Book Description
On Good Friday, 1981, Rujen Keju and his two sons come face to face with their complicated inheritance -- one that includes years of atomic testing and the continued military presence of the U.S. in the Pacific. In this highly original work of history and adventure, novelist Robert Barclay weaves together characters and stories from mythological times with those of the present-day to give readers a rare and unsparing look at life in the contemporary Pacific.
"It is a good story with robust characters--some real and contemporary, others mythical and ancient--and an important book." --- Patricia Grace
"What separates this novel from others, even highly respected ones, is its extraordinary descriptive mastery.... This precise and vivid evocation of experience is what writing has been about from the beginning. In all respects, this is a superb book." --- Ian MacMillan, author of Village of a Million Spirits
Customer Reviews:
Drew me into the Marshallese mind.......2006-05-21
Originally from California, I have lived in the Marshall Islands, and I speak the Marshallese language. L'etao and other demigods were familiar as names, but Barclay's novel drew me much deeper into the Marshallese psyche. Barclay also captures the personal side of the controversial use of Kwajalein Atoll as a US army missile testing -- "Star Wars" -- site. This should be required reading for anyone -- Peace Corps Volunteer, teacher, missionary, health worker, etc. -- who plans to live in the Marshall Islands.
My eyes were flung open.......2005-08-16
For me a great book is one where I keep going back and rereading to clarify or deepen my understanding of sections, and to put off starting another book because it was so fully satisfying. I have travelled may times to French Polynesia, Bali and Southeast Asia and somehow thought the Americans treated their "protectorates" somewhat better than the European countries--this book was a rude awakening to me. This is a part of our nuclear history I never gave much thought to, nor has there been adequate coverage of the evils of Nuclear Testing--I kept being shoked that these things were hapeening in the '60s and still in the '80s. Reading this was like a gunny sack to the head--hey, there were people on those island, DUH.
I liked the book from the start, but had some problems with all the names of gods and demons. At times the sheer ugliness of some of the images would overwhelm me, but then it would become clear what the author was trying to relate in a beautiful metaphor or a shocking parallel. These passages would be balanced by the many lyrical passages, compelling images and exciting story lines. I was left thinking about so many aspects of modern versus traditional life. There are almost too many images overlaping in layers to do a review service, but a couple of my favorites were the adventure with the dolphins in the fountain (with a whole other perspective about the use of dolphins opened to me), and the Good Friday incident with the statue of Jesus. By the end I kept jumping back to the mythological stories, very unlike any I have encountered before and was pbusy reviewong the many paradigm shifts I had to make during the reading. Satisfying and fulfilling on every level.
The place is the Marshall Islands. The theme is universal........2002-12-29
Every morning, Rujen Keju takes the 3-mile ferry ride from his home on Ebeye in the Marshall islands where he lives in squalor, to his job at the sewage plant at Kwajalein, the American-run island which is off-limits to him after the workday. He's accepted this as his way of life, and his older teen-age son, Jebro, is supposed to start working there also after the weekend. By the end of the day, however, he and his two sons come face to face with challenges, which will change their outlook forever. It just happens to be Good Friday, 1981 and the symbolism of that day is one of the many intertwining themes in this novel by first-time author Robert Barclay.
Rujen encounters a series of mishaps that day, including having his work-boots stolen, and the reader is drawn into his story as he goes through the day, trying to conform to what is expected of him and looking forward to his volunteer job as an usher at the Catholic church later. In the meantime, his son Jebro and his younger brother Nuke, set out on a small boat to visit the homeland of their grandfather, a small island which has been declared off-limits to Marshallese people. To add another dimension to the story is the magical tale of mischief-making gods and demons appearing as characters who play tricks on each other.
The story is told through alternative chapters, turning a flashlight on one harsh reality after another as the characters struggle through their day. And yet, there is sense of humor throughout, as we see each character's strengths, weaknesses, complexity and growth. Everyone is breaking some sort of minor law, including three American teenagers who are cutting school and out fishing that day. Their encounter with the two young brothers is both frightening and inspiring as they, too, learn a lot from the day's events.
I was immediately drawn into the writing and couldn't put it down. I loved the characters and I loved the situation. I also gained understanding of the history as well as and myths and legends that define the Marshall Islanders as a people. I usually don't like books that include magical characters, but these were so outrageous that they held my attention completely. The author is great at description and he lets himself go really wild as he describes the demons. Another theme throughout is scatological which addresses the very real issue of sewage management on the islands. And then there are the themes of father and sons, and Good Friday suffering. But best of all is the theme of love and camaraderie and lessons learned.
This book is a small gem that not only taught me a lot, but also made me think. Even the conclusion, which is indeed satisfactory, is something that gave me even more food for thought. I hope to hear more about this author, who now lives on Hawaii. His is fresh clear voice brings reveals some universal themes. Highly recommended.
great first book.......2002-10-05
A beautifully realized novel which goes far beyond a voyeuristic account of the subjugation of the Marshallese by Americans and its use of the islanders as nuclear guinea pigs with its terrific characters, a terrifying plot and mythological monster gods who vie with Grendel in amusement and disgust.
Haunting Story.......2002-08-29
Admittedly, I'm not 100% objective about Melal. I grew up on Kwajalein and attended high school with the author. However, Melal is an incredible work of fiction. It is part adventure, part mythology and part commentary on the human condition. One dimension of the story takes place in 1981 as Rujen Keju and his two sons confront that unique Marshallese heritage that includes the legacy of atomic testing and the relationship with the American community on Kwajalein. The other dimension is timeless, based on the complicated Marshallese mythology of dwarfs, spirits and demons.
Robert's descriptions of life on Kwajalein struck a cord within me - one I thought I had put to rest years ago. His descriptive prose will offer you an unique perspective on Pacific island life where the ocean is more prevelant and often more revelent than land.
My highest praise for a novel is that I "cannot stop reading" and that when I finish I immediately begin re-reading passages. Melal fulfilled both. It forced me to explore my perspective on the Marshallese people and to remember friends, both American and Marshallese.
If you enjoy myths, legends, adventure, fishing, travel or just want to read a book with incredible prose - try Melal!
Book Description
This digital document is an article from World Literature Today, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1102 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Robert Barclay. Melal: a Novel of the Pacific.(Book Review)
Author: Simone Oettli
Publication:
World Literature Today (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2003
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 77
Issue: 1
Page: 93(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This book is a sweeping tale that takes us from the Hungarian uprising of 1956, Cold War espionage, and tempestuous romance, to political skullduggery in 1960's America.
Customer Reviews:
Buckley's Hero Is LDS!.......2006-09-04
"Getting It Right" is a historical novel by the godfather of modern American conservatism, William F. Buckley Jr. I don't think I've ever read a historical novel written by one of the actual participants, but here's one. Buckley was present at the creation of "the vast right-wing conspiracy:" the post World War II conservative movement (that would later remake American politics) as it took form in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Buckley tells the story of two extremist groups that could have derailed the new insurgency: the John Birch Society and Ayn Rand's "Objectivists."
Buckley's protagonist is Woodroe Raynor, who we first meet as a young Mormon missionary in 1956 in Austria, along the Hungarian border. I must say young Woodroe's mission is unlike any I experienced as an elder. He lives with a young American couple, teaches English to the natives, and builds houses on the side. It could be that Buckley is familiar with more recent LDS humanitarian missions, or he may be thinking of the effort led by Elder Ezra Taft Benson immediately following the second world war, or he could be making up this part of the story out of whole cloth. But it's very unlikely that a 19 year-old elder would have served a non-proselyting mission like this in 1956. Then there's the little manner of his girlfriend, Teresa, who he sleeps with. She is Hungarian, and she draws him into the 1956 Hungarian revolution against the Communist Russian occupiers. Woodroe is shot trying to help refugees escape, and Teresa turns out to be a double agent. This political and sexual betrayal helps make Woodroe a convinced anti-communist.
Woodroe then attends Princeton University where his mentor is professor Theo Romney, a Mormon from Utah who is the only conservative on the history faculty. His hobby is painting from memory as massive mural of the Wasatch mountains. Together they meet the circle around Robert Welch, a wealthy candy manufacturer who founds the fiercely right-wing John Birch Society in 1958. Buckley doesn't display much curiosity about distinctive LDS beliefs. He assumes for the purpose of his narrative that Mormons believe in Jesus and are bound by a code of comprehensive morality, which makes them Christian enough for him. Buckley must have noticed during these years the fervency and numbers of LDS members involved with the John Birch Society. A little later in the novel Woodroe attends a local meeting of the Birchers in Salt Lake, where Ezra Taft Benson is seated on the dais.
Meanwhile a young Jewish woman, Leonora Goldstein, becomes involved with the intimate circle in New York City around Ayn Rand, the novelist and libertarian philosopher. There she witnesses at first hand the sexual intricacies of Rand and her very married lieutenant Nathaniel Branden (later one of the fathers of the "self-esteem" movement.) Buckley is witheringly satirical about the Randoids. He targets their cruelty, self-deception, and intellectual arrogance. (The very title of the novel could be a double-entendre about the romantic entanglements of the various right-wing characters.) The word "creepy" comes up more than once in referring to the Objectivists. It's pretty outrageous material, but
Buckley appends a "Notes" section where he lists the sources for every chapter (when he's not relying on his own recollections.)
Woodroe progresses through the JBS and begins to meet some its more colorful characters. There's Major General Edwin Walker, who tries to seduce Woodroe even as Lee Harvey Oswald fires a shot at Walker through a glass window. Then there's Revilo Oliver, an academic classics genius who spins increasingly elaborate, paranoid conspiracy theories to explain every bad aspect of American life. (Both these men were real people who Buckley came to know.) Woodroe becomes appalled by the racism, meanness, and downright looniness of the Birchers and breaks with them. He writes to Theo Romney:
"Us folks from Utah aren't racists. I never even felt the urge to look down on Jews and Negroes. So many people do. You commented in your course how the Chinese railroad workers were treated when they crossed 'God's country'. That's *our* God, Theo. Other Christians get it almost right. We get it *all* right."
Woodroe goes to work for Barry Goldwater's 1964 presidential campaign, which is vividly described. We also meet along the way Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, a young Alan Greenspan (who was a Randoid), and other prominent figures from the time. Buckley himself appears as a supporting character. So does this make "Getting It Right" a Norman Mailer ish "nonfiction novel"?
Woodroe meets yet another Mormon, Than Koo, a refugee from Communist terrorism in Vietnam. The climax of the novel comes when "National Review" in 1966, Buckley's hugely influential magazine, publishes a special issue denouncing the JBS as dangerous and deranged in its paranoid analyses of America. The novel ends as Leonora leaves the Objectivists, becomes a Catholic, and becomes engaged to Woodroe, who is leaving to fight in Vietnam. I see a sequel in the works.
Buckley's Mormons are defiantly idealistic, even as they are backsliders who drink and cohabit with their girlfriends. They are tolerant, compassionate, and committed to truth. Although their forceful presence in the JBS suggests they are susceptible to unwise fanaticism. Buckley captures well the feverish intoxication of extremist ideas, of how systematic ideologies take flight from reality. (Buckley seems to imply that some Jewish people has a similar cultural predisposition for Rand's cult.) Buckley himself has always been a model of civilized humanity. He comes across an an emotionally intact, jolly man who is able to successfully integrate faith and reason.
It appears that in recent years Buckley is constructing a fictional narrative history of post-war America in his novels "Nuremberg", "The Redhunter", "Spytime", "Elvis in the Morning", and this volume, which fairly screams "to be continued." For sheer literary value these novels are no threat to the "American chronicle" novels of Buckley's old nemesis, Gore Vidal. Vidal creates deeper characters, more involving plots, and infuses his history with stinging wit. But his political views grow more extreme and paranoid the closer he gets to his own lifetime. Buckley's books radiate sanity and reasonableness and they are pretty funny in their own right. Plus he is arguably the most influential American journalist of the past 50 years. Some may find his books too abstruse for their tastes. Me, I eat 'em up like candy.
A Plague on Both Your Cults!.......2005-05-20
In the 1960's, my grandmother was a member of the John Birch Society. In the late '90's, I considered myself a devoted objectivist. So when i saw a work of fiction focusing on a relationship between a Bircher and and objectivist (assumedly to make fun of both) I had to read it. The result? It was a mildly entertaining, and somewhat disappointing historical novel.
Woodrow Rainer is a committed young member of the John Birch Society as a result of him having been shot by communists in Hungary. Leonora Goldstein is a young woman entranced by Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism who ends up working for one of objectivists biggest players, Barbara Branden. While the novel centers around Woody and Leonora's budding romance, it is more concerned with chronicling each character's trials and tribulations in the midst of the Cuban missile crisis, the Goldwater presidential campaign, and the burgeoning of the cold war. Gradually we see both Woody and Leonora become disenchanted with each movement and their black and white views of the world.
The biggest disappointment in this book was the imbalance of attention given to Woody's situation at the expense of Leonora's. The chapters on Woody and the Birchers are quite interesting and detailed. When it comes time to get to Leonora, though, Buckley does little more than rehash the details of Ayn Rand's affair with one of her colleeague's, Nathaniel Branden, and their subsequent schism. Leonora is hardly mentioned at all and while the Rand-Branden affair is fascinating, it is better detailed in both Nathaniel and Barbara Branden's respective autobiographies.
The second disappointment is that Buckley seems so concerned with detailing historical events and incorporating them into his novel that he forgets trying to develop his characters. WE understand precious little about either Leonora or Woody by way of their motivations and drives. This is particularly disappointing as the novel is about two groups - Bircher's and objectivists - that verge on cult-like and paranoid styles. It would have been interesting, then, for Buckley to try and profile not WHAT Woody and Leonora do, but WHY they do it.
Otherwise, the book was entertaining, thought-provoking, and a much needed jab at two paranoid idealisms that helped to shape (in good and bad ways) the conservative mind of the 1960's. Despite giving the book only three out of five stars, I would reccomend it to those who are curious about how the conservative landscape was shaped, or are curious about why people do or did join such 'extreme' organizations as the John Birch society of objectivism.
Fraud.......2005-04-26
I was told Buckley was intelligent, witty and articulate. Enough people said it I believed it when I was young enough to believe what I was told. But read Buckley critically and you will find that Buckley's "compelling" logic relies on authority and stigma rather than intelligence. Instead of wit you find verbosity. Instead of clarity you find obfuscation. After reading rubbish like "Getting It right" I have to conclude that Buckley is one of America's most venerable frauds.
William F. Buckley, Jr.'s Battle Axe To Grind.......2004-12-09
I have long been an admirer of William F. Buckley, Jr.'s magazine, National Review. It has been a reasoned voice for American conservatism, and indeed a guiding light that helped launch the Reagan revolution. I have also been a longtime fan of the novels of Russian-born American novelist Ayn Rand, and a serious student of her philosophy, Objectivism. There: That's my disclaimer.
"Getting It Right" is a historical novel that spans a crucial decade for the conservative movement, from 1956 through 1966, and is told through its protagonists, two anti-communists who fall in love. One, Woodroe Raynor, is a staffer for the John Birch Society. Mormon Woodroe is involved with a (non-practicing, obviously) Jewish "student of Objectivism," Leonora Goldstein, who works as an assistant for Barbara Branden, erstwhile second-in-line to Ayn Rand's throne as Philosopher Queen and head of state of Galt's Gulch.
However, "protagonists" does not exactly describe Woodroe and Leonora. Tristan und Isolde they ain't. Actually, "props" more aptly captures the essence of the novel's two main characters. Throughout the novel, the pair serve as two remote controlled cyborgs that puppet master Buckley navigates expertly through the inner-workings of paranoid Birch founder Robert Welch's movement and his co-conspiracy theorist Gen. Edwin Walker and Rand's "Collective," a group of freewheeling individualists who strangely become automatons under the spell of Ayn Rand, whom Buckley has cast as The Bride of Dr. Mabuse.
Basically, the plot of the book is simple: How William Buckley, National Review and Young Americans for Freedom rushed in on a white steed at the last minute and saved the conservative movement -- hanging by a pinky from a cliff overlooking a crevass -- from the clutches of evil madman Welch and heretical witchdoctress Ayn.
"Getting it Right" is actually entertaining, once you get past the two non-entities Woody and Lee. Buckley has obviously been saving juicy tidbits of right-winger gossip for almost a half century and can finally divulge them all now that the interested maligned parties (Rand, her passive husband Frank O'Connor, Welch, Walker and radical scholar Revilo Oliver) have had their mail forwarded to St. Peter's pearly gates (Petrogate, for the atheist Rand).
Cameo appearances are made by Barry Goldwater, Jack and Bobby Kennedy, Ike Eisenhower, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Alan Greenspan and various second-stringer conservatives who wrote for National Review, who act as stand-ins so that Buckley can take vicarious credit without appearing too boorish.
Much of the book's plot centers around Arizona Republican Senator Barry Goldwater's 1964 run for the White House and his crisis of having to dissociate himself from the John Birchers. Yes, it is true that Welch was a big obstacle to moving the conservative movement forward, but Rand?
The Objectivists were never more than a speed bump at worst, and actually had a much longer-lasting impact on Republican politics in particular and conservatism in general. By equating the bizarre paranoid fantasies of Robert Welch with the eccentric sexual antics of Ayn Rand, Buckley's 45- year-long chip on his shoulder against the author of "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged" is revealed (he's been sore at Rand ever since she told him he was too intelligent a man to believe in God). For a man who should now rest on his laurels as the legitimate Elder Statesman of conservatism, Buckley spends an inordinate amount of time nursing a childish grudge.
Oddly, Buckley never even mentions the one man responsible for making the abrasive and rugged Goldwater palatable to the American people, Ronald Reagan. It was Reagan's nationally televised populist speech that did more for Goldwater than patrician Buckley and his coterie ever did by heading off Welch and Rand at the pass.
Buckley's omission may have been excusable had Reagan never done anything more than boost Goldwater's popularity. However, the fact that the pinnacle and culmination of all the hopes, wishes and efforts of conservatives was Reagan's election in 1980, shows Buckley's as more ungracious than forgetful.
Mostly, "Getting it Right" gets it wrong in narrowing the scope of its focus, overlooking the larger impact of the then-nascent conservative movement.
READ AS PART OF A THREE-PART PROCESS.......2004-06-15
Bill Buckley is a giant of intellect and a hero of the conservative movement. This novel details influential times in his life. It is well written and, if one is politically savvy, enjoyable, but not a masterpiece. My opinion is that this book should be viewed as part of a three-setp process, which involves Ayn Rand.
Buckley was influenced by Rand and this book details the struggle in the early 1960s between the Randian, Goldwater and Rockefeller wings of the pre-Vietnam Republican party.
My suggestion is to read this book, then watch Rand's "The Fountainhead" on video, then read Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" (all 1168 pages). Then you should get the overall context.
STEVEN TRAVERS
AUTHOR OF "BARRY BONDS: BASEBALL'S SUPERMAN"
STWRITES@AOL.COM
Average customer rating:
- A sassy, energetic first novel
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Getting Right with God: A Novel
Lionel Newton
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0525937544 |
Customer Reviews:
A sassy, energetic first novel.......2004-10-22
Newton's debut is the coming-of-age story of Lucas Martin, a high school senior in the increasingly urbanized suburbs of Long Island, New York.
Lucas' father, Zeke, marries a steady, loving woman, gives up drinking and embarks on fatherhood with new zeal. Lucas, an honor student, responds by skipping school, drinking and drugging, and risking his future by sharing the petty criminalities and violence baiting behavior of his friend, Roar.
Lucas clings to childhood by disrespecting his saintly stepmother at every opportunity (refusing her meals but sneaking down for leftovers), mouthing off to the guidance counselor whose goodwill he needs for a scholarship, and breaking into the school with Roar.
Meanwhile he carries on dialogues with God and Satan and worries over his sexuality. He falls in love with a girl whose father is a professor and who's not likely to mess up her life. She takes control of the relationship but, although she's the first woman he's slept with under 40, Lucas does his best to alienate her too.
Newton's prose is sassy and comic and full of energy. He brings to life the mess of a young man's mind, the lure of the streets, the pull of self-destruction. Although the dialogues with God and Satan are sometimes tedious and the ending abrupt and inconclusive, Newton's is a singular voice with plenty more to say.
Average customer rating:
- awesome collection of short stories from Bear
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The Venging
Greg Bear
Manufacturer: ereads.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Anthologies
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Short Stories
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Bear, Greg
| ( B )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Paperback
| Bear, Greg
| ( B )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1585862282 |
Book Description
This is the first published collection of short stories by one of the foremost voices in science fiction today. This significant volume contains many characters and situations that later evolved into their own novels. "Mandala" features technologically perfect cities that eject their sinful human occupants, a premise that can be found at the root of Bear's later novel, Strength of Stones. In "Hardfought", Bear brilliantly handles the classic science fiction dilemma of human communication with aliens. Other stories include "The Wind From a Burning Woman" in which a woman holds the world hostage by controlling a giant asteroid; "Scattershot", in which the inhabitants of many universes meet in an undefined limbo space; and "Petra", a story of a world where chaos rules, stone moves and the mind controls reality. Hailed by readers and critics alike, The Venging has been described as "an excellent collection" and its author praised as "one of the freshest writers to break into the science fiction field in many a year".
Customer Reviews:
awesome collection of short stories from Bear.......2007-07-04
Wind from a Burning Woman: This story is sort of a prelude to Eon, perhaps set many years before the opening of The Way. The to-be hollowed out asteroid (Psyche) is in orbit around the moon waiting to have seven chambers created within by nuclear devices. While in orbit, a Geshel extremist makes her way to Psyche and threatens to ram it into earth unless her conditions are met. (33 pages)
A lot of terminology from Eon is used in this sort of prelude, including the Hexamon, Geshel, Naderites and Beckmann drives. Political bureaucracy is still alive and kicking this far into the future and is a theme presented in this short story. Can the Hexamon lose face and admit to a crime to save Pschye and planet earth?
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White Horse Child: A boy meets two old storytellers who tell him strange tales. This concerns his parents, who are familiar with the doings of the couple and set out to condone the two to protect their son from their mind tricks. (23 pages)
This is a strange tale in itself, with a number of odd stories involving animals and morals. However logic weary it may be to read, it's still an entertaining read.
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Petra: Statues have come to life in a post-apocalyptic cathedral. The stone beings, flesh beings and flesh/stone beings are separated in different vertical strata within the cathedral. The story follows a gargoyle type child through the cathedral in search of the Stone Christ and self-fulfilling a prophecy. (20 pages)
This is an odd idea to wrap one's head around - it's impossible to nail down a time and place for the story setting. Why are all the statues alive and why is everyone held in the church? These questions are left unanswered as we follow the difficulties of a half-flesh & half-stone gargoyle child.
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Scattershot: A spacefarer, Geneva, is "disrupted" by aliens and becomes part of a hodgepodge of aliens and alien craft, which have previously been disrupted by another alien species (the Aighors). With her fellow disrupted teddy bear sidekick Sonok, they try to find others on the ship that may know how to go back home to earth. (36 pages)
A lot of ideas are thrown together in this short story. It is like a stack of ideas on Greg Bear's desk fell into this story. This doesn't make the story bad, just random. The ending is as random as some of the aliens are, too. I appreciate the strong female lead character, too.
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Mandala: An outcast villager, Jeshua, seeks solace and surgery at an ancient, myth-ridden walking city left from an earlier, more tech-savvy generation. The planet where the story takes place was colonized with giant walking cities inhabited by people of various religions. They wanted habitats with pure individuals. When the cities saw that people's thoughts were tainted by ill will, the cities cast them out tens of generations ago. (30 pages)
This is an easy to follow story with an interesting history. One man becoming ostracized for a birth defeat, one man seeking justice and one man's adventure into the pit of the walking city of Mandala. Thoughts linger into the simple 30 pages of story, such as "Why was he selected to enter?" and "Will he return to his village?" Pretty gripping story.
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Hardfought: A story about warfare in space with a very different alien species, the Senexi. Using rapidly maturing children as "Hawks" or attackers, the children are bred from superior genes from previous generations of Hawks. Prufax is the another strong female main character attempting to find the understanding in warring with an alien species they know so little about. Aryz is the alien character, which we can view the story at with a skewed angle. (75 pages)
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By far, this is an epic short story. Many fantastic ideas are brought about here and applied in numerous inventive ways. The Senexi are a mind-bending, fantastically novel species with a completely different evolution, culture, sense configuration, hierarchy, technology and mindset. This is all considered and explored though the pages of Hardfought.
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The Venging: Disjohn Fairchild has made an alien species, the Aighors (same species as the Disrupting aliens in Scattershot) very angry. He is tainting their religion with the science of black holes, which leaves the sick and dying of the Aighors unable to use the black hole for funeral purposes. Kamon, an Aighor, takes a personal vendetta against this blasphemy and chases Fairchild's ship to an area rich with black holes. This story uses much terminology and physics about black holes. (32 pages)
Yes, this is the hardest, shortest hard sci-fi, which I've found. The descriptions set up about the scenarios of chasing starships, black hole physics, and alien customs are phenomenally well done. The story is engrossing from page 1 to page 30. Short, but terribly sweet and perfect.
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Perihesperon: A space cruiser is hit by a meteor and is disabled with one passenger aboard (Karen), who had no idea what had happened. Another character, Alista, found his way onto the ship soon after the disaster and comforts the girl though the inevitable destruction of the craft. (14 pages)
Here is another very short but moving piece of work. This is probably one of the most sentimental pieces of sci-fi I've read, by Bear and by others. This story has a small tie-in with a character from The Venging, as the preface tells you.
Average customer rating:
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The Venging
Greg Bear
Manufacturer: Legend
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000VMI2CU |
Amazon.com
Written by two working moms with four kids between them, Desperation Dinners! fulfills its promise to supply you with more than 250 recipes that can be made from start to finish in 20 minutes. With the help of Beverly Mills and Alicia Ross, you can serve up appealing and nutritious home-cooked meals on nights when that might seem impossible. There are meaty dishes (Fiery Chinese Beef) and meatless ones (Very Vegetarian Chili), as well as Ravioli with Roasted Red Pepper Cream for pasta-lovers, and even Magic Brownies for those with a sweet tooth.
The authors' technique, which calls for using convenience foods (canned, frozen, boxed, bagged, or jarred), is based on the idea that the time saved justifies extra cost and sacrificed quality. Their Desperation Pantry includes staples such as canned beans and broth, along with onion powder, frozen lemon juice, pre-shredded cheeses, and produce that is ready to use, such as chopped garlic and sections of citrus fruit. This is not great cooking, but the meals will rescue families from a surfeit of fast food and boxed-pasta dinners.
Book Description
PART COOKBOOK, PART SURVIVAL GUIDE, PART "WHOLE NEW WAY OF COOKING FOR YOUR FAMILY," HERE IS THE ANSWER TO EVERY BUSY COOK'S PRAYERS.
What's a Desperation Dinner?
How to feed your family well when your spouse is late, the kids are losing it, and the dog is scratching at the door. Features over 250 tempting, nutritious recipes that take brilliant advantage of convenience foods-from individual quick-frozen chicken breasts to chopped ginger in a jar-plus innovative techniques to cut time and "push" flavor.
Desperation Dinners Promise
1. These recipes are not hard.
2. These recipes do not require expensive equipment.
3. These recipes do not lie-every one can be made in 20 minutes, start to finish.
4. Expect to be working, but only for those 20 minutes.
5. These recipes taste good.
A Slightly Desperate Cook's Answer to "What's for Dinner?"
Skillet Shepherd's Pie
Topsail Spaghetti
Pork au Poivre
Chicken Chili Quesadillas
Garlic-Roasted Salmon
Buttered Rum-Glazed Ham
Fish Florentine
Confetti Stuffed Peppers
And When You're Really Desperate
Southwestern Chicken on the Spot
Minute Minestrone
Tuna and Fusilli Alfresco
Miracle Baked Pork Chops
Practically Perfect Peach Crisp
"The dinner dilemma is solved! The Desperation ladies deserve to be stove-side in every busy home." -Nathalie Dupree, author of Nathalie Dupree Cooks Quick Meals for Busy Days
Customer Reviews:
The one they will use in heaven ..........2007-05-21
I'm sure this is the cookbook that they'll be using in heaven. We use it all the time. While we repeat a few favorites regularly, we keep trying new ones, because we haven't found a recipe yet we didn't rave over. WOW!!!
Love the quickness but wish for more veggies included.......2006-09-10
I use this book all the time. Love the quickness of the meals since I've got small children. Just wish that more of the meals were complete meals (meat and veggies together). Most are just meat or pasta with a few veggies thrown in here or there. I still use this book a lot though and some of the recipes do include veggies. I'd recommend it to mothers/fathers of young children. If you don't like pasta or rice then don't buy it though.
I *LOVE* this book!!!.......2006-07-19
I absolutely love this cookbook! It's really fun to read and all of the recipes I've tried have been very easy and quick and have tasted great! I highly recommend this book and also their two other books: "Desperation Entertaining" and "Cheap.Fast. Good!" I own alot of cookbooks and these three are among my favorites that I use all the time!
A lifesaver.......2006-03-24
I've had this book for about 5 years now, and while I only rarely use it now- it literally saved my sanity 5 years ago.
I bought this book after seeing one of the authors on a Discovery channel daytime program. She was cute, perky and promised to have the answer to my prayers- how to cook dinner every night. At the time I had just moved 2,000 miles away from everyone I knew, had a 7 yr. old, an 18 mos. old, and was pregnant with child number 3. My husband had just taken a new job where, for the first time in over two years, he was not traveling. That meant he suddenly expected to come home every night to dinner! Sheesh! I was in no shape to suddenly start cooking, and the two kids had no desire to eat anything "weird". This book provided simple, kid friendly, easily made recipes that really hit the spot.
The recipes in the book are easily done in a half hour- 20 mins. if you follow their directions and devote the entire time to cooking. I usually am in the middle of checking homework, making phone calls and finishing laundry so it adds a few extra mins. Still, easily finished in 30.
There is a pretty good variety of recipes, especially if your family is open to eating shrimp, fish, and salads. It is broken down by groups, such as skillet meals, pasta, and breakfast for dinner (always a hit in our house). The recipes do rely on "convience" foods such as frozen, chopped onions, ready to eat mashed potatoes, and bottled ginger. I balked at the expense of many of these items, but their use is what makes it possible to get the meal on the table in 20 mins, and even with their high price the resulting meal is still cheaper than fast food.
I used this book steadily for the first two years, and then found out one of my children was Diabetic, and another one has food allergies. In the third year I took the recipes that I could adapt to the food allergies, plugged them into my Diabetes software to calculate nutrition information, and thus haven't touched the book in a while. I still make my new versions of many of their recipes, and continue to use many of their ideas for how to get a meal on the table in a short amount of time.
I also took their ideas and combined them with the "once a month" philosophy and have had good results. I buy hamburger and cook it with onion and garlic and then freeze in one pound portions. Then when the recipe calls for ground beef I just pull out my cooked meat and go from there. I also buy onions and freeze them, chopped, so when the recipe calls for "frozen, chopped onion" I pull out my baggies. Ditto the frozen peppers. This has allowed me to save money by not relying on their convience foods, but still make fresh meals in under 20 mins. That's important because I don't have the freezer space to do full "once a month cooking".
I do understand some of the complaints about the recipes lacking flavor, but when you're feeding picky kids the lack of spice is a bonus. My kids really enjoyed the "Sloppy Janes", "Schnitzel", and most of the pasta dishes. My husband has found much to enjoy, and with precooking/chopping the ingredients I find the clean up to be pretty easy. All in all, it's a winner for us. It's also one of my favorite baby gifts- along with a casserole dish filled with one of the recipes. I've had more than one new mom tell me it was a blessing.
You don't have to be desperate to love this cookbook!.......2006-01-30
I've only had this cookbook about a month, but have tried several of the recipes and have received great reviews from 4 picky children and a husband who will eat anything! Living in a small town I need recipes that take "normal" ingredients, and with 4 kids things need to go together pretty quickly with our busy schedules. The recipes are easy to follow, and you truly can put them together in 30 minutes or less. The authors of this cookbook also make the book an interesting read with great tips and ideas for a busy cook. Everything from stocking the pantry and freezer to ideas for easy short cuts. You'll love it!
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