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This 330-page coffee-table book combines the writing of Mark Cotta Vaz and Patricia Rose Duignan with more than 600 photographs and illustrations to chronicle the accomplishments of Hollywood's hottest special effects company. Industrial Light & Magic, where Duignan spent two decades of her career, was founded by George Lucas to create the effects for his groundbreaking movie, Star Wars. Since then ILM has continued to pioneer new technologies which have led to SF classics such as "E.T.," "Terminator 2" and "Jurassic Park". This books offers a behind-the-scenes look into the magical moments ILM has helped create.
Book Description
Includes a foreword by Steven Spielberg!
The supernatural wonders of Ghostbusters. The lively three-dimensional toons from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The unstoppable liquid-metal T-1000 cyborg of Terminator 2. The incredibly life-like digital dinosaurs of Jurassic Park. The thunderous African stampede in Jumanji. These award-winning special effects have one thing in common: Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).
For more than twenty years, George Lucas and the technical wizards at ILM have literally changed the face of movie-making with their stunning, often unbelievable, visual effects.
Industrial Light + Magic: Into the Digital Realm chronicles ILM's second monumental decade--from 1986 through the mid-nineties--and includes a special discussion on the latest groundbreaking visual effects in the soon-to-be released Special Edition of Star Wars: A New Hope.
During this seminal period, ILM virtually redefined visual effects and blazed a trail into the digital realm. With more than six hundred lavish full-color photographs, this fascinating book takes you behind the camera and into the rarely seen workshops, offering an amazing look at the men and women who create movie magic. We follow the intricate crafts of matte painting, model making, and optical compositing as they are transformed into digitally driven systems, and we track the contributions of model and creature makers, animation specialists and optical technicians, and the unsung stage hands and pyrotechnic experts.
Packed with astounding information about ILM's technical innovations and remarkably clear explanations--including a revealing look at ILM's work with TV commercials and theme park attractions, a comprehensive glossary of essential terms, and detailed screen credits for all the company's film projects--this volume will enchant and enlighten all of us who have ever marveled at what we've seen on the screen and wondered: how did they do that?
Customer Reviews:
The 2nd decade of ILM in a great book!.......2006-11-05
First there was ILM, covering the 1st decade of this fantastic Special Effects Company.
This is the second book of the series, covering the main movies from the second decade of existence of this company.
An execelent finishing, great value book (although it is a litle expensive, the book quality is exceptional).
Essencial to all Special Effects lovers.
Fantastic!.......2005-06-17
One of the greatest 'making of' writers Patricia Rose Duignan's Industrial Light & Magic: Into the Digital Realm is one of my all-time favorite books, charting the journey of ILM from fledgling company in George Lucas' garage to the No.1 Special Effects company in the world. Insightful and comprehensive, this is flawless reading and has some great accompanying images from Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and surprisingly some of their lesser-known movies like Willow and Hook. An essential movie book, I just love every page, so carefully written, so rich in detail, it leaves the reader feeling that they have experienced something very special. Fantastic and brilliant. BUY IT NOW!
Pricey, but well worth it........2004-01-25
The book is huge and heavy. Every single page has at least several great color photographs and it is a big book. You will love to read about ILM's ventures into the digital realm. It is very technology orientated, but not too much and does talk about the film making process and ILM in general. This is well worth looking at especially for fans of ILM or those who want to see what goes on behind the scenes or for those looking for a career in this direction. This is a good place for inspiration.
Although it does not cover the more recent movies you will still get the picture here. It starts by talking about go-motion and then moves onto the first ever digital sequence and how much people slaved over it before going into detail with the evolution of that process and of the special edition of Star Wars and Speilberg's "J. Park".
The book looks fantastic. Keep it for your grandkids. I am sure they will love you for it. This is the kind of book that you will turn to time and time again just to see "how they did that".
The Future of the Magic.......2000-06-15
For 25 years Industrial Light and Magic has woven magic into countless films, either subtle images through `invisible' effects such as matte paintings or through eye-popping visuals that stand out vividly against the film backdrop. ILM has made it's mark on history, for not only have they been and still are the premiere effects house in Hollywood, they have innovated and invented more technology than any other studio, additionally they have won awards for the processing and compositing technology they have created. ILM had to be the best at special effects, because their flagship title - STAR WARS - demanded the best, because that's what Lucas wanted.
`Into the Digital Realm' isn't so much an abandonment of ILM of the traditional methods of special effects, rather a point of departure for the new technology and all of things that led up to it. Indeed, ILM's work on `The Hunt For Red October' submarine work involved flying the submerged vessels from wires in a smoky room - effects do not get any more traditional than that. Released in 96, the book doesn't mention that Phantom Menace or even that the film is in production. It does have some revised images from the Star Wars special edition. As with the previous tome, this one is packed with hundreds of color photos, plus the same beautiful gate fold images.
If the center piece for the previous book was Star Wars, Digital Realms' focus is obviously Jurassic Park, because it was the first film to use CG on so large a scale, even more than Terminator 2, which ILM also did. Jurassic Park was also the test bed and showcase piece that convinced Lucas that computers had finally matured enough to bring what he had in mind to the screen for the new Star Wars films. More is the pity, because I came to loathe most of the aliens in the Phantom Menace. Digital Realm clearly explains in easy to understand terms how effects - both new and old - are accomplished, be it something as simple as making it appear as if buildings are actually much taller than they or having a velociraptor walk _behind_ a plant situated in the foreground. I have both of these wonderful books, and I strongly recommend them to anyone who is curious about ILM's history and the process of how effects are made.
Extraordinary.......2000-04-09
An extraordinary book about an extraordinary company. You will know all you want to know about special effects wizardry. The book is well published, even watching its pictures is joyful.
Book Description
For more than 30 years, renowned anthropologist Wade Davis has traveled the globe, studying the mysteries of sacred plants and celebrating the world’s traditional cultures. His passion as an ethnobotanist has brought him to the very center of indigenous life in places as remote and diverse as the Canadian Arctic, the deserts of North Africa, the rain forests of Borneo, the mountains of Tibet, and the surreal cultural landscape of Haiti. In Light at the Edge of the World, Davis explores the idea that these distinct cultures represent unique visions of life itself and have much to teach the rest of the world about different ways of living and thinking. As he investigates the dark undercurrents tearing people from their past and propelling them into an uncertain future, Davis reiterates that the threats faced by indigenous cultures endanger and diminish all cultures.
Customer Reviews:
Wade Davis is lyrical . . ........2007-09-01
As far as I'm concerned, Davis is a five-star writer across the board. Not only does this man have more scientific knowledge than he knows what to do with, but he writes about people and plant life with equal flawless prose. This is a good 'starter' book for those who have not yet read him (or, who only heard of "The Serpent and the Rainbow"). His intense interest in, profound respect for indigenous cultures and their people quite obviously generate the trust and knowledge he receives in return. Like his beloved mentor, Harvard's Edward Schultz, he will literally go to 'the ends of the earth'and stay however long it takes so that he may absorb and understand what he finds there. His descriptions (and direct experience)of psychotropic's from the jungles and their place in the culture, should be read by the multi-national plunderers - as well as those whose only frame of reference is Timothy Leary. The natural world around them provide every, single necessary item of life and sustenance for the people. The huge, central-to-life importance of the Shaman is masterfully illustrated. It should be obvious that I cannot say enough in praise of Wade Davis. Go and discover him for yourself, get lost in the wonder of his world - and marvel . . .
Plants and people.......2007-08-09
Wade Davis' long career among isolated peoples and cultures has given him an enviable insight. He manages to connect with people at many levels. They are free and open with him, an obvious outsider. Their stories, legends, life modes all come to light under his gentle persuasive powers. In this outstanding account of his travels and his studies, we share much of what he and his mentors have learned.
The primary message in this book is how cultures vary with their environments. Worldwide, Davis notes, only about five per cent of humanity live in areas relatively untouched by European intrusion. They are scattered, often living in what we deem as "savage" or "desolate", yet they survive and flourish when allowed. Hardly rigid in outlook, these people have learned well how to adapt to changing conditions. They have come to know just how to deal with what Nature has provided. Centuries of experience are put to use on a daily basis, following seasonal and other variations. Their knowledge of the local plants in particular has stood them well, and they have much to offer us. Davis describes how this has developed in many regions, with the Amazon basin an area of his special interest.
Davis acknowledges two special influences in his work - David Maybury-Lewis, his tutor, and Richard Evans Schultes who had spent many years in the Amazon area. Davis followed them, but as his study interests grew, so did the range of his travels. North of the Amazon Basin, he enters the mountains of Columbia to learn the ways of the Kogi and Ika people. He takes us to Northwest British Columbia, where the Grizzly retains a meagre residual territory and meets Atehena [Alex Jack] to learn the ways of the shamans who formerly operated there. In lands once part of the Inca empire, he learns the uses of coca leaves - both social and medicinal. Haiti possesses numerous cultures, many with strong ties to the African homeland. That continent's sad history of imperialist intrusion probably created more artificial "national" boundaries than any other region of the world. Such intrusion causes displacement and Davis is witness to the shamanic rituals of a people only recently forced into a nomadic life.
The author concludes his narrative by describing two areas as opposite as one could imagine - the Red Centre of Australia and the snowy reaches of the Canadian Arctic. He recounts the utter innocence of the European invaders in both regions. British explorers and colonists suffered heavily as a result of their failure to understand how "primitive" people could survive better than "well-equipped" Victorians with their advanced technology and ideals of superiority. As elsewhere, long centuries of experience taught the Aborigines to find water in unlikely places and the Inuit to travel lightly and efficiently. Only in modern times have researchers arrived at an understanding of what "primitives" accomplished.
As he freely confesses, however, the work has only begun. This book is not only informative about how indigenous people have survived conditions deadly to us, but provides pointers about how to apply their knowledge for the benefit of us all. Medicines are but one step in what can be adapted for our use. And more Wade Davises are needed to do the tasks before us. Those new scholars, however, must go to those people to learn, not to change their ways to conform to ours. That would be artificial and self-defeating. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Stand Up for Cultural Diversity.......2007-05-17
Wade Davis is both an exceptional anthropologist and an exciting writer. The remote and unique cultures that he records in this work give us home bound and over-weight readers a glimpse of hope in the human potential that we all share. We may not be able to travel as he has but through his vivid and engrossing writing, we can celebrate the human spirit that he has witnessed first hand. The special people he introduces to us see the world in different lights, sounds and smells than we do from our homoginized world view. We need to understand these cultures as a way to balance our own as we try to look beyond it to find new ways to meet the ever changing reality of our existence.
A compelling read that is an engaging as it is informative.......2007-04-11
an anthropologist and the author of several books (perhaps the best known of which is 'The Serpent and the Rainbow'), Wade Davis is explorer-in-residence at the National Geographic Society and has quite literally traveled the world to search out and study other cultures and their uses of sacred plants. In "Light At The End Of The World: A Journey Through The Realm Of Vanishing Cultures" he has compiled essays based on his researches into the lives, traditions, beliefs, customs, and ceremonies of tribal cultures that range from the Canadian Arctic to the deserts of North Africa, from the rain forests of Borneo and the Amazon, to the mountain communities of the Andes and Tibet, from the swamps of the Orinoco to the wilds of British Columbia, to the cultural landscape of Haiti. All of these cultures share one thing in common - they are in danger of losing their unique ways of life in the face of expanding technological and population encroachments and competitions for resources. A strongly recommended addition to academic, community, and personal library Anthropology and Social Issues reference collections and supplemental reading lists, "Light At The End Of The World" is a compelling read that is an engaging as it is informative, as compelling as it is instructive.
World without languages.......2003-05-26
Anthropologist Margaret Mead defined a nightmare as waking up one day and not knowing what we've lost. Anthropologist Wade Davis applies this to the world's languages. Though spoken by about 300 million people, or 5 percent of everybody in the world, these languages are being lost, without having been studied or written down by experts.
From 25 years worth of photographing and traveling worldwide, Davis sees each language as showing how changing and endless are our imaginations. For example, the Micmac name trees by the sound the winds make in the branches, the hour after sunset, in the fall. Native peoples of the Amazon believe that each plant sings in a different key. They've found a way of grouping, by figuring out the keys from talking with the very plants! This works as well, for them, as what botanists have come up with.
Healers, taken from all non-industrialized parts of the world, get food and healing from 40,000 species of plants. This know-how is so great that healing has always meant power. But it wasn't always used kindly.
Healers in West African countries, around the Equator, made sure their patients kept whatever laws were supposed to be followed. They used all their know-how to make rule-breakers take deathly amounts of plants. And to think that I had thought this hardly ever happened, other than the famous cases of the deathly drinks that were forced on Socrates and Tchaikovsky.
But this killing style is still around today, not too far away from the industrialized world, in Haiti. There, sorcerors give outcasts tetrodotoxin. It's a nerve poison in the skin and organs of the tetraodontiformes order of sea fishes. A pin-head size of the poison kills. Sorcerors give enough to make the outcast look dead. When the effects wear off, the outcast appears to come back from the dead. These death and near-death experiences aren't seen the same way as in the United States. Instead, they turn the outcasts into freaks as zombies, the living dead.
LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD carefully follows the author's footsteps in ONE RIVER, RAINFOREST and SHADOWS IN THE SUN. The photography is beautiful, the organization is clear, and the writing is fascinating. Some of what's covered from the many non-industrialized cultures is chilling. So Davis doesn't get into just glorifying non-industrialized people or criticizing industrialized peoples.
From anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, he believes in finding balance in our world of opposites. The first pages told me that this approach would lead to a worthwhile read. For Davis tackles the controversial space program. It cost nearly a trillion dollars, just to bring back, in the words of a southeast Asian nomad, a basket of dust.
But a small part of that paydirt went into the stunning blood-red crystal in the stained-glass window at the National Cathedral in D.C. There, it reminds us all that it took going to the moon and back to make us change the way we look at things, for all time. Languages do that every day.
Customer Reviews:
Essential Modern Quabalah Text.......2007-05-28
Unlike most books on the subject, William Gray's 'The Ladder of Lights' speaks to the reader personally in a simple and sane way, without any obstruction to meaning.
His writing style is very different to other authors who produced books around the same period or earlier and his approach is very down to earth.
He also has a clever capacity to put simple meanings into short phrases which are designed to illuminate and assist the reader in understanding concepts which in other books are consistently given obscure meanings.
He is frequently able to bring fresh meanings and contemplation to Quabalistic symbols and ideas in a way that is very matter of fact which provides the reader with ample room for contemplation.
A very good book that should be on the shelf of any serious Western Magician.
A Companion Piece to Fortune?.......2003-11-04
Hands down, this is one of the best books on modern Qabala ever written! Gray takes a step-by-step look at the Ten Sephiroth and their traditional attributions in each of the Four Qabalistic Worlds. A relatively simple, no-nonsense approach to modern Qabalism.
In some ways, I view this book as a companion piece to Dion Fortune's much better-known work, "The Mystical Qabalah," since both books provide the reader with a fairly straightforward approach to this challenging subject. Where Fortune starts at the top of the Tree of Life and works her downward, however, Gray starts at the bottom of the Tree and works his way to the top. Although Grey's interpretation of the Tree is similar to Fortune's, by approaching the material from a completely different perspective he is also able to provide new insight.
This book's greatest strength is that it analyzes each of the ten Sephiroth from each of the Four Qabalistic worlds, providing the reader with something sorely missed in Dion Fortune's classic book on the subject. This book's greatest weakness is that, unlike Fortune, Gray pays almost no attention to the organization of the Sephiroth upon the Tree, or to the relationships between them. Without a word of explanation Gray also reverses the traditional Yetziratic attributions of Malkuth and Yesod, assigning them to the angelic choirs of Cherubim and Ashim respectively, although I do see the logic and consistency of this attribution.
Overall, this is a good, solid title for somebody interested in approaching modern (non-rabbinical) Qabalism for the first time. I'd recommend reading Dion Fortune's book first, if you haven't already, and then tackling this book immediately afterwards for a different take on the same material.
Excellent.......2000-06-08
This is by far the best book I have seen which explains the Qabballah. It uses simple language, and very clever symbolism to explain the workings of it. Well worth it.
Excellent.......2000-06-08
This is by far the best book I have seen which explains the Qabballah. It uses simple language, and very clever symbolism to explain the workings of it. Well worth it.
Book Description
The death of Emperor Kostimon has unleashed the dark gods upon the kingdom of Imperia--and only the Lady Elandra and the warrior Caelan have the power to save their land and people.
Customer Reviews:
Darkness comes to claim Caelan and Elandra.......2004-04-11
Caelan and Elandra are together at last and fleeing through the shadowlands
as the thousand year reign of Kostimon ends. It is enjoyable to spend some
more time with these characters as they go through some key experiences that
allow them to defeat the dark god's plans.
While this novel is replete with many fantasy clichés it is still and
enjoyable read, and at least those clichés are integrated in the story in
such a way as to make them important turning points in the story as both
Calean and Elandra find out secrets in their own pasts that prove to be of
vital importance.
This books rounds off this series nicely. It will never be in the top 10 per
cent of original fantasy novels but the series is a good outing in light
fantasy. The only real complaint I have is the lack of such vital scenes as
Kostimon's death which we only hear about second hand and well after the
event. For such a world shaking change Kostimon's passing was only
incidental to this story as this among many other potential story threads
from the previous books were failed to be exploited in this novel.
A dull Deborah Chester Book.......1998-11-28
This was a very dissapointing ending for the ruby throne trilogy. I just loved and enjoyed the cat-fights, hair-pulling, and action in the first book (REIGN OF SHADOWS) but REALM OF LIGHT WAS SOO BORING, there was no conclusion at all. The death and rise of people were bluntly developed, it seemed as though Deborah Chester just sped throught this just to finish the third planned book, so she could work on her next trilogy. Oh, well...just hope another better book comes out in the meantime.
Disappointing Conclusion to a Promising Series.......1998-09-09
I enjoyed the first two books in the series. I was fascinated by the background of the empire and the characters that made it up. There were several plot developments revolving around characters that I found very intriguing: Hecati, Bixia, Agel, the jinji, the Magria and so on. For instance, we left her half-sister Bixia screaming that she would do everything in her power to bring the empress down. So, here we are in the conclusion and we never even see Bixia again, let alone have her try anything to ruin her life. The author focuses a great deal on minute details, then forgets the big picture. The emperor is mentioned almost as an aside that he is dead. What happened? We get about one sentence that the magria is dead and has been replaced by a former deputy that she had removed from office due to flaws. What happened? We never find out. We spend pages and pages focusing on the empress reaching Albania and her father, and all her attentions are concentrated on saving his life so that he could lead his armies to put her on the throne. Everything is about to come together, and then she's basically arrested and carted off to the capital with her family who have no real part in the rest of the story. No armies. Nothing. She earns the respect of a dragonrider who pretty much seems set to bring her an army of dragonriders, and we never see him or another dragon again. She wanted a jinji from the very first book, and she finally gets one. She even gets one that is unusually colored and matches her topaz colors, then all we get from the jinji is it piping up a couple of times that danger approaches. Well, duh. He never uses his peculiar skills that I wanted to learn more about to sense and draw off magic. We didn't need the jinji to tell us that. Too much detail was focused on petty humiliations and not enough on the real meat of the story. I was very disappointed at the lack of conclusion for this series. I feel as though I wasted my time reading the first two, which were much better than the last. I wish that the author would have extended the series to at least a fourth book to fully develop all the characters, then I would have been one happy reader.
A must read for fantasy lovers.......1998-02-20
This book was an excellent read. The characters were excellently protrayed. And man there were so many twists and turns in the story it made me pleasently dizzy! Elandra and Caelan's relationship is very vivid and lifelike. I could feel the love they had!
My only problem is that the ending of the climax of the book had Caelan so different from the rest of the book and the series that it seemed a little too far fetched. All in all this was one of the best conclusions to a trilogy I have read in a long while.
The Ruby Throne trilogy is a must read for Fantasy lovers.......1997-11-13
The exciting conclusion of the Ruby Throne trilogy begins right where it left off in book two. Faced with certain death behind, the Emperor and his band of refugees has no choice but to flee into the Shadow Realm. Caelan, not willing to let the Empress tread the dark realm alone, enters with her. They soon become separated, and are lost in the darkness. There is a way out, but the cost is high. And even if they do get out of the Shadow Realm, there is still the matter of those pesky prophecies.
An extremely well crafted novel, full of surprises and character growth. The relationship between the Empress Elandra and her guardian Caelan is full of emotionial tension, and the shadows and prophecies that follow them both add depth and character. Surprises are plentiful, and the action non-stop. All of these add up to one thing: loss of sleep when you can't put it down. An excellent fantasy setting by a terrific writer. Hopefully there is more to come.
Average customer rating:
- A New Vamp Society that may be a promising series
- Into the Darkness
- 4.5 Klovers! Courtesy of CK2S Kwips & Kritiques
- One Hot Book!
- terrific vampiric erotic romance
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Into the Darkness (Dark Realm, Book 1) (Avon Red)
Delilah Devlin
Manufacturer: Avon Red
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 006136343X
Release Date: 2007-06-26 |
Book Description
A woman's hunt for pleasure knows no rules . . . and no boundaries.
Escaping from a tragic past, Natalie Lambert arrives in New Orleans and falls victim to a series of strange, unearthly attacks. Now, for the first time in her life, Natalie aches with sexual desire. Confused, frightened, out of control, she struggles desperately to understand a world that is transforming around her. But soon she will be powerful and magnificent in ways she could never have imagined . . .
A ruggedly handsome Cajun policeman, Detective Rene Broussard has come to rescue Natalie in her time of greatest need. And when he inexplicably wakes in bed beside her—both burning with a lust impossible to deny—he doesn't care that a dark and vengeful enemy has brought them to this moment. All that matters is the irresistible curve of her body, the heat of her passion . . . and the forbidden pleasures the night promises.
With one sharp, sensuous, biting kiss, he will be hers for life . . . and beyond.
Customer Reviews:
A New Vamp Society that may be a promising series.......2007-09-14
This is the 1st writing of Deliah Devlin's that I have read and I plowed right through the book. I won't go through the synopsis since it's readily available.
The book was hard to put down, needing to see what happened next to our new emerging Born vamp Natalie, and her reluctant at first mate, Rene who is human and their future.
The good vamps (Born) vs. bad vamps (Bitten Rogues) are a little reminiscent of the Crimson City vamp society struggles to me. If Devlin continues on with a series, it looks like we may find some of our good vamps are really nasty little dictators, our rogues may not be all that bad and characters from this book may play a leading role in a coup. Time will tell, lots of room to play with.
Rene is yummy HOT. He and Natalie certainly burn up the sheets. Our secondary gal/guy Chessa & Nic are just as hot and we should be reading more about them I would guess.
As others have warned this is an erotic paranormal with hot sex and a lot of it. Yes, some girl/girl sex. Not my cup of tea, so just skip over that part as I do. However, there is also a very good story here with all the elements of a strong series.
Into the Darkness.......2007-07-24
Natalie Lambert's life is in turmoil. First her parents were murdered, then her roommate, and now the world has gone crazy! She returns to New Orleans in search of her birth mother and the killer that stalks her, but instead she is attacked by killer birds and locusts and discovers sexual desire for the first time. Can she make any sense of things before the killer catches her too?
New Orleans Police Detective Rene Broussard knows there are things that go bump in the night... after all, his partner is a vampire! Yet even he is shocked at the strange things that occur around Natalie. He takes her into protective custody, but soon wonders who will protect the little innocent from his own raging desire?
Natalie's hormones are raging and although she doesn't understand them, she follows her instincts and sets into motion a chain of events that will change everyone's lives.
Into the Darkness is a step into another world. Delilah Devlin easily weaves fantasy with reality, creating something spectacular in Into the Darkness. Natalie had no idea who or even what she was until she met up with Rene and his strange partner, Chessa Tomas. Watching the changes she goes through was both fascinating and erotic. She and Rene are great together and as they learn more about her needs, they also learn more about each other and their desires. I really liked seeing the progression and the growth of their feelings for each other. Into the Darkness is a fast-paced page-turner full of fantastic characters and a whole lot of sexual tension - this is one story you won't want to miss.
Georgia reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
4.5 Klovers! Courtesy of CK2S Kwips & Kritiques.......2007-07-07
It doesn't matter if Natalie Lambert is a suspect or a victim, good cops do not get involved with either. At least, that is what Rene Broussard keeps trying to tell himself when he is tasked with protecting her overnight - at his own home. In his own bed, even. But as the beautiful virgin vampire comes into heat for the first time, she proves as irresistible as she is determined when she sets her mind on seducing Rene!
Natalie can't explain the desire she feels for Rene - something she has never felt before. Even harder for her to understand is this strange urge she has to bite him...
When an unknown threat terrorizes Natalie, murdering those she loves most, she is swept up in the arms of a new family - one she never knew existed - who will stop at nothing to protect her.
Delilah Devlin is a relatively new author for me, and I am enjoying what I have read from her so far immensely! Her new vampire story, Into the Darkness, is no exception. This is actually the first full-length novel I've read by this author, and she proves herself as capable in this format as she is with a short story.
Be warned, Devlin's vampire society lives by a set of mores that are atypical to human society, and readers must learn to adjust along with Rene, who is also human. As Rene grows to accept the strange new world he is thrust into, we are provided the opportunity to gain the same acceptance through his eyes, easing both him and the reader into this new world.
Natalie is a wonderful leading lady to Rene's hero, and is simultaneously sweet and innocent, yet bold and sensual, providing Rene no quarter as her newfound sexuality asserts itself.
The more sensitive readers should be aware that this book contains elements that may be too titillating for delicate sensibilities, including a ménage scene and a female/female scene. While I usually do not choose books with female/female content, the scene fit with the peculiarities of the vampire culture in Devlin's story, and I didn't find it offensive or out of place.
While Rene's & Natalie's story is complete in this book, the author creates opportunity for possible sequels with some very interesting supporting characters. I know I will definitely be keeping an eye out for a sequel!
One Hot Book!.......2007-04-18
This is the story of one "Born" vampire's transformation from human to total immortal. The problem is Natalie is being hunted by Those who would see the "Borns" annihilated. Her protectors are the unsuspecting detective Rene and his all too knowing partner, Chessa.
Rene cannot resist Natalie during her change nor can she resist the urge to mate and feed for they are one and the same to a vampire. Chessa is aware of the danger Natalie is in and knows Who can help her.
This is a very erotic book with lots of vivid and explicit love scenes. The main protags engage in sex with other people, and there are girl/girl, and girl/girl/guy sex scenes.
terrific vampiric erotic romance .......2007-03-30
Following the murders of her parents, Natalie Lambert comes to New Orleans to uncover the identity of their killer. Instead, she is bitten by a creature of the night. To her chagrin, confusion and euphoria Natalie finds she has radically changed since the assault; for she craves sexual passion, an emotion she never felt before the nip on her neck. Other desires are almost as haunting as her sexual appetite. On the down side the animal kingdom has it in for her as she becomes a victim of attacking killer birds and locusts of biblical proportion.
NOPD Police Detective Rene Broussard rescues Natalie from another attack. However, he is unable to remain professionally attached as he cannot resist her lure. The next morning he finds himself in bed with this beauty and a hunger for her like nothing he ever felt before. She reciprocates his feelings as her vampire nature surfaces with his touch. However, one (make that numerous) bites, nips, and caresses, etc. later, the pairs knows they must fight against an evil that is using Hurricane Katrina as a cover to kill vampires especially easy marks like these two in love fledglings.
This is a terrific vampiric erotic romance starring a virgin vampire (making her a unique protagonist) and the cop who rescues her from various attacks and her new sexual cravings. The story line is hot from the first bite to the last bite while the police procedural elements take somewhat of a back seat to the vampiric lust and love of the lead duet. Fans of torrid paranormal romantic suspense will appreciate the two rookies hoping for an eternity of love while praying for surviving a lethal serial killer.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
Featuring some of the most talented illustrators in Japan, this book features beautifully drawn, full-color images originally drawn for the popular Aquarian Age trading card game. These images feature the series’ most memorable characters, from modern-day schoolboys to heavenly angels, mystical priests, vampires, and a variety of other creatures of the night who populate a rich fantasy world. Acclaimed artists including Sakurako Gokurakuin (author of Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion), Kanan (author of the Galaxy Angel graphic novels), PEACH-PIT (creators of DearS), and others bring their talents to one of Japan’s largest and most varied pop-culture franchises.
Customer Reviews:
Aquarian Age - Juvenile Orion Illustration Book.......2007-02-14
I'm the daughter of this user. I am temporarily using his acount to submit this review because I was the actual recipient of the book.
Aquarian Age was first shown to me by a friend in the form of manga, the Japanese comic form. It was an adaption of the video game and movies is what I've been told. I'm really not that knowledgeable about the Aquarian Age specifics, but I also know that it's some sort of trading card game where the person can design the stats of his or her character. Once again, I'm not well informed on the subject. Anyway, I loved the manga. I actually bought the manga set after reading the friend's copys I enjoyed it so much. When I spotted this art book, I was elated. I had found it at a bookstore, but it was sadly out of my price range. It was also individually wrapped in plastic. I had no idea what was on the inside of the cover, but I knew I still wanted it.
So I had my father order it at a later date for me here at Amazon. It arrived and I tore it open and immediatly started flipping through it. But I was surprised and not in a good way.
You see, I was expecting extra, full color illistrations of the characters from the manga. What I saw was maybe ten or twelve over-sized, full-color shots of the page fillers and covers of the manga. Pictures I'd already seen and really wasn't very interested in. The rest of the book was characters that other artists had created, I had never seen them before. I had only heard of one of the other artists, which added considerably to the sinking feeling I had. The book was not what I expected at all.
If you're the kind of person that really likes artists or wants to become one yourself, this book is perfect for you. I'm not really one of those people, so I really didn't think the book was worth what it cost. I'm not knocking it, I just didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped.
Book Description
Chinese Gleams of Sufi Light investigates, for the first time in a Western language, the manner in which the Muslim scholars of China adapted the Chinese tradition to their own needs during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The book surveys the 1400-year history of Islam in China and explores why the four books translated from Islamic languages into Chinese before the twentieth century were all Persian Sufi texts. The author also looks carefully at the two most important Muslim authors of books in the Chinese language, Wang Tai-yu and Liu Chih. Murata shows how they assimilated Confucian social teachings and Neo-Confucian metaphysics, as well as Buddhism and Taoism, into Islamic thought. She presents full translations of Wang's Great Learning of the Pure and Real--a text on the principles of Islam--and Liu Chih's Displaying the Concealment of the Real Realm, which in turn is a translation from Persian of Lawa'ih', a famous Sufi text by Jami. A new translation of Jami's Lawa'ih' from the Persian by William C. Chittick is juxtaposed with Liu Chih's work, revealing the latter's techniques in adapting the text to the Chinese language and Chinese thought.
Customer Reviews:
Exellent study of Chinese Sufism.......2007-07-05
Wonderful study of this little known corner of the Islamic world. First the author covers the history of Islam in china and the development of a Chinsese/Islamic identity that was completely unique both to Islam and to the Chinese world around them.
Secondly a study of Chinese Sufi text and translation. A wonderful work which examines how Islam was understood by Chinese Muslims and how it was practiced.
First book of its kind.......2000-09-17
An original work that fills an unknown gap of Islam in China. Excellent, also includes a translation of Jami's Lawaih.
Product Description
"Safai explores the role of compassion, discipline and service on one's spiritual path of ascension and mastery. This renowned psychic with a master's degree from Nottingham University is a modern day leader in new age scholastics. The book is a voyage of self-discovery designed to attune readers to the powerful transformational energies available to us through the Ascended Masters. A fascinating exploration of the inter-dimensional nature of human consciousness. Gifts III is designed to awaken us to our divine potential and motivate us to find our true destiny." - Star Quest Publishing Review, 03 August 2005."Nasrin Safai has travelled to the four corners of the world performing ceremonies at every point. She has been touched by the pyramids and sphinx in Egypt, the Inca temples in Peru, the sites of the Virgin Mary at Fatima, Lourdes, Medjegoria, mosques in Turkey and Iran, Hindu temples in India, the Buddha and Quan Yin temples in China, Mongolia, Korea, Thailand and Cambodia, the aboriginal sites in Australia, New Ginea and New Zealand, the Zulu and Masai tribes of Africa and the fire goddess Pele on Hawaii. She shares the wisdom gained from these experiences on Earth and the otherwordly power and light gained from the Masters of Light." - Dr. John Alderson
Book Description
THIS 8 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Light, Colors, Tones and Nature's Finer Forces, by Ernest J. Stevens. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564598055.
Download Description
THIS 8 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Light, Colors, Tones and Nature's Finer Forces, by Ernest J. Stevens. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564598055.
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