilizational standards, predominant Jewish influence on the media, and Martin Luther King's close ties with Jewish communists. Occasionally, he will refute Rockwell by bringing up the issue of whether Rockwell was psychologically sound or not or he shows that Rockwell's evidence for holocaust denial is weak and says he created it to make Nazis politically respectable again, but in general he remains objectively silent on whatever claims Rockwell makes.

Rockwell complained that he could not institute his ideas on society or be taken seriously because people were too comfortable and complacent. He and the Nazis were waiting for an economic collapse to strike and implement their violent revolution. They sought to organize people politically on terms of race instead of class, like communists try to do. But both are not so nice; they both believe in violent revolutions. Marxists are considered a bit more respectable though for some reason and have been allowed to teach at universities.

I waited until Simonelli's competing book came out before making this review. Schmaltz's book is much better, bigger, more interesting, and, although Schmaltz is no Rockwell fan, more balanced.

This is relatively unbiased biography of Rockwell's fearless attempts to gain power, exploits to gain publicity, stormtroopers, lieutenants, management difficulties, assassination, and the methods his enemies used against him.

This book takes you inside the American Nazi Party HQ with details on the inside power struggles and the abject poverty in which Rockwell and his followers lived. It also provides many interesting stories of the confrontations of with the police, hostile crowds, and college audiences. Also of interest is the illegal methods the FBI used against Rockwell and the attempts of the Jewish groups to keep the news media from reporting about Rockwell.

This fascinating book is one you'll finish. Its only weak spot is that it doesn't tell why Rockwell believed what he did. Schmaltz apparently left that for Rockwell to tell in his own book "White Power," which is still available.

This work presents Commander Rockwell as a real person, warts and all. It is the most complete volume I have ever seen about the White Power movement of the 1960s. It is for the most part unbiased and presents most of this thrilling saga without the left wing hand wringing that usually goes along with a work on this subject. My complaints are few: More pictures are needed for a book like this. There is a heavy reliance upon Rockwell's book,"This Time The World" and some of it is not correctly rendered in "Hate". There is not enough emphasis on the last 2 years of Rockwell's life which were probably the most important ones. I can still say that I highly recomend this book to anyone interested in the subject.

I've read, I suppose, 500 books and articles about Abraham Lincoln, but Allen Guelzo's Redeemer President is by far the best on the subject of the beliefs that animated the 16th President. Lincoln's ideas on politics, the economy and social relations -- and especially on religion -- are clearly (but not too simply) described, and Guelzo shows how these developed over time and influenced Lincoln's actions. The book is most satisfying because it presents a convincing portrait of Lincoln as he understood himself, and so makes him less enigmatic -- but no less complex -- than he is usually shown.

Gulezo, in his book, decides to concentrate on the intellectual and religious development of our sixteenth president. Since Gulezo readily admits that religion did not play a very important role in Lincoln's actions, I am not sure why he chose to highlight this area. With this criticism aside, Gulezo writes a highly readable and absorbing narrative of Lincoln's life. Like all good historians, Gulezo focuses his narrative without forcing opinions on the reader. After reading the book, it is abundantly clear that Lincoln remained a Whig moderate on the slavery issue. Gulezo correctly and intelligently seals the continuum between his Whiggish beliefs in the American System and his views toward slavery. He is not the phlegmatic opportunist of Hofstader nor the evil racist rumored but denied by Kearns-Goodwin and Spielberg. The most valid criticism of Lincoln, phrasing it as Barry Goldwater might, may be his moderation instead of his extremism in the pursuit of virtue; maybe it is a sin. In summary, it would be difficult for me to conceive of a better writen biography of Lincoln. After finishing this book, I was left with a much better understanding of this president.

Thousands of books have been written about Abraham Lincoln. These books have ranged from general biographies, multi-volume biographies, examinations of his political career, his presidency, and his views on slavery. Allen Guelzo, in this excellent book, gives us an ideological look at the 16th president. Most historians have ignored Lincoln as a philosophical thinker and Guelzo tries to open up this aspect of Lincoln's character and thought. Examining Lincoln's moral and religious beliefs and how they evolved, Guelzo portrays Lincoln, not as a religious skeptic or as a Christian Redeemer as other biographers have, but as a seeker. Throughout his life, according to Guelzo, Lincoln is looking for a religious structure that he can believe in, but never finds one that meets his needs. Lincoln continues to sense a feeling of inadequacy as the beliefs from his predestinarian Calvinist background give him a sense that he was not one of the elect. This predestinarian background also makes Lincoln feel that, in Lincoln's words, "events have controlled me." During the Civil War, it is this sense of inevitability and predetermination that guides Lincoln in many of his anti-slavery and reconstruction policies. Lincoln sees himself as a tool in bringing about God's will, even though he doubts that he will achieve salvation.

The University of Chicago Spanish-English Dictionary is perhaps the only tool the advanced student of Spanish needs. It contains useful tables of conjugations for regular and irregular verbs as well as verbs with orthographic changes. It is packed with cultural information to help you manage the great diversity inherent in the Spanish language. A wealth of modern terminology useful in business and technology is included. There are tables of Spanish and English idioms to help the reader gain a more profound understanding of written text and the writer to express himself more authentically. The dictionary is easy to use and wonderfully laid out. I can't say enough good things about this dictionary. It's a must have!

I have this dictionary and also find it has the words I need to look up most times.For its size it has a lot of entries so is useful to carry around.The short history of the Spanish language is for me most interesting and the list of idioms very useful. I would thoroughly recommend this dictionary for everyday usage.

This is the best Spanish Dictionary I have ever used. I own four of them and I find this to be the best. 1.The Short history of the language is fantastic. It really explains some things beginner student will want to know. 2. The verb conjugations are necessary. If a dictionary doesn't have this, don't buy it. 3. It uses standard phonetic dictation. I reccomend all students of any language learn how to use the phonetic symbols. They will tell you how to speak the word very clearly. 4. The grammer section is good and brief, more than I would expect from a dictionary. 5. It explains regional differences. This is a must for Spanish since 22 countries speak it and there are regional differences between the regions. 6. It conveys shades of meaning quite well. The English to Spanish translation is very good. 7. The idiom table is very good. I used this dictionary in Mexico, and is the only spanish book I wouldn't be caught dead without while I was down there.

One of Follett's best, Lie Down with Lions is a fast-paced, intriguing read. While I feel he will never touch Eye of the Needle, Pillars of the Earth or The Man from St. Petersburg (hence, the four-star rating), Lie Down with Lions showcases Follett's best skills virtually on every page. If you have never read Follett, start with one of the aforementioned books. They are his best (especially "...Needle" and "Pillars...") and will make you appreciate some of the finer nuances in Lie Down with Lions. My only gripe (I WON'T ruin the plot) is that the last 80 pages were a little too detail-oriented giving the effect of being just a TAD too slow-paced. Only a tad though. Certainly not enough to keep anyone from reading this fine novel. But it is somewhat like exiting the freeway at 70mph and suddenly having to do 55mph. 55mph is still quite fast for the surface streets, but 70mph was better (for the freeway, of course)! Take this book on vacation. Read it over a lazy three-day weekend. Use it as a wonderful escape during your lunch hour. Just don't do what I did: clocked in late from lunch everyday! Enjoy!

Follett's common theme of creating vivid characters and aiming them on a collision course takes you to Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. Lie Down with Lions moves fast and has one of the most intense sexual scenes I have ever read. Like a metaphor for the book as a whole, the same characters are soon on an icy trek over the Himalyas.

Like his lovers, the book is hot and cold. The plot is thin and implausible. The bad guys are two dimensional. But Follett's descriptive powers are in good form. This is a great book for a boring trans-continental flight.

Ken Follett's writing talent really overdoes itself in Lie Down With Lions. He somehow adds the violence of a war, the heat between two nemesis' and a woman, romance, and even a little bit to laugh at, into one book. Lie Down With Lions is definitely one of the best books I have ever read. Based mainly on Ellis Thaler, the American, Jean-Pierre, the frenchman, and Jane Lambert, the beautiful English woman whom they have both fallen for, Lie Down With Lions takes you from the terrorism and lies of Paris, to the violent war in Afghanistan. Ellis lies to Jane about what he does for a living, and she ends up marrying Jean-Pierre and leaving with him to Afghanistan. But after some intriguing words from his ex-wife, Ellis is determined to get her back. Lie Down With Lions is romantic adventure and twisting suspense at their best, and I highly recommend it to anyone. This book guarantees to keep you on the edge of your seat, and if not, its because it made you fall off.

This is an invaluable book for using an invaluable library module (if you do CGI coding). There is absolutely no substitute for CGI.pm. However, this book is very frustrating to use because the Reference Guide section is organized into different weird categories instead of just listing all the functions in CGI.pm in alphabetical order (like in Perl books, for example). Therefore the reader has to try to figure out what category a function in the module belongs in in order to look it up. Very very aggravating! In fact I trained a group of developers in using CGI.pm and many of them avoided using it because it takes so long to find what you're looking for in the reference section of the book. I am hoping for a new edition of the book SOON with this problem corrected. The material is invaluable, but I have to give three stars because of poor organization.

If you write CGI scripts in perl and are not taking advantage of cgi.pm, then you're doing things the hard way. Written to take the tedium out of scripting, the module allows you to use easy to remember shortcuts to code some of the more difficult things in perl. Cookie setting and retrival is a snap, as is allowing users to upload files, and more. For advanced programmers, the object oriented method is supported and also very easy to use.

The book is easy to follow and contains some illustrative examples that are also available on a companion website. My one and only complaint is the price of the book: it seems a little steep given that most of the material in there is available on the web in one form or another for free. If you don't want to take the time printing and compiling, then this is an excellent manual that will soon sport bookmarks and highlights throughout.

I rated this book as 5 stars, not because I can't see how it could be improved, but because the product it documents is so valuable, and the book is necessary to get full value from CGI.pm.

While the book's content mostly duplicates information which can be found at the CGI.pm web site, and/or in the CGI.pm source code, it does present it in a much more convenient manner, and seems to contain additional, valuable information.

I've used this book for a couple of months now, and wish to refute some of the criticism by other reviewers.

The example font is much less bold than the text, but I use reading glasses, and wouldn't even have noticed the lighter font, if it hadn't been pointed out to me in other reviews. Perhaps it doesn't photocopy well?

The reference section is a little confusing since it contains some subsections which, in turn, contain alphabetic organization, rather than being strictly alphabetic throughout. The book has a decent index, however, so this isn't a real problem. Besides the organization is beginning to make sense.

The book is not quite up-to-date with the product it documents, but publishing a book does have some turn around time after all. My boss and I could use another copy, we'll probably get one as soon as the next edition is available.

War Comes To Willy Freeman is a wonderful book if you like learning about the American Revolution. This book takes place in New York. Willy Freeman is the main character. Her father goes to fight the awful British. After reading this book I wouldn't want my dad going to war. Her mother was taken by the British and Willy doesn't know where she is. This book tells about the hardships Willy Freeman has to go through. The reason I didn't give this book 5 stars, was because I wanted to know what happened afterwards. I recommened this book to people who like adventure.

WAR COMES TO WILLY FREEMAN is a very interesting and detailed book.If you want to learn about the Revolutonary War, this is your book.Willy Freeman is having hardships in her small town of Grotown. Her dad (a patriot)has fought in the bloody battle which took place at Fort Griswalt.Her mom has been taken away by the British as a prisoner.Now Willy is all alone.This book doesn't just keep you on the edge of your seat, it practicly makes you fall off of your seat. I think this book is a 5* book.I higly recommend this book to any one who likes action and adventure. You should read it!

War comes to Willy freeman
Willy Freeman it is a great bookit has a lot of actionand alot of shocking parts and exciment. Willy is a boy name but Willy is a girl. There was a war going on in Gorton. Willy wasin it with her dad and her dad got killed. And the british took her mom dut you have to read it to find outthe rest. And Willy is a strong person and brave to fight her battles. How dose Willy find her mom? Read the book it will give you some more infomation about the war.

Boom! The water sounded as it crashed up against the boat. Splash! Was the sound made when Birdseye, Daniel's best friend, fell into the water and drowned. These were some of the things that I could reflect on and think about as I sat upon my bed or in one of my classes. Jump Ship to Freedom is what I would call a four-star book. There was so much action and excitement! I just loved it. This book was written by James Lincoln and Christopher Collier. A company known as Collier& Collier.

The genre of this book is historical fiction. It is about a 14 year old boy slave named Daniel who stole his dead father's soldier's notes back from his master. He is going to be sold in the West Indies for doing so. His master takes him on a ship to sell him but they encounter many problems and end up going to New York. Daniel runs away from his master and meets two of his father's friends who decide to take him to Philadelphia with them. One of the men dies and Daniel ends up going to Philadelphia alone to keep a promise that he made to a now dead man. This is just a summary of a great book that I think everyone should read.

The main character of the book was Daniel. He reminds me of my mom because he keeps promises, knows what he has to do, and is brave. I could really understand how Daniel feels because of how alike my mother and he are. I learned from this book that to get where you want to go there will always be a struggle.

In this book I could see everything so clearly, I felt like I was there standing over everyone and everything. Watching and listening like some kind of U.S.A. spy. I liked everything about this book! I could feel Daniel's pain when his master slapped him on his face and his sadness when Mr. Fatherscreft died on their long trip to Philadelphia. Reading this book was great! I enjoyed reading the way that the characters talked and being able to know exactly how and what Daniel thought and felt about what was happening to him at the young age of 14. I liked meeting and encountering many different people and personalities. I have never read a book that I have felt so alive and there in other than this one.

The book Jump Ship to Freedom is about an African-American boy named Daniel Arabus who goes on a mission to buy himself and his mother freedom from the Ivers family. Daniel's dead father earned enough soldiers notes in the Revolutionary War to buy them free, but Mrs. Ivers took the notes from their family! After Daniel steals them back, he is sent on the ship Junius Brutus to be sold as a slave. The rest of the book is about how Daniel manages to give a message to his state's Congress representative and buy himself free. I enjoyed this book because it had many adventures, showed the character's feelings and what things were like in the time when the story took place. I recommend for you to read Jump Ship to Freedom. If you do read it, I hope you like the book as much as I did!

"Help there is a fire!" Mrs. Ivers said. Daniel Arabus sneeks into Mrs. Ivers room and steels his fathers soldiers notes. Daniel Arabus is a black slave boy who wants to buy his mom and his freedom. When Mr. Ivers takes Daniel on the Junius Brutus(Captian Ivers' boat)he has to get to New York to give his fathers soldiers notes to Mr. Johnson so he can but his family free. The problem is he is a fugitive slave and doesn't know if the notes are worth anything. This book is probably the best book I have ever read. It is a good book because Daniel is clever enough to even get the notes. The book just wows me so much I can't explain it! I hope that James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier keep writing amazing books like Jump Ship to Freedom.

Jeff Johnston, a young historical researcher doing work for a Civil War novelist, Broun, meets Annie, an emotionally disturbed young woman having vivid and terrifying dreams of events she does not know of or recognise. When she tells him of her dreams, he realises, and explains to her, that she is dreaming events from General Lee's life during the Civil War. He helps her to escape from her manipulative psychiatirst (who specialises in dream/sleep theory), and the both of them end up in Fredericksburg, ostensibly for research purposes, but in truth, for Annie to get to the bottom of her dreams.

Ms Willis writes with the same style of doom and trapped frustration that she so excels at, and certainly themes of free will figure greatly in her works. However, the material never quite seemed to be able to bear the weight of this treatment (read her short story, "Fire Watch" for an excellent example of that style) and, instead, sinks beneath it.

The novel tries to draw a parallel between the events of the Civil War and General Lee's life and the choices in Annie's own life. Central to the lives of both is the theme of duty, and how this drives each towards his / her own personal tragedy.

However, for this to work, we need to understand why the characters feel as driven as they do to ultimately sacrifice their lives. Unfortunately, I never quite understood the characters' motivations enough to be entirely convinced or moved by their plights.

I have read Willis' other works and liked some of them, so I tried to understand why I could not warm up to this one.

Ultimately, I felt that the novel frequently resorted to trite and clumsy plot devices to set up events. One particular flaw I felt was the technique used of foreshadowing events in the real world with events in Broun's novel. This never quite works, and feels clumsy and tacked on.

For example, Jeff, falling in love with Annie at first sight and going through hell for this woman he knows almost next to nothing about is foreshadowed with Jeff debating the merits of the character in the novel falling in love with a young nurse at first sight. Unfortunately, having Jeff TELL US that love at first sight is perfectly believable does not leave us convinced that his own act of falling in love at first sight is believable.

The rest of the characters were given much of the same treatment with a lot of TELLING that they must-be-compelled to act in a certain way but never giving us the insight into WHY. Ultimately, this left me feeling impatient and unconvinced about their plights, and feeling mightily unsympathetic. Since this was central to how well the novel worked, that their suffering came across as hollow to me pretty much eviscerated the core of the novel.

My Personal Rating Scale:
5 stars: Engaging, well-written, highly entertaining or informative, thought provoking, pushes the envelope in one or more ways, a classic.
4 stars: Engaging, well-written, highly entertaining or informative. Book that delivers well in terms of its specific genre or type, but does not do more than that.
3 stars: Competent. Does what it sets out to do competently, either on its own terms on within the genre, but is nothing special. May be clichéd but is still entertaining.
2 stars: Fails to deliver in various respects. Significantly clichéd. Writing is poor or pedestrian. Failed to hold my attention.
1 star: Abysmal. Fails in all respects.

Yes, this was Connie Willis' first book and though it could have been improved, she shows in this writing great things yet to come in her next novels.

At first, I did not "get" this book. I thought it had little characterization and had a poorly developed plot. I wanted to yell, "so what!"

But then! I discovered it is not about the dreams of Annie and her life, it is about the life of Robert E. Lee and his dreams. Re-reading it, I discovered that the characterization of him and those around him are fully fleshed out, the Civil War told in extreme accuracy. This is what the book is about. His dreams are tied into the present day dreams of Annie who is somewhat linked to Lee's daughter, Annie, and then the whole scenario is linked then Lincoln himself. Confusing? Maybe, but good reading.

Complicated time travel, if you want to call it that, but a pleasurable book and the ending gives it a really Twilight Zonish feel.

I've enjoyed everything by Connie Willis that I've ever read . . . so how did I miss ever reading her first novel? I dunno, but I'm glad I noticed. This is a beautifully conceived, quietly lyrical story of love and loyalty. Jeff Johnston is a young Civil War researcher working for an historical novelist, who meets Annie, who has been having Robert E. Lee's dreams (so the general can get some rest), and he becomes her protector and facilitator. And he eventually finds out just how he himself figures in her dreams. The anxiety and tension build so slowly, you won't notice at first, but by the time you're three-quarters through the book, you won't be able to put it down, not for a minute. And the tragic closing line is the most literally stunning I've ever read. Her grasp of the relevant minutiae of the War is flawless, too. There's a reason Connie has won six Hugos and six Nebulas, as well as the Campbell Award for this very book.