Customer Reviews:
A great birds eye view.......2007-07-16
I bought this book to help me understand pinball playfield design. While it has been a great resource to learn about machines, it is not as in depth as I was hoping. Each chapter has 1 full photograph of the whole machine (like on the cover) and several smaller close up shots showing important features. For my purposes, as I read about the machines features and rules I had to keep skipping back to the beginning of the chapter to see the full photo to get a better understanding.
I would have liked to see more pictures and perhaps some diagramming of ball movement on the playfield.
A definite plus is when you get a chapter with comments from the artists or designers involved and they share with you a bit of what was going on in their industry at the time. Also the snapshots of people playing pinball in various locations as well as Marco Rossignoll's snippets of personal life add charm to this book.
Pinball Perspectives: Ace High to World's Series.......2007-05-20
Pinball Perspectives: Ace High to World's Series
This is a fantastic book! Hundreds and hundreds of beautiful photos accompanied with great text describing these nostalgic machines. This book is a "must have" for all pinball collectors or anyone who has an interest in mechanical marvels!
Average customer rating:
- Ahead of Its Time, Even Today
- A futuristic, mind-numbing technothriller
- Good, but overrated.
- good book
- Great read, tore through it
|
Neuromancer (Ace Science Fiction)
William Gibson
Manufacturer: Ace Trade
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0441007465
Release Date: 2000-07-10 |
Amazon.com
Here is the novel that started it all, launching the
cyberpunk generation, and the first novel to win the holy trinity of science fiction: the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award and the Philip K. Dick Award. With Neuromancer, William Gibson introduced the world to cyberspace--and science fiction has never been the same.
Case was the hottest computer cowboy cruising the information superhighway--jacking his consciousness into cyberspace, soaring through tactile lattices of data and logic, rustling encoded secrets for anyone with the money to buy his skills. Then he double-crossed the wrong people, who caught up with him in a big way--and burned the talent out of his brain, micron by micron. Banished from cyberspace, trapped in the meat of his physical body, Case courted death in the high-tech underworld. Until a shadowy conspiracy offered him a second chance--and a cure--for a price....
Book Description
One of the most important and influential novels of our time.
Neuromancer is the multiple award-winning novel that launched the astonishing career of William Gibson. The first fully-realized glimpse of humankind's digital future, it is a shocking vision that has challenged our assumptions about our technology and ourselves, reinvented the way we speak and think, and forever altered the landscape of our imaginations.
Now, for the first time, Ace Books is proud to present this groundbreaking literary achievement in a new trade paperback edition.
Winner of science fiction's 'Triple Crown'--the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dick awards.
Includes the special afterword Gibson wrote for the 10th anniversary hardcover edition published by Ace
"A mind-bender of a read." --The Village Voice
"Freshly imagined, compellingly detailed, and chilling in its implications." --New York Times
"Kaleidoscopic, picaresque, flashy and decadent...an amazing virtuoso performance." --Washington Post
"It made me want to live in its world." --San Francisco Chronicle
"A revolutionary novel." --Publishers Weekly
"Gibson is tapped straight into our collective cultural mainline and shows no sign of stopping." --Spin
"Gibson has revitalized science fiction as no other single force in a generation." --Rolling Stone
"Epic in scale." --Wall Street Journal
"The quintessence of cyberpunk." --Washington Post Book World
Download Description
"The Matrix is a world within the world, a global consensus- hallucination, the representation of every byte of data in cyberspace . . . Case had been the sharpest data-thief in the business, until vengeful former employees crippled his nervous system. But now a new and very mysterious employer recruits him for a last-chance run. The target: an unthinkably powerful artificial intelligence orbiting Earth in service of the sinister Tessier-Ashpool business clan. With a dead man riding shotgun and Molly, mirror-eyed street-samurai, to watch his back, Case embarks on an adventure that ups the ante on an entire genre of fiction. Hotwired to the leading edges of art and technology, Neuromancer ranks with 1984 and Brave New World as one of the century's most potent visions of the future. "
Customer Reviews:
Ahead of Its Time, Even Today.......2007-09-27
Okay, here's the skinny: 90% of the raters who gave Neuromancer a bad review couldn't handle the technobabble and wanted Gibson to hold their hand from beginning to end. But the reality is that Gibson's lingo is half linguistic-cultural artifact and half smartly-researched portmanteau. In fact, the flexibility and ambiguity of his language is part of what keeps his ideas about technology fresh and vivid.
Neuromancer is everything critics who have given it accolades claim. The novel is anything but dated, even in these, the days of Google's (Wintermute's?) reign. Don't let simstim abusers scare you away from this book. Hit the deck, jack in.
A futuristic, mind-numbing technothriller.......2007-09-16
Okay. I admit it. As a reader, I only dabble in the science fiction genre; primarily mainstream stories not involving aliens. But when I read that a special 20th anniversary edition of Neuromancer, which had won several awards, had been published, I added it to my reading list. All I can say after finishing it is: it may be a classic and it may have spawned the use of several terms (cyberpunk among them), but it was way too technologically focused for me. A criminal named Case is dragged in to have surgery which will enable him to help plan and execute a crime. The surgery repairs his pancreas (a bonus part of the deal) but renders it immune from affects of recreational drugs use (one of his favorite past times). During the procedure, additional work is done which will have ramifications should he fail to complete his mission. With the help of a girl with retractable blades on her hands and an already flat lined former friend, he and the crew plot and plan to maximize the likelihood of success while secretly trying to determine the mastermind behind it: a fast-paced, high tech story which was way over my head. Probably better for techno geeks (no offense) and cybercentrics than dabblers, who might do better with: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Feed by M.T. Anderson or The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon.
Good, but overrated........2007-09-08
I loved this book back in the day, and while Gibson's imagery is as tight as ever, I now find his characters and story to need a lot of improvement. However, this book is a classic on a number of levels and has to be considered a must-read for any sci-fi enthusiast.
good book.......2007-09-07
Neuromancer really isn't dated unless considering the techinal side. As a long reader of graphic punk scifi, it was nice to see the beginnings. Also good as a mystery with some edge.
Great read, tore through it.......2007-09-02
My career is a bit science oriented, so I enjoy science fiction of all types. The cyberpunk genre seems a bit silly to me, reaching it's epoch with the movie "Hackers", but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you read it as pure science fiction rather than cyberpunk, then it's a lot easier to swallow, especially in this day and age when computers are ubiquitous.
Book Description
It all began in 1946, when the bizarre, gene-altering ³Wild Cards² virus was unleashed in the skies over New York City. A virus that created superpowered Aces and bizarre, disfigured Jokers. Now, thirty years later, the victims face a new nightmare. From the far reaches of space comes The Swarm, a deadly menace that could very well destroy the planet. Putting aside their hatred and mistrust, Aces and Jokers must form an uneasy alliance and prepare for a battle they must not lose. . . .
Customer Reviews:
Super Reader.......2007-08-01
Aces High is a high class, and high up restaurant catering to the Aces, the Wild Card victims with powers. It is expensive and snooty, run by one of their own, a man named Hiram Worchester, who has the ability to control weight.
The Aces have two serious problems in this book, and the stories all relate to these somehow, the menace of the alien Swarm, and the crazy black magic style power use of the Astronomer, a geeky crazed black magician type.
The other memorable nasty, Demise, with his death gaze and regeneration abilities, also is introduced in "If Looks Could Kill".
Wild Cards 02 : 01 Pennies from Hell - Lewis Shiner
Wild Cards 02 : 02 Jube: One - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 03 Unto the Sixth Generation: Prologue - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 04 Jube: Two - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 05 Ashes to Ashes - Roger Zelazny
Wild Cards 02 : 06 Unto the Sixth Generation: Part One - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 07 Unto the Sixth Generation: Part Two - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 08 Jube: Three - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 09 If Looks Could Kill - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 02 : 10 Jube: Four - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 11 Unto the Sixth Generation: Epilogue - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 12 Winter's Chill - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 13 Jube: Five - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 14 Relative Difficulties - Melinda M. Snodgrass
Wild Cards 02 : 15 With a Little Help From His Friends - Victor Milán
Wild Cards 02 : 16 Jube: Six - George R. R. Martin
Wild Cards 02 : 17 By Lost Ways - Pat Cadigan
Wild Cards 02 : 18 Mr. Koyama's Comet - Walter Jon Williams
Wild Cards 02 : 19 Half Past Dead - John J. Miller
Wild Cards 02 : 20 Jube: Seven - George R. R. Martin
Fortunato meets a nice girl to go along with his geisha collection, but his pursuit of the Masons through rare coins has terrible consequences.
5 out of 5
Walrus boy ain't what he seems.
4 out of 5
An ally makes a desperate teleportation attempt to warn Jube of the Swarm.
4 out of 5
The death of his alien ally and the loss of the singularity shifter and a garbled message of warning distracts Jube from the xmas cheer.
4 out of 5
The death of his alien ally and the loss of the singularity shifter and a garbled message of warning distracts Jube from the xmas cheer.
4 out of 5
Jube hires Croyd to find the alien corpse, and anything with it. Devil John biffo.
4 out of 5
Modular Man made, Swarm invade.
4 out of 5
Singularity shifting. Don't try and mind-control androids.
3.5 out of 5
When Jube realises his ally meant the Swarm, he knows he needs the power of the Singularity Shifter rather more urgently.
3.5 out of 5
Astronomer hires Demise eyes.
4.5 out of 5
Jube enlists the transparent infobroker.
3 out of 5
Punks find Shifter.
2.5 out of 5
Girl shy Turtle.
4.5 out of 5
Astronomer, Swarm, Takisians all prove to be a little overwhelming.
3 out of 5
Captain Trips drops back in, as Tachyon's relatives show bad timing, capture them, Turtle, and others.
5 out of 5
Tachyon and Trips vs Takisians and Swarm for the fate of the world.
5 out of 5
On the Mason trail.
3 out of 5
Astronomer has hostages and Shakhti machine, but the Aces rally for a raid.
4 out of 5
Swarm sighting.
3 out of 5
Yeoman finds the Singularity Shifter while taking out Egrets. When Tachyon learns of this, he has a plan to take the fight to the Swarm.
5 out of 5
Jube tells Red about some aliens and decides his allegiances are local.
3.5 out of 5
A Great Installment.......2006-02-23
A great installment in the Wild Cards universe. An alien swarm is headed on a collision course with earth and the Aces must unite to fight the impending doom of the world. However, "the Astronomer" - a super-villain- is trying to stop the heroes, and employs any devious methods to reach his ends... There are new characters presented such as Demise - who can look in your eyes forcing you to relive his death, and thus die yourself...and Jube, the walrus-like newspaper salesman with bad taste in jokes and equally bad fashion sense... who knows what motives he has?
This is a great story, and I can't help but think that the wild cards would make an excellent series on the sci-fi channel.
I look forward to the next episode!
Relic113
Excellent addition to the series.......2005-11-03
This is the second book in the Wildcards series. This book focuses on the lives of many of the aces of the wildcards universe, with the main unifying plot of the stories being the threat of an alien invasion.
Aces High is a more focused book, dealing with a smaller group of aces and returning to them more often rather than the sampler that the first book was. Many of the favorites return; Fortunato, Dr. Tachyon, The Great and Powerful Turtle, but there are some really nasty villians that appear in this book, as well. The villians are not nice people, so be warned, but they are interesting characters. The leader is pretty much evil to the core, but his hirelings are much more human, each with their own motivations which are explained pretty well in the book. They aren't all evil; many are just looking to get ahead and backing the team that they think will win. Well, and perhaps are a bit more accepting of the "win at any cost" mentality.
I can't think of a story I didn't enjoy in this book, either. All were well written, and were tied together well. I think my favorite story may have been the exploits of Modular Man, but Captain Tripps is a very interesting character as well. I hope to see more of them in future books.
So far, it seems that these books should be read in order, so if you skip Wildcards 1 and start here, you may be lost. Just a word of warning, since I know the books can be hard to find.
I recommend this book to all Wildcards fans and any superhero fan that has not read this series yet is doing themselves a disservice.
Deal out another hand in a fantastic Sci-Fi series..........2004-04-05
The continuing short story collection set in the shared world as introduced in 'Wild Cards,' this is the continuing stories of those Aces and Jokers (and sometimes plain old natural humans) in the fallout of the genetic Wild Card virus. We're in the eighties now, and a new menace looms on the horizon - a dark alien organism is on its way, and the Swarm Mother sends terrible creatures down to attack earth in many places - and who else can stop them but the super-powered Aces?
The nice thing is the story-arc merely starts with the swarm assault, and from there, the weaving in of new and old characters is superb. We revisit some of the best characters from the first volume (The Great and Powerful Turtle is my favourite so far), and the story of the Swarm Mother certainly doesn't end in that single attack. This is solid stuff, and very well organized to say that it's a shared world.
Now I've ordered book three in with the last of my online gift certificates, and hope it arrives soon! Nothing quite like a new literary addiction.
'Nathan
A Royal Flush.......2001-08-28
Over a dozen years ago I received the first two Wild Cards books as a birthday present. I read the first one, enjoyed it, but wasn't so sure about the series. But I already had the second one, so I might as well give it a shot, right? What a difference a second chance made.
Wild Cards Volume 2 (Aces High) is, for me, where the Wild Cards series really began. Unlike the first book, which is a series of introductory and mostly unconnected plots, this one features several central plotlines as the storylines all begin to converge. An alien race known as the Swarm is heading for Earth. The Astronomer, leader of the Masons, is preparing for his own conquest. And when one of your greatest defenders is a pimp whose powers only activate when he engages in tantric sex, well, you're in big trouble.
There's so much great stuff in this book it's hard to leave any of it out. Lewis Shiner's "Pennies from Heaven" establishes the Astronomer as a real threat, setting the stage for both this and the next book. Walter Jon Williams's "Unto the Sixth Generation" is one of the cornerstones of the book, both introducing the Swarm into the Wild Cards universe, as well as Williams's robotic hero Modular Man. Several other stories introduce new, very-long-running characters; Walton Simons's "If Looks Could Kill" brings aboard the very dangerous James Spector (aka Demise). "By Lost Ways" has Pat Cadigan bring aboard Jane Dow, the Water Lily who really would be happy to just slink into the background and whose story is more important than one might think at first... Last but not least, George R.R. Martin's "Jube" story twists and turns its way through the book, uniting the short stories almost effortlessly.
Old favorites still abound, of course. Roger Zelazny's "Ashes to Ashes" is a hysterical romp through Jokertown as the ever-unpredictable Croyd tries to go on a simple seek-and-locate mission with predictably disastrous results. George R.R. Martin's "Winter's Chill" has Tom Tudbury discover that being an Ace doesn't make your life great at all; in fact, sometimes it can downright ruin it. Melinda M. Snodgrass and Victor Milan coordinate their stories "Relative Difficulties" and "With A Little Help From His Friends" as Dr. Tachyon and Dr. Trips have to join forces (not once but twice) to deal with Tachyon's not-very-happy relations. John J. Miller's "Half Past Dead" is both an epilogue to the Swarm story as well as continuing the story of Yeoman.
There are very, very few books in the Wild Cards series where every single story hits a home run, but this is one of them (the next book, Jokers Wild, also manages to do this). If you were on the fence after the first book, trust me--this is the one you definitely can't miss.
Book Description
Over 500 questions and answers written by certified teachers and college professors with a focus on exam preparation. Highlights the essential Algebra II and Trigonometry facts you need to know to test well. Prepare for
quizzes, tests, ACT, CLEP, SAT II, PRAXIS II, and N.Y. Regents Math. Topics: Properties of Numbers, Exponents and Radicals, Absolute Values, Inequalities, Polynomials, Linear Equations, Quadratic Equations, Conic Sections, Logarithms, Angles, Trig. Functions, Trig. Identities, Oblique Triangles, Complex and Imaginary Numbers, Area and Volume, Sequences and Series . . . A COURSE in a BOX!
CUSTOMER PRAISE
Really helped me prepare for the GED. I passed it and now I'm on my way to college!
----Kristian Paras, Tutor, Bergenfield, N.J.
Hi-thank goodness for your flash cards because I had forgotten a lot. Now that my mind has been refreshed on the signs that I had forgotten, I can continue and I'm learning so much more. Thanks.
----Sarah Thomas, Childcare Provider, Puyallup, WA 98374
Exambusters really help students.
----John Johnson, teacher, St.Paul, MN
This is the best way I have ever learned to master math of any form and it really works. Thanks a lot for all of your help.
----James Shaw, Navy, Sulphur Springs, Texas
A real time saver, great for cramming.
----Joe McCarthy, College Senior, State College, PA
These cards helped my daughter through a very demanding exam period. I will recommend them to my friends.
----Lisa Yumibe, Indianapolis, Indiana
Thank you for introducing us to your product. They are a winner.
----Preston Young, President, Learning Dynamics Tutoring, Hackensack, N.J.
These study cards are a perfect supplement to any textbook.
----Barbara Silber, Science Department Chair, The Fieldston School, Riverdale, New York
Exambusters really do the job!
----Alex Tushinsky, Instructor, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey
Customer Reviews:
good review supplement to textbook.......2000-04-15
These cards are a good supplement to the textbook. They help you test yourself on important concepts and equations. You can't cheat with a flash card because the right answer is on the back, out of sight.
A good supplement to my college precalculus class.......2000-03-29
These cards are in no way a substitute for your book and they will not teach you much unless you have a textbook to go with this. If you are taking a precalculus class (Algebra & Trigonometry), these cards make an excellent referrence. I especially like to use them when I get so sick of looking at the book, I can just flip through the cards and test my own knowledge of precalculus.
I'm the type of student that would like every possible advantage since I do not have so much time for study, and math is one of those topics that require work. My only complaint is the quality of the cards. They are less than business card quality. If they would laminate them in some sort of coating, I'd give the cards 5 stars.
Also check out the Chemistry study cards. They are identical to these with the exception of subject matter.
Book Description
500 questions and answers written by certified teachers with a focus on exam preparation. Highlights the essential Geometry theorems, concepts, and definitions you need to know to test well. Prepare for
quizzes, tests, New SAT, SAT II, PRAXIS I/PPSAT, PRAXIS II, GED, GRE, CLEP, PSAT, GMAT, ASVAB, COOP/HSPT, ACT, and New York Regents Math. Topics: Lines and Angles, Triangles, Proofs, Congruent Triangles, Perpendicular Lines, Parallel Lines, Angle Sums, Quadrilaterals, Medians, Altitudes and Bisectors, Circles, Ratio and Proportion, Similar Polygons, Proportions in Right Triangles, Areas of Polygons, Circles and Regular Polygons, Inequalities, Locus, Coordinate Geometry . . . A COURSE in a BOX!
CUSTOMER PRAISE
Really helped me prepare for the GED. I passed it and now I'm on my way to college!
----Kristian Paras, Tutor, Bergenfield, N.J.
Hi-thank goodness for your flash cards because I had forgotten a lot. Now that my mind has been refreshed on the signs that I had forgotten, I can continue and I'm learning so much more. Thanks.
----Sarah Thomas, Childcare Provider, Puyallup, WA 98374
Exambusters really help students.
----John Johnson, teacher, St.Paul, MN
This is the best way I have ever learned to master math of any form and it really works. Thanks a lot for all of your help.
----James Shaw, Navy, Sulphur Springs, Texas
A real time saver, great for cramming.
----Joe McCarthy, College Senior, State College, PA
These cards helped my daughter through a very demanding exam period. I will recommend them to my friends.
----Lisa Yumibe, Indianapolis, Indiana
Thank you for introducing us to your product. They are a winner.
----Preston Young, President, Learning Dynamics Tutoring, Hackensack, N.J.
These study cards are a perfect supplement to any textbook.
----Barbara Silber, Science Department Chair, The Fieldston School, Riverdale, New York
Exambusters really do the job!
----Alex Tushinsky, Instructor, Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey
Customer Reviews:
Very useful for review.......2005-08-27
The cards are well organized and concise. I suggest separating them into categories and then using them to review chapters you've completed from a regular geometry textbook.
Book Description
In 1999, when Serbia attacked the small country of Kosovo, the USS Roosevelt was steaming through the Mediterranean. In a matter of days, thirty pilots-veterans and rookies alike-were about to become the lethal tip of a fast, furious, high-tech knife. And the Black Aces Squadron VF-41-a team of mechanics, technicians, electronic warfare specialists-would plunge their weapon into the heart of the enemy....This extraordinary book takes us into the world of Naval aviation in action: the training, launching, dog-fighting and the feeling of a multi-million dollar F-14A Tomcat pushed literally to its breaking point. From a harrowing account of a pilot's ejection from an exploding plane to the deadly cat-and-mouse games the F-14s played with deadly enemy forces on the ground, BLACK ACES HIGH straps us into the cockpit, hurtles us through SAM-laced night skies, and goes behind the scenes to meet the flesh-and-blood men and women whose skill and courage reinvented warfare-just when we needed it most....
Customer Reviews:
Uncommon look at a frontline naval squadron.......2005-01-03
Former Air Force public affairs officer Robert Wilcox was given a unique opportunity to write about the combat experiences of a frontline naval squadron flying the rapidly retiring F-14 Tomcat. VF-41's time in the Tomcat was usually personified with their shootdown of two Libyan MiGs in the early '80s, but their resurgence in the later '90s earned them strong praise after their conversion to the strike fighter role.
Lots of attention is given to the turnaround that the skipper effected with his squadron after a few years of decline. The turnaround led to the squadron's tasking in the skies over Kosovo against the Serbs in 1999. The development of a new way to fight, and the need to train the newer, junior pilots into lethal warriors while dodging enemy fire takes up the majority of the book, and readers will come to know the members of the squadron well after Wilcox' treatment.
While not as crisply written as Angles of Attack (by a former A-6 attack pilot from Desert Storm, since he was the author), the book is an uncommon opportunity to get a feel for they way that the Navy operates its squadrons, and the challenges that come with added responsibility and rank. Overall, the book makes a strong case for the Navy's ability to train and mold its leaders with a new generation of challenges, while making tis subjects all too human.
Exellent and compeling story.......2004-10-20
This book brings out the dangers to todays military, and also talks about a war that took back seat to less important things. If you want to read a book of valor and courage in the cockpit of a F-14 tomcat you found the right book.
"Lose sight,lose fight.".......2004-07-22
An excellent account of what it is to fly modern fighter bombers such as Tomcats and Hornets in wartime theatres.This book is quite similar to the movie "Top Gun". Following a recent showing of the movie on The History Channel;Ann Medina (sp) interviewed a Top Gun pilot.He said that the movie was very factual.I believe this book is also very factual.As powerful,complicated and expensive that these modern war planes are,they are very difficult to fly and have their limitations.As well as that,they are easily damaged and take a great deal of expensive maintenance.
The men who become Top Guns are the cream of the crop in every way.They are smart,leaders,brave,competitive,excellent physically and at the same time imaginative,free thinkers and extremely disciplined.They know that they can die at any moment but are still able to perform.The teamwork,love, trust, and respect that must exist in order for them to do this work is well described in this book.
WE all owe a great debt of gratitude to these fine men and pilots.
Revealing Account of a Modern Fighter Squadron.......2003-08-25
Black Aces High is an unusual book but a terrific one. Usually books about fighter squadrons give a lot of technical detail about airplanes and how they fight. Well this one does too. But thatýs not the emphasis here. The emphasis is on the flyers, who they are and what they go through in a modern fighter squadron. The Black Aces fly off the USS Roosevelt. Their fighter is the aging F-14 Tomcat, still pound-for-pound one of the greatest fighters ever made. Their assignment was Kosovo, a precurser to Afghanistan and Iraq. We meet them, learn the problems they are facing, and then go to war with them. War is scary and the Aces are full of trepidation. But the core of officers mustered by and including skipper Joey Aucoin leads by example. There is a great group of younger aviators too. This is a war diary. It shows you what really goes on in a navy fighter squadron. Theyýre not all flag-waving heroes. But they get the job done. And its a tough dangerous job. Even the reluctant step up, which is the true definition of a hero. This story is a credit to the fighting men America produces.While there is a lot of shouting about how to do it, they are not going to be denied. The Black Aces subsequently led the bombing in Afghanistan and were later deployed to Iraq. Buffs as well as novices will enjoy this
realistic view - Barry Pitts, So Cal.
tells an important story - just not very well.......2003-08-03
Robert Wilcox follows the aviatiors of VF-41, a navy F-14 fighter squadron, as they learn a new brand of war in the skies over Kosovo in the spring air war of 1999. Though much of "Black Aces" (the title refers to VF-41's nickname) tells the same legends of naval aviation that I've read since about 1987, it does cover an important moment in the history of the F-14. Though the plane is on its way out (the Navy has already begun phasing out the earliest models, with the plane to completely exit operations by 2010), F-14's were given a late-in-life new mission of ground attack, probably meant to fill the gap between the already phased out A-6 Intruder and the not-yet-ready for primetime F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet". Equipped with laser and infra-red sensors, and armed with laser-glide bombs, Tomcat crews - pilots and radar-intercept officers - scour the hilly, forested terrain of the former Yugoslavia for Serb forces. Flying from the USS Roosevelt, Tomcats pass the mouth of the Adriatic (off the "heel" of Italy) and into Kosovo. Unfortunately, not fighting a true war, Serb forces don't attack or hide out in the open before they sweep into Kosovar-Albanian enclaves, forcing the American fliers to rely on their sensors and no-small degree of detective work to locate the enemy. For Tomcat crews, their eventual success is bittersweet: their ability adapting Tomcats to strike roles (for decades, the F-14 was a dedicated interceptor, more singular in that role than F-16 or F-15 fighters that were equipped with ground attack weapons) will do less to earn the aging fighter a reprieve than validate and pave the way for the plane that will replace it. Wilcox doesn't hint much at the "Supre Hornet" and doesn't begin to approach the controversy that the F-14 v. F/A-18E debate has reportedly ignited among naval aviation professionals. (On the last page, Wilcox mentions Super Hornet in glowing words - it's the plane of the future.)
In telling his story, Wilcox follows the planes and pilots of VF-41 - from the "Hinges" (senior pilots) to the "Nuggets" (untested and sometimes not quite proficient new guys). Wilcox reveals the pressures that nearly crush the senior pilots - who must battle the poor weather and the F-14's poor serviceability as much the enemy. He also reveals the faults (and strengths) of the nuggets - at least one of whom appear to be using regulations as an excuse for their less-than-aggressive flying. Wilcox gets very close to his pilots - quoting them almost word for word. You get a sense, as he recalls individual statements - that
there's more going on then even he understands, even if he gets enough to encapsulate some thoughts in brackets. The writing is also embarassingly bad in spots - with Wilcox often summarizing a paragraph or completing a thought with a single-sentence paragraph that makes the book sound less like a history of war than a first-grade reader. Organization could also have been improved - Wilcox starts describing the faults and strengths of a Nugget - only to tangent into another pilot before giving closure to the initial assessment of the first. We also learn fairly late in the story that one of the F-14 pilots had transitioned from the A-6, the vintage carrier-strike jet whose role the F-14 was now trying to fill. You'd think that pilot's experience would have made him a prominent member of the squadron - but not to Wilcox.
"Aces" has the feeling of a rush job. Wilcox accompanied the Roosevelt doubtlessly knowing as much as the rest of us that the 9/11 attacks would reduce the Kosovo war to a blip on the minds of many Americans. He reminds us that the F-14 can be a trying plane or that landing on aircraft carriers at night or in poor weather can be an ordeal rivaling combat, but he doesn't take us inside the minds of those pilots. Wilcox likely thought that he had already done as much to humanize his pilots by showing them lose their temper, miss targets, get chewed out by superiors or by displaying questionably unagressive tendancies for a fighter pilot - and had to "balance" things to stay in the Navy's good graces. The result is that we a get a sense that it's a challenge to fly the F-14, but not
why.
Book Description
First there were signs of alien life in Signals. Then Starship launched the tale of humanity's next step toward the stars. Now, in F.T.L., the quest for faster-than-light travel begins.
Customer Reviews:
To The Stars.......2005-04-18
In the third book we are back to the Galaxy Exploration Team, now on Mars, and their efforts to create faster than light (FTL) travel. It had long thought to be impossible, but contact with the aliens showed it could be done. The project is important to humanity but may cause trouble for individual humans. Some may even want to see the project fail. But even without outside interference, there are still problems that need to be overcome, both technical and human.
Unmanned ships are tested and eventually a crew containing the GET is sent on a mission to Alpha Centauri. The Generation ships are still very close to the Solar system and will be passed by if the tests are successful. There is plenty of scheming and politicking, but from fewer parties than the first book (no Senate races or reporters this time).
Like with the second book, many of the chapter sections end with foreshadowing statements that drive the reader to want to continue reading. Unfortunately the book did not get proofed well and typos abound. Usually it is easy to tell what was meant at the time so it is not a real problem. My one beef was that one of the villains had one motive at the beginning of the book but a different one later with no explanation. Since we got into his head the first time we tend to believe it but there was nothing to refute the second.
The series is called The Exploration Chronicles and there is plenty of room for more books to be written in the series. After enjoying the first three I hope that we will, indeed, see more.
A Fitting End..........2004-09-22
It was just about eighteen months ago when I picked up volume 1 of Randle's series "The Exploration Chronicles". Now, having finished book three, I can say the series was worth my time.
Book Three is not a direct sequel to book two, which was (IMO) the weakest of the three books. Book three picks up with Hackett and company on Mars, in charge of the Galactic Exploration Command, and ends in a manner that even I didn't see coming until nearly the end.
Hints and thoughts are laid out for us all over the book as to how the story ends, but in the end the obvious answer isn't the right one.
This book had some seriously odd editorial blunders- misspelled words and names, and even the inclusion of some non-words, but it doesn't take away from Randle's excellent novel that much.
The ending seems to be begging for another book, so we shall see what Randle has in store. Even if you didn't like book two, have a look at book three. I think you'll find it more to your liking.
Book Description
Over 600 questions and answers written by certified teachers and college professors with a focus on exam preparation. Highlights the essential Earth science/Geology facts you need to know to test well. Prepare for
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Customer Reviews:
study cards difficult and not relevant.......2007-05-30
My daughter and a friend tried testing each other with these study cards and both of them said they had not covered any of the info during class this year. They both felt that the material was quite difficult and unfamiliar, not relevant to what their teacher is reviewing for that same exam.
earth science/geology flash cards.......2007-03-26
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