Hairy Pothead & the Marijuana Stone Review

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(More customer reviews)I enjoyed this extremely clever book immensely; it had me laughing out loud at times and I didn't want it to end. Written in the satiric tradition of Jonathan Swift and Paul Krassner, Larsen masterfully blends together the best elements from Harry Potter and The da Vinci Code with Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. Much more than just a hilarious, sidesplitting parody, this wondrous and brilliantly-devised tale teaches young people about the secret culture of cannabis and psychedelics. The delightful analogies between the hidden worlds of magic and cannabis, muggles and squares, are unusually creative and highly insightful. Filled with lots of unexpected twists and turns, this page turner had me savoring every last word. I can't wait for the sequel!

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Hairy Pothead thinks he is an ordinary boy - until he is rescued by a biker, gets a glass bong, rides the Magic Bus, lives in a Cannabis Castle, attends Hempwards School of Herbcraft and Weedery, learns to play Qannabbi, does battle with a policeman, and smokes tons of marijuana. The reason: Hairy Pothead is a Weedster!Come along with Hairy Pothead and his two best friends, Herbonme Stranger and Gon Weedly. Meet the giant biker Hogride, Hempwards Master Head Alwaze Duinthadope, Professors Moruvva McGanjagal and Vacuous Vape, and all the rest of the Hempwards staff!Hairy Pothead is a hilarious and subversive parody which will be enjoyed by anyone who gets a kick out of cannabis.

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The Quest Begins (Seekers, Book 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)I really enjoyed reading this book. I've been reading Warriors since I was barely eight years old, and long since have the Erins been my favorite authors. I had mixed feelings when I heard about Seekers, though. Bears? Seekers? What is it about? Will it affect Warriors? And a *fourth* Erin?
But I wasn't disappointed with this! The characters are richly drawn out, first with Kallik, a gentle, playful polarbear cub surviving the harsh arctic with her mother and brother. Then Lusa, a young and loving black bear cub living where she was born, in a zoo's Bear Bowl (she longs for the wild). Finally there's Toklo, a grizzly bear cub (who reminds me alot of Jaypaw from Warriors)who just wishes his mother, Oka, would pay more attention to him and less to his sickly brother Tobi.
I liked how the chapters would switch from Kallik, Lusa, and Toklo, leaving you always wondering what's going to happen next to each of them. And Tui Sutherland does a good job of making it sound 'Erin.'
This was a good beginning for the start of an epic quest, not to disappoint it's fans in the future!
The plot was good with not alot of filler (hardly any), and like I said before all the characters are wonderful. My only regret is how sad the book was. Kallik loses her mother and brother, then gets taken in by another she-bear, Nanuk, only to lose her, too. Lusa almost loses her mother Ashia. And, just as sad as Kallik's loss, Toklo's sickly brother dies and his mother abandons him, soon to regret it and to be only reunited in death.
So it was sad, but with its better parts. If you love Warriors like me then you will love Seekers, too. Even if you aren't one of Erin's fans (yet), you should try it!

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Ranger's Apprentice, Book 5: The Sorcerer of the North Review

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(More customer reviews)I've always enjoyed the "Ranger's Apprentice" series. While there isn't really anything new or inspired about them, they've proven popular with my students and quick, enjoyable reads.
The series centers around Will, a young Ranger, who is your typical hero in these sorts of stories: expert in woodsmanship, personal concealment, tracking, archery, being mistaken for a sorceror, that sort of thing. Naturally, he's an orphan, and naturally, "great things are expected of him in the years to come" which doesn't surpise us, given that he is "highly thought of, though of course he didn't know it."
I say this not to be disparaging, but with amusement. Will is exactly who we expect him to be. Simple and good.
But this latest installment into the series fails to impress me, and that for one simple reason: it isn't an installment into the series. The book doesn't end. It merely runs out of pages. The term "cliffhanger" seems inadequate to describe the final pages of this book.
I understand that this is a series, and that the overall story will be told over the corse of several books. Books in a series often end in cliffhangers. Flanagan has done this before - at then end of the series' second and third installments - but in this case it is far more jarring. Those books had a clear climax, the major conflict established in the early pages of the book were resolved. And while they certainly ended with a clear cliffhanger, the overall story had advanced. Not so, with "Sorceror of the North."
Again, I understand that this is a series, but in any series, each book should be able to stand on its own, even if greatly diminished. Each entry needs its own plot and conflict, even if subordinate to the overall story.
"Sorceror of the North" book lacks that internal plot. The story begins with a completely irrelevant visit to Will's fief. The area he is responcible for watching. But he has only enough time to unpack his bags and flirt once or twice with his maid's daughter before being whisked away to the north. His fief, his responcibilities, the girl -- never mentioned again. And there isn't a single thing that happens during this visit that is necessary to the story. You could start reading the book a third of the way in and not become the least bit confused.
Eventually, will is told to do that which probably should have just been his first assignment: he is told to act the part of a travelling minstrel, while seeking to determine the cause of a mysterious sickness that is afflicting the lord of a small but important fief in the north.
Once there, he finds things are not well as a power struggle is in place between Orman - the bookish and unliked son of the stricken lord - and Keren - the popular illegitimate cousin-soldier. Will must decide which of the two he must trust. Meanwhile, there's a pesky sorceror out in the haunted woods (favored lair of evildoers in these sorts of stories) that Will must find and deal with.
These are the conflicts that are introduced. All of them are compelling, interesting, and do well to draw you into the story.
And then the book simply stops.
Not a single conflict is resolved. Will no sooner discovers who the real enemy is and vows to defeat him "even if I have to tear down the castle stone by stone" than we turn the page only to find the rear flap of the dust jacket telling us how Flanagan grew up in Sydney and so on and so forth...
The book is well written, as is the series on the whole: if not truly inspired. I recommend the series as a light read for a rainy weekend. But as a stand alone, it fails to satisfy. There isn't anything here.
Hold off on buying this one until book six rolls around. You'll want to read the two of them together. Until then, there just isn't any point.

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Queen of Dragons (The Drakon, Book 3) Review

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(More customer reviews)***SPOILERS***
After very much enjoying both The Dream Thief and The Smoke Thief, I was greatly anticipating Queen of Dragons. From the very beginning, however, I found myself not as connected to the story. Part of that may be due to the fact that I honestly don't remember much about Princess Maricara from the last book, and this one starts off expecting us to. Part of it may be due to the fact that Maricara is not an easy person to sympathize with and relate to. She is immediately portrayed as different from the rest of the Drakon, and although I normally sympathize with the outsider, she comes across as cold and distant and unlikeable. Sure, she was forced to marry the evil and abusive leader of the Carpathian Drakon when she was only nine and I'm sure suffered greatly at his hands, but Shana Abe's writing is rather vague and distant and detached about all this. I wasn't sure how much her horrible marriage affected Maricara (although I'm sure it was supposed to) because the character herself never really talked or thought about it. And the fact that it wasn't dealt with more just made me confused and frustrated.
Another problem I had with this book, which is a problem that I've had with the other two but which seemed more glaringly obvious and outrageous, is the lack of choice given to the female characters. Despite being forced into a marriage and raped by her husband (she was only nine- of course it was rape, but again all this was just hinted at vaguely) Maricara was then betrothed without her knowledge or consent at the age of FIFTEEN. It was hard enough to read about what was hinted about regarding her marriage at nine, but for then the alleged good guys to turn around and do the same thing was just appalling and disgusting to me. And all that happens by page 11, at which time I was immediately pre-disposed to hating not just our hero, but all the men of the drakon council who agreed to this, and the entire drakon society for allowing this to happen to a child. Needless to say, the romance didn't work for me at all. It's a romance book, after all, so it's no surprise that they eventually fall in love, but Kimber spent most of the book chasing her and contemplating imprisoning her, and that just isn't a convincing story of love for me.
The other part of the story is the plot about the sanf inimicus- the group of drakon hunters. Although they've been inactive, but known about until recently at the Carpathian Mountains, their presence is a new and scary threat to the once invincible English drakon. A young drakon girl goes missing, and then Kimber's brother is taken as well, but NOTHING happens with this story line beyond a minor skirmish. The fact that nothing was resolved about the sanf inimicus may be the most frustrating aspect about this novel. Queen of Dragons is set up and written so that you believe the big confrontation with the sanf inimicus will happen, but that's not true. Nothing happens beyond a brief fight with a small number of their group. No questions are answered.
Kimber's parents have also gone missing in the very beginning and that mystery is left dangling for the next book or two. Other characters make mysterious appearances, but nothing is explained or resolved. I could hardly believe it when I got to the last page- it felt like a hundred or more pages were missing. It was beyond frustrating. I remembered the first two books being mostly stand alone with a little hinted about for the next, but nothing like what happened here. It was seriously upsetting, and has left me questioning whether I'm going to continue reading a series where only more questions are asked rather than answered.
After delivering two good, solid books in this series, Shana Abe's third Drakon book severely disappoints. Characters are not well developed, not understandable, not relatable and not even likable. The romance felt too coerced and unsettling for me to enjoy. The male dominated drakon society led by an entirely male council which essentially imprisons the drakon in Darkfrith -just made me increasingly angry. And lastly, the plot about drakon hunters which is what I believed this book was about, was never dealt with. I would advise against reading Queen of Dragons altogether, but at the very least until the next book is published.


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The Tin Princess Review

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(More customer reviews)"The Tin Princess" is the forth book in the Sally Lockhart series - though it doesn't actually star Sally herself. Perhaps a better description of this book would be to call it a spin-off, as it is has several characters from the previous Sally books as its protagonists, and solves a mystery that has been brewing since book one. In the first book "The Ruby in the Smoke," a young street waif named Adelaide Bevan disappeared into the streets of London, and only now has she been found. Readers who may be unwilling to continue with this series due to the absence of Sally are instead rather forced to - it's the only way to find out what happened to that young girl.
Jim Taylor, the amateur detective (among other things) has finally managed to track her down, following the trail of young Rebecca Winter who has been employed in the service of a nobleman to teach a young woman in his household how to read and write. The two collide almost immediately, and soon it becomes apparent that the young woman in question is none other than Adelaide herself. But her situation has greatly changed - she is married to Prince Rudolf of Razkavia, making her a princess of that small country squished between Austria and Germany. Rebecca is appalled at the unlikelihood of the match, especially since she herself is a native of Razkavia.
And now things are about to heat up. With the assassination of Rudolf's older brother, Adelaide and her husband now find themselves heir to the thrones of Razkavia - but whoever was behind the conspiracy to topple the royal family is not going to stop till they control the country. Now with Becky as her translator and Jim as her bodyguard, Adelaide is travelling with her husband to the country she now rules - a country watched over by the Red Eagle flag. Legend says that so long as the Eagle flies over the Rock of Eschtenburg, Razkavia will always be free. Now in a strange land, with strange customs, and a plot against them, Adelaide, Jim and Becky must juggle politics, public relations, personal safety, betrayal within the court, assassination attempts and a mysterious missing member of the royal family. Needless to say (of any of Philip Pullman's books), it's a very exciting ride.
Pullman beautifully creates an entire country with vivid realness - its customs, economy, language, history, all of it comes across with perfect realism, but also a sense of intrigue that he can invoke so well: "The streets are so crooked and narrow that they have no names...the Devil went there once, and couldn't find his way out. Which means of course, that he's still there." Likewise, the characters are vivid and immensely likeable, and his themes of power and corruption (which appear in all of his books in one way or another) are in place. Of our main characters, only Becky is initially unfamiliar to readers of the Lockhart books, but she soon becomes an interesting figure, who wields her own type of power in being Adelaide's translator (often stating her straightforward opinions to Princess Adelaide in the course of conversations, or rewording Adelaide's informal slang to the listener).
But it's Jim and Adelaide that really take centre stage in the course of this story - passionate, strong, out of their league, star-crossed and determined, I have to say that I think they are Pullman's best romantic couple (disagree with me if you must, but that includes Sally/Fred and even Lyra/Will). Adelaide definitely foreshadows Lyra for the "His Dark Materials" trilogy - willful, spoilt, cunning and yet with a strange sense of innocence about her. Glancing at some of the other reviews, it's unfortunate to see she's rather unpopular - I thought she was a wonderful character, and every inch a queen.
Of those that are disappointed at the lack of Sally, there's no reason to completely despair. She is present at both the beginning and end of the story (as is Goldberg, her husband - sadly, no Harriet or Trembler) and is mentioned throughout by several characters. And in her own way, she plays a very big part in the course of the story - just watch how useful the knitted jersey she makes for Jim turns out!
Although this is not my favourite book in the series (that would be "The Tiger in the Well") it is the most re-readable, the most intriguing and the most poetic - the final passage in particular is beautifully written. I won't give it away, but I often find myself picking up the book just to read it again, and the images that Pullman invokes, especially in the escape from the old palace through the snow, are just beautiful. There is a certain amount of cynicism, but the barest touches of hope in the conclusion of the story. But whether you like it or not (because it *is* rather different from the first three books, and not just in the shift in characters) it is a necessary part of the series, to complete Adelaide and Jim's story.


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The Shadow in the North (Sally Lockhart Trilogy, Book 2) Review

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(More customer reviews)Pullman has a rare and valuable talent: his chosen field is the young adult novel, and he writes for young adults. Frankly, without condescension, and with a lively intelligence and subtle humor that shows he respects his audience as much as they (indubitably do) respect him. This novel shows a young woman in full command of her faculties being put into the teeth of an excruciating moral predicament, and if the road she eventually finds out of it is a simple one, that is because Pullman is not above granting a final bit of wish-fulfillment after he's run us through the wringer.
I'll leave the plot summaries to other reviewers; it's enough to say that it's a lively and political mystery / thriller and its coincidences, while implausible, do not betray their own internal logic. Pullman is first and foremost an observer of character, and what makes this book something that makes me, a 29-year-old guy who tends to read much more austere stuff, take notice, is the sheer aliveness of the characters. There's Sally, of course, a resolutely feminist young woman whose resolve and determination are surely of her time, even if some of her anxieties and dilemmas seem more resonant with the present than Victorian England; Frederick, her friend and peer who she loves, and with whom she argues helplessly and often; Jim, their young, streetwise friend, who is capable, brave, and eminently self-aware; and a large cast of supporting characters, many of them women, who are sharply limned and full of their own stories. The fact that Sally is living out what would have been, at best,a Victorian woman's fantasy is dealt with elsewhere; the fact that huge swathes of the dialogue is anachronistic is irrelevant.
What sets this apart from other young adult novels, even as it evokes them, is the very real sense of moral hazard and the awful consequences of the modern age that it portrays. The world into which Sally, Frederick, and everyone else is being swept is one where the old hunger for power is being given new, terrible means of finding its voice. The clarity with which Pullman evokes this sense of foreboding is remarkable, as is his restraint. At its heart this novel is a warning of terrible things that have already come to pass. It is insistent without being didactic, it shows rather than tells. In the end it convinces.
While the Lockhart trilogy is not as stunning as the His Dark Materials books, it's not trying to be. It's about one woman, her friends, and the world whose birth they must survive. If they are occasionally more than human, that might just be because something more than human is necessary to survive in this new world.

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Five Odd Honors Review

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(More customer reviews)If you enjoyed the first two books in this series, you will undoubtably enjoy this one as well. The book rotates points of view between Brenda, Pearl Bright and Loyal Wind (the original horse exile). In the beginning, this constant switching felt jarring and interrupted the flow of the story. Once I had read more and remembered exactly who Loyal Wind was things seemed to move more smoothly.
While, Lindskold's writing style is very detailed and the ideas are interesting, I would prefer more action and less talking. The characters talk about what they're going to do extensively. Then talk about when the right time is to do it. Then they talk about what preparations need to be made and who will do it. At one point in the book, I was completely bored with one of the storylines which amounted to a lot of waiting around, talking, and using mah jong tiles to try and figure out who is causing problems for Pearl Bright.
Reaching The Lands Born from Smoke and Sacrifice seemed somewhat anticlimactic. Nothing much happens there until well into the book, but it's worth the wait. My favorite parts of the book are the ones centered on Brenda and her learning more about her maternal heritage and what comes along with it. I hope the next installment progresses her relationship with Flying Claw one way or the other.
Note for Kindle buyers: There are many occurrences of words/names being broken in two, or multiple words being combined into one. This tends to disrupt the reading experience, and will hopefully be fixed soon.

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The Dread Hammer Review

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(More customer reviews)Linda Nagata, award-winning sci-fi writer under pen name Trey Shiels, ventures into an action-packed fantasy with a thread of romance that will keep you turning the pages late into the night. An unerring ear for language and fine use of prose lends itself to a quality read. Dread Hammer casts a haunting spell that will leave you thinking about the book and waiting on the sequel- and wondering if the demon assassin has a heart after all.

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Ketty is a pretty shepherdess with a contrary nature, who runs away from home to escape an unwanted marriage. As she flees along the forest road, she prays to the Dread Hammer for help-and to her astonishment help comes in the form of a charming and well-armed young murderer named Smoke. As Ketty soon discovers, Smoke is not entirely human.Smoke, too, is taken by surprise at their encounter. He had lurked beside the forest road intending to pierce hearts and slit throats, not to fall in love. But love it is-or it would be-if only he can convince Ketty that marriage is better than death.But just when happily-ever-after seems within reach, Smoke's past returns to claim him. A deserter from the Koráyos army, his supernatural skill at killing is still very much in demand. Now the army wants him back.The Dread Hammer is an enthralling, darkly comic fairytale of love, war, murder, marriage, and fate.

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Dreams of Steel (The Fifth Chronicle of the Black Company) Review

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(More customer reviews)The last "Book of the South" is really not a conclusion at all, but a segue into the four books comprising to date "The Glittering Stone." Despite arguments between earlier reviewers as to whether this book represents a departure from his earlier novels, I found this to be fairly typical Black Company fare, regardless of the introduction of Indian religion or who was keeping the Annals. Cook has previously written from multiple perspectives, and the increase here only offers the potential for a richer character development and perspective, complaints of not caring for characters other than Croaker, One-Eye and Goblin speaking more to the limitations of interest in individual readers than a desire on the part of the writer to enliven or enrich his narrative. The same might be said of the recent inclusion of Southeastern Asian mythology and religion, were Cook not so bald in his borrowings. I can think of other authors who have recently drawn from this source---Steven Erikson or more pointedly Martha Wells in "Wheel of the Infinite---who have done a far better job recontextualizing their sources. But if concerns over derivatives primarily influenced our thinking, it is doubtful any of us would be reading The Black Company.
There are other reasons one turns to this series---the delightful if by now typecast crew of scoundrels, the fast-paced and action-driven narrative and Cook's not to be undervalued ability at rapidly stringing us along through a sequence of events direct if relatively uncomplicated in their presentation. True, the author does mix it up with intrigue, but all the various plots stay relatively at the surface, what mystery that is present most often due to a lack of information than a true building of suspense. But for those moments when one wishes sheer, unadulterated avenues of escape guised as heroic fantasy, more often than not Cook delivers.
However, in this entry Cook fails to resolve his narrative even as a credible cliffhanger. Instead he summarily and loosely ties up the various threads, even while rushing leaving most of them still dangling, and, without giving too much away, introduces certain new dramatic developments from a distance, announcing them and then simply discarding them in a couple of pages. There is a sense here that the author suddenly wished to wrap up this chapter of the saga and move on to other narrative pastures, even while leaving as well as adding things hanging. The fact that a six-year hiatus followed before the author again picked up the story reinforces this conclusion. However, this is sheer speculation. All I can say is that the end of this novel is abrupt and very dissatisfying, as much so if for different reasons as the extreme cliffhanger that concluded "Shadow Games." I have come to accept that Cook plays fast and loose with his plots and characters, often resurrecting them, remining earlier storylines or conventions, or introducing elements without clear explanation or motive. Nonetheless, in the past these failings have largely been able to be submerged by the author's relative strengths in story telling and non-stop management of action. This however left me cold and questioning the author's investment in his story and audience, unavoidably raising questions as to my own continued participation.
But for the conclusion, this is typical Cook fare, with all the usual rewards and weaknesses. For that reason I have given it the same marks I've given to his previous novels, in the main not seeing a substantial shift, either for better or worse, in what is being offered. However, were I to weight the ending, this book would not be the equal, nor would "Shadow Games," of what has preceded. While I am not abandoning the series, the next book will need to prove to me that the author is once again committed to the Company.

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The Dream Thief (The Drakon, Book 2) Review

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(More customer reviews)Zane, the young thief, from SMOKE THIEF has grown into a formidable man. He is the head of a very unique and prosperous gang of thieves. The draken of Darkfirth have used his abilities and underlings many times. Zane is the only human to know the truth about the draken, he is the only human they trust. Now is the time to recover the lost Draumr, a diamond that can control the draken. None of the draken are able to stand it's presence and none have been able to find it. It is more of a legend than a truth. But now it's song is heard by most of the draken and someone must be sent to find the diamond. Zane is promised 60,000 gold pieces to retrieve the diamond and return it to the draken. Unfortunately, he will find something he desires more than money. And Draumr may be the only way to gain it. Zane is not told of the powers of the diamond, nor is he told of the danger it holds for the draken.
Amalia, one of the daughters of Rue and Kristin, the rulers of the draken, has a special connection to the diamond. She also has the gift of foretelling. She has not revealed any of these powers to her family. As a matter of fact her family thinks her powerless because she can't turn to smoke nor dragon. When she is 14 she sees in a vision that Zane will be her lover and husband, but she also sees that he will be touched by the power of Draumr. Her dreams show the destruction of her family and the draken by Zane. Now at the age of 19 the song of the diamond calls to her strongly and somehow she must try to change destiny and hope she can save the man she loves and her family. Yet unknown to her, there are other players in the game, her dreams have never shown her these things. With a full heart and a knowledge that things must be changed she leaves her school to follow Zane and force him to take her with him.
This is a wonderful story full of romance and adventure. From the ballrooms of London to the ballrooms of the last Castle in the Carpathian Mountains we are carried along on the wings of legend and love. Shanna Abe is a wonderful storyteller, her unique take on dragons and magic make this one of those wonderful new fairytales for adults.
I couldn't put it down. If you have read SMOKE THIEF you might enjoy it even more, but it is not necessary. I can't wait for the next book. I surely hope there will be one.

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Deliria: Faerie Tales for a New Millennium Review

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(More customer reviews)First, a word of warning: There is a LOT of detail and information in this book.
Now, on the plus side - this book really does contain everything you need to run the game. The setting is something like everything Neil Gaiman has ever written, plus the later Books of Magic (Timothy Hunter). But even that's not the limit.
The style of gaming is truly interactive - both the players and the game-master work together to craft the story, with both setting in limits and ideas to the setting. Your character is important to the setting, and without what you put into it, no story will happen.
This book changes how games are played, in a good way, and its very design encourages a more cooperative spirit than most previous games. I give this a really high recommendation.

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What is Deliria?It's a setting where ordinary people face an extraordinary world. Like the heroes of traditional faerie tales, these men and women are normal folks whose lives suddenly upend, pitching the old rules out the nearest window. And like those traditional heroes, these modern-day Jacks and Beautys must face challenges of body, mind and spirit... or face dark consequences.Deliria is a realm of innocence, challenge and transformation. A place where the tales you tell are yours. A place where hope remains the bravest force, and cleverness brings giants down.Deliria's Prime Codex contains:Roleplaying rules for any venue--tabletop, street theatre, and Internet; A setting that ranges from coffee shops to kingdoms; A realm where broken hearts mean more than broken bones; Lore about faerie tales and the lessons they provide; Many tales about Deliria's domain; Art that strides beyond cliché; And inspirations and affirmations about who we are in our world and what can do to change it.

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Don't Let Out The Magic Smoke: I. Three On A Match Review

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(More customer reviews)I needed some don't-make-me-think-too-hard reading for the beach at Waikiki. The author mixes cowboy sentimentality, fighter-pilot POV circa 1960, inter-galactic warfare and politics, fantasy, and an ear for dialogue that makes the book easy to enjoy. Definitely a fun read.

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Magic Smoke is a series of novels that tell the story of two crack USAF test pilots recruited into an interstellar defense force and their basic interaction with the myriad inhabitants of the outside universe. While they encounter many races and cultures, some of which are alluded to in terrestrial folklore such as elves and faeries, there are no bug-eyed monsters, no shape-shifting Evil Overlords, no guys-in-white-hats saving Earth from impending doom and destruction. Their escapades run the gamut from puckish pranks and elaborate schemes worthy of the A-Team to fierce deadly combat. Firm friendships and a few subtle hostilities evolve as they explore the universe. Naturally, they also find time for fun and a bit of romance along the way.

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Five Star Science Fiction/Fantasy - Smoke In The Wind: The Book of Cul, A Fantasy Novel Review

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(More customer reviews)On Sam Guest's first day as an architect in his own firm he receives a commission via mail and by the time he finishes the sketches for the building he is no long on Earth but on the planet Cul where magic works. He wakes up in the castle of the powerful wizard Aleb and his beautiful daughter Gisele. They tell him that he was touched at birth by the High Ones, has latent power he never knew about and when the time was right Aleb would train him in magic so that the wizard can retire to his own planet.
It is love at first site for Sam and Giselle but he is a man on a mission. He must learn everything he can about wizardry from Aleb and then from ancient Evenan when Aleb disappears. When he gets through his training he will be the most powerful wizard in the world. However the reptilian wizard Ervic wants to kill him before he can grow into his powers. Ervic's goal to control all of Cul and he has more wizards joining him every day. A showdown between these two is inevitable.
SMOKE IN THE WIND is a spellbinding and enchanting fantasy book. Sam makes the transition from Earth to Cul very easily because he always felt he had a different destiny that could not be accomplished on his native planet. His fairy familiar Dah and an intelligent horse adds humor to this action packed tale. Fans of THE WARLOCK IN SPITE OF HIMSELF will love Will Hanson's work. Hopefully, there will be other works that follow the adventures of Sam in Cul.
Harriet Klausner


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Architect Sam Guest is brought to the magic planet Cul by his acceptance of a commission to design a castle that he learns is to be used by a magician. Once there, he finds he is to be trained as the successor to Aleb, a great magician and the principal power struggling against the forces of evil that are trying to gain control of the planet. Sam is immediately smitten with Giselle, Aleb's beautiful daughter, who tells him he was marked at birth by the High Ones to become the most powerful magician on Cul. As he learns more about the sparsely populated, mostly unexplored planet of Cul, and his own abilities, he meets a variety of characters. But the evil forces, led by the magician Ervic, are determined to prevent Sam from realizing his destiny, and will do anything to stop him. Sam must become the most powerful magician on Cul in order to protect it from its enemies - and save the woman he loves.Wil Hanson resides in a tiny community in Southwestern New Mexico. (20021201)

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The Girl Born of Smoke Review

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(More customer reviews)A Girl Born of Smoke starts off with an young girl, Aurora, running from a mysterious man and finding sanctuary with two strangers. After I read the first few chapters, I thought I knew what was going on, but I was wrong. Jessica Billings spins a tale that takes you through fascinating and unexpected twists and turns that truly leave you guessing about what is going to happen next. The moment you think you know who the good guys are, you will find yourself proven wrong in the next paragraph. I managed to catch on to some of the twists, but one took me by surprise and had me eagerly reading more.
Beyond the well-crafted story line, the characters are diverse and distinctive and a pleasure to get to know as the story progresses.
This is an excellent first novel of a new author who I hope will be writing more.

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When Aurora is thrust into a world torn apart by war, she realizes she is the magically gifted child everyone is searching for. Haunted by the guilt of her sister's accidental death and terrified of being found out, she swears never to use her powers. But all that changes when her best friend is mistaken as the wizard and kidnapped. In her struggle to rescue him, she finds evidence the opposing armies may be connected, controlled by a single individual with his own agenda. With loved ones on both sides of the war, she is forced to decide who she can trust as she tries to stop the fighting. But, can she even trust her own sanity?

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The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring Review

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(More customer reviews)Having read many Sci-Fi books in my life, I can honestly say that none can come close in originality and concept to the books 'Integral Trees' and the sequel, 'The Smoke Ring' by Larry Niven. You will instantly love this book where technology takes a second-hand place to the dynamics of human development and interactivity, and the remnants of human advancements exist as strange, unknown objects, myths, and faded social traditions.
The book takes us into a free-fall environment, the remains of a gaseous planet orbiting a star in a binary system. Life has evolved there, free of the constrains of gravity. Ponds drift about as spheres of water, and multi-kilometer long trees are like small worlds containing lifeforms of numerous bizzare types. Humankind has reverted to tribal structures, the technology that brought them long forgotten. The old ways of Earth have all but dissapeared, existing only as ghosts in the speech patterns of the characters.
Niven has repeatedly written books that encourage us to think differently--to think big. If you liked the awesome strangeness of 'Ringworld,' then you will have an instant favorite in 'Integral Trees.'

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"Niven has come up with an idea about as far out as one can get. . . . This is certainly classic science fiction–the idea is truly the hero." –Asimov's Science Fiction MagazineWhen leaving Earth, the crew of the spaceship Discipline was prepared for a routine assignment. Dispatched by the all-powerful State on a mission of interstellar exploration and colonization, Discipline was aided (and secretly spied upon) by Sharls Davis Kendy, an emotionless computer intelligence programmed to monitor the loyalty and obedience of the crew. But what they weren't prepared for was the smoke ring–an immense gaseous envelope that had formed around a neutron star directly in their path. The Smoke Ring was home to a variety of plant and animal life-forms evolved to thrive in conditions of continual free-fall. When Discipline encountered it, something went wrong. The crew abandoned ship and fled to the unlikely space oasis.Five hundred years later, the descendants of the Discipline crew living on the Smoke Ring no longer remember their origins. Earth is more myth than memory, and no recollection of the State remains. But Kendy remembers. And just outside the Smoke Ring, Discipline waits patiently to make contact with its wayward children.

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Smoke Jumpers (Choose Your Own Adventure #29) Review

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(More customer reviews)MY DAUGHTER SAW BK @ LIBRARY,READ IT AND ENJOYED IT.WE HAD TO RETURN IT AFTER THE TIME WAS UP,SO I CHECKED AMAZON,THEY HAD IT FOR A GREAT PRICE AND I GOT IT FOR MY BABY.

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'You're about to join an elite team of firefighters!' Brouillard hollers over the engine. Your stomach feels like it's no longer a part of your body; you can almost hear your heart beating. Something inside you, a premonition perhaps, tells you not to jump. It's only natural to have second thoughts, you realize. You look down again. Can you go through with it? Did your training ready you for solitary treks through wilderness even the rangers never venture through? These fires are unpredictable - you might even suspect arsonists are afoot in these beautiful forests.

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Smoke and Shadows (The Smoke Trilogy, Book 1) Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm a pretty big fan of Tanya Huff's work, including the Blood series. Tony, however, is not a particularly strong protagonist. He works on a cheesy TV show about vampires -- if you're interested in television production, perhaps you can get some mileage there. I didn't. It was fun watching Tony grow up in the background of the Blood books, but as a main character, he's pretty dull (especially for somebody with a supposedly colorful street-kid police-informant vampire-lover past).
On a bit of a tangent, it's never a good sign when somebody in a vampire novel comments that "Buffy" vampires are less scary than "the real thing." In the previous Blood books, the exact time (and its exact relationship to our reality) has been a little vague, and it worked well that way. The all-too-hip specificity is jarring and feels forced. Besides, Huff has done many intriguing things, but she's never really made scary vampires. Sure, we've been *told* that Vampires are Scary, but we've never been shown them doing anything truly frightening. We're told that when the "civlized mask" slips and "the Hunger" shows, people nearby will lose bladder control in terror -- but we never feel it.
The other emotion that doesn't seem to come through well in Huff's writing is lust, so Tony's crushes (and his relationship with Henry, his vampiric ex) aren't all that compelling either. The plot never had me all that worried about the fate of the earth, or even the fate of Tony. Without the lively characters and complex relationships of Huff's other books, there's not a lot left to enjoy. It's particularly unfortunate that this book is where Huff made the jump to hardcover; this story just is not worth hardcover prices. If the Vicki and Henry Show is over, Celluci would have made a more interesting new protagonist than Tony.

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