.
The past is a foreign country, and McMurtry's treatment of 1830's American history is strange enough to be sfnal.... Anyway, I had a great time reading the Berrybenders. Second only to _Lonesome Dove/Streets of Laredo_ among his historicals, I think, though not much like those. But very, very good.
Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman
unfailingly entertaining McMurtry.......2007-05-09
You have to read all the berrybender novels. Sheer entertainment, as are all McMurtry's books. There are four books in the Berry bender series. You probably will be better off starting with book number one but they can all stand on their own for a wonderful, quality read.
Read the entire series straight through.......2006-09-13
I don't think of this as a separate book. This is the conclusion to the Berrybender tale, as Return of the King was the conclusion to Lord of the Rings. These four books are all one book to me, and must be read consecutively, with no reason to read anything else in between.
I'm fond of the characters. I feel a loyalty to them, having gone through their travails with them.
One thing that takes some getting used to is that McMurtry kills off so many of the characters. He mixes this with comedy, believe it or not, especially in the first book, Sin Killer. I don't take the violence as seriously as I would have without the comedy. Come on, Lord Berrybender poking out his son Bobbety's eye with a fork? You have to be kidding. I take it that way. For that matter, the boy is named Bobbety? That's funny right there.
Because I take the entire story with a grain of salt, and just enjoy it for the ride, I'm not bothered by the extreme violence. It reads like black humor to me.
The strength of the series lies in the adorably spoiled behavior of Tasmin and, later, her daughter Petal. Without Tasmin, this series would be nothing at all.
I even get a kick out of how McMurtry sends Lord Albany Berrybender, that self centered but brave fool, to the Alamo with Davy Crockett. It almost reminds me of Where's Waldo.
Throughout the book we keep being shown that Jim Snow doesn't love Tasmin, but other men do, and that Tasmin wants to return to England but Jim Snow never would. Their marriage seems like a temporary thing.
This final book doesn't completely resolve Tasmin's life for the readers, but does give some sort of conclusion to her marriage with Jim Snow. I think Tasmin will be traveling across the pond a number of times in her life.
One thing I took from this book is the barbarity of the American Indians. Oh my god! They are usually portrayed so positively, as the poor Native Americans who the evil Europeans dispossessed.
Anyway, Larry McMurtry made Tasmin my friend. I've been through so much with her, and she is so likeable in her annoying way. I have to give the series five stars, and I refuse to differentiate one book from another. It's all one book.
Grisly Reconciliations.......2006-07-16
If you haven't read the earlier books in the series, I strongly encourage you to read them first in the correct order (The Sin Killer, The Wandering Hill and By Sorrow's River) before tackling this book.
Should you read this series? Had I known how bloody, painful and unpleasant the details would be, I wouldn't have started.
Since Lord Albany Berrybender first arrived in the United States with a major part of his family (at least the legitimate children) and a small army of servants, he's been looking forward to shooting everything in sight. In this installment (the last) of the four-part series, Lord Berrybender gets a chance to shoot at the most dangerous game of all . . . but rues that he missed a chance to kill a grizzly bear.
This story is not for those who are easily depressed. The book opens with Tasmin Berrybender totally distraught by the murder of her beloved Pomp Charbonneau. To make matters worse, she's pregnant . . . and not sure whether the father is her husband Jim Snow or Pomp. After giving birth, she's still depressed and sends Jim away.
The Berrybenders find themselves under arrest in Santa Fe for two years . . . both to line the government's pocket and to entertain the governor's wife. Lord Albany finds himself smitten with a teenage mistress . . . a liaison that has dangerous consequences for the party. While in Santa Fe, we learn about how the Mexicans liked to deal with Native American outlaws and pursue their private pleasures.
But all is thrown into disarray when the governor is dismissed and a troop comes to march the Berrybenders to Vera Cruz in anticipation of war with the United States. Jim Snow escapes and tracks the group to rescue the Berrybenders. But before he can do that, he has to rescue the Mexican army. The march becomes a death trek like those in many of the earlier books . . . as cholera and slavers take their toll. Jim Snow had been a captive slave, and he takes the slaver attack very personally . . . which leads to a remarkable confrontation in which Jim has the epiphany of his life.
The Berrybenders end up in Texas just in time for the war for independence.
Tasmin and Jim come to a final understanding about their marriage and everyone who has survived has to scope out a new plan for the rest of their lives as they limp into St. Louis.
For those who like exciting action, this book has one spell-binding sequence as Jim Snow becomes a one-man army. If it hadn't been for that portion of the book, I would have rated the book at two stars.
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Large Print Book Club Editions
Western Novels
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After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman's father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can't snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses—the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.
Daisy is horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew. But she doesn't count on Matthew's unexpected charm . . . or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control. And Daisy discovers that the man she has always hated just might turn out to be the man of her dreams.
But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered . . . one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy's wildest fantasies.
Customer Reviews:
WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT.......2007-10-06
I loved Devil in Winter and couldn't wait to read the next one in the Wallflower series. Unfortunately, I was utterly disappointed. The plot was utterly predictable. I didn't buy into why the hero felt he couldn't tell people about his past. It felt too contrived and the climax of the book felt awfully anti-climactic.
I usually love Kleypas' characterizations, but I was sorely disappointed with this novel. Why didn't Kleypas pair Daisy with Cam? I was looking forward to that story! I think there would have been a lot more inherent drama in that one - real issues that could tear the couple apart and need to be overcome.
Final Wallflower Novel the Best.......2007-09-12
The fourth book in the wallflower series is Daisy Bowman's story. After failing to catch a titled husband, her father gives her an ultimatim, if she hasn't found a suitable husband in two months he will give her to his business protege, Matthew Swift. Daisy hasn't seen the skinny, gawky over arrogant Matthew Swift in years and she knows she cannot marry him but when she finds herself talking to the attractive houseguest of Marcus', she is stunned to find out he is Matthew. Matthew is gorgeous and all filled out and Daisy is even stunned to find she enjoys talking to him. Matthew has been in love with Daisy Bowman for years...however Matthew has a secret and he knows he can never marry Daisy because his secret would destroy them. The more Matthew tries to avoid Daisy and find another suitable husband for her the more he wants her for himself. Daisy can't believe she has finally found a man she can love and who will make her father happy, but he will not marry her...Daisy decides to take drastic measures to change his mind.
Matthew was one of the better suitors for a wallflower, the fact he kept a momento for years and secretly loved her all that time is what all women want. Daisy is charming in her efforts to snare Matthew. Great ending and the best of the quartet along with Annabelle's story.
A spritely turn with a melodramatic plot.......2007-08-09
A charming study of a wilful but loveable young lady of a rather fey and elfin character who makes a fateful wish at a wishing well. She has grown up detesting her father's hard working right hand man until- perhaps because ofthe wishing well-she so inconveniently falls in love with him. A charming story of Americans in Great Britain at the turn of the century, a house party romp, and even the bad guys match the time period, being rather dastardly and doing all but tying the victim to a railroad track--except their target is the young man in question, not the heroine. Yes, the heroine and her family stage a rescue, though the hero does save himself, and all live happily ever after. The last of a quartet of wallflowers to marry, you won't forget this heroine's courage or charming eccentricties.
Wonderful quartet of books.......2007-07-21
This last book of the quartet was a pleasure to read. It was fun, believeable, and well written. I enjoyed it immensely... as I did the other 3 in the series.
When Love is Real there is Trust.......2007-07-18
Wonderful love story where trust is visible without doubt. Characters are well delineated as real human beings with their strong points and weaknesses. Life is a circle and the truth always comes out. Enjoy the reading as I did.
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Neuromancer
William Gibson
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Count Zero
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The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book)
ASIN: 0441569595 |
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
Case was the best interface cowboy who ever ran in earth's computer matrix. Then he doublecrossed the wrong people...
Winner of the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick Awards.
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"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. "
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Neuromancer
Manufacturer: Phantasia Press
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ASIN: 0932096417 |
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- The story is great it's the art I have a problem with
- Proudly the base of nowadays Internet and Virtual Reality
- a vivid translation, better than the Johnny Mnemonic movie
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William Gibson's Neuromancer, Vol. 1
Tom Dehaven , and
Bruce Jensen
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ASIN: 0871355744 |
Customer Reviews:
The story is great it's the art I have a problem with.......2000-06-22
I really enjoy the book Neuromancer, and was really excited when I found a copy of the graphic novel in a used book store in my home town. Since it was sealed I could not look inside until I got home. I must say I was truly dissapointed with the poor art work. I realize the story is the thing, but I bought a graphic novel for the graphics, I already have the text version, and would have stuck with it had I known the art work would be so bad. There is no excuse for a novel of such high quality to have such a low standard of art. While the street scenes and inside scenes looked good the people were lacking. I thought that the character Molly Millions was drawn especially poorly. She looks like Sylvester Stallone in drag most of the time. I am sorry to say this graphic novel was a dissapointment.
Proudly the base of nowadays Internet and Virtual Reality.......1999-04-15
If you like SF, specially the cyberpunk branch, this book is a must. Case, a Netrunner (who cannot jack in the net due some neural damage) is hired to do another run, to crack an ICE, to get into Tessier-Ashpools data...
Gibson's world is vivid, and he takes us trough lot of scenarios, all of them decadent, and all of them possible these days: Night CIty in Japan, Istambul, An spacial station full of Rastafarian guys (The sionites), Ashpool the last of the true magnats in the world...
And the personages are all interestng: Molly, a bodyguard (a razon-girl) with some kind of mirrorshades instead of eyes, Ratz: a bartender with a russian plastic arm, and even the AI's.
I liked it very much, and it's avery good introduction tho the cyberpunk world, that has been partially showed to us with films like "Johnny Mnemonic" or "Lawnmower", and the recent released "The Matrix"
just a comment. The term "CYBERSPACE" first appeared in this novel
a vivid translation, better than the Johnny Mnemonic movie.......1997-05-11
I'm fortunate to have a copy of this. It covers the first third or so of Neuromancer. It's a shame they didn't continue it.
Other William Gibson rarities and short stories at my complete bibliography/mediagraphy, http://www.slip.net/~spage/gibson/biblio.ht
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Die Neuromancer- Trilogie.
William Gibson
Manufacturer: Heyne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 3453164105 |
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Into the cyber-hip world of William Gibson comes Mona, a young girl with a murky past and an uncertain future whose life is on a collision course with internationally famous Sense/Net star Angie Mitchell. Since childhood, Angie has been able to tap into cyberspace without a computer. Now, from inside cyberspace, a kidnapping plot is masterminded by a phantom entity who has plans for Mona, Angie, and all humanity, plans that cannot be controlled...or even known. And behind the intrigue lurks the shadowy Yakuza, the powerful Japanese underworld, whose leaders ruthlessly manipulate people and events to suit their own purposes.
An over-the-top thrill ride sequel to Neuromancer and Count Zero.
Customer Reviews:
Probably my favorite Gibson.......2007-09-15
This is probably my favorite Gibson. I feel it to have his strongest character development, which is something that has never been his strong point. This is was his peak before he did the awful Virtual Light.
Razor girl shines.......2007-09-14
This novel along with neuromancer allows sally shears aka molly to shine. In this novel she plays a more supporting role than in neuromancer but still manages to grab you every time she appears. This novel adds much needed background to the sprawl. A read well worth any Gibson fans time. Think of that..Gideon's Fall: When You Dont Have a Prayer, Only a Miracle Will Do
SF NOIR...POETIC DREAMSCAPES OF A DISTOPIC FUTURE...(Part 3).......2007-05-22
I have read this masterpiece (together with the other two of the Sprawl series: NEUROMANCER and COUNT ZERO) during my university years, about a decade ago. Since then I have re-read it countless times.
Many a times the third book of a trilogy is published only to fulfill contractual obligations: this is definitely NOT the case here. Every one of those three is a standalone masterpiece.
Sure, the Sprawl trilogy defined cyberspace, wireheads, zaibatsu-controlled society and futuristic discontent. But this is not the reason why one enjoys these novels so much. It is the beautiful poetic language. The syncopated phrases. The direct effect of verbalized brand names. The noir feeling, rare at the time in a SF novel.
Wlliam Gibson had already reaped the fame and fortune from his first two novels. In this one you will find his images more bold, his phrases more relaxed and his writing more tight. Absolutely Beautiful!
Even reading only some pages brings up powerful imagery, unforgettable prose...
Start with NEUROMANCER. Then COUNT ZERO. And finally this one.
A Masterpiece Trilogy!!! Own them all!!!
Better and better.......2006-06-20
Ok, here's the thing, I had always meant to read the whole Gibson trilogy in order. Year after year I planned to set aside some time and do it right. I just never got around to it. So, on some recent travels I was out of things to read and saw a weathered copy of Mona Lisa Overdrive in the $2 book bin. I consider it two bucks very well spent.
Keeping in mind that I was laboring through a steep but enjoyable learning curve for the first third of the book, I found Mona Lisa Overdrive difficult to immerse myself in early, but better and better as it went on. By the end, I was cursing myself for not starting at the beginning of the trilogy. Perhaps if I had, the resolutions to some characters' stories would have been even more fulfilling.
Despite that, this was still a great sci-fi book. Four stars for now, and I might upgrade that once I do my homework and read the other two books.
Tough to Review.......2005-10-30
Compared to almost every other book around, this is a wonderful read. Compared to Neuromancer, however, it's a bit of a letdown.
It's funny. The writing itself is better in this book. The characters are more rounded and Gibson is a lot more assured when it comes to pace and descripions. But as technically brilliant he's become, he wrote a check with the first novel that the next two sequels couldn't cash. Mona Lisa Overdrive lacks a certain amount of passion and though he was something of a cypher, it doesn't have a character as powerful as Case. Even Molly, who makes a reappearance here, came across as a shadow of her previous self.
Still, if you like Neuromancer and Count Zero, this is a pretty good conclusion to the trilogy.
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Neuromancer
William GIBSON
Manufacturer: Ace Science Fiction
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OPMWWU |
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Neuromancer
William Gibson
Manufacturer: ACE BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TNCVBY |
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Neuromancer
William Gibson
Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000K1SBSW |
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Neuromancer - Masterpieces of Science Fiction
Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
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Gibson, William
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ASIN: B000HKG2EQ |
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Brand new LEATHER BOUND book accented in 22kt gold.
Book Description
One On One With Satan
A chilling and highly convincing account of possession and exorcism in modern America, hailed by NBC Radio as "one of the most stirring books on the contemporary scene."
Customer Reviews:
A Must Read.......2007-10-01
This is a real page turner. At one point I had to stop reading because it creeped me out so bad. I was on a mission trip and all my roomates wanted the book when I was done.
Hostage to the Devil.......2007-09-12
Intensive look into how one gets possessed and equally exhaustive accounts of how exorcism works. The film "The Exorcist" was not far off the mark. I bought this book because of my own ongoing experiences with spirit visitations and had been a bit afraid I was headed for trouble. But what I read here has reassured me that my visits are benign, and those that promised not to be were easily sent away. Malachi Martin had a strong stomach for his researches and explained them to immense satisfaction.
Satan Made Me Piss Myself........2007-08-20
This book is an interesting look into the lives of the possessed and those that help them. The book is extremely detailed......Maybe a little bit too much for my taste. The book not only delves into the actual exorcism of an individual and their past......Oh, and the priests past. I like to learn about other people but the book seems to put more emphasis on what, how, when, where and how some one got to this point and their whole life story is told before you even get to the exorcism. *YAWN*. I like a little back story but this is just to much. The actual stories of the exorcisms are amazing! They are extremely detailed and well written and you will be un able to stop reading. I have to give it three stars for all the back peddling. This book is however a great reminder that there is something out there bigger than ourselves.
Amazing book! Terrifies the soul and informs the mind........2007-08-12
It engages all your emotions and throws all other ludicrous perceptions about demons and possession,out the window.If you think you knew about the supernatural's every day interaction with reality...think again.You will discover that there are things you never thought possible and the limits of your understanding will be stretched and tested throughout the book.
Worth buying,reading and remembering...
A great read, but...........2007-07-11
Malachi Martin is a terrific writer, *BUT*
1) Have any of these stories been independently verified (either the witnesses involved or the priests)?
2) How much did Malachi interject of his own *creative* material?
If the voices, cold rooms, and shaking furniture *actually* happened then we really have something going on here, but if these occurrences were interjected to make the stories exciting, then I'd say there is a problem.
Any comments?
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A disappointingly cruel tale.......2007-09-12
