Book Description
serial killer striking every twelve hours. A Kite monster murdering at random. Though neither event seems related, Agents Sam Ryan and Gabriel Stern quickly discover a link between the two-the military base known as Hopeworth. But are the serial killings a military cover-up that has gone dangerously wrong, or is there a deeper, more personal reason behind the murders of the red-headed adoptees? And are the so-called random attacks of the Kites nothing more than a methodical clean-up of a past mistake?As the investigation continues, Sam discovers a connection between herself and the murder victims, a connection that implies a link to Hopeworth itself. But if she is a product of the military, why does Hopeworth appear to know nothing about her? With the killings escalating and the danger drawing closer to home, Sam not only has to battle to bring a killer to justice, but to save Gabriel's life. And the one person who seems to hold the key to what is going on, as well as what has happened in Sam's past, is the mysterious man who saved her life. But does she dare believe his words or the dreams she seems to share with him? Because this mystery man may not be just her enemy, but the enemy of humankind itself.
Customer Reviews:
Another Great Spook Squad Book.......2007-06-15
This is the second in the Spook Squad series. Don't read it if you haven't read Memory Zero; it won't make sense without the first book. Here, Arthur has Sam and Gabriel trying to catch a killer while continuing to delve into the mystery that is Sam's past. Arthur does a great job of writing this sort of futuristic paranormal novel. The plot flows well, the world is well-conceived and imaginative, and the character development continues nicely. This is a worthy follow-up to Memory Zero. However, as with the other books in this series, I'm left wondering why it is so short. Most books in this genre are significantly longer, and I'm convinced Arthur is a good enough author to be able to expand her stories just a tad and still maintain their quality.
Generation 18.......2005-01-17
Relegated to the Spook Squad, Sam Ryan finds herself chasing kites; and this is not an innocuous task- kites are vampiric monsters with no apparent motive but a great appetite for murder. Investigating this with her recalcitrant partner draws Sam into an exploration of genetic engineering and closer to learning about her own mysterious past.
*** On the plus side, a fast pace is set and maintained throughout the intriguing plot. However, though characterization is still good, action took priority over it in this volume of the series. Yet, it is still a good read. ***
Sequel to Memory Zero.......2004-10-25
Sam Ryan is now working for the SIU, or Spook Squad instead of her original job with the state police. Her paranormal talents are growing by leaps and bounds. Her partner Gabriel Stern, is still confusing the heck out of her. He doesn't want a partner, especially Sam, yet sometimes, he actually seems to like her. The kite monsters are still attacking people in the city and the serial killer Gabe is after has stepped up his/her schedule. Sam still has no memory of her past, but dreams of someone named Joshua, and has a mind link to a hairy guy named "Joe Black", or so he says. Everything seems to be linked to a genetic experiment called Generation 18, and an older one called Penumbra, but little information is available from the military base they originated from. Sam seems to be connected to the base also, but she doesn't know how, and hopes to live long enough to find out.
This was a good sequel to Memory Zero, the story is further developed and so are the characters. The reader is left dangling though and the next book won't be out for a year, darn!!
Book Description
When two powerful rival families of the spacefaring merchant race called the Tizarin are to be joined through marriage, theU.S.S. Enterprise™ is chosen as the site for the wedding. Though Captain Picard is pleased by the happy duty, his pleasure is cut short by the arrival of the Federation delegate from Betazed: Lwaxana Troi -- the mother of ship's counsellor, Deanna Troi.
Despite Lwaxana Troi's romantic overtures toward the captain, the celebration seems to go smoothly until the situation is further complicated by the arrival of the notorious and all powerful being called Q -- who has come to examine and challenge the human concept of love. Suddenly, the festivities are in turmoil, the powerful Tizarin families are on the verge of war, and Lwaxana Troi is determined to teach Q a lesson in love that he will never forget...
Download Description
Two powerful rival families of the spacefaring merchant race called the Tizarin are to be joined through marriage, and the U.S.S. Enterprise is chosen as the site for the wedding. Captain Picard is pleased by the happy duty, but his pleasure is cut short by the arrival of the Federation delegate from Betazed, Lwaxana Troi, the mother of ship's counsellor, Deanna Troi. Despite Lwaxana Troi's romantic overtures toward the captain, the celebration seems to go smoothly until the situation is further complicated by the arrival of the notorious and all powerful being called Q, who has come to examine and challenge the human concept of love. The festivities are thrown into turmoil, the powerful Tizarin families are on the verge of war, and Lwaxana Troi is determined to teach Q a lesson in love that he will never forget.
Customer Reviews:
Another of David's Effortless Wonders.......2007-04-27
Writing a humorous book is hard enough, but then make it a humorous Trek book? Good luck - but that's exactly what David accomplished in this rich, smart, TOO-QUICK jaunt of the ultimate battle of the sexes - Q vs. Lwaxana. The back-story is slight but you won't might mind in the slightest as David has a true gift for characterization, with nobody getting Worf in particular better. Plus, as a bonus of sorts, this is somewhat indirect sequel to Imzadi with many continuing threads hinted at/glaring for anyone reader of the previous books (though as usual David writes so well that non-readers of Imzadi won't be left out in any way). I can't say enough positive things about this charming little work of fantastic fiction which would have been a truly remarkable episode if ever filmed.
If you are a STNG fan, get this book. Read this book. You will enjoy it - Q guarantees it!
Fun Read.......2006-11-09
A delightful story for Star Trek: TNG fans. The main characters are Deanna Troi's imperious mother Lwaxanna, and the god-like entity "Q." The two huge egos clash at a wedding that Picard is reluctantly hosting on the Enterprise. The bride and groom come from a Romeo and Juliet-like background, as two feuding races come together only for the young couple. But Q has an agenda of his own, simultaneously romancing Lwaxanna - to her daughter Deanna's absolute horror - and stirring up doubts and fears between the bride and the groom. How can Picard take control of what is threatening to become complete chaos on his ship?
Really a fun read. The author has great understanding of the crew of the Enterprise's characters. Q-In-Law has many laugh-out-loud parts.
A Match For Even Q's Annoyance.......2004-07-10
I have never laughed so hard while reading a Star Trek book in my entire life. Luxiana, please excuse my spelling, Troi who'se Betazed frankness and lack of restraint is evenly matched with the manifestation of Q as we know them.
Within brief moments, we can see why Q are somewhat afraid of Terrans. One day, Q will have to put up with an advanced version of Luxiana! Forget about a civil war in the Continuum, all hell will break loose! As advanced as Q are, they are wise enough to know there's someone always wiser than they are, or will turn out to be.
As Michael Strazinky did with Babylon 5, it would be interesting to see "humanity" one million years from now. What will humanity have evolved into? Just a brief taste of our potential would keep my appetite for Star Trek going for a lifetime.
Peter David demonstrates that not all "Trekkies" and / or "Trekkers" have no sense of humor. In fact, they can be somewhat diabolical.
An experiment in controlled chaos........2004-02-23
This book has a very deserved reputation for being one of the funniest pieces of Star Trek fiction ever written. Viewers and readers all know what Lwanana Troi is like, and they all know what Q is like, so just imagine the consequences if the two should meet. Star Trek writers have to be very careful when using Q, and Peter David is a master of it. I actually laughed out loud several times while reading this book, and the ending gives a whole new meaning to the saying "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." Highly recommended.
Excellent Next Generation Fun.......2004-02-09
This is a light-hearted Star Trek novel, telling the story of the romance between Lwaxana Troi and Q. It would likely be confusing to those unfamiliar with the TNG episodes about Q and the episodes about Lwaxana. For those who have seen them, however, this is a funny romp. The ending seems to happen too quickly, but is satisfying.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic resource.......2005-09-15
I have all three volumes for Richard Warren and they are an extremely valuable resource. All the volumes in this series are well documented and reliable. All genealogies contain errors, its just a fact of life, but this series contains very few as far as I can tell. I use as many sources as I can find to verify my information, and have found this series of books to be extremely accurate. There is over 100 years of research in this series and it shows! I also have volume 1 of the John Alden books and they are just as great. Will buy more volumes as time progresses. If you have Mayflower ancestry, get the volumes that contain your ancestor(s), they are well worth the price.
Product Description
Great Star Trek NG collectible! A must have for any fan!
Book Description
Containing 12 new chapters, this second edition offers increased coverage of weather correction and normalization of forecasts, anticipation of redevelopment, determining the validity of announced developments, and minimizing risk from over- or under-planning. It provides specific examples and detailed explanations of key points to consider for both standard and unusual utility forecasting situations, information on new algorithms and concepts in forecasting, a review of forecasting pitfalls and mistakes, case studies depicting challenging forecast environments, and load models illustrating various types of demand.
Book Description
Praise for the Aegypt sequence:
"A dizzying experience, achieved with unerring security of technique."-
The New York Times Book Review
"A master of language, plot, and characterization."-Harold Bloom
"The further in you go, the bigger it gets."-James Hynes
"The writing here is intricate and thoughtful, allusive and ironic. . . .
Aegypt bears many resemblances, incidental and substantive, to Thomas Pynchon's wonderful 1966 novel
The Crying of Lot 49."-
USA Today
"An original moralist of the same giddy heights occupied by Thomas Mann and Robertson Davies."-
San Francisco Chronicle
This is the fourth novel-and much-anticipated conclusion-of John Crowley's astonishing and lauded Aegypt sequence: a dense, lyrical meditation on history, alchemy, and memory. Spanning three centuries, and weaving together the stories of Renaissance magician John Dee, philosopher Giordano Bruno, and present-day itinerant historian and writer Pierce Moffitt, the Aegypt sequence is as richly significant as Lawrence Durrell's Alexandria Quartet or Anthony Powell's Dance to the Music of Time. Crowley, a master prose stylist, explores transformations physical, magical, alchemical, and personal in this epic, distinctly American novel where the past, present, and future reflect each other.
John Crowley was born in the appropriately liminal town of Presque Isle, Maine. His most recent novel is
Lord Byron's Novel: The Evening Land. He teaches creative writing at Yale University. In 1992 he received the Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. He finds it more gratifying that almost all of his work is still in print.
Customer Reviews:
magik.......2007-06-29
If you haven't read Crowley, you really really need to. he will take you to magical places and you will feel perfectly at home there.
Magic, Writers Block & a fumble.......2007-05-19
(I wrote the first part of the review after reading the marvellous first half of the book. Then I finished...)
What I have encountered so far: Magic(k). John Dee (The Official Magician and Astrologer to Queen Elizabeth I). The Brotherhood of the Rose-Cross. The Chymical Marriage. Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel in Prague and The Golem. The Qaballa. Gemetria. The war in Heaven. Giordano Bruno re-spells himself and then the World. (You can't be reborn into the same world, so he changes it!) The ushering in of The New Age. The Patient Donkey (refered to by the traditional name, which Amazon won't let me write here). The shift in the direction of the World. The Holy Office - Army of the Catholic Church (Inquisition) seeks to show the rebellious the error of their ways, with force. The Golden City of Adocentyn. Hermes Thrice-great.
And there is "The invisible, inaudible Messenger, on great peacock-eyed wings,... whisper-crying into each ear [of the Brotherhood] just one word which causes this heart to turn in the right direction, go pack the needful things... and set out."
"Then, at last, would be the Great Instauration...a backward revolution, a backflip of wonder performed to turn the progress of the world around like a galleon and head it again for the Golden Age, which lies in the past,...but could now be sought for in the time to come, as Hermes Thrice-great in Aegypt so long ago predicted: "the restoration of all good things in the course of time by the will of God. Or by means of the gods"...
A grounding in Magic, Alchemy, Qaballa, Rosecrucianism and even Tarot are helpful.
And, as with all of John Crowley's novel's, high quality writing. It's been a long time coming. To make any sense of this last novel, you will have to read the previous three books in the Aegypt series.
As bizarre as the ideas in this book may appear, many of the events depicted in this series really happened, and the book has direct quotes lifted from the diaries of Dee and Bruno!
***********************************************
Well I finally finished!
There are three stories in this series, John Dee, Giordano Bruno and Pierce Moffett a contemporary author (who is John Crowley's age, height and weight, who also went to Czech Republic) working on completeing a Fellowes Kraft book about how the fabric of Time can shift and what was possible in one time becomes impossible and myths in the next era.
While completeing the book, Moffett (or Crowley) gets Writers Block, gets old and cynical and can't finish the book he started. For hundreds of pages at the end the formerly tight plot meanders, falls apart and Crowley brings in many new characters and events that don't enhance the plot. And he drops the contemporary plot he had previously established.
Crowley took 20 years to write this series. He had a wonderful idea through 3 1/2 books, which he ruins in the end. He is like a running back who breaks through the line, breaks through the secondary and gets free, running for the end zone, and fumbles the ball inside the 25 yard line!
When this series deals with Dee or Bruno it's wonderful. When it gets' to the end, Moffett (or Crowley) drops the ball.
I can't believe this is what Crowley had in mind, 20 years ago, when he started! A profound disappointment. What happened to Beau Brachman??
We should have know something was up when Crowley stopped writing this series and wrote "The Translator" and "Lord Byrons Novel" rather than finishing "Aegypt".
Seven years ago when the third volume in Aegypt "Daemonomania" (agrueably the best in the series) came out, one newspaper critic I read refused to give the series a rave, because it was not yet complete. At the time I thought he was wrong, now I think he was right.
as Crowley says, "Aegypt is as complete as it's ever going to be...".
***
there are repeated references (no less than three) to Harpocartes, the God of Silence in the Hermetic tradition, in this last book of Aegypt. I wonder why?
The transforming power of the novel.......2007-05-11
This book is the final volume of 4 in the Aegypt series written over the last 20 years. It weaves together the story of writer Pierce Moffett's search into the past and a battle in 1614 that changed our world into one in which Descartes' division of subject and object is preserved and magic is banished.
Endless Things can be read without the prior volumes but the reader's experience is greatly enriched if the books are read in order. Sections of Endless Things dealing with the present are quick and engaging. The historic chapters are dense, erudite and even more interesting. At bottom, the authors (Moffett, Crowley and Fellowes Kraft) are trying to figure out "why is everything the way it is and not some different way instead?" This leads to a more personal question asked by unsuccessful searcher Moffett: "Why was he what he was and not better?"
Along the way, we see an earlier world where alchemy and magic have as much claim to an unknown future as do science and reason. We hear Crowley's conclusion that gods are but stories and that every age must find the stories that correspond to its unique reality.
The author creates words which, according to the secret of the Cabala, can change the nature of things.
This all can be heavy going at times but Crowley is our best contemporary writer of the fabulous, making the unreal seem a solid basis for a far richer reality. It is worth the reader's effort as he finds how "the gods, angels, monsters, powers and principalities...began their retreat into the subsidiary realms where they reside today, harmless and unmoving, most of them anyway, for most of us, most of the time."
At least while you read Crowley, you can feel the sense of wonder you had as a child when possibility was almost endless. Those angels and monsters come briefly alive as the author fights for and embodies the transforming power of language.
The Great Secret.......2007-04-28
Crowley ends his four-volume novel poignantly and satisfyingly. The theme of the entire book is our knowledge that life is different than it seems--a knowledge inspiring, in our great need, our gods, utopias, spirits, magics, conspiracies, true loves. The ultimate inadequacy of these dreams' every flicker, yet the final truth of the flame, is my flickering take on the message. But, fittingly, life is even more pervasive here than thoughts above life.
Much should be compared with his earlier masterpiece Little, Big, the end especially.
Average customer rating:
- In Search of the Lost Country.
- Poorly written
- THE best fantasy series ever written
- THE best fantasy series ever written
- The Solitudes...
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Aegypt
John Crowley
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
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ASIN: 1433201119 |
Download Description
There is more than one history of the world. Before science defined the modern age, other powers, wondrous and magical, once governed the universe, their lore perfected within a lost capital of hieroglyphs, wizard-kings, and fabulous monuments, not Egypt
Customer Reviews:
In Search of the Lost Country........2007-08-24
John Crowley (1942) is not a very prolific sci-fi and fantasy writer, only twelve novels between 1975 and 2007, but all his books have a very distinctive style. A very special and rich "taste" I risk to say.
"Aegypt" is his most ambitious opus. It is planned as a tetralogy, so the author has enough space to develop each character at its maximum.
The story is many layered, dwell on present time and on the past.
In the present the main character is Pierce Moffett. He is a university teacher traversing a deep existential crisis.
Fate made his bus stop at a small village in Pennsylvania where he comes across an old ex-student. Immediately he cancels his travel and starts another journey in search of his soul.
In the past there are two main historical characters one is Doctor John Dee, notable physician, astrologer and alchemist searching to get in touch with angels thru a medium.
The other one is Giordano Bruno a peasant, who becomes a humble monk first, then a memory prodigy and finally a persecuted heretic.
Crowley blends these three main lines into a coherent and magical structure with innumerable side characters that enriches the story.
I was first intrigued and the astounded to find out that both Doctor Dee and Friar Bruno were real characters and even more Crowley's story is deployed over real facts.
I really love Crowley's writing style, showing a deep connection with existentialism, hippie movement and mysticism.
Enjoy this astounding opus; it is more than mere fantasy!
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
Poorly written.......2006-04-27
I read this book and find it poorly written. The Author has no real story line, he keeps going off in different directions and never keeping to the story at hand. He puts too much junk into it. First rule of any writing - keep it simple and straight to the one and leave the fluff out.
THE best fantasy series ever written.......2006-02-25
"Aegypt" not Egypt! The original name for Egypt was "Khem". "Alchemy" or "Al Khem" - or "of Khem", refered to mystical or black arts supposedly known only to practitioners of a mysterious deep past in Egypt. Ideas lost to modern man. Crowley's concept for this series idea is that in the days of mystical "Aegypt" not only were ideas lost, but that the laws of chemistry and physics were different then! Maybe you could levitate the huge stones that built the pyramids. The hero Pierce Moffitt looks for evidence.
Most fantasy writers are wildly imaginative, create worlds out of whole cloth. They are, however, often not good writers, ie the technical quality of the writing, the flow, the characterization in their books does not match their clever ideas. Novels are often better written, but with less clever ideas.
The singular exception is John Crowley who is not only, arguably, the best fantasy writer, (and I don't use that adjective lightly), but he clearly has the best technical writing style. His books are gems, complex psychological gems with beautiful flow.
In this his best series, his most heroic effort, (not yet complete), he tackles the history of the world! The major thesis is that time shifts gears. And when it does, things change and possibilities, scientific possibilities, collapse. What was within the laws of science falls to the realm of imagination.
There was one of these major shifts during the time of Queen Elizabeth, alchemist and court magician John Dee really could make gold from base metal, and the protagonist discovers a shift may be one happening now! As strange as this seems, this story is historical and actually quotes from the diary of John Dee! Another story line is the tragic life of Giordano Bruno, Dee's peer and antagonist, whose ideas of a non-earth-centered universe, that is, modern astronomy, annoyed the Inquisition, but started our current cycle!
"Aegypt" is not Egypt, but a cycle in the past when more magical things were not just possible but commonplace.
Crowley juggles four or more stories at once, current and historical, an interrelates the story lines! He started more than two decades ago and has written three of the four books to date. Each book is based on the theme the meaning of three astrological houses of the zodiac!
Let's hope Crowley soon finished his masterpiece. But writing this good can't be hurried, I guess. Last book in the series is due MAY 07.
THE best fantasy series ever written.......2006-02-25
"Aegypt" not Egypt! The original name for Egypt was "Khem". "Alchemy" or "Al Khem" - or "of Khem", refered to mystical or black arts known only to practicioners is a mysterious deep past in Egypt. Ideas lost to modern man. Crowley's concept for this series idea is that in the days of mystical "Aegypt" not only were ideas lost, but that the laws of chemistry and physics were different then! Maybe you could levitate the huge stones that built the pyramids. The hero Pierce Moffitt looks for evidence.
Most fantasy writers are wildly imaginative, create worlds out of whole cloth. They are, however, frequently not good writers, ie the technical writing quality, the flow, the characterization in their books does not match their clever ideas. Novels are often better written, but with less ideas.
The singular exception is John Crowley who is not only, arguably, the best fantasy writer, (and I don't use that adjective lightly), but he clearly has the best technical writing style. His books are gems, complex psychological gems with beautiful flow. Crowley won the prestigious Award for Literature for this series from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a award not usually give to fantasy writers.
In this his best series, his most heroic effort, (not yet complete), he tackles the history of the world! The major thesis is that time shifts. And when it does, things change and possibilities, scientific possibilities, collapse. What was within the laws of science falls to the realm of imagination.
There was one of these major shifts during the time of Queen Elizabeth, John Dee really could make gold, and the protagonist discovers a shift may be one happening now! As strange as this seems, this story is historical and actually quotes from the diary of John Dee! Another story line is the tragic life of Giordano Bruno, Dee's peer and antagonist, whose ideas annoyed the Inquisition, but started our current cycle!
"Aegypt" is not Egypt, but a cycle in the past when more magical things were commonplace.
Crowley juggles four or more stories at once, current and historical, an interrelates the story lines! He started more than two decades ago and has written three of the four books to date. Each book is based on the theme the meaning of three astrological houses of the zodiac!
Let's hope Crowley soon finished his masterpiece. But writing this good can't be hurried, I guess. Last book in the series is due APR 07.
The Solitudes..........2006-02-24
...is John Crowley's chosen title for the first volume of the Aegypt series, and will hopefully be restored when it's reprinted.
This volume is absolutely wonderful. It is almost ridiculously fun, informative, exhilarating. Parts of it (I'm thinking especially of Pierce's flashbacks to life in New York, scattered across the first half) seem to me to be as good as--or even better than--anything in his transcendent 1981 masterpiece, Little, Big.
The series centers on the Platonic/Gnostic notion that we're forgetting something, and that that something is our real life. It's not happening on another planet than this one: It flows through our own best, highest, most wakeful moments, and flows into the lives of others through incessant mystery. It's very easy to lose it again, to fall into routine or depression, to lose faith in ourselves and accept false external certainties, and this process is the heart of Aegypt's second and third volumes. But this first volume is one of discovery and rediscovery, of spring awakening, of following a trail of bread crumbs up the sky.
Bless Crowley for writing this book, the happy start of the ultimate romance for intelligent people.
Update:
Some relevant information:
1. This first volume of Aegypt is being put back into print in Oct. 2007 as The Solitudes, published by Overlook Press. This paperback contains revisions, and upcoming paperbacks of Love & Sleep and Daemonomania, the second and third volumes, will contain more extensive ones--undoing changes and additions Crowley had to make to conform with Bantam's absurd refusal to identify these books as parts of a single novel. The reprinting of Aegypt and Love & Sleep means you won't have to shell out 40, or 70 or 100 dollars to read these volumes.
2. Endless Things, the fourth and final volume, was published a few months ago and is available fairly cheaply on Amazon; its paperback will complete Overlook's reprint, presumably by Summer 2008. The 25-year novel is finished, there's no more reason to delay reading it. Michael Dirda of the Washington Post, who calls the four-part novel (pub. '87, '94, '00, '07) his favorite among recent books, is writing a long review to explain why you NEED to read it. Harold Bloom's long Foreword to the 25th Anniversary edition of Little, Big, coming out this September, will allegedly do much the same thing.
Read this book! It's finally finished, revised, affordable, and it's always been sublimely wonderful and, for the right people, the happiest possible addiction.
Book Description
A brand new short story collection from Kage Baker, including an original novella set in her ongoing series of The Company, "Mother Aegypt." The Company novels are being released by Tor, and include The Graveyard Game and The Life of the World to Come.
Customer Reviews:
Stories From the Baker Zone.......2006-07-28
Mother Aegypt and Other Stories (2004) is a collection of thirteen SF/Fantasy stories. It features several stories related to The Anvil of the World storyline, but others are off in their own universe. The title story might be from the Company series.
Leaving His Cares Behind (2004) has a debt-ridden and penniless Lord Ermenwyr returning home for some peace and quiet. After a good night's sleep, he finds absolutely nothing to relieve his ennui.
The Briscian Saint (2003) features three common soldiers from a cursed and defeated army fleeing Briscia with the statue of a saint as loot.
Desolution Rose (1999) has Ermenwyr impersonating a god to lay a truly desperate woman and finding that such actions may have unforeseen consequences.
Miss Yahoo Has Her Say (2001) depicts a Yahoo female's encounter with Lemuel Gulliver.
What the Tyger Told Her (2001) describes the advice and assistance provided by a caged tyger to a young girl in a cutthroat family.
Nightmare Mountain (2003) illustrates the damage that gossip can do to a marriage.
Merry Christmas from Navarro Lodge, 1928 (2000) brings together two men of ill-luck in a past moment of significance to each of them.
Her Father's Eyes (2002) depicts a meeting between a young girl and a boy who seemingly doesn't exist.
Two Old Men (2000) describes a hectic afternoon in the life of Markie Souza while carrying messages between two old men.
The Summer People (2001) depicts an evening in which an Elvis impersonator almost gets his big chance for fame and fortune.
How They Tried to Talk Indian Tony Down (2001) tells how Indian Tony overdoes his shaman thing and has to climb a tall tree.
Pueblo, Colorado Has the Answer (2001) shows how the government helps its citizens with gardening problems.
Mother Aegypt (2004) presents the story of the medieval con artist Golesco and the immortal Mother Aegypt. This tale could almost be part of the Company series, but it is too funny to fit.
All these stories have an odd outlook on life and hidden meanings. Short, but fully packed, stories written by one of the heritors of Damon Knight and Fredric Brown.
Highly recommended for Baker fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales with unexpected twists, uncertain morals and dry humor.
-Arthur W. Jordin
Kage Baker does it again!.......2005-01-01
As most of you who read my reviews know, Kage Baker is my favourite writer out there. She has written numerous short stories that are scattered hither and yon, almost impossible to keep up with. Thankfully, she has a habit of collecting her stories in compilations. Best known for her series of books about "The Company," Mother Aegypt and Other Stories is unusual in that it doesn't contain any Company stories. Instead, it draws together a bunch of her other fiction, mostly fantasy. It contains two stories about Lord Ermenwyr, from The Anvil of the World, as well as other fantastic stuff. I have to say that, after finding this book, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I had read two of the stories already, which had drawn me to her in the first place, and this just made me want more of her stuff. As is usual with collections, there is the occasional clunker, but the overall quality is quite high. Strangely, most of the weak stories seem to be ones she wrote for sale on Fictionwise.com, which makes me wonder. They almost seem like they were churned out so that they would have some stories to sell. I'm not saying that's what happened, but it certainly feels like it. Thankfully, the final Fictionwise story is outstanding, redeeming the rest of them.
Probably the two best stories are "What the Tyger Told Her" and "Desolation Rose". While all the stories (even the weaker ones) have that wonderful Baker prose and characterization, these two just stand out. The Tyger in "What the Tyger Told Her" coaches a young girl into seeing what lurks beneath the surface of her high-society family, and what greed can do to you. It also touches on the role of women in a male-dominated world, as the child is effectively invisible because of her two brothers. "Desolation Rose" is a redemption story for Lord Ermenwyr as he finds that sometimes romance isn't the end-all and be-all. He ends up doing the right thing, though true to his personality he doesn't quite go all the way.
Probably the weakest of the stories is "How They Tried to Talk Indian Tony Down." I just found the characters uninteresting and the story was too slight. Thankfully, it was very short and thus didn't take that much time. If it had been longer, I may have done the unthinkable and actually skipped it. Other weak stories are "The Summer People" and "Miss Yahoo Has Her Say," both of which I didn't really care about. "Miss Yahoo Has Her Say" also forces the reader to get through a form of pidgin English which was annoying until I got used to it. Even the only original story in this collection, "Mother Aegypt," suffered from a weak ending, though the rest of the story was fabulous.
Overall, though, the collection is wonderful. If you're a Kage Baker fan, you have to pick this up. If you want to see what the fuss is all about but don't want to get involved in The Company just yet, this is a good taste of the quality writer that is Kage Baker.
Dave Roy
Beautiful Fantasy And The Dark Side Of Ourselves........2004-09-12
A remarkable collection of fantasy stories, each one representing a different strain of fantasy, but each one shedding light on human nature. And isn't that what fantasy is all about? Because the fantasy writer creates a distance--an illusory distance--from ourselves, she makes it possible to look at ourselves.
There are stories here about lonely little girls, and womanizing monsters, and a woman who finds the love of her life, but only in absolute darkness. The title story tells of a smooth-talking con-artist who tries to outwit the woman who cannot die. Each story has a satisfying twist and poignant lesson.
Kage Baker is an absolutely luminous writer. Her prose style flows easily with total clarity. Each story is different, a different type of fantasy, yet they all give powerful insights into the human condition. The title story was a little long, but worth finishing. I can recommend this collection highly. Reviewed by Louis N. Gruber.
Book Description
Reengaging the ideas of alternate lives, worlds, and worldviews that pulsed through his remarkable Little, Big, John Crowley's Ægypt series is a landmark in contemporary fiction. The series helped earn Crowley the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature, and Harold Bloom installed the first two books in the series in his 1993 Western canon. Now, following the Spring 2007 hardcover release of the final book in the series (Endless Things), Overlook is bringing the entire tetralogy back into print--and, for the first time, presenting it as a real series.
In The Solitudes, the opening of the series, we are introduced to Pierce Moffett, an unorthodox historian and an expert in ancient astrology, myths, and superstition. The land that Moffett studies is not the real, geographical Egypt but Ægypt, a country of the imagination. When Moffett discovers the historical novels of local writer Fellowes Kraft, his course is charted. Kraft's books interweave stories of Italian heretic Giordano Bruno, young Will Shakespeare, and Elizabethan occultist John Dee--stories that begin to mingle with the narrative of Moffett's real and dream life in 1970s America. As Moffett's journey in and out of his comfortable reality continues, what becomes clear is revelatory: there is more than one history of the world.
This is the dazzling first novel in a series that will certainly take its place amongst the great books of our time. Completely revised by the author to further the power of the series as a whole, this is a perfect chance to rediscover one of our truly great writers, and one of our truly magical stories.
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Aegypt
John Crowley
Manufacturer: VGSF
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000SAWHH6 |
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