Circus of the Damned (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Book 3)

Amazon.com

The third novel of Hamilton's Anita Blake series has the petite necromancer fighting a giant cobra and a rogue vampire, Alejandro, who wants her for his human servant. Anita is still resisting the advances of Jean-Claude, St. Louis's master vampire, but she does need him on her side, if not in her bed. Anita's reluctant involvement in the odd goings-on at the supernatural Circus of the Damned introduces her to Richard, the werewolf of her dreams, and Larry, her powerful but nervous partner in zombie-raising.

Mystery fans will love the tightly plotted, Paretsky-esque action, and horror fans will love just about everything in this unusual series.

Book Description

First time in trade paperback: the third novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling series.

In Circus of the Damned-now in trade paperback for the first time-a rogue master vampire hits town, and Anita gets caught in the middle of an undead turf war. Jean-Claude, the Master Vamp of the city, wants her for his own-but his enemies have other plans. And to make matters worse, Anita takes a hit to the heart when she meets a stunningly handsome junior high science teacher named Richard Zeeman. They're two humans caught in the crossfire-or so Anita thinks.

Download Description

Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter, battles a centuries-old vampire with the soul of the city-and Anita's life-at stake in this supernatural thrill ride from New York Times bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton.

Customer Reviews:

good quick read.......2007-09-28

This is the last book of the Anita Blake series i have read as of this review (need to order the rest :o ) but i can safely say that this series is a winner. Each book so far has carried the series' plot forward, while at the same time you could pick one up and read it in any order, as they can almost be called separate books in a greater story line, much like the New Jedi Order books where for that series.

Not too long in length, this is a good book, and a quick read. i would recommend reading this in a place where you can focus on it, and wont be distracted. The first book i picked up (was the second book of the series, whoops!) i read on an airplane. i would imagine a long bus ride or other form of long travel it would be good for as well.

The only down side i personally find with this book, and the others of the Anita Blake series, is that i want to go and read them all after finishing one. Well, i guess thats not a bad thing, per say.

Last comment, as i have read now three of the series' books you could well call me a fan. If you are looking for a completely objective review, i suggest you take this one with a grain of salt...

Great Book.......2007-09-03

So I needed a Vamp fix after Black Dagger Brotherhood (best series I have read so far action, drama, passion, romance ...the works). So I decided to check out Anita Blake, it was not what I expected there has been no romance, or steamy scenes of any kind so far Im on book 3....but I AM NOT disappointed the action and drama is fast paced. I love a cycnical kick @$$ chick. I bought the first 11 and intend to read them all. It's a great series, very gory, gritty, and abit scary I LUV it;)Hard to stop reading once you start! I just wish she would get with Jean-Claude already...

Super Reader.......2007-08-26

There is a dose of politics in this one, both the human kind, and the vampire kind. The human issue is one of separatism, basically, as the Humans First organisation wants more information on and the ability to get rid of, the vampire power structures in the city.

This book again has Edward, which is always good.

Imagine if the Executioner or the Punisher got bored with hunting and killing crims and decided on something trickier, and you have a bit of an idea what Edward is about. Except that he is not so keen on the girls as the Executioner.

Another powerful group of supernaturals also roll into town, and there is a nice, big, battle, which is action packed and a lot of fun.

Another Thriller.......2007-06-04

Fantastic read. I couldn't guess the end the book was full of suspense action and betrayal. We saw Anita's life hand in the balance alongside Jean-Claude - will they ever get together..... already ordered the next book. Absolutely loved this book very short read (two nights) couldn't put it down. There is also a new possible love interest for Anita in this novel and we are left hanging for the next installment as to who she will pick! can't wait.

FINALLY a good introduction to the werewolves.......2007-03-27

We meet Richard who becomes Anita's new lust interest. Jean-Claude shows his heart. More kick-butt action from Anita. More murders, although the actual investigation scene wasn't as graphic as hunting down the animalistic vampire. Anita meets two more master vampires, both older than Nikolaos from Guilty Pleasures. She agress w/Mr. Oliver, the older master of the two, when he requests that she give up the name of the Master of the City so he can take over and reverse the legislation that legalizes vampires. He wants it back to survival-of-the-fitest becasue he strongly believes that the legalization of vampires will lead to extinction of humans. Anita accepts a date w/Richard however is poisoned. I don't want to give away any more but in this book Richard tells Anita that he believes Jean-Claude loves her and that he wishes her love in return. She denies it at first then admits that in some dark corner of her heart she might love him after all. But the fact that he is the living dead she refuses to believe it. She, however, starts to wonder how undead he really is, being that vampires are not supposed to have a soul or a reflection - yet Jean-Claude has a reflection. She accepts Richard being a were-wolf, even almost defends it at the very last page of the book.

The Book of the Damned (Secret Books of Paradys)

Average customer rating:

I liked this book, but...
"Malice in Saffron" excellent
Too much of a good(?) thing
It's original
Bizarre, compelling, and original!

The Book of the Damned (Secret Books of Paradys)
Tanith Lee
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0879514086

Customer Reviews:

I liked this book, but..........2003-03-16

I agree with everyone that says Malice in Saffron is what makes this book worth reading. The third story, the empires of Azure, is also interesting and well written. It takes you back to roaring twenties Paris, and although the time frame is more modern, it is just as well written. The first story was what tried my patience, it was a vampire story featuring Andre Saint Jean, meant to be the vampire Lestat, I think of this series, but who was also a whiny, self absorbed fool. This story drones on through page after page of prose, until it finally comes to it's meandering, sniveling end.
I understand, it wasn't Tanith Lee's fault though, it was Andre St. Jean's. He just had to have his say.
I still didn't like this series as much as I liked some of her other books, such as The Silver Metal Lover, and my favorite of all time (so far) Biting the Sun. I highly recommend them, not only as some of her best work, but as some of the best fantasy that I have ever read.

"Malice in Saffron" excellent.......2002-04-07

The Book of the Damned is perhaps the best of Tanith Lee's Books of Paradyse series, if only for the presence of the second novella, "Malice in Saffron". The first novella, "Stained with Crimson" begins with an interesting encounter, but becomes so mired in atmosphere and more atmosphere that the plot becomes indecipherable. Still, it evokes such a sense of hopelessness (in me at least!) that it's worth a read just to feel one's emotions tugged so. The third novella, "Empires of Azure", is less compelling. The characters feel caricatured despite Lee's typically stylish prose. It should be for "Malice in Saffron" that you buy this book. Jehanine, a peasant girl who's raped by her (step?)father, undergoes a personality split when she flees to Paradyse. Her nighttime persona of a carousing, murderous young man is a gripping portrayal of repressed rage finally unleashed. Late in the story, Lee introduces a plague to the city, and her subsequent descriptions rank with Camus, in my opinion, for depicting mass reaction to that particular fear of death (obviously, I like Lee very much). Finally, the twist of the "miracle" meal caps the story in a very satisfying manner. I think readers of various genres, fantasy, horror, even history, will get a kick out of this story.

Too much of a good(?) thing.......2001-06-01

The first novella ("Stained with Crimson") rambled along deliriously until it had long overstayed its welcome. The second ("Malice in Saffron") was relentlessly, unapologetically violent. After slogging through those two, I dragged my feet at reading the third ("Empires of Azure"), but it was best, evoking the spine-tingling suspense of a Gothic horror tale.

Throughout, there was too much emphasis on gender-bending in all its permutations. It would have been a nice touch, if it hadn't been so liberally applied. You had your men with women, men with men, women with women, men with women dressed as men, men with men dressed as women, men turning into women, women turning into men, people of the either/or variety turning into... well I guess they were pretty contented as-is. As for myself, I was more than ready to simply call everyone "a person" and never mind who they slept with, but that would have eliminated two thirds of the book.

There you have it. It was fantasy, it was horror, and it was a blatant call for publicly-funded sex change surgery.

It's original.......2000-06-04

I like a lot of the ideas Tanith Lee shows here, her stories are very original, with gender changing and cross dressing, but I can't really relate to her characters. She brings you almost to the brink of seeing what they are like, then seems to remove you from them before you feel like you really know them. Her writing style is like that, it seems very impersonal, and sometimes I get lost in her descriptions and I can't figure out exactly what she means by this or that. What I like about these stories though, is that they are exotic, original and not afraid to be dark. Not a bad read. I thought they would be better though, when I first heard about them.

Bizarre, compelling, and original!.......1999-08-02

First in the Paradys Tetralogy, "The Book of the Damned" is a three-part exploration into the dark, decadent, and thoroughly bizarre (but completely enjoyable) world of Paradys, something of an alternate-world Paris steeped in sorcery and darkness since its earliest days.

The first story, "Stained With Crimson," is a less-than-conventional vampire tale. Andre St. Jean, a poet living in Paradys shortly after the Revolution, becomes the owner of a ruby ring in the shape of a scarab and is shortly thereafter introduced to the owner of the ring, the beautiful Antonina Scarabin. His obsession with Antonina leads to her death and his...and their dual gender-bending resurrection as Anthony and Anna. Pursued becomes pursuer, predator becomes prey, and it all grows surreal and cyclical. While not my personal favorite of the three, the story is excellent. The language, rich with color, is descriptive and disturbing; the reader views Andre/Anna's story through the poet's dream-darkened eyes. "Stained With Crimson" is expertly told, dark and ironic, and maintains its dreamlike quality up to and past the last line of the story.

The second novella, "Malice in Saffron" is my personal favorite of the three and, to tell the truth, one of my all-time favorite short stories. Taking place in medieval times, it follows a young woman named Jehanine from her country farm, where she is raped by her brutal step-father, to the City Paradys, where her disbelieving brother Pierre--gifted with a topaz cross by the same doting father that so abused Pierre's sister--rejects her violently. She is then led by a mysterious dwarf into a bizarre double life: by day she lives as Jhane in the Nunnery of the Angel, a quiet female penitent; by night she is Jehan, a beautiful and cruel young man who leads a gang of thieves and cutthroats to greater and greater atrocities. When the Black Death comes to Paradys, Jehanine is forced to confront the conjunction of her two lives...add a holy vision, an enigmatic, and a bizarre redemption, and you have some idea of the complexity of Jehanine's story. Stark, painful, and ultimately beautiful, "Malice in Saffron" is a fascinating tale that deserves at least two re-readings: once for the story and once to understand it, or at try and unravel the stunning weave Tanith Lee has set before you.

The last story, "Empires of Azure," is a ghost story set in 1930's Paradis, but hearkening back to a time when the city was known as Par Dis, a community of silver mines at the fringe of the Roman Empire. Told through the eyes of a journalist, a young woman who uses the male pseudonym St. Jean--a tribute to Andre St. Jean of the first story--"Empires of Azure" follows Louis de Jenier, a cross-dresser who moves into a house said to be haunted by the girl who was murdered there years ago. In time, the house with its blue-stained windows yields up two things to Louis: a spider-shaped earring made of sapphires, and visions of Timonie, the murdered young woman. Timonie herself possessed the earring, believing it to be a link to Tiy-Amonet, an Alexandrian sorceress and the mistress to the Roman commander of Par Dis...but neither Tiy-Amonet nor Louis de Jenier are what they appear, as Mademoiselle St. Jean soon discovers. Most of the story seems distanced from the reader, as all but the very beginning and ending are Louis' actions as told by the journalist St. Jean, but the language is no less flawless and the story, despite its odd structure, holds together masterfully.

Book Description

This scholarly exploration of the borderlands between science and fantasy features four complete works by the redoubtable Charle Fort (1874-1932): The Book of the Damned, Lo!, Wild Talents, and New Lands. All concern the bizarre phenomena unexplained by traditional science: flying saucers, telekinesis, sudden showers of fish from the sky, stigmata, poltergeists, and spontaneous combustion.

Customer Reviews:

Fort, FOrt, FORT.......2005-12-12

What An Amazing Man,

I wonder whether he knew of eris because at least unknowningly he is an agent of her, read these books, they are excelent and blow your mind from the status quo, and the status quo = grey face.

read and learn
learn and read
if all else
laugh

go now

Hail Eris
All Hail Discordia

Kalisti

Fossils in meteorites?.......2004-12-12

From page 80 in Fort's "The Book Of The Damned" published in 1919: "Dr. Hahn said he had found fossils in meteorites." Fred Hoyle, the British astronomer, published in his 1984 book "The Intelligent Universe," photographs of fossils in a meteorite. Of course, in 1996 NASA announced finding fossils in a meteorite. What took NASA so long?

Fort's point: What doesn't fit in is damned. What other strange phenomena have been excluded from respectable consideration? Fort tells of fish and stones falling from the clouds, strange craft cruising the skies in the 1890's, lights moving beneath the surface of the sea, vitrified (melted) stone forts in Scotland, disappearing stars, red rain, unknown planets crossing the sun, and sea serpents.

Fort's style of extreme and fantastic hyperbole makes for difficult reading until the reader allows his thinking to slide into the Fortean mode. Of course, thats what Fort had in mind all along, to stretch the reader's thinking to the point where he will at least consider what others have ignored.

Hegelian philosophy + ostentatious prose = Charles Fort.......2002-08-01

No author has had a greater intellectual influence on me than Charles Fort. As an eight year old I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was enchanted by his writing style. When I read Fort today it is for literary enjoyment. Inimitable writers are, unfortunately, too often imitated. However, an ardent Fortean could identify a Fortean paragraph as easily as he could identify his mother in a photograph. Here are some excerpts, selected at random, from this behemoth text. If you find the following samples unpalatable, you're going to hate this book:

page 38 - So Science functions for and serves society at large, and would, from society at large, receive no support, unless it did so divert itself or dissipate and prostitute itself. It seems that by prostitution I mean usefulness.

page 324 - That our existence, a thing within one solar system, or supposed solar system, is a stricken thing that is mewling through space, shocking able-minded, healthy systems with the sores on its sun, its ghastly mooons, its civilizations that are all broken out with sciences; a celestial leper, holding out doddering expanses into which charitable systems drop golden comets?

page 389 - We assemble the data. Unhappily, we shall be unable to resist the tempation to reason and theorize. May Super-embryology have mercy upon our own syllogisms. We consider that we are entitled to at least 13 pages of gross and stupid erors. After that we shall have to explain.

page 643 - As to data that we shall now take up, I say to myself: "You are a benign ghoul, digging up the dead, old legends and superstitions, trying to breath life into them. Well, then, why have you neglected Santa Claus?"

What use is Fort today? Most published Forteans (Keel, Coleman) are on-site researchers, methodically tracking down and experiencing that of which they write. The only place Charles Fort traveled to was the library.

Fort would think that his writings and opinions were above classification, and if anyone is, he is probably the one. But we have to connect all writers to something. I see alot of Hegel in his writings, particularly in his dialectical analyses and his fixation on negation. Hegel's famous quote - The whole of philosophy resembles a circle of circles - is hearkened to in Fort's famous circle quotation. But this is no philosophy text. You could boil down Fort's philosophy in Book of Damned to a concise three pages. Yet Fort reiterates, and rephrases, and belabors. And it's excruciatingly enjoyable. If you don't like being told the same thing over and over again, albeit wittiily and elaborately and incorrigibly, don't read this book.

I treat Fort like I treat the Bible. I don't mean that irreverently (I happen to think the Bible is pretty holy meself). Open the 1100+ page book anywhere, and read a chapter. Be enlightened, be bemused, be annoyed. Maybe the response is the key. Fort had his pet theories, and they are absurd. But he was onto something. An absoluteness I think. He lambasts religion, and he really lays into science. This may offend people, but theories are meant to be attacked, aren't they? And that is the primary Fortean dogma.

Forteans are a motley and diverse bunch. Yes, you'll find UFO passages, animal mutilations, falling frogs. To me, the details are only significant in volume. If you decide to read this book, leave your pet theories outside of the covers.

I like to believe that Fort was searching for the Absolute, even if the Absolute turns out to be completely absurd to the human perspective. If absolute theories exist, it might only be our ignorance and prejudice which make them absurd.

Oh I could say that everybody should read this book. But the fact is most people won't get through the first chapter. This book is an artifact in many ways, and was written for people with certain intellectual and literary backgrounds. If that sounds a bit snobbish, so be it. Fort was such a snob that he kept his circle of friends exceedingly small, and treated well-respected ideas like lepers. Today, I encounter this book much like I did almost twenty years ago. Like a child, full of wonder, and ready to believe and disbelieve anything.

Mind open, tongue in cheek, questions ready........2001-04-16

It would be foolish, really, to try and write a review that in some way offers more information than the one by Jesper Sampaio. And so, I don't intend to. I merely want to offer a few instructions and my own opinion.

Instruction number one: don't take it at face value. Many of the explanations Fort offers for any number of unexplained phenomena are intentionally fantastic, sarcastic or ironic. It is, I think, part of his overall effort to get people to question the "conventional" explanation. Many scientific explanations, after all, simply fit the facts available and, in that respect, are no more or less valid than some of Fort's.

Instruction number two: get ready for rather turgid prose. I personally like the way Fort writes, but it can be tough to get through for the uninitiated. Remember that he was writing in the early part of the century.

Instruction number three: don't be afraid to jump around. I know it's best to read these books "back to back" as it were, but it's not necessary. If you get tired of a particular avenue of discussion just jump ahead. Skip to a different book if you want. Part of my enjoyment of these books was being able to pick the volume up whenever the mood struck me and simply open to any chapter. Sure you miss some of the overarching themes, but it makes it much easier to enjoy.

So, for what it's worth, here's my opinion:

This is a really great primer for Forteana and unexplained phenomena. It is also a sharp and witty condemnation of blind trust in ANY particular system of belief and of the scientific view in particular. The scientific view receives particular condemnation, I think, because of the tendency of those within the scientific community to speak in absolutes. Science, says Fort, has a nasty habit of drawing lines in the sand and saying "this is the way things are" and condemning anyone who says different. The Earth is the center of the universe and rocks don't fall from the sky. Eventually the line gets redrawn, but Fort suggests that perhaps scientists should have just as healthy a sense of skepticism about their own fields of study as they do about the more fantastic things they habitually reject.

Enjoyable by believers and skeptics alike, the Complete Works of Charles Fort is both entertaining and thought provoking.

Reading is one of the things you should do for yourself........2000-04-05

It is not infrequent to hear establishment scientists label unconventional research work as 'pseudo-science', especially if the researcher in question lacks special academic credentials or institutional support and if his discoveries and conclusions go against current dogmas. But when someone's heresy goes beyond all institutional seriousness and loses its last grain of prim, scientific respectability, then even stronger expressions, such as the term "Fortean", will have to be flung at the anathematized one.

But who was this man called Fort whom every good scientist must abjure in a solemn oath? Well, historically speaking, Fort was (I suppose) the first writer to give systematical attention to a great number of phenomena generally termed 'anomalous' (in the areas of ufology, cryptozoology, parapsychology and many others) and has been a source of inspiration for several writers and - it must be admitted - some crackpot researchers. But is that all? No, definitely not, but in the case of Fort other people's opinions (including my own) will be of almost no avail to the uninitiated, so there is only one answer to the question above: Read Fort's books, and form your own opinion about the man and his work.

That's what I did myself: I got the Dover omnibus volume of his complete works to pollute my innocent mind with, and - ensconced in an old and spacey rocking chair - read every line of it. Now Fort is difficult reading: his style is full of surprises, allusions to subjects touched upon hundreds of pages back, preciously ironical remarks, creative metaphors and analogies (mostly incomplete or faulty, but nevertheless very funny), and - of course - a lot of philosophy: his weak side, if it be permitted to say so. Each book was meant to be read from first to last page, no skipping, because the facts exposed, though apparently whimsical and haphazard, really follow a careful order of presentation.

Fort's works are valuable for the extremely hard-gathered information they present (you can decide for yourself what to do with it) and for the way universally accepted ideas and concepts are challenged and played with for the sake of intellectual amusement (can't scientists see that? haven't they got the slightest bit of sense of humor? in his last book, however, Fort takes on a bit more of the grave air of the parapsychologist, and so comes close to resembling a 'true scientist'). Fort is someone you have a great time reading no matter how much you disagree with him, and that's not a small accomplishment, I think.

Actually, one may say that the act of listening does not imply being in agreement or disagreement with the speaker. And so there should be no hard-felt need for the reader to accept or oppose Fort's views as such. These are inalienable from the man and his unique writing style, and so may be comfortably left where they are. Below are a few typically 'Fortean' quotes, extracted from the omnibus volume reviewed:

- "Sciences are islands of seeming stability in a cosmic jelly."(p.335) - "All knowledge is (or implies) the degradation of something. One who learns of metabolism, looks at a Venus, and realizes she's partly rotten. However, she smiles at him, and he renews his ignorance. All things in the sky are pure to those who have no telescopes."(p.547) - "To have an opinion one must overlook something."(p.559) - "There would not be so much science, if people had good memories."(p.576) - "So, like everybody else, I don't know what to think, but, rather uncommonly, I know that."(p.617) - "Now and then admirers of my good works write to me, and try to convert me into believing things that I say. He would have to be an eloquent admirer, who could persuade me into thinking that our present expression is not a least a little fanciful; but just the same I have labored to support it. I labor like workers in a beehive, to support a lot of vagabond notions."(p.641) - "If there has never been, finally, a natural explanation of anything, everything is, naturally enough, the supernatural."(p.655) - "Every scientist who has played a part in any developing science has, as can be shown, if he's been dead long enough, by comparing his views with more modern views, deceived himself."(p.669) - "In the oneness of allness, I am, in some degree or aspect, guilty of, or infected with, or suffering from, everything that I attack."(p.828) - "To this day it has not been decided whether I am a humorist or a scientist."(p.850)

Average customer rating:

if you ever loved. if you ever hated.

Highly recommend it

Not for Everyone

Just nostalgic enough

It'll Take You Back

Hairstyles Of The Damned (Punk Planet Books)
Joe Meno
Manufacturer: Akashic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Punk | Musical Genres | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Boy Detective Fails (Punk Planet Books)

How the Hula Girl Sings

Tales of a Punk Rock Nothing

Pieces Pieces

ASIN: 188845170X

Book Description

Hairstyles is an honest depiction of growing up punk on Chicago's south side: a study in the demons of racial intolerance, Catholic school conformism and class repression. It is the story of the riotous exploits of Brian, a high school burnout, and his best friend Gretchen, a punk rock girl fond of brawling.

Joe Meno won the 2003 Nelson Algren Literary Award and is the author of Tender as Hellfire (St. Martin's, 1999) and How the Hula Girl Sings (HarperCollins, 2001). His online fictional serial, The Secret Hand, is published through Playboy Magazine. His short fiction has been published in TriQuarterly, Bridge, Other Voices Washington Square, and has been broadcast on National Public Radio. He lives in Chicago, and he is a columnist for Punk Planet magazine.

Customer Reviews:

if you ever loved. if you ever hated. .......2007-07-20

i've read somewhere and on amazon too that if i'm not a white suburban kid i will have a hard time relating to this book. but, as i am a white jewish-israeli 26 years old and still very MUCH managed to relate to this book i can assure everyone that the greatness of joe meno the writer and this book in general will not be overlooked and will touch everyone who ever loved. loved music. loved someone or hated. hated someone. hated high schoo. this book genuinely touched me and i loved evey minute of reading it and every page i've read.
highly recommended. not maybe.

Highly recommend it.......2007-07-08

I absolutely loved this book I think for one because it reminded me so much of my own experiences in high school, the characters I could totally relate to, the state of mind, everything was right on the mark, including the song lineup. (The author uses songs and their lyrics throughout the novel to tie up to the character's coming of age experience.)

When I read this novel, it reminded me of a modern punk version of Catcher in the Rye, but with so much originality. The author uses transitions throughout the novel that make it so much more real than your typical novel. Every now and then I would find myself reading and say out loud, "I can't believe he (the author) just did that..." There's one chapter in the novel that is written looking at events backwards.

Best book I've read in a long time.

Not for Everyone.......2007-07-06

If you don't listen to metal, rock or punk music this book is a little hard to relate to. If you aren't a white kid from the suburbs this book is a little hard to relate too. I liked the book, but I probably would have liked it more if I could relate to the characters. With all the said Meno is still a very good writer. He has a very keen sense of sarcasm and when there were moments of brilliance they were pretty good. While it is hard to pick out at times Meno does comment on racism and its relation to class structure, but this is not the main focus of this novel. The main focus seemed to be about a boy trying to find himself and what group he belonged to in the world, if any group at all. Maybe if I would have read this book back in highschool it would have been easier to relate too, seeing as how I am passed the teen angst phase.

Just nostalgic enough.......2007-06-13

A great read. I enjoyed almost every minute of it. maybe.

This book took me back. I felt both nostalgic and relieved. A refreshing account of the American Highschool experience. The negative reviewers simply do not identify with the characters and corroborate Mr. Menos vision of the adolescent identity vacuum.

It'll Take You Back .......2007-05-15

The difficulties of finding one's own personal identity, first loves, chaos and destruction, "parents out of town" basement parties, concerts, killing time, etc. are all in this book. The stories weren't too over the top or cheesy but read like a good friend telling you a story about the time when....

Nothing groundbreaking here but nonetheless a very easy and enjoyable read. For anyone that was into punk/hardcore but at the same time still had roots (and still liked to listen) to metal will dig this book. It will definitely take you back in time and there will be at least one good story or reference that will make you say "Hey I remember doing that" or "I felt that same exact way". For that in itself, the book is worth reading but the story is way more than silly childhood nostalgia and reminiscing. The story deals with some good issues and helps put a little perspective on events or controversies that most people can relate to. In the end, cool song and album references and an overall fun book to read. "We Rock The Streets at Night"

Average customer rating:

Yeah, big whoop
E X C E L L E N T !!!!!
THE FIRST TRUE SCI-FI BOOK IN YEARS
Genetic, psychic, and underrated.

The False Mirror (The Damned, Book 2)
Alan Dean Foster
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0345358562
Release Date: 1992-03-10

Book Description

For millennia, the alien union called the Weave had ben at war with evil Amplitur. When its new elite fighting unit appeared, it became frighteningly clear that Amplitur was subjecting humans to vile genetic manipulations. The Weave could reverse the effects, but the result could turn the former warriors into the most despicable creatures in the galaxy....

Customer Reviews:

Yeah, big whoop.......2002-02-23

I read this book in mostly to find out what happened after the first installment. It was decent, but I find the author's generalizations of humanity unrealistic. Sure, we may fight constantly, but any casual glance could tell you that we can do more than make war.
He's written better, but it was still a nice read.

E X C E L L E N T !!!!!.......1999-05-30

The Amplitur had finally found a way of limiting the advancing Human Weave alliance, by creating an elite unit to match their Human counterpart, dispite the Ampliturs success, their plan backfires into something truely frightening. I enjoyed reading this story, the characters felt real, I wonder how would a Nazi officer feel if he found out that he was Jewish, and that other officers in his company were Jewish as well?? Mr fosters one hell of a writer, I thought A call to arms was the best in the series but this comes a close second, I eagerly await the next exciting installment!!!

THE FIRST TRUE SCI-FI BOOK IN YEARS.......1997-06-15

THE FALSE MIRROR PUT HUMANS AND ALIENS TOGETHER AT LAST AGAINST OTHER ALIENS. THE WAR CONSISTED OF EVERYTHING, AIR COMBAT, GROUND WAR, REACON. EVERYTHING A REAL WAR WOULD HAVE ALAN DEAN FOSTER HAS FINALLY PUT INTO A REALISTIC BOOK. FIRST OF ALL IT TELLS OF TEH YOUNG BOYS LIFE (NOT TO MUCH) THEN IT TELLS ABOUT HIS TRAINING. AND IT'S NOTHING SPECIAL, THEY DON'T HAVE EXTRMELY HIGH TECH WEAPONS THAT ARE IMPOSSIBLE AND COULD EASILY DEFEAT THE ENEMY WITH A MATTER OF MOMENTS WHEN THE WAR WAS DECLARED. IT IS ONLY THE SECOND PART OF A THREE BOOK SERIES AND I MEAN TO READ THE THIRD AND IF IT'S ANYTHING LIKE THE SECOND I PLAN ON HAVING QUITE A READING TIME. I GIVE IT TWO THUMBS UP

Genetic, psychic, and underrated........1997-02-08

This book, second in The Damned series, takes place during the war. A group of aliens that look similarly like humans find they were geneticly changed. They turn against the creatures that did it to them and are helped by the humans. When helped, it is found that they have gained psychic abilities. The False Mirror goes through the pain of being betrayed and the harshness of war. Foster creates many different types of aliens, each with a distinctive attitude and personality

Lucifer: A Dalliance with the Damned, Book 3

Average customer rating:

Promises kept
Entertaining Comics
Great series! Recommended to fantasy and mythology fans
The cosmos expands
Presents supernatural creatures as all too human

Lucifer: A Dalliance with the Damned, Book 3
Mike Carey
Manufacturer: Vertigo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1563898926

Customer Reviews:

Promises kept.......2006-11-04

I began this series after reading "Sandman", wherefrom Luficer is a spinoff. For a very long time, this is the first spinoffproduct that really works. Actually I think that Mike Carrey is pulling this off so well, that its allmost wrong to call this a spinoff. Lucifer is balancing own its own.

Entertaining Comics.......2006-10-20

These Lucifer graphic novels are just reprints of the comic series by DC/Vertigo that ended a few months ago. Lucifer is the fallen angel, Satan if you will, who originated in The Sandmnan series. It features nudity and swearing, which are really pushing the limits in a still going comics industry that is famous around the world and known a lot amongst kids and teenagers. These are for mature readers because of that. I really like the idea of pushing boundaries in comics, enough to keep me interested as an adult in my mid 20s versus that virgin 11 year old reading Superman or Archie. I also read Ghost Rider and Batman, just because their costumes are dark and sinister. Comics drew some wrath by parents and moral groups- their almost modern near gothic outfits were really racey for the time. Death metal music has been called the musical equivalent of a comic book to aimlessly gloat over, or aimlessly brag about. These exist for a variety of literary tastes, and I would rather read freaking Lucifer than Superman any day. Glen Danzig and Verotik continue to sporadically turn out adult comics for mature readers much like Vertigo. Lucifer is not some fake super hero in spandex- he's a sypathetic lead character in an adult oriented comics series.

Great series! Recommended to fantasy and mythology fans.......2005-04-20

I have read the first three books of Mike Carey's Lucifer, and A Dalliance with the Damned is the best so far. (Can't wait for the next volumes).
This is a great fantasy-mythology series that involves angels, demons and biblical characters such as Michael, Eve, Lilith and, of course, Lucifer! Carey really knows to write, the drawing is great too.
I recommend you to read books 1 & 2 and Neil Gaiman's Sandman Season of Mists first. That's the way to get the whole thing. You won't be dissapointed.

The cosmos expands.......2003-07-11

An amazing tapestry of stories, some small, some large, but all full of deep insights. Chances are, you won't notice all of them in the first reading, because the stories are so gripping. But read everything a second time, and you may find a lot of points, that you overlooked.

The longest story 'A Dalliance with the Damned' is among other things a fine hellish version of 'Dangerous liaisons' (pleasure and pain and all that jazz ...) but how Carey pulls off the final twist in this setting is truly amazing.

Nevertheless my favorites are the free-standing stories 'The ancestral deed' (how would Adam and Eve behave if the creator had a different set of rules?) and 'The Thunder Sermon' where the dark side of the Lightbringer is shown in truly terrifying grandeur. Rebelling against God may be hard, but doing a better job, now that's a completely different story ...

Presents supernatural creatures as all too human.......2003-01-04

Based on characters created and/or reinterpreted by Neil Gaiman's acclaimed "Sandman" comic book series, Lucifer: A Dalliance With The Damned is the third volume and is comprised of issues 14-20 of the Eisner Award nominated "Lucifer" comic book series, offering a graphic and full color tail of demon rivalry and motives at cross purpose. The monstrous children of Lilith, forever denied the Garden of Paradise despite their lack of relation to original sinners Adam and Eve, mount a war of rebellion and conquest in this dramatic and occasionally risque tale, suggested for mature readers. A fascinating page turner that presents supernatural creatures as all too human, sharing few virtues many vices with their mortal counterparts, Lucifer: A Dalliance With The Damned is a superbly produced and highly recommended graphic novel.

The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920s (Galaxy Books)

Average customer rating:

An excellent study of the flaming youth
THE ABSOLUTE BEST STUDY OF ITS KIND

The Damned and the Beautiful: American Youth in the 1920s (Galaxy Books)
Paula S. Fass
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0195024923

Customer Reviews:

An excellent study of the flaming youth.......2004-11-12

This well researched and well written study of young people in the 1920's is indespensable to anyone who is interested in the social history of the period. It examines all facets of the "flaming youth" of the period, and offers careful analysis of the people and period. Ms. Fass uses a broad range of original sources to construct her detailed work. Despite it's breadth and depth, it is also easy and fun enough for anyone to read.

This book is absolutely indespensable to anyone who enjoys Fitzgerald, the history of young people, 20th century social history, or the 1920's.

THE ABSOLUTE BEST STUDY OF ITS KIND.......2001-02-12

When I was writing my book COMPLICATED WOMEN, I started looking for books that talked about what was happening with youth in the early part of the 20th century. THE DAMNED AND THE BEAUTY had everything I needed to know. Fass's research is thorough and impeccable, and she's a fine writer. I leaned heavily on this book and on Fass's research. I read other books, plenty of them, but kept coming back to this one. Anyone interested in the 1920s should read this. No scholar who writes about the 20s should dare pass this up.

Vampire Chronicles: Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned (Anne Rice)

Average customer rating:

Vampire Chronicles 1-3
coffin box set
The Best
Interview With The Vampire
Sink your teeth into this...

Vampire Chronicles: Interview with the Vampire, The Vampire Lestat, The Queen of the Damned (Anne Rice)
Anne Rice
Manufacturer: Random House Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

Horror | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

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ASIN: 0679410503
Release Date: 1992-11-17

Amazon.com Audiobook Review

The ornate, casket-like packaging and neogothic graphic design of this immortal trilogy is eerily enticing on its own. But just lift the lid, slide the first tape from its ghostly sleeve, and you'll soon embrace the hypnotic realm of the undead.

Book 1, Interview with the Vampire, opens with the seductive purr of F. Murray Abraham (Amadeus) stating, "I was a 25-year-old man when I became a vampire, and the year was 1791." And so our ultimate antihero, Louis, begins the elaborate retelling of his long, tortured life as a vampire. Winding through the ages, from New Orleans to Paris, we follow Louis and his undying mentor, Lestat, as they feed on humans, whet their carnal appetites, and uncover an underworld of vampire brethren.

Book 2, The Vampire Lestat, brings us up to date, with Lestat waking from his earthen slumber to join the ranks of rock superstardom before sitting down to share the tale of his own haunting initiation into the vampire world. Michael York (Cabaret) puts his wonderfully fluid, cosmopolitan voice to good use, adding a dash of sly humor to this fast-paced, satisfying blend of sex and blood and rock and roll.

Book 3, The Queen of the Damned, takes us back, all the way back to ancient Egypt, exposing the origins of the vampire way. Narrating in eerily serene and gracious tones, Kate Nelligan (The Prince of Tides) leads us gently down this bloody path of immortal desires. David Purdham gives the voice of Lestat a wistful quality, tinged with an evil relish that exposes the master vampire's sanguine tastes.

Anne Rice has continued her Vampire Chronicles beyond these three novels, but that shouldn't make this collection any less tempting to either the undead initiate or certified vampire junkie. --George Laney

Book Description

Packaged in deluxe Coffin Package, this is a must for any Anne Rice fan - or the ideal start to introduce someone to the world of Anne Rice.

Coffin Package includes:
Interview with the Vampire (2 cassettes/3 hours, read by F. Murray Abraham)
The Vampire Lestat (2 cassettes/3 hours, read by Michael York)
The Queen of the Damned (2 cassettes/3 hours, read by Kate Nelligan)

Customer Reviews:

Vampire Chronicles 1-3.......2006-03-10

I would have preferred to have been able to buy these audio books on cd; however, they were unavailable. Since I had read them all so long ago, it was time to delve back into them. Buying audio books to bring on vacation, was the perfect idea! (I didn't have to worry about getting any suntan lotion on the pages!)

coffin box set.......2006-01-04

This coffin box Set Is a great addition to a collection of vampire Memorabilia . Open the lid (flap) to see who is inside. you can pick who is in the coffin, One is the child vampire and the other a dark haired male vampire.

The Best.......2000-09-25

Anne Rice is the best modern writer on vampires. I have read them all and she rocks. The coolest scenarios and she reads like an intelligent airport paperback book writer. Her writing goes down easy like a comic book. I have written a book on vampires too if you are interested. It's called Seamus and Emer. It's available on Amazon so take a look. Good Luck! Bye Bye!

Interview With The Vampire.......2000-09-10

I knew about Anne Rice, but I had never read any of her books before. I read Interview With The Vampire, and I couldn't put it down! It's one of the best books I've ever read. Now I'm reading the whole set. It was great!

Sink your teeth into this..........2000-07-07

... a fine set of Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. What a refreshing point of view and burning light to see vampires in. Rice gives us vampires with feelings - why shouldn't a vampire feel joy, pain and regret? Yes, bottom line is they are merciless killers, but this is the all-too often typecast image of vampires that Hollywood likes to betray. These immortals don't just sweep in with a dramatic flare of their capes (most of the time they don't even wear one), kill then leave - we experience their agony, hunger, happiness and turmoil before and after each kill. Anne Rice gives us so much more - imagine YOUR fears, regrets and hopes from your lifetime spread over an eternity. Would you really want immortality? What is right and what is wrong? Good and evil? The devil and God? Leave your humdrum life behind for a while and bury yourself (literally) in a world of fascinating, real characters in sumtuous, historic or sordid surroundings. Enjoy, but remember to put the lid back across when you're finished...

The Damned Don't Drown: The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff (Bluejacket Books)

Average customer rating:

Interesting but Short

The Damned Don't Drown: The Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff (Bluejacket Books)
A. V. Sellwood
Manufacturer: Naval Institute Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, Second Edition, Fully Revised and Updated

ASIN: 1557507422

Customer Reviews:

Interesting but Short.......2002-08-06

I had read a review in Newsweek of Crab Walk (the story of the Geman Titanic) by Gunter Grass. Crab Walk is not yet available in English and I didn't want to wait until his book came out in English to learn more about the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff.
I read Sellwood's book in a few hours. It was a good appetizer, primarily focusing on 4 of the passengers.

I will definitely be looking for other books that further detail this fascinating story.

Average customer rating:

Finally found this book

Not the best, but yet...

Readable. Implausible.

The Spoils of War (The Damned, Book 3)
Alan Dean Foster
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Foster, Alan Dean | ( F ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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The False Mirror (The Damned, Book 2)

A Call to Arms

Dirge (Founding of the Commonwealth, Bk 2)

Diuturnity's Dawn (The Founding of the Commonwealth, Book 3)

Phylogenesis: Book One of The Founding of the Commonwealth (Founding of the Commonwealth, Bk 1)

ASIN: 0345375769
Release Date: 1993-12-04

Book Description

The Weave was on the verge of winning a decisive victory after a milennia of war, thanks to their new allies from earth. But then the birdlike Wais scholar Lalelang found evidence that Humans might not adapt well to peace. Researching further, she uncovered a secret group of telepathic Humans called the Core, who were on the verge of starting another war, and then eliminating Lalelang. At the last moment, she was saved by a lone Core commander. He took a chance on her intelligence and compassion, and gambled the fate of Humanity on the possibility that together, they could find an alternative to a galaxy-wide bloodbath....

Customer Reviews:

Finally found this book.......2003-01-26

I had finished the other 2 books several yrs back...never finished the trilogy. I have been searching for this book in used book stores for awhile, finally found it...finally finished the series.

It was a very interesting series. Yes, the basic premise is sorta silly. A thousand yr war has been going on...basically by 'civilized' species that abhore war. Then, Earth is discovered, and humans, being insanely warlike and aggressive...are enlisted into this war and we turn the tide. If you can get over the silly notion that thousands of yrs of war has been perpetuated by species too civilized for it...and that humans are really the uncontrollable aggressive species in the universe...it's a very enjoyable read.

The way FOSTER delivers the series, you can suspend your beleif's about the obvious inconsistency in my first paragraph...and just enjoy the story and great characters.

Each book can basically be a stand alone story. Tho, I really wanted to get to the next one in the series...each book has a unique storeyline. If I remember correctly, even the first 2 books portrayed differing timelines. The first book was all about the initial encounter between humans and the "Weave". The weave being a consortium of races bound together to battle the "Amplitur" and their all encompassing expansion of a religious type of doctrine called "The Purpose".

The Second book had different characters and was further along the timeline of this war. This last book, the war (since first contact with humans) had been going on for hundreds of yrs...so again, you have a different cast of characters and a different storyline. The basic premise of the "Weave vs Amplitur" war is still going on...but, now, the war is coming to a conclusion.

This book is all about how the war ends, and...more importantly to this book...what to do about the overtly aggressive humans once the war is over.

Yes, humans are portrayed as primatively aggressive. But, we realize it, we understand this in ourselves. At the same time we are trying to come to grips with our aggressiveness, we are a little dismayed that the "weave" consortium is both afraid of us, and unwilling to accept us into their little club at the end of the war. After all the sacrifices we made to end it. We are portrayed as both thinking and intelligent...but also aggressive and primative. We scare the hell out of our allies, they want no part of us at the end of the war.

A unique "Wais" scholar...small, fragile and birdlike species...has been studying humans. She puts herself in battle situations with humans (completely unheard of from any other wais)... to study how we interract with other species. She forms a bond with a colonel, Nevan...and they both try to come to grips with who humans are, and how we can deal with life after the war. She is both an admirer of humans, and a critic...

Book has some unique twists...you really care about the characters and what happens to them. This is what saved me from putting the book down. I was able to overcome the implausabilty of the storeyline, by just enjoying the story and the people.

I still think the first 2 books were much better. Both of them being very good. This book tended to want to make a statement and talk more about social and evolutionary changes in human nature. Much of it I couldn't really agree with...but some of it I couldn't disagree with. Being the book it was...it just wasn't as fun as the first 2.

Still, I enjoyed it...had a good time reading it (2 days)...and it concluded the series in good fashion. I would recommend it for those who want to finish the series.

Not the best, but yet..........2000-03-08

...yet it kept me reading for nearly 24 hours straight, complete with minimum of sleep and skipping the day at school.

I finished the whole trilogy with one go. Yes, as I already mentioned, it does not belong to the best series in SF, but it has an expansive world, well defined characters and rather interesting - even if sometimes too simplistic - storyline.

Great to spend some time with.

Readable. Implausible........1997-08-20

This is quite readable. You do find yourself caring what happens next, you do find the characters stay in character - even if alien. There is a flaw in the whole series, I believe. The galaxy is dominated by beings too timid to pick up a gun, yet alone shoot it. This seems contrary to any selection pressures in any environment. Also humans are blood thirsty and enjoy war - all of them. Compared to the suspension of disbelief needed for the Spell Singer series I guess we can't complain

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