The Poetical Works Of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Birds Of Passage, Flower-De-Luce, A Book Of Sonnets, The Masque Of Pandora And Other Poems, Keramos, Ultima Thule And In The Harbor

Book Description

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such sf giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton’s bestselling fiction—powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills—has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction. Now, with Pandora’s Star, he begins a new multivolume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet.

The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport “tunnels” known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.

Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship’s mission for its own ends,.

Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.

Could it be that Johansson was right?

From the Hardcover edition.

Download Description

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such SF giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton's bestselling fiction -- powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills -- has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction. Now, with Pandora's Star, he begins a new multivolume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet.

The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star... vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.

Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship's mission for its own ends.

Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth... and humanity itself.

Could it be that Johansson was right?

"The depth and clarity of the future Hamilton envisions is as complex and involving as they come."
   PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (STARRED REVIEW)

"The author's expansive vision of the future combines action and intrigue on a panoramic scale."
   LIBRARY JOURNAL

"Astounding... Thrilling... Hamilton uses technology to excellent effect."
   SCIENCE FICTION AGE

"Shows how thought-provoking yet entertaining science fiction can be. Some of the best fiction... in years."
   MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"[Hamilton is] taking on one of SF's (and maybe all of literature's) primal jobs: the creation of a world with the scale and complexity of the real one."
   LOCUS

"[Hamilton is] a rare talent."
   THE DENVER POST

Customer Reviews:

A top tier book, without a doubt!.......2007-08-19

Wow! What can I say? Evidently quite a bit from what you can see below. : ) This book is one of the best books I've read in a long time. I've read hundreds of sci-fi books, and this is one of the better ones.

Pandora's Star is a complex, perhaps epic, tale about the evolution of the Commonwealth (note the capital "C"), as it affects a wide variety of characters. With the invention of wormhole generators, humanity found an effective way to colonize the stars. With proper terraforming and zoning, they created designer worlds, such as a world devoted to X-games type sports, industrial worlds, etc. Naturally, as humanity expanded onto new worlds, new political factions evolved, and sentient alien lifeforms are discovered.

The central storyline revolves around a pair of stars that suddenly disappear. Of course, this happened thousands of years ago since light takes time to make it through the galaxy (points to the author for remembering this). Humans decide to launch an exploratory mission to discover what happened to the stars, and unintentionally loose a hostile and powerful lifeform bent on genocide of humans (hence the title of the book I would assume). Adding to the mix of interesting concepts is rejuvenation, allowing anyone with enough money to rejuvenate their body to whatever age they chose, and the interesting concept of Grand Families, who through rejuvenation and the miracle of compounding interest, amass so much money as to run the galaxy and be the true powers behind the government.

Add to this the concept of the Starflyer, a potentially fictional alien whose final agenda is unknown but presumed to be not in the best interest of mankind, and the Guardians of Selfhood, an underground and essentially terrorist organization who are pledged to fight the Starflyer, and it's a merry mix indeed.

For main characters the variety is impressive. There is Wilson Kime, the commander of the initial manned mission to Mars and possessed of exceptional military command presence; Paula Myro, a genetically bred single minded detective who has only had one unsolved case in 130 years (the arrest of a particularly beguiling agent of the Guardians of Selfhood); Nigel Sheldon, one of the co-inventors of the wormhole generator and the head of one of the Grand Families; Ozzie, the other co-inventor of the wormhole generator and semi-anti-authoritarian, except that because of his great wealth he effectively is "the man" when he wants to be; Dudley Bose, the astronomer who first notices the disappearance of the two stars; Melanie, an immature but ambitious gold-digger who sleeps her way to her goals, and the SI, an artificial intelligence created by man who is generally benevolent but seems to also have its own agenda. There are many others, but you get the idea.

Peter Hamilton manages to weave multiple storylines, some of which it is unclear as to how the fit into the main story arc. I'd consider him the "Tom Clancy" of science fiction in this regard. He manages to inject some science into science fiction, considering things like different gravitational forces depending on the mass of the colonized planets that other authors don't bother with. In hindsight it doesn't sound impressive, but he remembers to do this type of thing in a variety of areas, and it just lends credibility to the tale.

The main storylines include political maneuvering by the Grand Families (Nigel Sheldon), the military mission to the disappeared stars (Wilson Kime), the Indiana Jones type adventures of Ozzie, the rise of Melanie (more interesting than it sounds), the plans and raids of the Guardians of Selfhood against the Starflyer, and the investigation of Paula Myro into the Guardians of Selfhood. I may have left out one or two.

The only minor annoyance I found is that the author is British (no, that's not the annoyance) and occasionally some of the descriptions reference buildings in London (e.g., the layout of Parliament) that while I'm sure are accurate, do nothing for helping me visualize the scene.

Lastly, be forewarned that Pandora' Star is only half the story. It literally and metaphorically leaves you mid-stream in the story. You'll have to read "Judas Unchained" to get the second half.

This book is great. I plan on checking out several of Peter Hamilton's other books as soon as I finish this one, which won't be long given how hard it is to put down.

Very Entertaining Space Opera..........2007-07-01

Plenty of other reviews provide plot synopsis, etc. Here are aspects of this work that I didn't see as much of elsewhere:

1. Overall Believability of Setting:
Hamilton's slick style pulled me right in, and a richly detailed "movie" began playing in my mind's eye almost immediately. I have read very few authors who do this so well -- Julian May is one of the few others who comes to mind.

2. Future Tech:
This work bristles with technology; some mundane, some wicked cool, and some worthy of making you stop and ponder. Very fun.

3. Characters:
Yes, there are loads of them, and a mind-boggling number of story threads. For whatever reason, I can't stand referring to a Dramatis Personae while reading. Uncomfortable at first, I soon realized that though I may not immediately recognize a character thread chapters later, there were always enough "breadcrumbs" in the new thread for my brain to find the link back.

With so many to juggle, Hamilton has to set-up characters quickly, and make them stick. I think he does this very well, with excellent hooks: quirks, an interesting point-of-view, a feeling for a loved one, the impact of interaction with technology, etc.

4. Entertainment Value:
A Bargain Bonanza. This book, plus its sequel, Judas Unchained, are two thousand pages of amazingly great entertainment. Would make a great series on the Sci-Fi Channel.

5. Humor: Ask yourself, when was the last time you read Sci-Fi that actually made you laugh out loud? Give up? Read this :-)

A Grand Tapestry.......2007-06-13

"Pandora's Star," Peter F. Hamilton's sprawling 988-page opus (first volume of two)is a thrill. It's an episodic space opera cum techno thriller, in which the kicker is that people can be, and are, rejuvenated and can also store their memories electronically, in case something happens to them. So death is impermanent. The society the author conjures up is called "The Commonwealth," an organiztion of explored planets linked by wormholes.

The story, told in multiple povs, takes a while to get started, and along the way it delves into many familiar sci-fi themes, while managing to make every one of them fresh. It begins with a look at the first landing on Mars, segues into the tale of an astronomer who makes a starting discovery, morphs into a police procedural, follows with a "behind closed doors" glimpse into political decisionmaking, and then gives us a look at an X-Game version of hang gliding.

And that brings us all the way to page 126.

The story gains steam as an FTL starship--obsolete tech in this age of wormholes--is built (and this is where that astronomer's discovery comes in) in order to learn why the double star system known as the "Dyson Pair" has been shielded by some sort of force field. Is it meant to keep the natives of that system within, or to protect them from what lies without? As if that weren't enough, a terrorist group wants to prevent this excursion.

But even as this is going on, the author continues his journey through genres--a murder mystery is solved (yes, I know I explained that people can be rejuvenated here, but wait for it); a low-tech fantasy theme is introduced (a scene at an inn, a native boy who wants to join the explorer, and so forth) that at one point presents readers with a trek across a frozen planet (a la LeGuin), and there's even a priggish dad with an ickily cute family (complete with dog) on one of those impossibly utopian planets (think Kim Stanley Robinson with an edge). There's a helpful AI, and some alien critters, too. In fact, there are so many characters, so many concepts, that maybe you'll feel that this is the first sci-fi epic you've ever read that could have used an index. (Certainly a list of characters could have been provided.)

About 700 pages in, we finally meet the creeptastic villain(s) (eek! hive mind!), after which the tale cascades on swiftly on to the end of part I.

So pull up a chair, relax and enjoy. And be not afraid. While the 988th page is just the halfway point in the saga, part two, "Judas Unchained" is now available. (At 1008 pages and, oh wow! a list of characters.)

Epic in scope, richly detailed, but some flaws.......2007-05-26

To use the word "sweeping" in a description of this novel is almost to diminish what the word actually means in the context of the scale that is present in this extremeley challenging and detailed science fiction novel. Pandora's star is our future hundreds of years from now when humans have discovered how to create wormholes in space. This technology has led humankind to be spread over hundreds of worlds with the ease of stepping through a portal to the other side. Hamilton has keenly created a possible future, replete with commercial and governmental infrustructure and fully realized high technology. And this future scares the hell out of me! Humans have developed the ability to live "forever" by storing their memories in something like a computer bank vault, and then reimplanting those memories into a lab created, accelerated growth clone. Part of the brilliance of Hamilton is that he has indeed hypothesized the impact this may have on humanity in terms of values, wealth, and societal institutions such as marriage and family. This future envisions a completely secularized society (since there is no death, what is the point?) where marriages are merely a business partnership with fringe benefits of sex and childrearing. Even childbirth is usually undertaken in a laboratory. The continued exploration of space has led to a prosperous free market system, and the limitless lifespans have led to vast wealth accumulation. Thus, externally humanity is more prosperous and mobile than it has ever been. A sole astronomy professor has discovered that a couple of stars hundreds of light years away, have seemingly "winked out." This was no natural phenomena, but apparently caused by some type of alien interference. It is this backdrop of a story upon which this novel is based. Could it be that this has something to do with the alien invasion warned about by the Guardians of selfhood? The Guardians are a secretive cultish society that believes that aliens have infiltrated human society and will destroy them. Their leaders have been hunted by the government for over a hundred years, accused of sabotage and murder.

There are a vast array of characters and a huge number of subplots in this book. Towards the middle and the end of the book I expected that I had covered all of the subplots only for a new one to start. In fact, they continue on almost through to the end of the book. One drawback of this is that some of the subplots are far more interesting than others and I was dissappointed to have to leave those to start in on a less interesting one and then have to wait for a very long time to get back to the interesting ones. The alien presence imagined in this novel is most certainly menacing. I would have to say that this is the most malevolent and fully scientifically realized alien that I have ever encountered. There is some derivation ala Ender's Game, but this is so fully imagined that it is only a surface comparison.
It is this ominous alien presence that is the real strength of the novel. It is so well done that it was almost hard to read. The tremendous scope of the novel, while ambitious, does detract a bit from the overall effectiveness of the narrative. Some of it was tedious and distracting. The characters were well written and also actualized well, however some were simply not necessary. Even though the future implications of an eternal life were well described, however ultimately believable or not, I found the existence sterile and soulless, and this also affected my ultimate enjoyment of the book. A secular humanity, devoted only to the pursuit of human material gratification, no lifelong devotion and commitment to another person, and no real human metaphysical connection seemed to me to be more horrible a future calamity than any hostile alien presence.

Pandora's star is still so well crafted, and the alien threat so absolutely menacing, that despite the length issues and the numerous subplots and characters it is well worth reading. If not for its story and what that says, but for the uncomfortable ramifications of an eternal and soulless life.

Not so much.......2007-05-24

Despite the heft of this book and it's sequel, the plot is simple: a star-spanning human civilization is threatened by an implacable enemy suddenly unleashed by another mysterious force. Worlds are destroyed, battles are fought, disparate human factions try to use the conflict to their own ends, quirky aliens hang out on the sidelines, a huge cast of characters shapes and is shaped by events, a whole gaggle of subplots is resolved.

Fair enough. Too bad this is also the plot of the Night's Dawn trilogy. Been there, done that, got a hernia from lifting the darn thing.

Someone compared Hamilton to Dickens. Dickens was intentionally verbose because he was getting paid by the word.

Skip this and stick with someone a little more terse, like Vernor Vinge.

Average customer rating:

Not Free SF Reader
Great Story
THE GODESS PANDORA!!!!
excellent!
Great Character - Weak Story

Pandora (New Tales of the Vampires)
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0345422384
Release Date: 1998-12-26

Amazon.com

Anne Rice fans will greet Pandora: New Tales of the Vampires, the first of her new vampire chronicles, as hungrily as the Fang Gang facing a fresh new neck. Our heroine, Pandora, a senator's daughter in Augustus Caesar's day, flees to Antioch when her family gets killed and discovers the antidote to stern Roman rationalism in the occult wisdom of the East. "Something attacked my reason," Pandora writes. "The very thing the Roman Emperors had so feared in Egyptian cults and Oriental cults swept over me: mystery and emotion which claim a superiority to reason and law."

Pandora gets her sexy vampire initiation at the fangs of handsome Marius (who later inducted Rice's famed vampire Lestat). Pandora tells how a nice Roman girl became a vampire in modern Paris, but mostly the book celebrates the sights and sounds (and philosophical bloodlettings) of the classical world. Pandora is more like Robert Graves's sublime I, Claudius than Rice's The Complete Vampire Chronicles.

Yet Pandora is a logical extension of Rice's work, and Pandora is a combination of her past vampire heroes and the nakedly, horrifyingly autobiographical heroine of Rice's 1997 novel Violin. Now, Violin is remarkably messy, but it captures the volcanic passion that erupts in her best work--Rice calls it "a study in pain." Pandora is really a dramatized debate between passion and reason, which Pandora calls "male reason." She teases her vampire mentor: "Marius guarded his delicate rationality as a Vestal Virgin guards a sacred flame. If ever any ecstatic emotion took hold of me, he [would] tell me in no uncertain terms that it was irrational, irrational, irrational!" (To hear how close Pandora's voice is to her passionate creator, listen to the 1997 audiocassette Interview with Anne Rice.)

Rice's research gives fresh blood to her storytelling. Even her chronic third-act problem scarcely slows down this brisk romp of a novel. Pandora has intellectual thirst as well as blood lust, and she conveys the high old time Rice obviously had imbibing historical lore. "It is fun to read these mad Gnostics!" exults Pandora in the early Christian era. It is also fun to read this mad Pandora. Anne Rice hasn't been this fun to read in years.

Book Description

Anne Rice, creator of the Vampire Lestat, the Mayfair witches and the amazing worlds they inhabit, now gives us the first in a new series of novels linked together by the fledgling vampire David Talbot, who has set out to become a chronicler of his fellow Undead.

The novel opens in present-day Paris in a crowded café, where David meets Pandora. She is two thousand years old, a Child of the Millennia, the first vampire ever made by the great Marius. David persuades her to tell the story of her life.

Pandora begins, reluctantly at first and then with increasing passion, to recount her mesmerizing tale, which takes us through the ages, from Imperial Rome to eighteenth-century France to twentieth-century Paris and New Orleans. She carries us back to her mortal girlhood in the world of Caesar Augustus, a world chronicled by Ovid and Petronius. This is where Pandora meets and falls in love with the handsome, charismatic, lighthearted, still-mortal Marius. This is the Rome she is forced to flee in fear of assassination by conspirators plotting to take over the city. And we follow her to the exotic port of Antioch, where she is destined to be reunited with Marius, now immortal and haunted by his vampire nature, who will bestow on her the Dark Gift as they set out on the fraught and fantastic adventure of their two turbulent centuries together.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

I have no idea why there has to be New Tales of the Vampires, when this book seems to be exactly the same sort of thing as The Vampire Armand or Blood and Gold, etc. That being a detailed look at the background and history of the vampire Pandora, and again, this book is of similar quality to those two.

Pandora is an interesting character, and it is certainly a change to have a female as the focal point rather than yet another pretty boy.

Great Story.......2007-04-06

This book is definitely one of my favorites from the Vampire Chronicles. I love the character. Some of Anne Rice's books are so drawn out with boring stories while Pandora seems alive. She's independent, smart, curious, mad, searching for comfort. We also get a good look at Marius, the elder vampire in charge of protecting the Queen of the Damned and her consort. I found the story riveting and a definite must-read for anyone who has read the other chronicles.

THE GODESS PANDORA!!!!.......2006-07-06

I only wish to be an honest reviewer, and as an honest reviewer I think the story Pandora was decent enough but not the best one Anne has written. To make some clarifications I'm not making any demands for an author to write a book to my standard, I'm only expressing my opinions.

I just became a huge fan of Anne's vampire books (interview, Lestat, Queen of the Damned) and loved Blood and Gold. After reading Blood and Gold (or the story of Marius) I thought the book Pandora might fill in some holes, For marius since he didn't have enough time to tell everythign about her. In the book Pandora, Pandora writes a story about her life to David Tabolt. In her big leather notebook it talks a lot about her Mortal past and her dreams of "rebirth". Almost half of the book is filled with mortal memories. Her past, unlike anyone else except Marius, has the most interesting past as a Roman lady. Her character even as a mortal and vampire is well expressed through the book, She independent, strongly intellectual, proud, clever, and free-spirited. She can be very fierce in arguments which can get pretty annoying at times. Her relationship with Marius is Errotic and loving, yet filled with arguments. Here, for those who admire Marius, Pandora reveals a lot of Marius' weaknesses more than Marius himself. He's depicted as weak (not his power, but more of his character and personality) and childish more than strong and mature which is very interesting. The book has done a good job describing some of the major conflict between Pandora and Marius, which I found sad and tragic.The book did very well with explaining how Pandora became a vampire.

To the darkside, Pandora warned that her story would be short and basic. For those who do not like short stories yet like Anne's books, I hope you'll bear with the book as you read. Pandora didn't mention about her point of view in certain events: Queen of the Damned, how she felt when she rescued marius, how she met Santinio for the second time, and attended a meeting with powerful and well known vampires. Blood and Gold, How did she meet an Asian (Indian to be more specific) male who became her fledgling and, ironically, a master. She didn't also describe her relationship with the Indian vampire. The funny part for me was, how did he turn out to enslave one of the most powreful vampire next to Marius? Also it contradicts her character, she's independent, strong, intellegent, and clever, yet she's controlled by this vampire? Maybe he was was too seductive to her but who knows. She didn't talk about the time when she killed the roman coven and met Santinio. The book never talked about how Pandora tried to search for Marius. Since Pandora's story is a short one, she didn't describe a lot about her relationship with Marius. It did however wrote about the factors that lead their relationship to break apart, but I just felt like there wasn't enough descripton about her relationship with Marius. Pandora also wrote other things that were for David Tabolt which would seem unimportant for some readers. About half of her book is about her mortal life which was well described and crucial, yet the other half ,which is about her life as a vampire, didn't really talk much about her vampire experience. The only part in the story about her vampire life that seemed important was her relationship with marius. The end of the book wasn't satisfying as well, she only talks to David Tabolt and wanted to go see Lestat (and Marius, who should be worth looking for if you're pandora). Despite these honest criticisms, Pandora did warn that her story would be short.

What Now? Do I reccomend readers to read this book? Yes and No. If you read Blood and Gold, Queen of the Damned, and Memnoch the Devil then You should read it but you might find it some-what dissapointing. If you only care about knowing Pandora, then yes I reccomend you this book. This book was written about Pandora and for Pandora, which I give credit for to Anne Rice especially how she wrote every word elegantly and dilegently.
I didn't find what I expected, but I did find more about Pandora herself and her philosophy.

excellent!.......2006-05-11

This book is a masterpiece.It reveals the tale of the beautiful pandora.It is definitely a must read.

Pandora is born with the name Lydia in the Roman Republic a few years before the birth of Christ to a Senatorial family. She is tall, with rippling brown hair and gold-brown eyes. She meets Marius for the first time when he is twenty-five and she is ten, and falls in love with him. Marius has the same feelings and asks Pandora's father for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately, his proposal is rejected and the two are not to meet for many years after.

Pandora's father holds a high rank as a Senator. But when a new emperor takes power, her family is betrayed by her own brother and killed. Only Pandora and her traitorous brother survive the massacre, and she is taken to Antioch (after changing her name) by a man who was very close to her father. There she meets Marius again, fifteen odd years after they first met. Unbeknownst to her, Marius is now a vampire.

She eventually finds out what Marius has become, and also that he protects and hides the Queen and King of all Vampires. The two care for the Royal Couple together for awhile before a vampire, Akabar, tries to steal the Queen's powerful and ancient blood. Marius and Pandora prevent him from carrying out his plan. To spite Marius, Akabar drains Pandora to the point of death. In order to save her, Marius is forced to make Pandora into a vampire. The pair stay together for the next two hundred years before arguing and separating.

The next time they meet again is in a Dresden ballroom in the early to mid-1700's. Marius tries in vain to make Pandora leave her companion and fledgling, Arjun, and come back to him.

The next and last time that they meet is in 1985, when she is among thirteen vampires who survived Akasha's killing spree and gathered at Maharet's house in the Sonoma compound to battle against Akasha. Pandora remains quiet and withdrawn throughout the whole ordeal, staring out the windows and saying little, rousing herself only once to say that Akasha is trying to justify deplorable "reasons" for a holocaust.

Like many of Anne Rice's vampires, Pandora is portrayed as a morose, despairing immortal who initially wanted immortality but soon regretted her choice and turns into a dark, indifferent cynic. Lestat thinks that Pandora was troubled in some deep, fundamental way even before she became a vampire because she's the only vampire who doesn't receive visions of Maharet and Mekare in her dreams. During the confrontation in Sonoma, when Akasha directly asks Pandora to join with her or die, Pandora merely responds in a quiet, indifferent voice that she can't do what Akasha is asking of her and stoically accepts the idea of being killed.

Even after Akasha herself is destroyed and the thirteen vampires regroup in Armand's Night Island in Florida, Pandora still acts withdrawn from her fellow vampire kin, watching music videos all day long and completely ignoring Marius, who dotes on her lovingly. There is no sense of recovery or security in her as there is with the other vampires, and she departs from Night Island alone, still just as morose as ever.

enjoy...Nigel

Great Character - Weak Story.......2006-02-17

Pandora is the beautiful, sad, and mysterious lover Marius who is first introduced in "Queen of the Damned" and later mentioned by Marius in his own story "Blood and Gold." David Talbold tracks down Pandora and asks her to tell him her story, so that he may document her tale. Born to a wealthy family in Rome, Pandora has idilic childhood and exhibits rare intelligence and capacity to learn. As a little girl she also encounters young and still mortal Marius, who forever captures her heart. As she matures, however, her life takes several drastic and tragic turns and after two unsuccessful marriages and loss of her family Pandora finds herself a newly-made blood drinker, joined with Marius, and bound to care for the horrifying and beautiful vampiric King and Queen.
Pandora's story is interesting, nothing more nothing less. I was pleased with the few erotic moments, the detailed historical backdrop, curious dress and custom discriptions, and Anne's comments on development of Christianity. However, the story feels hollow and poorly timed. We learn little of Pandora's travels after she leaves Marius, the growth of her character, experiences in immortality, and most unfortunately almost nothing about the fledgeleing Indian vampire she spent centuries with. Her fights with Marius are almost humorous, but
the whole theme of rationality vs intution is way overplayed.

The book started out well and picked up pace, and then it sort of hit the wall. The ending is rushed and makes little effort to bring closure to Pandora's story. Anne rushes through a huge timespan, mentioning only briefly things readers most want to learn about. It isn't a bad book, but fans BEWARE, Rice is going downhill with the quality and substance of her work. Lestat himself had editors for his untobiography and it would be wise of Anne to do the same. A lot of omissions, typos, and story weaknesses and inconsistencies could easily have been fixed with editorial help. Pandora is a strong and complex female character, and her story had a potential to be great, but ended up being only ok.

Average customer rating:

Methinks He Doth Protest Too Much
Disappointing
Fun Read!
Du Brul just gets better and better
A Worthwhile Read

Pandora's Curse (Philip Mercer)
Jack Du Brul
Manufacturer: Onyx
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

During World War II, in a secret Nazi submarine base, boxes made from looted wartime gold were hidden away. These "Pandora's boxes" contained an artifact so lethal that whoever possessed them held the power to unleash hell upon the Earth. And now they have been found by a man who will use them to hold the world hostage-unless Philip Mercer can stop him...

Customer Reviews:

Methinks He Doth Protest Too Much.......2007-09-14

Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed a strong homosexual subtext running through the Mercer thrillers? In "Pandora's Curse" it's blatantly in the open...when, for example, Mercer at first sight ignores the sexy Greta--who thinks he's undressing her with his eyes--because his eyeballs are instead glued to the strong silent Werner. Oops! Then there's the murdered fat Russian who's grieved by his weeping sidekick, about whom Mercer keeps repeating words to the effect, "I didn't know they were so close." There's Mercer booze of choice--a girly Gimlet, which, in another novel, Charon's Crossing, is feyly described as a "sweetened lime juice concoction." And Mercer's own "sidekick," an octegenarian lush, who sends him care packages that include a "gag" subscription to "Playgirl," and are addressed to "Max E. Padd." I won't even start on Mercer's profession: "I'm a rock man," he boasts at one point (in "Charon's Crossing"); all that drilling and boring!

I've only recently started reading DuBrul--having polished off, at least for now, the Cussler oeurve--and I must say that for all the similarities to Pitt's adventures, the breathy, exclamation-point-filled Mercer narratives leave readers wondering about the definition of a "man's man." As far as the comparisons to 007 go, whoever has made them has not read Fleming. Bond was not a boy scout. Bond did not blush at the thought that a woman might kiss him on the lips, as does Mercer in "Pandora's Curse," when pecked on the cheek by his "love interest," the short-haired, boyishly figured Dr. Klein. Hmmm. Inappropriate Bondian comparisons aside, the Mercer sagas make for a good read--especially between the lines.

Disappointing.......2003-12-23

This is a disappointing effort by a decent author with very good potential. He has proven himself a good hand at action right from the beginning with Vulcan's Forge, and after a misstep with Charon's Landing, turned in an impressive yarn called The Medusa Stone. There were a number of reasons this book was less than the author's potential would allow. First of all the basis of the story was weak. To start it off was the meeting of all the world religious organizations aboard a cruise ship so the Vatican could right wrongs committed by the church over the centuries. The element of the meteorite that still radiated deadly radioactivity was something I had seen before and handled better. The same with the secret society that was guarding a certain religious relic that was made of the meteorite. There are other books, and movies for that matter that employ the element of a secret society and do it much better. Also, the nazi element, and the nazi hunters were something that just didn't hold much interest. If I were to put in a nutshell my thoughts about this novel, it would be called a political correctness inspired kick, ironically helped along at the end by some clownlike religious stereotypes, employed as humor, which appeared to defeat the purpose of the PC based storyline. Of course there were a number of action scenes that were pure DuBrul and is what he does best. Ultimately that is what kept me reading. For die hard DuBrul fans who have read everything, even the very bad Charon's Landing, I would say you might enjoy it. But for somebody that has a wide range of interests and reads many things, this book will most likely remind you of something you have already read and liked better.

Fun Read!.......2003-12-17

I enjoyed reading this book. However, it seems to emulate other adventure books almost to the point of being distracting. I got the feeling that DuBrul had read a lot of Clive Cussler before writing this. Though, that's not a bad thing for this genre.

Adventure fiction tends to gravitate toward main "hero" characters being wealthy experts in whatever fields a particular plot revolves around. James Bond and Dirk Pitt are good examples of this aspect of adventure storytelling. The Philip Mercer character from this book is really no different.

Regardless of this fact, I still enjoy a good adventure story if it's well told. DuBrul has a great mind for this type of story and does a great job of supplying a fantastic story that every fan of the genre should enjoy.

This is the first book I've read in the Philip Mercer series and I plan to buy the rest. I love a good story and Jack DuBrul is a good storyteller.

My 3 star rating may seem to be average (3.5 would be more accurate), but I only award 4 stars to EXTREMELY good books. 5 stars are reserved for books that change my life. Please take this into consideration. I recommend this book to friends.

Du Brul just gets better and better.......2003-02-01

I've enjoyed every one of Du Brul's novels, and I can honestly say each one displays the author's growing ability to narrate plausible stories based on outlandish plots. Mercer returns with a vengeance in a story based almost entirely in and around mysterious and hostile Greenland. Though using a somewhat over-used premise (the Nazi's nefarious doings in the past being used for terrorism in the future), Du Brul seamlessly weaves history with fiction to produce a fast-paced, fun read. Du Brul is picking up where Cussler is leaving off- and that's as high a compliment as I can pay to this wonderful adventure writer!

A Worthwhile Read.......2002-11-17

This is the first Jack Du Brul novel I have read and I found it to be very well put together and interesting. It contains a good mix of action with a decent dose of historical background tying it together well. The fact it is set in one of the most unhospitable places on earth, in Greenland adds to the suspense. Philip Mercer the main character of the novel is very likeable and a hero for the new millenium.

Pandora's Picnic Basket: The Potential and Hazards of Genetically Modified Foods

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In a future not so far!
A Science based approach to a scientific issue
PROPOGANDA!!!
Scientific answers to World hunger?

Pandora's Picnic Basket: The Potential and Hazards of Genetically Modified Foods
Alan McHughen
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Genetically Engineered Foods

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Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 0198506740

Amazon.com

Throughout the developed world, debate is raging over the use of genetically modified (GM) food and food additives. This debate, Canadian agricultural scientist McHughen holds, is not well-informed. "Everyone, it seems, is concerned about GM food," he writes, "but most admit they don't really know much about it." This is especially true in North America, where millions of acres of GM crops are now produced and GM foods are widely consumed, although it is no less true of Europe, where production and consumption alike are comparatively low.

McHughen recognizes that some of these concerns are well-founded, even if the discussion is not, and his book is a thoughtful examination of some of the basic scientific issues involved in whether genetic modification may turn out to yield harmful (or, conversely, beneficial) results. These issues, he goes on to say, are of two broad kinds: first, whether a GM product is safe for the environment, and whether it can be prevented from "escaping" into nature; and second, whether a GM product is safe for the animal or human consumer. His answers may not always please activists on either side of the issue, for he suggests that while in the main GM production is likely to be a good thing, particularly in areas of the world where agricultural yields are low, there may yet be unanticipated risks involved--especially because "nature has no plan for agricultural systems based on high chemical inputs and low biodiversity." --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

Are you concerned about fish genes in tomatoes? Worried that brazil nut genes in soybeans can result in potentially lethal allergic reactions? That rapeseed plants bred to be resistant to herbicides could become uncontrollable superweeds? You are not alone. The issue of genetically modified foods has fast become one of the most debated of recent years, with scientists and companies seeking to develop the technology on one side, and consumer groups and environmentalists on the other. However, in spite of the great heat generated by the debate, there is very little real information on the subject, either about the technologies in use or about the regulatory processes established to approve the processes and the products. This book sets out to explain, in clear and direct language, the technologies underlying so-called genetically modified food, and compares them with other "natural" methods of plant breeding and production. The author then looks at the safeguards in place from regulators around the world and asks whether these are sufficient. The question of labelling, held by some to be an obvious way out for concerned consumers, is examined, and the honesty and usefulness of some of these labels addressed. The book then looks at issues of real concern, particularly environmental issues, and ways in which a consumer can seek to avoid GMOs if they so choose. In each chapter, key topics are addressed through question and answer boxes. Real case histories illustrate the development and regulation of GMOs, and by the end of the book the reader will be able to make an informed choice about whether to support or challenge this technology, the products of which are increasingly pervasive.

Customer Reviews:

In a future not so far!.......2004-12-29

It easier to destroy an atom instead a prejudice , stated in certain opportunity Albert Einstein.
Are you anxious for knowing the advances about the genetically designed food? The public education will turn off the opposed voices and peregrine interpretations about the superstitions weaved around this new subject.
Hughes affirms that sixty per cent of the processed aliments contain some trans genetic product and we have been consuming them without ulterior consequences .
He points out two positive aspects behind this newness technique : Those improvements will help to mitigate the hunger in the world and reduce also, the ecological impact in the intensive agriculture .
A reference reading which undoubtedly forms part of one additional consequence of the Third Wave existence .

A Science based approach to a scientific issue.......2004-08-20

When I wanted to learn more about GM, I looked for a book to read that was based on science, not on rhetoric from activists that have only preconceptions and no real understanding of science. That is why I chose this book. Alan McHughen is not only a scientist, but he has done research on GM plants. This gives him a unique perspective into the pros and cons of GM plants and the GM process. He does a good job of describing the science behind GM, which is essential to understand for anyone interested in GM. Then he goes on to describe the application of GM technology and current issues. He emphasizes that one should separate the process of GM from the products of GM; something that the media and activist groups rarely do, further clouding the issue. If you would like to learn facts about GM so that you can decide for yourself, then this book is for you.

PROPOGANDA!!!.......2003-05-25

The author Allen McHughen promises the reader an unbiased view on GM, especially the potential and hazards or risks associated with it. In the end however, he clearly explains the benefits, but belittles the REAL problems of GM which he avoids. It is a gross manipulation of the truth. He is funded by MONSANTO, a totally pro GM company whose products have ruined farmers in India. He calls all the hazards of GM mere myths - invented by the media. He fails to address any hazards and tells only half the truth. How can he provide an unbiased viewpoint when he has genetically modified food himself? If you read VERY carefully between the lines you will realize he contradicts himself several times. The uncareful reader is easily swayed by his complex yet empty arguments into thinking that GM is only good and has no risks. It is just a book of lies!!

Scientific answers to World hunger?.......2000-08-19

My thoughts have been centered on Geneticaly Modified food for some time, so was delighted to discover Allan McHughen's book "The Potential and Hazards of Genetic Modified Foods' on Amazon.com. Living in S. Africa, we are very much aware of the shortage of food for large numbers of people on the African continent as well as in many other areas of the world. The need is not just bulk to ease the pangs of hunger, but food with high nutritional value. There is also a need for the scientific knowledge of how to grow proper food in carefuly nourished ground. I do hope that the scientific value to the human race can outweigh the risk of any commercial gain, and that the people who's needs are the greatest, can benefit from the work being done.

Just Mathematics (Mathematics: Just Maths / Net Wiskunde)

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Just Mathematics (Mathematics: Just Maths / Net Wiskunde)
H. Barry , and Dugmore
Manufacturer: Maskew Miller Longman Pty.Ltd ,South Africa
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Pandora's Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies

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Those French Have a Different Word for Everything!
Latour for beginners
A clear statement of Latour's position
Not One For The Purists
Yawn, once again

Pandora's Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies
Bruno Latour
Manufacturer: Harvard University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 067465336X

Book Description

A scientist friend asked Bruno Latour point-blank: "Do you believe in reality?" Taken aback by this strange query, Latour offers his meticulous response in Pandora's Hope. It is a remarkable argument for understanding the reality of science in practical terms.

In this book Latour, identified by Richard Rorty as the new "bête noire of the science worshipers," gives us his most philosophically informed book since Science in Action. Through case studies of scientists in the Amazon analyzing soil and in Pasteur's lab studying the fermentation of lactic acid, he shows us the myriad steps by which events in the material world are transformed into items of scientific knowledge. Through many examples in the world of technology, we see how the material and human worlds come together and are reciprocally transformed in this process.

Why, Latour asks, did the idea of an independent reality, free of human interaction, emerge in the first place? His answer to this question, harking back to the debates between Might and Right narrated by Plato, points to the real stakes in the so-called science wars: the perplexed submission of ordinary people before the warring forces of claimants to the ultimate truth.

Customer Reviews:

Those French Have a Different Word for Everything!.......2001-04-24

In Pandora's Hope, Bruno Latour is resolute in his efforts to [1] understand the mire philosophers of language have found themselves in, and [2] move on past those chimeras of epistemological impossibilities toward a richer understanding of things by scrutinizing the very practice of science and shaking loose the foundations presupposed by realist and social constructivist frameworks. This review, I will admit, is overly preoccupied by Latour's handling of "language," but Pandora's Hope covers quite well a much broader breadth of philosophical inquiry than my particular esoteric interest lets on. But since that is where my particular interests lie, let it be said that at least as an extremely strong subtext, Latour, through an exploration of the reality of science studies, relentlessly pursues the concocted philosophic divide between the world and words, and attempts to set us afoot on a more fruitful conceptual path from the dead-end correspondence theory and the resulting materialist/relativist dichotomy. If all this sounds far too heady, blame me, not Latour: for his ability to summarize in an attempt to overcome the various sprawling philosophical puzzles, his writings have a refreshing narrative flow, subtle wit, and an underlying humility that is encouraging rather than intimidating for the reader. It's not "lite" reading, but for those up for the challenge, it will be a rewarding task.

Latour for beginners.......2000-06-27

Latour has written a clear introduction to his current position in the field of STS-studies. Chapter after chapter, patiently, he clarifies the basic premises of his work. Whatever one thinks about Latour's radical redifinition of the field of science and technology studies, this is an enjoyable book: clear and well written.

A clear statement of Latour's position.......2000-06-27

Not One For The Purists.......2000-03-14

You have to admire Bruno Latour's persistence in the face of often vicious misunderstanding of what he's about. In many ways the core insights he has brought to the study of science have been available to readers for almost 20 years, yet it is still necessary for him to constantly reframe arguments to try and get the points across. This book shows once again the profound seriousness of his philosophical approach, based in the work of Serres, Deleuze and Whitehead amongst many others, and yet it seems inevitable that its lucid style and empirical foundation will find 'academic' philosophers once again all at sea (and substituting the usual bile for genuine understanding). This is Latour at his most sober, pleading for common sense in an area that is surely the intellectual world's biggest reservoir of wishful mysticism - the relationship between representation and reality. It's not just philosophers who find this banal question interesting, but also scientists, who increasingly adopt the same impoverished schema as those in science studies have developed over the years to judge (not understand) what scientists do. This is one of the great strengths of Latour's book and overall approach, how he respects the work and procedures of both sides, using neither to be reductionist about the other. What emerges is a science fully implicated in the 'social' world, and a social world just as implicated in the world of facts and theories - no puritanical separation, but also not a simple reflection of one in the other either. It will confuse and anger philosophers and scientists alike, but only to the extent that they have disciplinary empires to protect - Latour is interested in the world, and not constant petty claims about who understands it best.

Yawn, once again.......2000-03-03

LaTour should learn something about science before pontificating about it! Once again he displays only a shallow knowledge of science and tries again to place it on another coordinate grid. A real intellectual yawn.

Running: The Women's Handbook (Pandora Handbook)

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Running: The Women's Handbook (Pandora Handbook)
Liz Sloan , and Ann Kramer
Manufacturer: Pandora Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0863580432

Myth-O-Mania: Keep a Lid on It, Pandora! - Book #6 (Myth-O-Mania)

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Opening up THIS Pandora's box

Myth-O-Mania: Keep a Lid on It, Pandora! - Book #6 (Myth-O-Mania)
Kate McMullan
Manufacturer: Volo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Myth-O-Mania: Get to Work, Hercules! - Book #7 (Myth-O-Mania)
Myth-O-Mania: Go for the Gold Atalanta! - Book #8 (Myth-O-Mania)
Myth-O-Mania: Stop That Bull, Theseus! - Book #5 (Myth-O-Mania)
Myth-O-Mania: Phone Home, Persephone! - Book #2 (Myth-O-Mania, 2)
Myth-O-Mania: Have a Hot Time, Hades! - Book #1 (Myth-O-Mania)

ASIN: 0786816694

Book Description

That story about Pandora opening a box and releasing terrible evils into the world? A total whopper. Pandora didn't give a fig about what was inside it. The only one who was itching to know was-one guess-Zeus!

Customer Reviews:

Opening up THIS Pandora's box.......2003-09-14

Back again is King Hades, to tell you the truth about Greek Myths. This particular book is a deluxe myth(The myth of Prometheus and of Pandora), with more Titans. The story is almost the well known story of Pandora...almost but not quite. The story talks about what it's like to be the only girl in a world full of guys. But the funniest part is what's really in the box!Read and find out, but be warned...you may die laughing.

Anni Albers (Guggenheim Museum Publications)

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finest most poetic book about weaving

Anni Albers (Guggenheim Museum Publications)
Nicholas Fox Weber , and Pandora Tabatabai Asbaghi
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Weaving | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0810969238

Book Description

Among the foremost textile designers of the 20th century, Anni Albers was a central figure of the Weaving Workshop at the Bauhaus in prewar Germany. Accompanying a centennial retrospective of her work, this volume contains full-color reproductions of Albers's most important weavings, drapery materials and wall coverings, as well as scores of her highly influential commercial textile designs. Anni Albers had an enormous effect on the design of yard materials worldwide. A comprehensive illustrated chronology details her fascinating life and career in Germany and in the United States, where she moved in the 1930s with her husband, the famed painter and instructor Josef Albers.

Customer Reviews:

finest most poetic book about weaving.......2000-06-14

anni albers' breath taking, evolved, inteligent and futurestic work is well represented in this book. visually , this book is stunning. the little glimpses into her family photos make it warm and more familiar also, adding another dimention to the presentation. excellent! m ust have by anyone who appreciates asthetics.

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