The Witches of Eastwick

Book Description

In a small New England town in the late 1960s, there lived three witches Alexandra Spoffard, sculptress, could create thunderstorms. Jane Smart, a cellist, could fly. The local gossip columnist, Sukie Rougemont, could turn milk into cream.

Divorced but hardly celibate, content but always ripe for adventure, our three wonderful witches one day found themselves quite under the spell of the new man in town, Darryl Van Horne, whose hot tub was the scene of some rather bewitching delights.

To tell you any more, dear reader, would be to spoil the marvelous joy of reading this hexy, sexy novel by the incomparable John Updike.

Customer Reviews:

Creative use of "witch-has-sex-with-devil" stereotype........2007-03-07

I quite like the film and thought the book would be similar. The book is in fact much better than the film. I love Updike's modernisation of historical stereotypes of witches and witchcraft - maleficium, familiars, witches' marks, the devil. I love its historical period that is so obvious, yes not cringeworthy as some other books set in recent history can be. While the film is set in the 1980's (check out those perms) the book seems to be set in the late 60's - early 70's with references to Vietnam and Pop Art.

Updike's powers of description and similie are really gorgeous, I can visualise so well with this book I feel like I'm there. I wonder if it is particularly appealing and interesting to me because he describes nature so well? The sudden little magical occurances in the story are also unexpected and then pleasantly surreal. In addition, the witches' powers are not the usual stuff that you now expect from TV or film like Charmed or The Craft. I was interested to see how Updike handled female characters, him being a man and all, and they actually seem quite convincing to me. I don't think think the story is misogynist.

In this age of do-good modern witchcraft it is initially confrontational to read a book about witches where ethics is not a high priority in magic, yet it is also refreshing in a way. "The Witches of Eastwick" reminds me of the spell books by Valerie Worth in its general amorality and, I think, also of her particular, unusual aesthetic. I found that I couldn't wait to get back to it whenever I had to put the book down for other pressing duties. Also, while some fiction drives me mad with its implausibility, in this case it doesn't, and that is possibly because Updike's writing is so attractive that I don't need the story to be completely believable. Maybe potential to succumb to belief is peculiar to the mind of the beholder?

Different from movie.......2006-09-20

I loved the movie so much that I decided to read the book thinking that the books are normally better than the movie, so I thought the book would be awesome, unfortunately I was sadly disappointed. The book is very different from the movie and I felt that the supernatural aspect was somewhat lacking. The way the characters are portrayed in the book are not only physcially different than that of the movie, but also emotionally different. The 3 withces are mean and spiteful and the book seems to drag on about their boring lives. The book also mentions nothing of Darryl Van Horne being the devil and his character is somewhat lacking to say the least. I think I was totally spoiled by the movie because Cher, Pheiffer, Sarandon, and Nicholson brings alot more life to the characters than the book did.

Real Witches!.......2006-07-17

As other reviewers note, Updike does spend a lot of time on details; that is what I love about this book. The little details make the book real to me, then Updike throws something so tiny yet unbelievable (Sukie turns milk into cream for her coffee) into the mix. That just knocks my socks off! Of course there is plenty of Updike's neurosis about adultery, his conflict about God and religion, commentary on bourgeois mores. I just love his decriptions of the Lenox mansion, the insufferable wives of the witches' lovers, their spells made up of household items. I love how he describes Alexandra's Algerian brocade jacket and Sukie's suede skirt. The characters seem like so many of my mom's friends when I was growing up - women without husbands sort of befriending each other (divorcees and widows are a threat to married women). I don't have any scholarly discussion to add - it's been done here already. Just wanted to chime in about how much I love this book.

Disappointed with the book........2005-09-26

I loved the movie. That's why I bought the book. The movie is fantastic, the book is disappointing. I will not be reading any other books by Updike. He is verbose, slow to read and wanders of tangents.

Not a Bewitching Read.......2004-12-07

I was attracted to Updike's novel purely by its title and was expecting either an historical novel derived from America's fear and fascination of witchcraft in the era of the Salem witch trials or perhaps a look at contemporary Wiccans or maybe something along the lines of Marion Zimmer Bradley's MISTS OF AVALON. What I found was none of these but rather a psychological exploration of several very unbelievable characters interacting in aberrant and contrived relationships. Two aspects of Updike's novel leave me cold-his unrealistic description of witchcraft and his horribly exaggerated similes which torture the English language.

Updike's witches are neurotic, conflicted women who vacillate between lesbian relationships with one another and seducing all the men in town, especially married men. Their manner of witchcraft is neither historically accurate nor even remotely descriptive of the actual practice of Wicca today, encompassing such ridiculous things as manipulating the nature of a tennis ball to foil their opponents and such purely evil things as killing crabs, pets, and another woman of whom they become jealous. To use one's power to summon a thunderstorm for the simple reason that other people are on a beach where Alexandra wants to run her dog is purely ludicrous. Very little of the witchcraft being practiced in the novel is believable, even in a fictional realm. Oh yes, there's also the practice of having tacks, moths, straw, bird feathers, and suchlike materialize in the mouths of women who annoy our witch friends. This naturally brings to mind the backfired slug spell that Ron Weasley attempts to cast on Draco Malfoy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Somehow, though, it's much more believable in the realm of Harry Potter than in Updike's "serious" novel.

If Updike's concept of magic is less than believable, his comprehension of effective writing is yet worse. Several pages of THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK could easily win a Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest, a competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence of the worst of all possible novels. Updike's descriptive similes are so extravagant as to be unintentionally hilarious. I thought at first that he was writing tongue-in-cheek in those frequent cases, poking fun at pompous authors, yet I fear that he may himself be one of those pompous writers at whom fun really should be poked. For example:

"But even as it drifted, her mind, like a passenger in an airplane who amidst the life-imperiling sensations of lifting off looks down to marvel at the enameled precision and glory of the Earth (the houses with their roofs and chimneys so sharp, so finely made, and the lakes truly mirrors as in the Christmas yards our parents had arranged while we were sleeping; it was all true, and even maps are true!), took note of how lovely Sukie was, bad luck or not, with her vivid hair disheveled and even her eyelashes looking a little mussed after her hard day of typing and looking for the right word under the harsh lights, her figure in its milky-green sweater and dark suede skirt so erect and firm, her stomach flat and her breasts perky and high and her bottom firm, and that big broad-lipped mouth on her monkeyish face so mischievous and giving and brave." I had marked many other examples of such flatulent writing, but if this one doesn't make the point, then nothing will.

Before winding up these observations, I do feel some need to comment on the triteness in Updike's novel. The idea of having, specifically, three witches is hardly new. Shakespeare used that figure in MACBETH, and most readers will recognize the use of the number three in Christian mythology, as in the Holy Trinity, God-in-three-persons, etc. The character of Darryl van Horne is a stereotypical portrayal of a homosexual male taken to extremes. Using such worn-out and exaggerated symbolism is not the mark of a distinguished author.

In sum, I should venture that Updike's novel may be marginally better than today's typical bodice-ripping paperbacked romance on the supermarket rack, but his characters have a very long way to go to attain the heights of the priestesses who serve the Earth Goddess in Bradley's novels of Avalon.

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The Witches of Eastwick
John Updike
Manufacturer: Franklin Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

Leather bound, signed, limited first edition for The Signed First Edition Society, complete with hubbed spine, gilded page edges, satin ribbon bookmark

Devil's Dance from the Witches of Eastwick: Solo Violin and Piano

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Devil's Dance from the Witches of Eastwick: Solo Violin and Piano

Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0634014552

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THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK

Manufacturer: Fawcett Crest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HFUBWA

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The Witches of Eastwick

Manufacturer: Random House Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HHTVDS

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The Witches of Eastwick

Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000CKW9RK

Product Description

LEATHER BOUND book accented in 22kt gold! ! Personally signed by John Updike.

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The Witches of Eastwick
John Updike
Manufacturer: Fawcett Crest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NST4QK

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Witches of Eastwick

Manufacturer: Franklin Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000HKM9TS

Product Description

Limited first edition, privately printed and personally signed by John Updike, exclusively for the members of the Franklin Library's Signed First Edition Society. Octavo, full green leather with gilt ruling and decoration to both boards and spine with gilt titling to spine. Green satin ribbon. All edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Illustrated by Michael Deas.

THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (Signed Modern Classics)

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THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (Signed Modern Classics)

Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000CS6H6Q

Product Description

Limited edition, signed by the author

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THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (Signed Modern Classics)
John Updike
Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V1M0BU

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Ranger's Wild Woman (Harlequin American Romance, No. 986)(Cowboys By The Dozen)
Tina Leonard
Manufacturer: Harlequin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Romance | Subjects | Books
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Fannin's Flame (Cowboys by the Dozen) (Harlequin American Romance, No. 1018)

Navarro or Not: (Cowboys by the Dozen) (Harlequin American Romance, No. 1037)

ASIN: 0373169868

Book Description

They had fought long and hard, and damn near won in spite of everything. But now the men who hired them are going to sell them to the enemy...and so begins a novel of adventure in which a band of Star Mecenaries is driven across the face of a planet by enemies bent on their distruction. With only the guns in their hands, this tiny band must battle ships, artillery, treachery, and the most powerful tank in the universe.

Customer Reviews:

One of his very best.......2007-09-12

David Drake writes military science fiction like no one else, and this novel is one of the best examples of why. It has large quantities of intense action, character development under fire, and a mass of memorable characters.

In many ways the book is what a Slammers' story would be like if you boiled it down to the essentials and then escalated the action another notch.

Fair Book from Drake.......2007-09-04

I am a big fan of the Hammer's Slammers series and have enjoyed some of Mr. Drake's other books, but this was not his best effort. The premise was good but the book never grabbed me. It was a Fair book at best.

weak and boring.......2007-06-15

I like Davis Drake but this book is a dumper. I could't take more than 1/4 of this book before I donated to Salvation Army. What happened to Hammers Slammers and interesting books

One of his best.......2006-12-11

Of all the Drake books, this one is 2nd only to Redliners, in showing the spirit of a unit that has endured danger, hardship and boredom and responds with courage and ingenuity when faced with a desparate situation. The state employing the unit is losing to the other side, and plans to sell them out. They are trapped, all hands are turning against them, and their captain has been betrayed and murdered. A young officer of the local army, unpopular with his own brass due to his distain of corruption, joins the unit. His leadership and the unit's deadly skills give them a fighting chance to survive.

DRAKE'S BEST TO DATE.......2000-02-29

David Drake is justly famous for his Hammer's Slammers stories, but this one-off novel dealing with another mercenary company is actually his best work of military SF. With enough hard-core action to satisfy anyone, it also manages to probe the question of what it means to be REALLY, REALLY good at killing people.

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Forlorn River
ZANE GREY
Manufacturer: WALTER J. BLACK, INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KIUXYK

Average customer rating:

A good read
Science fiction the fantasy way
Readable but flawed.
A good Read
Science Fiction in the old style

The Forlorn
Dave Freer
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0671578316

Customer Reviews:

A good read.......2001-10-23

This book falls in that genre that mixes SF with fantasy. It's a good enough book for those rainy days. Not one you'll be thinking about later, though.
Fleeing an interstellar war that would possibly mean the destruction of Earth, a human colony is launched to a distant planet. However the Morkth catch up with them on the new planet. Betrayals and fights end in a standoff. Both races are now on the planet and unable to leave.
300 years later, the new human society resembles Earth in the 16th century.
A thief ,a warrior, a princess and a member from the original human crew set out to find the 'magic' stones that will provide the struggling colony with a way to beat the aliens.

Science fiction the fantasy way.......2001-06-22

A streetwise thief, a princess, a deadly warrior and a revered hero. Armed with some magical gems and seeking an artifact of power to defeat a deadly race bent on the annihilation of all mankind amidst an even older betrayal. Sounds like your everyday, garden variety herioc fantasy adventure right?

Wrong! This is a sci-fi novel with a twist.

Our young thief is a boy who hasn't got a clue what makes people tick. That is until he leaves the city and meets a a garrulous old prospector who takes him in and teaches him to be a man out in the desert wastes. His education is further complicated when he discovers the 'joys?' of the opposite sex. How not to appear an idiot in front of girls should be on every school's curriculum.

The princess is a spoiled, selfish young girl (but then aren't all princesses?). She learns to understand the common people when a palace coup forces her to flee and learn to live as a commoner with the couple who take her in.

Our deadly warrior is hollow man, born and bred to fight. Bred as a warrior of the aliens, he earns his freedom due to the machinations of the broodsows themselves. Adrift in the world of free humans, he learns what it is to be truly human. That all humans, no matter how debased, have a soul.

And the upstanding hero? A man determined to right the betrayal perpetrated by his captain centuries ago. He learns how the common stock can rise above their station to defend and protect all of humanity. And that all betrayal will be avenged, sometimes at the hands of someone unexpected for the role.

Dave Freer takes an ordinary coming of age story, adds a sci-fi background to it and then proceeds to overturn almost every fantasy cliche in existence during the course of an often hilarious, sometimes poignent and always relevant goal, how to grow up. Leavened with interesting campfire recipes (his years as a chef are shining through), deep characters, sneaky plot twists and a fast pace, this a science fiction-cum-fantasy novel with its roots undeniably in the human condition endemic to us all.

If you want a good book, filled with real characters and their problems then get The Forlorn. The humour conceals great truths about the human condition that'll have you thinking about what it means to be a human being long after you finished reading it. Then you'll come back and read it again...and again...and again...

Readable but flawed........2000-12-27

I wanted to like this book. I wanted to REALLY like this book. The plot was right the premise was grand and even the characters seemed interesting. What really annoyed me about this book was the fact that they included a plot mechanism that I don't feel was necessary and to me was very distracting from the story.

Basically this is a lost colony story. It appears humanity lost or was losing some sort of interstellar conflict and fled to the stars. The world we see through the eyes of the primary character is the fruit of one these colony ships. Whether this is the only colony or one of many we really are never told. The colonist are several generations into life on the planet and live at a low-tech level without any real recollection of what their heritage is.

Somehow it appears members of the original enemy are on the planet making mischief but are limited in some way. The heroes and villains all have some sort of sexual theme around them. This is the plot device I am talking about that I don't think was necessary and I don't think it worked. Somehow every major event in the book is precipitated or concluded with either sexual fantasy or sexual frustration. I understand the author used this device as the underpinning plot agitator but I do believe the story would have been told better using some other device.

On the flip side the author does an excellent job of making us wonder whom the real good guys and bad guys are. I enjoy these kind of plot twists. The changes were welcome but the characters themselves often seemed to change direction without motivation or justification.

Overall and adequate novel that was enjoyable once but will probably not rate a second reading. I would recommend this as a quick read if nothing else is around but would suggest that younger readers be kept away.

A good Read.......2000-08-29

I haven't seen any other books by this author, so maybe this is his first novel. If so, he's certainly off to a good start. While not exactly a classic, the story moves along quite nicely and there are a few interesting twists to keep the reader on his toes.

Science Fiction in the old style.......2000-07-23

This book was a rare find. I didn't like the cover much, so I nearly didn't buy it. I'm really glad I did. It is writing of type I thought had died out of science-fiction. Exuberant, fun and fast. A little clumsy at times - but the pace carries you through it. Reminiscent of Andre Norton's early books, with just that bit more character-development, and complexity. The story follows three distinct threads - The street-thief boy with soul of a prince, the princess with the soul of a courtesan, the utterly terrible alien-raised shadow of a man with a tabula rasa soul. Appealing characters in very different ways. These three move at breakneck speed on a collision course in a sort of `medieval' world. It's a quest story across painted deserts, mountains and oceans. There is very little description, but it is descriptively the best I've read for a long time. Most authors seem to describe in rather tedious detail if they describe at all. This guy comes up with one sentence stuff. `In the moonlight the tangled weave of sharp edged valleys lay like some gargantuan mauled tapestry below them.' That's all, but I've been into the desert. I worked there for three months, it's a brilliant description. For an American his use of English is very good indeed. Easy to read and with bits of dry humour. The other things I found fascinating was an alien culture where only one sex was intelligent. Oh yes, and food, this guy should definitely on a cooking channel. The story does indeed have a fantasy-like quality to it for sf, but I guess at the level of technology that was inevitable. My favourite character is the hairy gene-splice Beywulf with ape and bear genes in a human - the guy gets described as a cross between mine host of the friendly pub and an axe murderer. That's a great description. I read the book at sitting, because it is sort of a mystery story too and I wanted to know just what happened. No, I didn't work it out, but the clues were there. Also it is fast paced and easy to read. It was only the next day at work that I found myself thinking about the book. Its a good book when you find yourself doing that. I sat there with my mouth open. The author is a sneaky... It's a damned clever spoof of fantasy. It's got all the stock characters doing the opposite to normal fantasy. It's clever but non-intrusive. My only real criticism is that the end is too sudden. I would have liked an epilogue at least to find out what happened. I hope that's because there is a sequel in the pipeline.

Forlorn Hope of Freedom: The Liberty Party in the Old Northwest, 1838-1848

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Forlorn Hope of Freedom: The Liberty Party in the Old Northwest, 1838-1848
Vernon L. Volpe
Manufacturer: Kent State Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0873384083

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Forlorn River
Zane Grey
Manufacturer: G K Hall & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

West of the Pecos

ASIN: 0816165262

Product Description

Unjustly driven away form the home ranch and from his sweetheart by his father's despleasure, Ben Ide seeks refuge in the remote vastness of the Forlorn River. There, with two companions, he follows the trail of a herd of wild horses, lead by the beautiful wild stallion, California Red. Suspected of cattle thieving by the area ranchers, Ben knows that the only way to clear his name, is to run the real thieves down. But when he finally comes face to face with the outlaws, the fight which follows ends up in both an exciting yet unexpected surpirse. Read by Jack Sondericker. 9 CD's 9 Hrs.

Faery Lands Forlorn: Part Two of A Man of His Word

Average customer rating:

This is a great series!
Second in a wonderful series of eight books
I love this book - not the publisher
Second Book in the Man of His Word Series
Things Speed Up a Bit

Faery Lands Forlorn: Part Two of A Man of His Word
Dave Duncan
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0345366298
Release Date: 1991-03-13

Book Description

Inos, the late king's daughter, had been kidnapped through the magic casement even as the Impish legions overrunning her tiny kingdom were storming the castle tower. Now she was a prisoner in a desert land ruled by a dockside whore with a talent for magic and a passion for politics.

She little dreamed that the loyal stableboy Rap had jumped through the casement after her. But no one really knew how the magic worked, and Rap found himself not in a desert, but in the steaming jungles of Faerie -- half a world away from Inos!

Rap was determined to rescue his beloved queen, and nothing could stop him -- not even the monsters and headhunters of Faerie, or the paranoid machinations of an evil sorcerer...

Customer Reviews:

This is a great series!.......2007-04-16

This is book two of Dave Duncan's 4-book, "A Man of His Word", series. The entire series is very enjoyable and its characters and situations are just great! Read this series, and you won't be disappointed. A note of caution though, Don't read Mr. Duncan's sequel series, "A Handful of Men". It is not only an absolute waste of time, but you will also feel ripped off and disgusted with the author.

Second in a wonderful series of eight books.......2006-11-07

This is the second volume in the first of two marvellous fantasy quartets.

The first series, "A man of his word" has titles taken from Keats' "Ode to a nightingale" and the titles perfectly match the themes of the books.

The lines which inspired the titles are as follows -

"The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days, by Emperor and Clown ....

... The same that oft-times hath
Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam
of perilous seas, in Faery lands forlorn"

The four books of the first quartet are

The Magic Casement
Faery Lands Forlorn
Perilous Seas
Emperor and Clown

These four books tell one complete story and are best read in this order.

There is a sequel quartet, set 15 years later in the same universe, which is called "A handful of men" and has its titles taken from Masefield's poem, "Tomorrow." The four books in that story are

The Cutting Edge
Upland Outlaws
The Stricken Field
The Living God

All eight books are set in a world of Gods and Sorcerers, where magic abilities are conferred by the knowledge of words of power. The descriptions of magic powers and how they work are far more effectively and consistently thought through than in the typical fantasy novel, and as the hero and heroine travel through a strange and diverse world a picture both of that world and the serious threat which it faces gradualy takes shape.

At the start of "Faery Lands Forlorn", Inos, rightful Queen of Krasnegar, was kidnapped through a Magic casement just as her castle was being over-run by Imps. Her childhood friend, the stableboy Rap, had jumped through the casement after her. But Inos finds herself a prisoner in a desert land, while Rap is transported to the Faery lands of the title. Rap struggles to make his way round the world to rescue his queen. She had been warned by a God to "trust in love" - can Rap reach Inos in time to prevent her from making a terrible mistake about what this means?

The original printings of the "A man of his word" quartet had beautiful covers painted by Don Maitz, and the books would almost have been worth buying for these covers if they had not also comprised a beautiful story.

I love this book - not the publisher.......2005-06-02

I owned an original copy of this book but have let my family borrow it and it is hiding somewhere so I thought I would buy it again because I loved the story so much and felt a little bit guilty that none of my money was going to Dave Duncan since I had bought it used. Anyways I'm really glad that the books are available again since this is my all time favorite series (this is the third time I'm reading it) however in this second publishing this book contains a LOT of errors which makes for a somewhat annoying read.

Second Book in the Man of His Word Series.......2004-05-13

Faery Lands Forlorn picks up right where Magic Casement left off with Rap fecklessly and fearlessly plunging in through the magic casement to try and find Inos, only to find that Inos and he landed in different realms. Inos was captured by the sorceress Rasha, a self-styled Sultana who has taken over the country of Zark, land of the Djinns. Inos is unsure why she has been captured by Rasha, but she is determined to escape so she turns to Azak, the rightful Sultan, confident that if anyone hates Rasha more than her, it would be the man Rasha has humiliated and enslaved. For Rasha has cast a spell over Azak that causes anyone who speaks his rightful title as Sultan to turn to stone and that any woman he touches (aside from Rasha) he will burn like a hot iron.

Meanwhile, Rap, Little Chicken and companion have found themselves wandering in the land of Faerie. By now, Rap has discovered that he has a word of power and that that is why Andor was trying to befriend him. Rap also discovered their secret - that Andor, Jalon, Sagorn and Darad all were cursed by a sorcerer so that only one of them can "live" at a time, the other personalities are all in a kind of limbo while one person gets through whatever adventure they are currently in the middle of. Even though Rap has his doubts about his so-called allies, he is willing to use everyone for their skills to try and find Inos and rescue her. Along the way, he expands his band by befriending Captain Gathmore, a Jotunn sailor who manages to get Rap hired on as part of his crew. At least Rap is mobile now, but he isn't heading in the right direction and he still has old enemies to worry about, as well as the unwanted attention of the witches and warlocks of the regions...

Faery Lands Forlorn picks up the adventure from Magic Casement without missing a beat. Since David Duncan is a superb author, I think that you could jump in on this one and understand what is going on without reading the first one, but why deprive yourself of the pleasure? Rap is still a delightful hero in a very non-traditional sense and the reader gets the opportunity to learn about how magic works in the world of Pandemia as Rap discovers more powers and uses for his gifts of farsight and working with animals. The way that magic works in this world is fascinating and it is interesting to note that the author does distinguish between a sorcerer and a magician in that the former's spells are permanent and the latter's spells only last as long as the magician is focusing on them. Again, Rap was by far more interesting than Inos, but she did further along the plot and give Duncan to create another section of this world that reminded me of an Arabian Nights story. Aunt Kade is really starting to come into her own in this book and she makes the parts with Inos sparkle a bit more than they did before. The secondary characters are also delightful and fun to get to know. If you are interested in reading a tale set in a world both familiar and strange where Duncan takes everything about a traditional fairy tale and just tweaks it a bit so it is fresh and unexpected, then this is a series for you!

Things Speed Up a Bit.......2001-04-10

Duncan continues to develop his fairly unique world and his entirely unique system of magic in the second volume of "A Man of His Word". The series as a whole is a romp through the richly-detailed world of Pandemia, and each volume is as chock-full of wonders, adventure and cliffhangers as the chapters in a Saturday-matinee adventure serial.

Beautiful Inos, rightful Queen of Krasnegar, and her great-aunt, Princess Kadolan (not nearly as fuddy duddy and scatterbrained as she often appears) have been magically spirited away to Zark (where the Djinns live -- the Arabian Nights come to life) and dropped will she nill she into the middle of a rather nasty and dangerous palace intrigue etween the rightful Sultan and the "Sultana" a powerful sorceress who has displaced him and rules him and his land through her sorcery, which has a strong sexual element -- her spell on him causes his merest touch to burn the flesh of anything female (except the sorceress herself) like red-hot iron.

Rasha, the sorceress, hopes to use Inos in a political game among the Wardens, the four powerful sorcerors who control the world's sorcery under the Compact.

Inos, though apalled by the treatment and place of women in Zark, sets out to make an ally of Azak, the Sultan, in an attempt to thwart Rasha.

Meanwhile, Rap the faithful stableboy, Little Chicken, and the Gang (those who have read the previous book will understand that reference, a fuller explication would be a spoiler if you haven't read the previous book yet) find themselves in Faerie, where Much Is Not As It Seems, and Rap meets Captain Gathmore, a genuine berserker Jotunn (Norse/Viking) who will be important for the rest of the series.

Caught in a magical trap set for those who know Words of Power, Rap learns a little more both about the Words themselves and about magic and sorcery -- i always like the explanation that sorcery is permanent, magic fades sooner or later after the magician turns his attention away, but the end result is often the same -- a mage explains: "I could turn your head into an anvil. It would be a temporary anvil, but you'd be permanently dead."

Rap and Little Chicken manage to escape and join Gathmore's jotunn crew and escape Faerie.

Both Rap and Inos seem to be on their way to saving themselves and making progress toward saving the other -- but the book ends with disasterous reverses for both.

With two more books to go, all looks hopeless.

Customer Reviews:

Ravenloft domain boxed set.......2001-03-31

This is a boxed set for 2nd edition D&D's Ravenloft setting detailing the domain of Forlorn. In particular it deals with Castle forlorn and its temporal anomalies. It deals with Goblyns and ghosts, and background history on ravenloft's druids and the magical powers that occasionaly arise in redheaded individuals.

Not the best ravenloft supplement but it does deal with this core domain as it has never been dealt with before or since.

The redheaded individual information is also available in an abbreviated form in the third part of Van Richtens monster hunter's compendium volume three.

This product is for those wishing to use the ghost castle as an adventure site either in ravenloft or plunked down in any roleplaying campaign. Also those wishing in-depth details on every Ravenloft realm will want this to complete their collection.

Average customer rating:

Complete Guide to the Bible (Readers Digest)

I Love This Book!

Supplement with The Complete Guide to the Book of Proverbs.

Reader's Digest Complete Guide to the Bible: An Illustrated Book-by-Book Companion to the Scriptures

Manufacturer: Readers Digest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Commentaries | Reference | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
General | Bible & Other Sacred Texts | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Who's Who in the Bible: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary (Reader's Digest)

Jesus and His Times (Reader's Digest Books)

Mysteries of the Bible: The Unanswered Questions of the Scriptures (Reader's Digest)

Who's Who in the Bible

Atlas of the Bible (Readers Digest)

ASIN: 0762100737

Book Description

A richly informative and thought-provoking guide to the Old and New Testaments plus the Apocrypha. Easy-to-understand summaries of all 66 books explore their religious, historical, and literary significance. The ideal companion to the Bible.

Customer Reviews:

Complete Guide to the Bible (Readers Digest).......2005-09-09

Extremely pleased with the condensed overview of each book of the Bible with a high quality paper and binding that makes an excellent appearance in any setting.

I Love This Book!.......2000-10-13

I love this book. It's all here, all the people, places, and events which make up the Bible. Virtually every page has beautiful photographs, paintings, colorful maps, timelines or charts, which accompanies the text and helps you to understand and remember it. Historical background notes and opinions by Bible scholars are also included. You could read this book just by itself and come away with a pretty good basic knowledge of the whole Bible. I like to use it to support my regular Bible reading and study. It's helped me to see "the big picture", and given me simplified explanations of difficult passages, which has been extremely helpful. The material is pretty concentrated, so I've found it's best to slow down and take your time going through it.

Supplement with The Complete Guide to the Book of Proverbs........2000-01-11

This is a wonderful overview of the Bible illustrated with color art from down through the ages. Quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version, a translation which is favored by scholars for its accuracy. Key quotes are in red followed by comments on them. The comments are insightful, interesting and accurate. A great supplement to this book is THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS by Cody Jones. Numerous characters from throughout the Bible are pointed out who illustrate King Solomon's witty observations on human nature. Many of the riddles and mysteries of Proverbs are explored with surprising new answers. Proverbs are a treasury of God's wisdom and give practical applications of Biblical values in punchy memorable sayings.

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