Book Description
This title chronicles the latest adventure of various iconic characters from the
Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks. This series of novels is designed to bring readers closer to
the feeling of actually playing a
D&D adventure. This ninth title in the novel line features the iconic characters of the fighter and the wizard, both of whom appeared in the kickoff title
for the line, The Savage Caves.
Customer Reviews:
Nossogood.......2004-01-31
I really wanted to like this one. I've been following this series from the beginning and some of the books were quite fun but this one was difficult to get through (and it's not taht long).
My first issue was that the main troupe of characters is entirely made up of fighters. A human fighter, an elf fighter, a dwarf fighter, and a dwarf fighter cleric. Having Mialee or Lidda around usually helped the books... anything for a little more variety. Joazn teh cleric makes a cameo in the beginning and returns and we know Naull will appear at some point... but when you get four fighters as the party you can be assured that there will be some hack and slash on its way.
As to the fights... Lain writes a very interesing fight with folks feinting and ducking and blades nicking or pommels hammering... but there were a few too many of these just in the first few chapters. I'm still going to read the last book as I'm hoping this one just didn't come together.
Truth in Advertising.......2004-01-20
Return of the Damned is an appropriate title indeed. Reading it was like an eternity of punishment. This is a new low point for the series, which will come to an end in the next book.
Our returning line-up consists of Regdar the fighter, Naull the wizard, his long lost love, in a supporting role, Pelor the cleric and Alhandra the paladin in walk on roles. Regdar is joined by 4 fighter companions for the majority of the book that we have not seen before.
In the service of the Duke of Koratia Regdar is bent on suicide by dungeon delving. After being berated by the duke since Regdar is a captain and not to be risking himself he hears that Naull may be alive. Regdar commits treason by leaving the duke's service, and compounds it by taking the four best fighters with him under false pretenses.
They proceed to hew their way through wave after wave of cannon fodder, showing that Regdar is still as dumb as he was when fighting goblins in book one The Savage Caves. This approach of a head on attack against insurmontable odds succeeds in most improbable fashion with our heroes killing everything that moves no matter how powerful despite having no plan, no subterfuge and no skills other than hitting things really hard and fast.
There are heroes who can take on insurmountable odds and win, without making the reader roll his eyes in disbelief. This book does not do this. Regdar is so stubborn and limited in his uses I was hoping for the blackguards troops to take him out.
Despite some bright moments early on, and the redeeming Plague of Ice, this franchise of rotating authors has turned into novel after novel of slapdash plots, conflicting character portrayals and backgrounds and uninspired prose. Star Wars quotes are not funny in a dungeon crawl though apparently the authors don't understand this as they appear in more than one book. Perhaps it was a running gag that they each try to hide one Star Wars series quote in each book. It wasn't funny guys, it was stupid and it jerks the reader right out of their willing sense of disbelief.
Weak title in what I'd hoped would be an upward trend..........2003-11-25
I had quite high hopes for this, or at least, high hopes in the realm of D&D writing. See, way back in the very first book in this series, Lain introduced Regdar and Naull, the Iconic characters from the D&D re-release, as slowly developing a love. In "The City of Fire," Naull and Regdar's love is developed, and at the end, Naull chooses a terrible self-sacrifice, leaving Regdar alone, but saving the world. In this story, there's a chance - a small chance - that Naull might actually be alive!
So, of course, Regdar hooks up with those he can find to try and save her...
...and goes on a very pointless hack and slash, fight after fight plot with little to no cohesion and a senseless sort of "keep fighting, one bad thing a chapter" style that left me cold. The big climax wasn't as climactic as it needed to be, and to be honest, it was the worst in the series so far.
It's unfortunate, because this was the sub-plot I was really enjoying (well, barring my hopeful, but never gonna happen, love interest between Hennet and Kerwyn). I can only hope the next title, "The Death Ray," brings Regdar and Naull (and all the rest) back into play as a more plot-driven enjoyable story.
'Nathan
Book Description
Do you dare open the door and enter a place like no other?
In these three historical tales of sensual awakening, nothing that stimulates and titillates is taboo, ecstasy comes in many sizes, and pleasure is its own reward . . . a world of seduction and sensation, where inhibitions are unlaced and desires long corseted are gloriously freed. . . .
Fallen Angel Jess Michaels
London's greatest beauty and most notorious madam employs the services of a disgraced Bow Street Runner to keep her safe from a stalker . . . and satisfied after dark.
Parlor Games Leda Swann
An innocent virgin enters a brothel to escape starvation and receives expert tutelage in the steamy Victorian parlor games that rakish gentlemen indulge in. . . .
Border Lord Julia Templeton
Fleeing an unfaithful fiancé, a nubile young lovely finds herself the prisoner of a lustful Scottish laird and must bow to his every erotic whim. . . .
Customer Reviews:
The First and Third are the best........2007-04-21
I enjoyed reading the Jess Michaels story of the madam and Bow Street Runner. I feel the second story was just okay, but not a necessary addition to the anthology. I enjoyed the final story by Julia Templeton. At first I was skeptical about the time travel storyline, but she made it work well in the story. I would like to read more from both authors. Any suggestions?
If you like lots of steamy loves scenes....but..........2007-01-17
This is a hard review for me. While all three stories provide some romance to varying degrees and plenty of explicit love scenes, something was just not right. Anthologies are a tricky business. Making the romance believable and having multiple love scenes between the H/H in a little over 100 pages is nearly impossible IMHO. Therein lies the problem. You don't really feel the characters falling in love with each other. Its really just lust and kind of a shallow sexual love that's portrayed in these three.
Swann's story is by far the worst. It made me feel like I was watching a cheap porno. It was gross the way her characters behaved. The way they got turned on by watching others do their business. And -EWWW!- they get sprayed by someone else's...uh..love juices? It was just like a really disgusting orgy. There is some really disturbing female abuse too. And the H/H fall in love with each other amidst all of this? Ha! I don't think so!
I did like Templeton's & Michaels stories though. They were more believable. The romance was not bad and the love scenes were very hot.
Just three stories with LOTS of loves scenes and characters obsessed with sex and not much else (character/romance development). A little snickers bar for your libido if that's what your looking for.
Three Luscious and Luring Tales.......2006-08-19
Parlor Games is a highly entertaining trilogy of well-written historical erotica. In Fallen Angel, a Regency era historical, the handsome, dashing, fallen from grace, Bow Street Runner John Valentine is to protect the beautiful Arabella, madam of a house of pleasure, from a mysterious stalker that wants her dead. In the Victorian era historical, Parlor Games, the innocent and sweet Sarah chooses working in a coffee house that offers "parlor games" over starving in the streets. There she meets the handsome rake, Tom Wilde, who at first lusts for her body and pays for a month of her time, only to discover that a month is not a enough. In the Scottish, time-travel historical, Border Lord, Brochan Douglas spirits away with the daughter of his enemy Laird Angus MacLellan. But it is not the beautiful Annabelle MacLellan Brochan steals away, but Terri Campbell from present day Scottish Borderlands, who visits the priory to escape a cheating finance, only to find herself in medieval Scotland a hostage to sex and evenutually love with the manly, gorgeous Brochan. All three stories have well-written sensual scenes, but unlike some romantica, the sensuality does not override the story. Nicely done.
three well written historical heated red romances .......2006-05-25
"Fallen Angel" by Jess Michaels. After falling from grace, Arabella opens up London's most popular brothel with vow that men will service her not the other way around. However, she needs protection from someone who wants her dead. She turns to equally disgraced Bow Street Runner John to keep her safe from her stalker, but soon desires his services 24/7 in and out of bed.
"Parlor Games" by Leda Swann. Sarah entered the coffeehouse brothel so that she can eat, but though her job is to entice men into spending their money, she plans to leave a virgin. Undercover investigator Tom seeks information on a client when he sees Sarah. He buys exclusivity for a month of her while continuing his discrete inquiries.
"Border Lord" by Julia Templeton. Terri went on her Scottish tour for two reasons. To escape a cheating no longer fiancé and because being a romantic she walk where legends speak of lost loves. However, when she enters a room, Terri realizes quickly everything is wrong especially when she becomes prisoner of a highland laird who demands honesty, loyalty and equal lust in his woman. She wants the same in her man, but worries whether a twenty-first century independent female find love and happiness in the arms of a macho medieval Highlander?
These three well written historical heated red romances are fiery fervent fun starring super protagonists in strong storylines in which the erotica is deftly blended into the passionate plots.
Harriet Klausner
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The Education of a Bridge Player
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Poker | Card Games | Puzzles & Games | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000CNMI1O |
Product Description
"The autobiography of the man who has been considered the Number One American contract bridge player for 40 years .. each anecdotal chapter ends with a lesson and strategy."
Customer Reviews:
Quite Good.......2004-02-11
This is possibly my favorite book of games. It contains instructions for a variety of parlor games written in "period" language--the premise is that it was written by a stuffy old Victorian clergyman and updated by his 1920s college-boy nephew. I thought this was pulled off pretty well, and the description of the game 'Crambo' actually made me laugh out loud. I've tested many of the games with my friends and got good results. 'Adverbs' is a particular favorite.
One of the nice things about this book is that it is small enough to be easily portable. Also nice are the period illustrations.
For such a little book it generates a lot of fun.
Book Description
Opening the door to the fun-filled frolics and cerebral sports of yesteryear,
Parlor Games presents more than 150 games, puzzles, and activities that will turn any gathering into a festival of laughter and delight. From old favorites like Twenty Questions, Charades, and Blind Man’s Bluff to less familiar amusements (including such intriguingly named gems as My Lady’s Toilet, The Leg of Mutton, and the One-Yard Dash), the pastimes of gentler times come to life again in this charming and beautifully designed anthology. An indispensable resource for hosts and hostesses looking for novel cocktail-hour or after-dinner entertainment and for moms and dads looking for original and engaging activities for birthday parties or rainy afternoons,
Parlor Games provides complete instructions for intellectually challenging paper-and-pencil and memory games as well as such exciting indoor athletic competitions as the Bun Race. Wrapped in an antique-looking cover and written in turn-of-the-century language,
Parlor Games has the nostalgic appeal of a book discovered in grand-mother’s attic. But it offers today’s generation the opportunity to experience a world rich in unexpected adventures and pleasures.
Customer Reviews:
Gentle amusements of the past.......2002-12-12
Editor Roy Finamore has dished up a gem of a book with PARLOR GAMES. Made up of past-times from the days of your grandparents, PARLOR GAMES reads like a guide to the home entertainment systems of the Victorian era. No nintendo here, instead we have riddles and conundrums, pantomimes, and games with pencil and paper and brains. Its like having a number of board games in one book. Readers of Dickens and Austen will love this title, for it reflects a far more genteel time than our own and is written in a charming, literate voice. All that said, none of the FUN of any of these games is the least bit dated. They are sure to amuse young and old alike. Buy PARLOR GAMES and spend some wonderful evenings with the people who matter in your life.
Book Description
On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners focusing on table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards in China face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards to China? How important is China compared to others in terms of the entire global and regional market? How much do the imports of table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards vary from one country of origin to another in China? On the supply side, China also exports table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards. Which countries receive the most exports from China? How are these exports concentrated across buyers? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers? This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards in China. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics which appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards for those countries serving China via exports, or supplying from China via imports. It does so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models. In what follows, Chapter 2 begins by summarizing where China fits into the world market for imported and exported table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards. The total level of imports and exports on a worldwide basis, and those for China in particular, is estimated using a model which aggregates across over 150 key country markets and projects these to the current year. From there, each country represents a percent of the world market. This market is served from a number of competitive countries of origin. Based on both demand- and supply-side dynamics, market shares by country of origin are then calculated across each country market destination. These shares lead to a volume of import and export values for each country and are aggregated to regional and world totals. In doing so, we are able to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of both the value of each market and the share that China is likely to receive this year. From these figures, rankings are calculated to allow managers to prioritize China compared to other major country markets. In this way, all the figures provided in this report are forecasts that can be combined with internal information sources for strategic planning purposes.
Book Description
On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners focusing on table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards in India face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards to India? How important is India compared to others in terms of the entire global and regional market? How much do the imports of table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards vary from one country of origin to another in India? On the supply side, India also exports table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards. Which countries receive the most exports from India? How are these exports concentrated across buyers? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers? This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards in India. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics which appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards for those countries serving India via exports, or supplying from India via imports. It does so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models. In what follows, Chapter 2 begins by summarizing where India fits into the world market for imported and exported table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards. The total level of imports and exports on a worldwide basis, and those for India in particular, is estimated using a model which aggregates across over 150 key country markets and projects these to the current year. From there, each country represents a percent of the world market. This market is served from a number of competitive countries of origin. Based on both demand- and supply-side dynamics, market shares by country of origin are then calculated across each country market destination. These shares lead to a volume of import and export values for each country and are aggregated to regional and world totals. In doing so, we are able to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of both the value of each market and the share that India is likely to receive this year. From these figures, rankings are calculated to allow managers to prioritize India compared to other major country markets. In this way, all the figures provided in this report are forecasts that can be combined with internal information sources for strategic planning purposes.
Book Description
On the demand side, exporters and strategic planners focusing on table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards in United States face a number of questions. Which countries are supplying table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards to United States? How important is United States compared to others in terms of the entire global and regional market? How much do the imports of table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards vary from one country of origin to another in United States? On the supply side, United States also exports table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards. Which countries receive the most exports from United States? How are these exports concentrated across buyers? What is the value of these exports and which countries are the largest buyers? This report was created for strategic planners, international marketing executives and import/export managers who are concerned with the market for table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards in United States. With the globalization of this market, managers can no longer be contented with a local view. Nor can managers be contented with out-of-date statistics which appear several years after the fact. I have developed a methodology, based on macroeconomic and trade models, to estimate the market for table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards for those countries serving United States via exports, or supplying from United States via imports. It does so for the current year based on a variety of key historical indicators and econometric models. In what follows, Chapter 2 begins by summarizing where United States fits into the world market for imported and exported table or parlor games, printed tables for casino games, automated bowling alley equipment, and billiards. The total level of imports and exports on a worldwide basis, and those for United States in particular, is estimated using a model which aggregates across over 150 key country markets and projects these to the current year. From there, each country represents a percent of the world market. This market is served from a number of competitive countries of origin. Based on both demand- and supply-side dynamics, market shares by country of origin are then calculated across each country market destination. These shares lead to a volume of import and export values for each country and are aggregated to regional and world totals. In doing so, we are able to obtain maximum likelihood estimates of both the value of each market and the share that United States is likely to receive this year. From these figures, rankings are calculated to allow managers to prioritize United States compared to other major country markets. In this way, all the figures provided in this report are forecasts that can be combined with internal information sources for strategic planning purposes.
Product Description
Book has 4 games for which hostess must provide paper & pencils & 3 preprinted games; 1980 publication date a guess - book undated.
Average customer rating:
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Co-op parlor games
Jim Deacove
Manufacturer: Family Pastimes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0007BWKSC |
Average customer rating:
- wow, a really fun read and very hard to put down
- The Punishement of Success
- Great summer read ! Fun!
- funny, but not quite as successful as the original
- Welcome counter to ultra-right-wing SF
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The Rats, the Bats & the Ugly
Eric Flint , and
Dave Freer
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Rats, Bats & Vats
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Off Armageddon Reef
ASIN: 1416520783 |
Book Description
The intrepid team of mentally uplifted rats and bats, and their vat-born human leader had not only pulled off the only victory the beleaguered colony's feeble military forces had won against the invading aliens, but had also uncovered the secret that the invaders were really a feint, being under the control of the other aliens which the naive humans had thought were their allies. Unfortunately, that was the easy part, because now they had to convince their boneheaded military bureaucracy (burdened with incompetents and riddled with quisling humans) of their discovery, and keep from being court-martialed, drugged into submission, or executed by the human traitors. And they had to do this quickly, before the aliens launched their surprise attack. Fortunately, they had found a way around the alien's mental programming. What's more, the daring and resourceful Fluff, apparently the ineffectual pet of one of the colony's ruling class, was on their side. Only Fluff can save us now. . . .
Customer Reviews:
wow, a really fun read and very hard to put down.......2007-10-01
I absolutely loved this book - just one caveat. You should really read the first book, to get a line on the characters, events that happened before, etc., that book being The Rats,Bats and Vats. Rats and bats have been "uplifted" by an alien species, to help humans on the planet Harmony fight against another alien species that have invaded. Vats are humans who are born from "vats" (not quite clear on this), and presumably raised in creches. They are treated as virtual slaves and thrown into the war as cannon fodder. However, one manages to fight and win the first victory for the humans, with the help of his uplifted troops. Now, he is being charged with desertion in combat by the idiotic army commanders. How he and his bats and rats, plus help from a couple of human officers who know what they are doing make this a truly fun book. I do like when the bad guys are bamboozled by the good guys and the evil aliens get their comeuppance. Get this book!!! But, first, read the preceding book.
The Punishement of Success.......2007-07-09
RATS, BATS & VATS ended with the young vat hero rescuing an heiress and precipitating the only significant victory against the aliens who are invading the planet. Naturally, the high brass does not like this at all as it reflects poorly on them. They are also pressured by the helpful allied species "advising" the humans. Something has to be done and that something is that all of the heroes must be punished severely.
Naturally, the heroes do not care for this at all. The old gang of larcenous rats, revolutionary bats, drama queen primates, young hero and rich heiress come together again to not only save themselves but save their planet. They do so with a laugh on every page.
Great summer read ! Fun!.......2006-08-16
I recommend buying this book now, it is fun, a good engaging read, fun and, oh yes, fun.
Summer read. I bought the paperback that recently came out (summer '06) for a summer read. To me, a summer book is one you just read, relax, and enjoy. No deep deep thoughts, no crazy violence, nor dark magic... just something to zone out with and enjoy.
It has a plot. I liked this book so much because it is light-hearted, but not light in plot. It has a well captured plot and the story follows it. The plot pulled me in for the ride such that I never found myself wanting to go into critic mode.
It is fun. It is an enjoyable comedy that has characters with enough depth to them to carry off the storyline. I looked forward to various characters coming back into the story just to see how they would react to the issues at hand. A fun adventure.
And lastly... I give this book great credit for subtly reminding the reader of what happened in the 1st book (as this is a sequel). While I have a horrid memory and forget books easily, I also hate books that spend pages upon pages trying to redo previous books in a series. This book does a wonderful job of alluding to past events in such a manner that does not draw you away from the story at hand. Great job!
funny, but not quite as successful as the original.......2004-12-18
It is possible to read this book without reading the prior RATS BATS AND VATS, but there's not much point to that. Not only is the first book slightly better, but the second book contains a lot of plot spoilers for the first book. So, assuming you have read the first book, what's this one like?
Funny. Socially (and socialist) motivated. But slightly less successful than the first book.
The best scenes in the first book followed the action behind enemy lines. The story back in military HQ was amusing, but nowhere near as original or as involving (M*A*S*H or Catch22 did it better). The novel's highlight was the interaction between the four different types of intelligences -- bats, rats, man, and woman. With a little bit of Fluff on the side.
Unfortunately, most of the second book takes place with the bats, rats, Chip, and Ginny all separated from each other. And it takes place back in the home front. In other words, the best aspects of the first book are cast aside. In their place we get a bunch of farcical legal proceedings and a lot of conspiracy (both successful and not).
It's a funny book, and it consistently carries the plot and the characters in the same direction as they were going in the first book, but it's just not quite as magical. RATS BATS AND VATS was marvelous at playing off the interspecies misunderstandings against the romantic misunderstandings between Chip and Ginny. There is nothing that quite takes up the slack for the absence of it in THE RATS THE BATS AND THE UGLY. And the ending is more deus ex machina than the first book -- you don't quite feel like the victory has been earned.
There are some obvious open plot threads for a third book, but the authors will have to work a little harder to find a replacement for the romantic subplot that really made the first book work so well. And hopefully they will also continue to provide us with the wordplay and farce which they did so well in both RATS AND BATS novels.
Welcome counter to ultra-right-wing SF.......2004-11-21
A small group of rats, bats, a single vat-born soldier, and a wealthy civilian woman have defeated an invading Magh army, but the Magh are far from mankind's only enemy. Mankind's putative ally, the Korozhet, now control most of the army's high-ranking officers as well as the rats and bats. The first thing they command is that those responsible for the Magh defeat by arrested and eliminated. For wealthy heiress, Virginia (Ginny) Shaw, the result may be even worse. She can't be disposed of easily--she does control more than a third of the shares of the colony--but she is subject to Korozhet mind control. It doesn't take humankind's traitors long to separate her from her lover, vat-born Chip Connolly, and drug her to the point where she can barely recognize herself. Once she has signed away her controls, she will be completely disposable.
A combination of smart lawyers, scientists, and logic-splitting rats and bats who can somehow believe that the Korozhet are both wonderfully kind and simultaneously horrible murderers, are all that stands between the colony and its destruction. Depending on lawyers is notoriously dangerous, especially since some of the best lawyers are on the other side, but Chip, the other soldiers who disobeyed headquarters commands, and the other humans involved have little choice.
Authors Eric Flint and Dave Freer combine in an amusing takeoff on old-fashioned space opera. The rats and bats are charming with their Shakespearian and Irish accents, but have nasty enough habits to make them interesting (if they aren't fed every four hours, they just may make you their meal). As a welcome contrast to much military SF, the story doesn't preach an ultra-conservative anti-environmentalist message.
THE RATS, THE BATS, & THE UGLY is an enjoyable, if lightweight adventure story. Freer and Flint are capable writers and the story sucks you in and keeps you reading.
Book Description
The first history of Traditionalism, an important yet surprisingly little-known twentieth-century anti-modern movement. Comprising a number of often secret but sometimes very influential religious groups in the West and in the Islamic world, it affected mainstream and radical politics in Europe and the development of the field of religious studies in the United States. In the nineteenth century, at a time when progressive intellectuals had lost faith in Christianity's ability to deliver religious and spiritual truth, the West discovered non-Western religious writings. From these beginnings grew Traditionalism, emerging from the occultist milieu of late nineteenth-century France, and fed by the widespread loss of faith in progress that followed the First World War. Working first in Paris and then in Cairo, the French writer Rene Guenon rejected modernity as a dark age, and sought to reconstruct the Perennial Philosophy-- the central religious truths behind all the major world religions --largely on the basis of his reading of Hindu religious texts. A number of disenchanted intellectuals responded to Guenon's call with attempts to put theory into practice. Some attempted without success to guide Fascism and Nazism along Traditionalist lines; others later participated in political terror in Italy. Traditionalism finally provided the ideological cement for the alliance of anti-democratic forces in post-Soviet Russia, and at the end of the twentieth century began to enter the debate in the Islamic world about the desirable relationship between Islam and modernity
Customer Reviews:
Not good.......2007-08-22
The book is pathetic. It treats a spiritual movement and reduces it to historical facts.
Poor scholarship.......2007-06-16
If you like tabloid magazines then this book is perfect for you. If you want to know what Traditionalism is then you should read the work of Rene Guenon, A.K. Coomaraswamy, Frithjof Schuon, Martin Lings, and Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
the reviews reveal the reality.......2007-01-24
Skim the reviews and you can see that two kinds of people read this book: Traditionalists, and others.
Most of the Traditionalists could not be more upset. Someone has taken a glance behind the curtain, cleared the smoke and taken down the mirrors. Traditionalism is just another religious tradition, as fascinating and diverse and imperfect as any other. Although Rene Guenon, the central saint of Traditionalism, comes of looking like a good, sincere and intelligent man, Sedgwick presents him not as a prophet, but as someone other people (not Sedgwick) think of as a prophet. That is not good enough for some people. Schuon seems more suspicious here, and most people who don't follow him would consider that appropriate. He often seems to fit the stereotyope of the modern guru (see Storr's "Feet of Clay"). Most of the minor figures in Traditionalism are also presented favorably, if not as favorably as Traditionalists would like. That disquieting folks such as Evola are included understandably upsets Traditionalists who reject fascism, but it is a fact that they are inseparable from at least the early history of Traditionalism.
The others, who are not Traditionalists, could not be more enchanted with this fascinating information. Essentially esoteric fundamentalism, Traditionalism shows up everywhere, along with its more laid-back cousin Perennialism. You cannot study religion academically today without encountering works by Traditionalists, often essentially polemics for their religion, labeled as if they were secular studies, and often enough even accepted as such. The examples might surprise you: Eliade, Nasr, Corbin. Nasr, I think, is particularly egregious at times; for instance, the "Islam" volumes in Crossroad's "World Spirituality" series, which he edited, ought to be labeled "Traditionalist Sufism." The announced title is not covered at all; it is at least a distortion, if not a deception.
Sedgwick has written the first outside, neutral account of Traditionalism. And--contrary to some assertions here--this book is neutral. It is written for a non-Traditionalist audience, and the author reminds us not to judge them differently than we would any other religious tradition. He is, I think, as sympathetic as an outsider can be to another religious tradition. Anyway, an academic historian should not present any tradition as the fulfilment of human spirituality.
All in all, a very high quality, reliable and fascinating study. That is to be expected from Sedgwick, a highly respected veteran scholar of Islam.
Let me recommend a few other books to consider along with this one. For entertainment and another fascinating glimpse into the unexpectedly dramatic world of religious studies, see Ted Anton's "Eros, Magic, and the Murder of Professor Culianu." For a more in depth look at the founding of comparative religion, and an account of how a worldviews like Traditionalism came to dominate it (until very recently), see "Religion after Religion." If you want to read a more mainstream history of religious studies, see Sharpe's "Comparative Religion: A History."
If you want to read a sympathetic history of Traditionalism, I recommend Oldmeadow's "Journeys East," also an excellent example of Traditionalist expostulation disguised as neutral scholarship. The classic presentation of Traditionalism, the place you must begin, is Guenon's "The Crisis of the Modern World." For a recent presentation, try Quinn's "The Only Tradition."
Seminal account of "Traditionalism".......2006-11-05
The secretive 20th-century intellectual movement that became known as "Traditionalism" has, until recently, received little attention in scholarly literature. This state of affairs might not only have been caused by the difficulties that researchers encountered in obtaining reliable information on this elusive, international intelligentsia circle. A reason for mainstream scholarship's relative disregard for the numerous published books by René Guénon and Julius Evola may have been also that one can not take seriously their various fantasies about humanity's history and future that often seem closer to Tolkien's novels than to serious research. Indeed, the alternative world view of perennial philosophy presented in these and other authors' writings has far more to do with faith, ideology and religion, than with science. However, in view of the influence that, for instance, Evola exerted on various political groups and thinkers outside the narrow circle of Guénon's followers during the Cold War, the continued lack of attention to "Traditionalism" has been inappropriate within such disciplines as contemporary history, political science, and cultural studies. More recently a self-ascribed Russian "Traditionalist", Alexander Dugin, has, moreover, managed to gain influence on the Russian legislature, executive, mass media and higher education system. As a result of Dugin's multifarious activities, "Traditionalism" has become a major intellectual phenomenon in post-Soviet Russia, especially within the extreme right. Thus, a comprehensive study of "Traditionalism" was sorely needed.
In 2004, Mark Sedgwick did not only deliver the definitive account on "Traditionalism." He has also provided a narrative that stands out for both, the density of its factual material and the quality of its style. I have rarely read an academic book with such ease and pleasure, and, at the same time, learnt so much novel and relevant information unavailable in mainstream Western research. Sedgwick covers more than a century of international history while, at the same time, delving deeply into the recent intellectual life of such different countries as France, Egypt, Iran or Russia. This might be one of the most fascinating books in the history of ideas published during the last years. One gets, moreover, the feeling that Sedgwick, an Assistant Professor at the American University of Cairo, has greatly benefited from the inspiration derived from the fact that he is living in the same city were Guénon spent the last twenty years of his life.
Useful and Engaging.......2006-10-25
One would think, judging from the negative reviews here, that this book was a hatchet job on its subject: the individuals who have promulgated the philosophy (and ideology) of Traditionalism in the 20th and 21st centuries. The book didn't read as that to me. Rather, it struck me as a reasonably detached, thoroughly engaging history of an influential esoteric movement whose participants have previously remained opaque and cipher-like to the world at large.
But more than that, it is a bracing antidote to the lionizing of Guenon and Schuon (and others) by their followers. Do the Traditionalists have perspectives worth considering? Certainly, and they've influenced my own outlook considerably. But Traditionalism also comes with a lot of baggage (ranging from Guenon's "mild paranoia" as Sedgwick puts it, to Schuon's near deification by his cultish inner circle). _Against the Modern World_ includes that baggage as part of the bigger picture and this is of great benefit for the reader.
If you've ever read any of the Traditionalists' works, you owe it to yourself to read this book in order to gain a sense of the context in which those works arose.
(Despite some typos and minor errors in the book, I give it 5 stars in recognition of its significance in the fields of esoteric, spiritual, and religious studies. The book is not perfect, but it is extremely valuable.)
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