Book Description
The dust storms that terrorized the High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since. Timothy Egan's critically acclaimed account rescues this iconic chapter of American history from the shadows in a tour de force of historical reportage. Following a dozen families and their communities through the rise and fall of the region, Egan tells of their desperate attempts to carry on through blinding black dust blizzards, crop failure, and the death of loved ones. Brilliantly capturing the terrifying drama of catastrophe, Egan does equal justice to the human characters who become his heroes, "the stoic, long-suffering men and women whose lives he opens up with urgency and respect" (New York Times). In an era that promises ever-greater natural disasters, "The Worst Hard Time" is "arguably the best nonfiction book yet" (Austin Statesman Journal) on the greatest environmental disaster ever to be visited upon our land and a powerful cautionary tale about the dangers of trifling with nature.
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding.......2007-10-10
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
This is an outstanding book! I had no idea how bad the Dust Bowl was. I was so impressed with the book that I bought a copy for each of my 3 siblings.
Unbelievable!.......2007-10-03
This book was fantastic. Although the majority of books I read are fiction, I'm not hesitant to read good non-fiction. This book was so well written that it reads like a taut novel. Along with Seabiscuit and The Devil in the White City, it is one of the best historical books I've read. Very well researched and thought out. You almost can't believe that this could have actually happened. You feel like you know the characters, and you certainly root for them even though you seemingly know how it will turn out. I would recommend this book to any avid reader - fiction or non-fiction.
Hopefully, we will learn from our past.......2007-10-02
This is an important event in US history that is so relevant today, supplying more fuel for both side of the ongoing debate on global warming.
I found it a bit difficult to stay connected to the characters. In spite of that, the story remained interesting, showing the plight and hardships endured by the generation before us, and bringing us an awareness of our fragile ecosystem.
Eye Opening and Hard to Put Down.......2007-09-25
A must read for history buffs and readers in general. Information places the midwest, its people, and past in an entirely different light of appreciation. (Absolutely Facinating)!
Fine story, good history, a little light on analysis.......2007-09-18
Egan's *Worst Hard Time* is intriguing and largely well done, if a bit relentless. Granted, he's writing about a phenomenon that dragged on for years, repeatedly raising and dashing ever-slimmer hopes; the people who lived the "Dust Bowl" years were literally worn out, but Egan needed to do something more with the material than recreate that sensation. Toward the last third of the book, in particular, a kind of sameness creeps into the narrative, as if Egan didn't really know what else to say -- which I suspect is connected to my sense that he relied too much on too few sources (including a diary that he overuses) -- and his slightly jerky style gets distracting (he's not a great one for writing transitions). For me, one failing is that Egan never explains, in any specific way, the origin and cause of the "black dusters" and other freakish weather phenomena of the "Dust Bowl" era. He tells us that the dust storms came because the topsoil had been carved off by overfarming (and then aggravated by the abandonment of unsuccessful farms), but a meteorological or ecological explanation - even a nontechnical one - wouldn't have been a bad idea. His description of the CCC efforts at re-grassing the plains left me with significant questions that he doesn't answer: Given that the dust storms continued unabated throughout the effort, what was the government's strategy for protecting the newly planted grass during the time it would have taken for it to mature enough to hold the soil? And how did they water it? In addition, I'd have appreciated a more substantive "bring us up to date" chapter at the end that explained more clearly what happened in the wake of the human and policy failures of the Dust Bowl. Nor would a little class analysis have hurt -- other than wagging a kind of general finger at get-rich schemes perpetrated both by private interests and by the government, he seems careful not to accuse anybody too directly of creating an ecological disaster, of maiming (psychologically and literally) and killing tens of thousands of people, or of engaging in a kind of class warfare that embodied the ferocious social Darwinism of Depression-era capitalism. Finally, I'd just point out that the book isn't really the story of "survivors" of the Dust Bowl; there are essentially no survivors, and this is no movie-of-the-week tale of grit, courage, and heroism that win out in the end. The people Egan follows are bleak and broken, and their desperation is palpable. *Worst Hard Time* begs the question: Is there any redemption? I think Egan knows there was none, but he seems loathe to say it in so many words.
Amazon.com
On September 8, 1900, a massive hurricane slammed into Galveston, Texas. A tidal surge of some four feet in as many seconds inundated the city, while the wind destroyed thousands of buildings. By the time the water and winds subsided, entire streets had disappeared and as many as 10,000 were dead--making this the worst natural disaster in America's history.
In Isaac's Storm, Erik Larson blends science and history to tell the story of Galveston, its people, and the hurricane that devastated them. Drawing on hundreds of personal reminiscences of the storm, Larson follows individuals through the fateful day and the storm's aftermath. There's Louisa Rollfing, who begged her husband, August, not to go into town the morning of the storm; the Ursuline Sisters at St. Mary's orphanage who tied their charges to lengths of clothesline to keep them together; Judson Palmer, who huddled in his bathroom with his family and neighbors, hoping to ride out the storm. At the center of it all is Isaac Cline, employee of the nascent Weather Bureau, and his younger brother--and rival weatherman--Joseph. Larson does an excellent job of piecing together Isaac's life and reveals that Isaac was not the quick-thinking hero he claimed to be after the storm ended. The storm itself, however, is the book's true protagonist--and Larson describes its nuances in horrific detail.
At times the prose is a bit too purple, but Larson is engaging and keeps the book's tempo rising in pace with the wind and waves. Overall, Isaac's Storm recaptures at a time when, standing in the first year of the century, Americans felt like they ruled the world--and that even the weather was no real threat to their supremacy. Nature proved them wrong. --Sunny Delaney
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
Reading in his signature dispassionate style, narrator Edward Herrmann brings an eerie calm to this powerful chronicle of the deadliest storm ever to hit the United States--a huge and terribly destructive hurricane that struck land near Galveston, Texas in September of 1900. Author Erik Larson re-creates the events leading up to the disaster in astonishing detail, tracing the thoughts and actions of Isaac Cline, a scientist with America's burgeoning U.S. Weather Bureau. Cline's unwavering confidence--"In an age of scientific certainty one could not allow one's judgment to be clouded..."--blinds the meteorologist to the deadly onslaught about to be unleashed. Herrmann's calculated performance reflects the impending doom and dangers inherent to an unquestioned and absolute faith in science. (Running time: 5 hours, 3 cassettes) --George Laney
Book Description
September 8, 1900, began innocently in the seaside town of Galveston, Texas. Even Isaac Cline, resident meteorologist for the U.S. Weather Bureau failed to grasp the true meaning of the strange deep-sea swells and peculiar winds that greeted the city that morning. Mere hours later, Galveston found itself submerged in a monster hurricane that completely destroyed the town and killed over six thousand people in what remains the greatest natural disaster in American history--and Isaac Cline found himself the victim of a devestating personal tragedy.
Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful,
Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature.
Customer Reviews:
NO PICTURES.......2007-09-30
My first thoughts after finishing Isaac's storm was, that for such a big and devastating storm, it didn't seem do it justice. I wanted understanding (why didn't people leave?). I wanted some PICTURES!!.
As luck had it, someone who checked out the book before me had tucked a newspaper clipping pic in the inside flap, of the Bishops Palace and surrounding survivors w/ tons of lumber stacked up against them. THANK YOU whoever you are. I returned the picture to the flap.
Whatever happened to Dr. Samuel O.Young the amateur meteorologist? Sam kept a diary. And it seems was the only proactive person in town, in that he telegraphed his wife and children warning them not to come to Galveston because in his opinion, a big storm was coming.
One reviewer here claims Cline is a hero in Galveston but "Cline gave his official meteorological opinion that the thought of a hurricane ever doing any serious harm to Galveston was "An absurd delusion". Many residents had called for a seawall to protect the city, but Cline's statement helped to prevent its construction."
"Local legend has it that Cline took it upon himself to travel along the beach and other low-lying areas warning people personally of the storm's approach. This is based on Cline's own reports and has been called into question in recent years.
Cline did issue a hurricane warning without permission from the Bureau's central office in Washington, D.C. but by that point the city was already under water. I don't recall reading that Cline actually told anyone to get off the island..
I enjoyed the book but minus one star for lack of pictures.
I hear that John Edward Weems' book 'A Weekend in September' is also recommended reading on the 1900 storm.
Erik Larson is Quickly Becoming a Favorite.......2007-09-10
"Isaac's Storm" is a fictionalized telling of a real-time tragedy. It tells the story of the hurricane that devastated Galveston and provides impressive details on the history and science of meteorology. For the story-telling aspect of the novel, Mr. Larson uses Isaac Cline, Galveston's weather observer at the time.
Erik Larson's committment to research and detail is impeccable. I wish he had been my history teacher in high school!
Book is a Category 4.......2007-09-10
I enjoyed the book. It reminded me of a hurricane, starting slow but building as it went along.
BEATS READING THE BOOK.......2007-09-05
THIS DEFINATELY BEATS READING THE BOOK, BUT TAKE NOTE THAT THIS IS THE ABRIDGED VERSION!!!
Issacc's Storm.......2007-07-23
Again, another book by a great author, Erik Larson. I couldn't put it down, but then again I live in Florida and Hurricanes are of special interest to me. I'm not sure if you didn't live in a hurricane area, example Alaska, that this book would strike you the way it did me.
Product Description
Still staggering under Paragor's relentless attacks, Alleble's remaining allies flee from the four corners of The Realm to safety within the Kingdom's walls. Once there they find chaos, the forces of Alleble grieving a fallen hero, and the Kingdom's citizens clinging to an ancient legend about Three Witnesses who can bring victory. But who are they? Where are they?
There is little time for Alleble to mourn before Paragor, the Wyrm Lord, and the deadly Seven Sleepers unite against the followers of King Eliam.
As Alleble begins to lose hope, Paragor unleashes The Final Storm. Will anyone survive to see the dawn?
Customer Reviews:
This book is......AMAZING!!!!.......2007-10-02
This is the last book in the Door Within series. It is just....wow!!! You will have to read it to find out what I mean. It is superb!!! I love this book and it is one of my favorites!!!! You have to read this book!
Lindsay W.
A Book series at the top of its genre!.......2007-08-29
Have you ever been into the Christian bookstore recently? All you see is piles of the next Left Behind, some series about Amish women, a great amount of Dekker/Peretti wannabes, and a great amount of Christian romance. For some that suits their taste buds. But for the fantasy/scifi person I am, that stuff does not at all interest me. With the resurgence of fantasy thanks to Jk Rowling's awesome series about a boy wizard, fantasy books in the reign of Tolkien/Lewis; the master of yesteryears are here to stay. I picked up the series quite randomly, after reading Legends of the Guardian Kings (an amazing series I highly reccomend for mature christian fantasy readers), what I found was a series that was a bit similar to Narnia but much different in its presentation of the awesome Glimpse concept and such great creatures as the mortiwraiths. There are awesome characters such as Mallik influenced by Tolkien lore. Plus there are heroines for the female readers that even male readers like me absolutely love named Antionette, because who does not love a girl who can kick serious butt. The fight scenes are exciting and there are many surprises within the plot, nothing is as predictable as it sometimes may seem to be. Interwoven with all these great characters, locales, and battle sequences; are great spiritual messages that all Christians can relate to! I highly recommend this series to all ages; especially to those who are suffering from Post Potter Depression (like me) and who ever faced the dilemma of finding a fantasy book within a Christian bookstore. Any age can read them, as everyone who has read Harry Potter and Narnia learned, that any good story can be enjoyed by those of all ages.
Also reccomended:Dragons in Our Midst By:Bryan Davis, Dragonspell by:Donita K. Paul
For more mature readers:Legends of the Guardian King By:Karen Hancock,Restorer by:Sharon Hinck and The White Lion Chronicles by: Christopher Hopper,
Not as good as the first book, worse than the second.......2007-08-18
I have just fininshed reading all three of the Door Within Trilogy books with my son. The first book was engaging, and the Christian message was delivered smoothly and without a heavy hand. The second book was ok, with the message becoming more heavy handed, which does much to destroy the quality of the writing - it becomes less intelligent as the book moves along. The third book is simply DREADFUL. The book still has some of the adventure characteristics that a 10 - 12 year old boy would like, but the quality of the writing is so poor that I would expect more from my 10th grade literature students. The Christian message is very heavy handed, so much so that it became a turn off and distracted from the flow of the story. This book is so poorly written that I actually looked to see who the publisher was, because I couldn't believe a mainstream publisher would have published the book.
I love that Mr. Batson wants to communicate a Christian message to youngsters and applaud his courage for writing the series; probably a fine book for homeschoolers, but not for public school or for any one who wants to model good writing.
A great 'ending' to this amazing trilogy.......2007-06-28
An amazing 'ending' to the trilogy!! The story is very character/plot driven, and I had a hard time putting the book down to take care of other responsibilities(like feeding my family! hehe). Although this was the last book of the trilogy, Mr. Batson certainly does leave room for the possibility of future adventures....Adventures are funny things, after all!
Great read for everyone.......2007-03-14
I read the entire series in three nights. I could not stop reading and when it came to this book it not only stood for it's self but completed the series in a way the made you think...is this really over? I look back on this series all the time and I feel it has changed the way I look at everyday events. I recommend this book and the others to all people. I am in college and loved every minute of it. Thank you
Book Description
On Sept. 2, 2005, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued a "desperate SOS."His city, one of Americas most historic and gracious urban centers, had been devastated by Hurricane Katrina.Now 80% of it lay underwater, while some citizens huddled on rooftops waiting for rescue, and others turned the flooded streets into canals of anarchy.In the first decade of the 21st century, despair, disease, and death had transformed a great American city into a scene of third-world privation, even as heroic rescue workers battled to save lives, restore order, and aid the suffering. Now Time chronicles the story of the greatest natural disaster in U.S. history in Hurricane Katrina, An American Tragedy.Here, in stunning pictures and gripping first-hand accounts, is the terrible tale of Katrinas deadly wrath and savage aftermath.Here is Americas Gulf Coastfrom New Orleans to Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippiin ruins.Here are the struggling survivors and their valiant rescuers, the looters and the police who fought to control them, the homeless refugees who poured across the southeast, and the resourceful agencies that took them in. It is an epic tale, told as only Time can tell it.Award-winning pictures reveal the scope of the disaster. Oral histories offer unforgettable accounts of natures power and mans resourcefulness.Illuminating graphics show how hurricanes formand why New Orleans flooded.Powerful reporting puts readers on the scene, while insightful analysis explores the questions left in Katrinas wake: could the tragedy have been prevented, and why was aid so late to arrive? Moving and informative, sweeping in scope and ringing with the voices of those who were there, Hurricane Katrina, An American Tragedy is the definitive account of a disaster that will haunt Americans for decades to come.
Customer Reviews:
Media bias as usual.......2006-08-04
I was offended by the accusation in this book that poor black people were relegated to living in lower land in New Orleans and surrounding parishes. As usual the media wants to push their liberal, racial agenda on the south. Check the actual statistics on this hurricanes. More whites lost their lives than black and many, many wealthy areas (for blacks and whites)were devastated. Not just lower income people. We sick of having to correct people on this point.
Dianne Cochran
Outstanding!.......2006-07-17
The book was a gift for my dad. He loved it! Very compelling stories and photography.
Past date to raise money, but still an important read.......2006-04-24
The photos and accounts delivered in this Time representation of Hurricane Katrina are invaluable. Bodies floating by houses, people trapped in their attics, the anger and frustration at the Superdome, the hope and good faith of the people searching for survivors. All of this is captured by great photojournalists and poignant captions. While some reviewers feel this book focuses on only two cities' ordeals with hurricane aftermath, I think the book captures what was happening in the worst cases. Having been published about a month after the occurance, you can leave the job of chronicling the entire event to a sociologist or someone more apt to turn a profit rather than raise money for the Red Cross. This book was published so quickly that I found many typos, ("Sept. 29th" instead of "Aug. 29th" was printed way too many times, and "kids" instead of "kinds", things that spell check wouldn't catch, but an editor should have). With that in mind, I think the goal was raising money and portraying what this country let happen to it's poor and elderly. Citizens don't build levees, governments do, and this government failed.
Biased reporting.......2006-03-13
This book, like most written and portraying Hurricane Katrina, leads the reader to the conclusion that New Orleans is the only area devastated thereby. For anyone's information, New Orleans was on the West, or weak, side of Katrina. New Orleans was flooded because: 1) elevation there is about 7 feet BELOW sea level and 2)their levy system has NEVER been built to withstand cat 3 or greater storms. EVERY drop of rain that falls in New Orleans has to be pumped out, one way or the other. If the citizens of New Orleans had put more money into improving their levy system instead of the SuperDome, they might very well be living in dry and undamaged homes today instead of morning their dead and trying to put their city back together. New Orleans will be rebuilt someday and I hope and pray that they have learned and benefited from this disaster and won't make the same mistakes again. If you want to read and look at a balanced book coverning Hurricane Katrina, this isn't it.
Time: Hurricane Katrina: The Storm That Changed America.......2006-02-25
Having lived through the Hurricane Katrina (I worked through it at one of only 3 surviving hospitals in metro New Orleans), the pictures are so profound. It comes as close to representing whatI experienced as can be represented by pictures. I highly recommend. This is one of two books that I've found that paint an accurate picture.
Book Description
Gone are the days when anxiety was an uncommon affliction. Today, it’s a chronic, low-level interference that affects everyone, sometimes with devastating results. In Strength in the Storm, one of the 20th century’s great spiritual teachers addresses this issue. Drawing on his observations of modern life and his teachings, this compact book shows readers how to make the small choices every day that help them build better families, work environments, and communities — transforming themselves in the process. With gentle wisdom and humor, Easwaran offers specifics on finding the calm center of chaos. He urges readers to take their time, showing how it is the mind, not external events, that drive a sense of urgency and restlessness. He stresses meditating on words that embody one’s highest ideals, allowing them to take root and bring about wonderful life changes. Additional inspirational passages invite the reader to achieve deeper healing and reflection.
Customer Reviews:
Great Book!.......2007-02-18
I purchased this book as a requirement for a class. After reading it I recommended it to several friends. Easwaran presents challanges to a person in changing there life by learning to slow down. There is something for everyone in this book whether you're looking for ways to better your life or just want an awakening to what's going on in your life, because it definitely has you take a good look at yourself. I highly recommend it to anyone.
Introducing readers to an uncompromisingly conceptual and helpful system of ideals and coping techniques.......2006-01-09
Strength In The Storm by Eknath Easwaran is an unusually insightful collection of philosophical perception and societal interpretation of the everyday tedium encountered in the course of ordinary daily life. Introducing readers to an uncompromisingly conceptual and helpful system of ideals and coping techniques, Strength In The Storm astutely guides its readers through life's universal issues as they present themselves. Strength In The Storm is especially recommended reading for those who are searching for an instructive and "user friendly" guide for seeking happiness and obtaining contentment, as well as those who find themselves chronically unhappy with their daily struggle with situational stresses, relationships, or the seeming indifference of the world around them.
Book Description
Storms
Get the inside scoop on the world's stormy weather!
Find out what causes thunder, see the eye of a hurricane, get caught up in a tornado, and discover more than twenty–five facts about storms
Customer Reviews:
A good introduction to storms.......2007-05-14
I got this for my grandson, age 4, who is very interested in storms & the natural world in general. It's a good basic introduction; the pictures are full color photographs & the text is just enough information. This whole TIME series is great & I'm gradually buying all the books. We read them over & over again.
Book Description
A user’s guide to the planet.
We see it every day, yet we understand so little about Earth. From minerals to meteorites, this book covers every aspect of the science of our world. It breaks this complex discipline into four major sections: geology, oceanography, meteorology, and planetary science, and it gives an overview of the processes of each. Complete with interactive experiments and a glossary, this book makes the study of our planet—and other planets— easier than ever.
Topics covered include
*rocks
*plate tectonics
*geologic processes and time
*the sea floor and shoreline
*currents
*waves and tides
*atmospheric conditions and layering
*clouds, winds, and storms
*exploration of the planets
*natural satellites
*asteroids and comets.
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Customer Reviews:
Earth Science Made Simple is Simple.......2007-09-09
Great overview of the general topics in earth science. The only thing that I wish the book included would be question sets to review the material. I would use this book more as a resource for myself than my students.
Just What I Wanted.......2007-03-09
I was looking for a basic science book to introduce Earth Science to my kids. Too many of the books I looked at were "dumbed down". I just wanted basic coverage of science without politically correct commentary. This books gives nice coverage to the topics without obvious slanting towards anyone's agenda. I like it. (Yes, biomes are threatened, but I'd like to teach my kids about them before I talk about why they are threatened.) All in all, a good basic book.
Book Description
Hailed as "a literary fantasist of outstanding power and originality" by Michael Moorcock and "a mythmaking Gothic queen" by Neil Gaiman, Storm Constantine is one of the most exciting and innovative fantasy writers of her generation. The author of many acclaimed works of science fiction and fantasy, she is best known for her daring, stylish and provocative "Wraeththu" trilogy (The Enchantments of Flesh and Spirit , The Bewitchments of Love and Hate, The Fulfilments of Fate and Desire). The series, which chronicled the rise of a new race of seductive androgynous beings, with awesome powers, was hailed as a modern fantasy masterpiece, winning an avid international following of devoted readers.In her current series of work, Constantine has returned to the world of the Wraeththu, and the history of the first ruling dynasty in Immanion. Shades of Time and Memory continues the story of the emotional struggle between the triad of Pellaz, the Tigron of all the Wraeththu; Caeru, the Tigrina chosen for him by Thiede, and hostling of Pellaz's heir; and Calanthe, the Tigrina of Pellaz' heart -- Cal who incepted Pellaz, murdered Thiede, and whose wild seductive nature captivates all who know him.But while these three struggle for mortal political power, others are discovering that the psychic abilities of the Wraeththu and their sisters, the Kamagrian, are far greater, and far stranger, than any of them had ever supposed.
Customer Reviews:
A worthy second book.......2007-05-07
The second book of a trilogy has the toughest job, I think. The first book is the one that gets to introduce the setting and characters, while the third is the one to wrap it all up. The second book, though, has the task of fitting it all together. Shades accomplishes this quite nicely.
New characters as well as old are brought in to flesh out the world of Wraeththu. A leftover group of Uigenna, the Freyhallans who are descended from Norse humans, and others are brought in to join Pellaz, Cal, Caeru and other better-known main characters. Once again we're treated to seeing how the various har develop as the story continues--there are no flat, emotionless beings here.
At first, some of the threads of story may seem to have no connection whatsoever. However, Constantine is skilled at taking these and weaving them together, so that by the end of the book we're curious to see just what happens next and how it'll all turn out.
Shades is an excellent bridge, neither being too long and boring, nor too hastily sketched out. It thrives in the role of second book, and is a wonderful addition to any sci-fi/fantasy fan's shelf.
Beyond Growth.......2006-12-06
Wow. This second in the series really gets more into the energetic origins and capabilities of the Wraeththu, more than dwelling in the stories of the characters themselves. Again, Constantine brings to the fore the backstory of yet other past characters and there is more synergy between them than dissent, as before most of the characters are facing deep personal crises. This book was tough to read, though. She really departed from a lot of what had become clichéd writing for her (though I love her style--it works). She definitely expanded her own understanding of what her characters and their world are and where they may be going. Constantine spent a lot of the earlier books nailing down that the Wraeththu are unsure of themselves as a race. The blinders are off now. That is mostly what made it so hard for me to read: It was sad. The irony is that many of the relationships you had been wanting to happen find a foundation in this book, yet their wider lives are in such turmoil as a race what you've been wanting for so long becomes an afterthought. She really is a brilliant writer. You really do go where she wants you to as reader. She also leaves a ton of doors open, as usual to make you wonder where the next book will go.
You can never have enough of Wraeththu kind.......2006-06-29
Storm's Wraeththu Histories just keep getting better and better. With each new book of hers that I read, I harbor a fear that something will start to falter, that the magic I love will no longer exist. This is definately not the case with "Shades".
As much as I loved "Wraiths", I nearly danced with joy as Pell, Cal, and Rue graced the pages once again.
Now that Thiede has been somewhat thrown out of the earthly realm by Cal, the Wraeththu world is a bit off kilter and Aralis' struggle to find a way to stablize it.
The characters in "Shades" have grown up, Pell and Rue work to put their unfortunate past behind them, as their son finds his own way to deal with his pain. Cal struggles to deal with his wild nature and in the process, meets an old... friend.
This book is quite different from the orginal triology and builds quite a bit on Wraiths as the Wraeththu kind learn some of their true capabilities and their own insignificance at the same time. It is a wild and capitavating ride.
One thing I really loved about "Shades" was the inclusion and introduction of some of Pell's human relatives, Terez, Snake, and Moon. They add to the amazing web that is wraeththu.
I can't wait to get started on "The Ghosts of Blood and Innocence"!
A worthy sequel to Wraeththu ! A Must!.......2005-08-01
This has been an exhilarating few days for me as I finish the Wraeththu Histories. Like some of the reviewers I was a trifle dismayed yet hopeful when I learned that Storm wished to write a sequel to Wraeththu. It has been more than 15 years since the conclusion of Wraeththu. Yes I could still recall the last part of Wraeththu being rushed and there could have been much more in the reunion of Calanthe and Pellaz. But how does Storm hope to redeem this small but significant fault in Wraeththu, least of all equal the brilliance of this masterpiece. I do not doubt her story telling skill but there is a haunting originality, a sensuality, an innocence in Wraeththu which is not possible to duplicate or match.
My fear grew when I found Book 1 of the Wraeththu Histories a sort of a "fill-in-the-blanks" which does not feature and if so, limited roles of the enchanting and alluring characters in Wraeththu. And it was not written in the first person view which I love so much in Wraeththu. However my fear was unfounded a third through Book 1. Storm has not lost her magic though I still miss Calanthe, Rue, Cobweb and more of Pell of course.
Happily these endearing characters reappear in Book 2 which is just brilliant. My favorite characters take center stage again as Storm continue from where she left off in Fulfilments of Fate and Desire (3rd book of Wraeththu). I no longer miss the first person narration. Storm does not need that to inject emotions, intensity and life into her story and characters. Her characters have grown and I like the maturity in Cal, Pell and Cobweb. New characters appear, Moon, Snake, Raven just to name a few, and Storm weave them seamlessly into her magical tapestry of intriguing plots and sub-plots.
As I turn to Book 3 (The Ghosts of Blood and Innocence, UK edition), I was again a trifle dismayed with the story shifting to new characters, this time the second generation harlings. I should just have trusted Storm. Book 3 is as enchanting as Book 2. Her protagonists, Pell's sons/high-son, Darq, Loki, Geb, can never equal Cal, Pell and Cobweb,(I have to admit I am bias because nohar else can replace these favorite characters of mine), but they are refreshing and each harling's character is an unique individual. The stories of Pell's sons/high-son, from the day they are "hatched" to the day they confront each other are equally spell binding.
Storm's imagination just keep on growing covering untouched realms without ever dragging her feet or confusing her reader. Few can match her world building skills or the deep interplay of emotions among her characters.
And I am very please with the way she continues the love/hate emotions development among Cal, Pell,Galdra and Rue in Book 3. No reader can expect more but as a Wraeththu fan, I am thirsty for much more. Just novellas from now on is just not enough! Long live the Wraeththu Mythos!
Long live Wraeththukind!.......2005-01-25
I remember the day the Wraeththu seduced me like it was yesterday. I was a 19-year-old art student when I walked into a bookstore in a busy mall back in 1985 looking for something interesting to read for my commute home and bought the first volume of the series because I liked the cover (I found it unusual and very well done). I began reading at the train station and did not stop for more than a couple of hours for two days. Long story short: Storm introduced me to her world. I was hooked. Willingly bewitched. What? You thought I was kidding when I say I was seduced?
I had to have more, I found the 2nd part of trilogy, and a couple of years later the 3rd. Still, I looked for more (it was like a drug) but nothing was available in the US market. Eventually, life marched on and my brain detoxed and I forgot about "that" one fantastic tale. Then I found this book last week and the fever's back (it's like the Pell & Cal reunion all over again).
I won't go into the plot details. I feel that too much has been revealed by other reviews. But I'll say this: You will even find a snippet of humor in this volume AND the ever-standing affirmation, that size does matter. The truth is that no one writes like Storm. The imagery is so utterly alive that it's effortless to imagine the places, characters and (even) emotions she conveys thru her work. I must admit that I was prepared to be sadly disappointed -- after all, everyone "know" that sequels are never as good as the original - but I am glad to be wrong.
Although, there is a big different in writing styles from her original work (when contrasted with this one book in particular), it becomes very unimportant past the first few paragraphs and goes unnoticed afterwards. If fact, one could say that this one book is actually a testament to her growth as a weaver of dreams.
Long live Wraeththukind!
Product Description
When congregations go through difficult times, worship will both reflect and influence those difficulties. The practice of worship itself can be a key part of the congregation's healing process. Teacher and consultant Kathleen Smith successfully demonstrates this truth in Stilling the Storm, a book for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the ways that worship intertwines with the life and health of a congregations. There are three main types of difficulty congregations can face: times of crisis, transition, and conflict. Smith considers their differences, similarities, and implications for worship, and explains the congregational dynamics that accompany such times and the roles that leaders play. She reviews basic principles of worship and the ways that unique moments and regular habits of worship shape the congregation. For each type of difficulty she suggests important themes for congregations and their worship planners. Smith explores the wide range of liturgical resources available for congregations going through difficult times and how those resources can best be shaped to fit the specific situation they are experiencing. A perceptive guide to the worship we offer to God in all times and situation, Stilling the Storm is an important resource for all congregations of all worship traditions.
Average customer rating:
- A Natural Genius
- Head Trippy 70's Science Fiction Fun
- One of the best time travel books ever...
- A story that sweeps you away
- A timeless adventure, one that weathers the storm..
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Time Storm
Gordon R. Dickson
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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Dickson, Gordon R.
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| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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Once upon Forever
ASIN: 0671721488 |
Customer Reviews:
A Natural Genius.......2007-07-23
Time Storm (1977) is a standalone SF novel. The world is divided into a patchwork of different times by the time storm. Moving mistwalls contain time-change lines that shift the landscape behind them into the past or future. Stationary mistwalls separate adjacent zones of differing times.
In this novel, Marc Despard is overrun by a moving mistwall and doesn't know what hit him. At first, he thinks that he has had another heart attack, but gradually he learns the true cause of his confusion and overwhelming emotions. He finds a squirrel felled by the same time-change and picks it up. The creature seems to imprint on him and follows him around as he explores the area. He finally loses contact with it in his ramblings.
As Marc is walking through the woods south of the Twin Cities area, he stumbles over a young black male leopard, who reacts in the same manner as the squirrel. Marc names the leopard Sunday and it follows him thereafter. Later Marc and Sunday run into the girl and she reacts to Sunday much like the leopard behaves toward Marc. The girl doesn't talk, so Marc doesn't know her name.
Marc is obsessed with the time-change lines. He finally decides to check the other side of a pair of stationary lines that have apparently collided with each other. He firmly orders Sunday and the girl to stay on their side of the line and then enters it himself.
Marc experiences the same kind of overwhelming emotional reactions within the mistwall as he had experienced previously, but this time his reactions seem to be less powerful. On the other side of the line is a pack of dogs and the remains of a house. At first, the owner of the house -- Marie -- threatens him with a rifle and the dogs, so Marc tries to reason with her.
Marie and Wendy -- her daughter -- have been waiting for her husband to return from the nearby town, but Marie decides to accompany Marc when he moves on. Heading to the nearby town, they run into Tek and his gang. After Marc and the dogs outmaneuver them, Tek and the others fade back into the woods and disappear.
Later, Marc encounters a large concrete building on the other side of another mistwall. The facility is a military testing center with only one inhabitant: Bill Gault. After discussing the situation, Bill asks to join Marc and they stock up on equipment and weapons, then return across the time-change line.
Marc and Bill continue crossing mistwalls looking for someone from a future society who can help them understand and alleviate the time storm. Finally, they find an area with future buildings and encounter an alien -- Porniarsk Prime Three -- who is an avatar of the original Porniarsk. Although Porniarsk has better instruments that Marc and Bill, he is himself only studying the time storm. They must find someone from the far future to provide them with any assistance.
Eventually, Marc becomes the center of a community studying the time storm. Porniarsk has been using his equipment to extrapolate the time storm patterns to the far future. Then Paula and her army show up to conquer his town.
In this story, Marc has internal conflicts from his childhood. Because of his dysfunctional family, he believes that everyone is self-involved, only appearing to love other people out of self-interest. Unfortunately, he keeps forgetting his role and lets his old habits of expressing love get into his relationships.
A major element in this story is the series of epiphanies that Marc experiences in his relationships with others. At first Marc is obsessed with finding his ex-wife and resuming their relationships. Then he has to deal with the girl and Sunday leaving the group after Marie and Wendy join them. Later, he rethinks his relationship with the Old Man. After each epiphany, Marc expands his worldview and open himself more to others.
This story is built around Marc's talent for finding patterns in seemingly random events. Naturally, his paranormal genius is the key to solving the underlying problem. In many respects, this talent is much the same as the intuitive abilities of Donal Graeme in the Dorsai series.
Highly recommended for Dickson fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of abnormal events, unusual talents, and fractured relationships.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Head Trippy 70's Science Fiction Fun.......2005-08-26
I found this 70's science fiction tale among the crowded stacks of of my favorite used book store. It's theme of mass disappearance of humans due to a disruptions of time interesting, so I grabbed it thinking it would be nice light reading. Well, it's far from light. Here Dickson takes us on a 70's head trip of physics and philosophy. Ther first half of the book is a strong Post Apocalytic tale of a man, a teenage girl and a leopard traveling through a broken, disjointed land where Time Storms have switched large chucks or land with land of the past and the future, and where traveling Mistwalls threaten to displace the travelers themselves. The second part of the book is hard science fiction where the main character battles the very physical forces of nature which are causing these problems. In the end this book is a tale of love, and finding what's inside a person by stepping out of their own body, and their comfort zones and looking at things in a way one would never conceived. Beware of some weird 70's new-age corniness, but enjoy.
One of the best time travel books ever..........2000-04-13
maybe THE best, though I can't claim to have read them all. This book was my introduction to Gordon Dickson, who has been one of my favorite SF authors ever since. This is a deeply plotted story that develops with the characters. The scope begins at a simple, personal level and builds to galactic proportions. The narrator/main character is a gruff, usually stoic individual (like other Dickson main characters), but his emotions nevertheless come out reluctantly in the telling. I reread it every couple of years and it always seems new. Well worth the time.
A story that sweeps you away.......2000-02-24
This is the story of a world destroyed by time. It's a memorable and haunting book, with characters that have an interesting mix of the mysterious and sympthatic. I've read a lot of time travel books before, but really nothing like this.
If you can it a copy it's a good read.
A timeless adventure, one that weathers the storm.........1999-05-13
A book that refuses to be dated. The relationships between Marc Despard, Marie, The Girl and the Cat are valid in any time zone..I connected with all the players and, for the first time in years, I found a book that I lost sleep over.
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