The Night Watchman's Occurrence Book: And Other Comic Inventions

Book Description

V. S. Naipaul’s legendary command of broad comedy and acute social observation is on abundant display in these classic works of fiction–two novels and a collection of stories–that capture the rhythms of life in the Caribbean and England with impressive subtlety and humor.
The Suffrage of Elvira is Naipaul’s hilarious take on an electoral campaign in the back country of Trinidad, where the candidates’ tactics include blatant vote-buying and supernatural sabotage. The eponymous protagonist of Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion is an aging Englishman of ponderously regular habits whose life is thrown into upheaval by a sudden marriage and unanticipated professional advancement. And the stories in A Flag on the Island take us from a Chinese bakery in Trinidad–whose black proprietor faces bankruptcy until he takes a Chinese name–to a rooming house in London–where the genteel landlady plays a nasty Darwinian game with her budgerigars. Unfailingly stylish, filled with intelligence and feeling, here is the work of a writer who can do just about anything that can be done with language.

Customer Reviews:

Three for one..........2003-02-21

This volume is actually three books in one: The Suffrage of Elvira (1961), Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion (1963), and A Flag on the Island (1967), the first two are novels and the last a collection of short stories culminating in the title novella.

The Suffrage of Elvira was the second novel published by Mr. Naipaul, and although it is a pleasant diversion, it lacks the impact of his later work. Describing the seemingly hapless attempts of its protagonist to get elected in a small district in Trinidad, corruption is expected by all the major players and accepted by all with humorous resignation. I enjoyed the book, but cannot strongly recommend it on its own. Because I have recently discovered Naipaul, I am attempting to work my way through some of his works in a chronological fashion, and this is an early step.

Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion was Naipaul's first novel set entirely in England, and it is a quietly understated portrayal of a middle aged man's re-affirmation of life. Believing he is about to enter the winter of his life, alone and without any real accomplishment to speak of, he suddenly finds himself married and with a new occupation. He approaches these changes in his personal life and career with a newfound vigor, only to become dissatisfied with both. As he relapses into apathy once again, he finally recognizes that his fatalism is unfounded, and that another spring lies in wait. This was my favorite from this volume: the characters were well delineated and sympathetic, and as always Naipaul's prose shines.

A Flag on the Island is a collection of stories including an expanded scene with a different perspective from his novel A House for Mr. Biswas; a story appropriate for, but for some reason left out of, Miguel Street; two stories about the residents and owners of a boarding house; and ends with the title piece--a long unusual story about a man returning to a Caribbean island where he once lived. Naipaul's previous collection of stories, Miguel Street, was a wonderful description of life on Trinidad, and some of the stories here have the same whimsical air, but for the most part I prefer his novels to his stories. It's very hard for me to appreciate writing without an emotional connection, and this is something most of these stories are missing, particularly the title piece, which is long enough for character development but seems devoid of any real feeling.

Mr. Stone and the Knights Companion gets 4 stars but the others only get three IMHO.

Average customer rating:

Could have been better, but not bad for what it is.

Fairly entertaining but still a little bit half baked
Bertrem's Guide to the War of Souls, Volume Two (Dragonlance: Bertrem's Guide)
Steven T. Brown , Mary H. Herbert , and Don Perrin
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Herbert, Mary H. | ( H ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Perrin, Don | ( P ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Bertrem's Guide to the War of Souls, Volume One

Bertrem's Guide to the Age of Mortals: Everyday Life in Krynn of the Fifth Age (A Dragonlance(r) Novel)

The Odyssey of Gilthanas (Dragonlance Reader's Companion)

The Clandestine Circle (Dragonlance Crossroads, Vol. 1)

The Players of Gilean (Dragonlance)

ASIN: 0786928166
Release Date: 2002-11-01

Book Description

Insight into the everyday life of Dragonlance characters during the War of Souls.

The Bertrem's Guides give readers insight into the everyday lives of the people in the Dragonlance universe. Using correspondence, reports, and essays, this second Bertrem's Guide for the War of Souls elaborates on the goings-on during the current bestselling trilogy by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, fleshing out the current era for Dragonlance readers.

The highways and byways of Ansalon are being ravaged by war.

As the War of Souls rages, vast armies and powerful wizards vie for control of Krynn. But despite the deeds of the mighty, it is the common people who must endure the great hardships of war.

Bertrem of the Order of Aesthetics, keeper of the Great Library of Palanthas, gathers accounts of everyday life in Ansalon as it is forever changed by the War of Souls.

Contents

* The Last Testament of Bertrem the Aesthetic
* "Heroes of the Lance -- Everywhere" by Don Perrin
* "A Journey to Shcallsea" by Stan!
* "The Insurrection that Never Was" by Stan!
* "River Supply of Silvanost" by Don Perrin
* "A Legionaire's Journal" by Mary H. Herbert
* "The Building of Teyr" by Don Perrin
* "Excerpts from the Personal Journal of Aldreth Myger, Knight of the Lily" by Mary H. Herbert
* "Investigation on the Affliciton of Kender" by Don Perrin
* "Search for the Shadowpeople" by Don Perrin
* "The Urkhan" by Don Perrin
* "Mirage" by Mary H. Herbert
* "Lessons of Sun and Sand" by Don Perrin
* "Letters from a Son to his Father" by Mary H. Herbert

Customer Reviews:

Could have been better, but not bad for what it is........2005-02-01

Stan Brown et al., Bertrem's Guide to the War of Souls, vol. 2 (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)

I came to read this book before the actual War of Souls trilogy thanks to my library. They had the book listed in the catalog as just Dragonlance, rather than by its actual title, and I was intrigued. So I put it on hold, and this is what ended up on my desk.

Needless to say, a person who has read the War of Souls trilogy is likely to get far more out of this than I did; the characters will likely be more familiar, and the situations in which said characters find themselves will probably have more meaning. So I can't really speak to how good the book is on that level; all I can talk about is the quality of writing.

It really only flags that greatly in one place, but unfortunately, that one place is in the book's longest piece, an almost-seventy-page monster by Stan Brown whose unfortunate placing very early in the book causes it to drag early on. Brown's other monstrous piece in here (weighing in at over forty pages) goes more quickly. Don Perrin and Mary H. Herbert, the other two contributors, are time-tested and goat-approved Dragonlance writers, and you can be generally assured when you pick anything up from either, you're going to get a good story. (One of Herbert's, "Mirage," will bring home the "you'll get more out of it if you've read the War of Souls trilogy" angle better than anything else in the book.)

Not bad, not bad at all, but read the War of Souls books first, and skim Stan Brown's first story. ** ½

Fairly entertaining but still a little bit half baked.......2002-12-30

This, apparently last book in the Bertrems Guide series was very much in the same tradition as the previous. This also consists of a lot of journals and reports duruing the time of the War of Souls storyline.
Three authors have contributed to this one, Don Perrin, Mary H. Herbert and Stan!. Of the three authors I liked Mary's journals and reports best. I think that her little story about Sara Dunstan's dragon Cobalt was terrific.
Stan!'s report from Schallsea was also fairly entertaining, but I still found myself rereading a lot of stuff. Most of the descriptions of Schallsea, I had already read somewhere else in the Dragonlance saga. There's both Citadel of Light and The Silver Stair that describes this place, but I still liked it.
Don Perrin wrote some very boring articles I think. The best of his stories was that about the Urkhan, which was fairly interesting because you got to know how the Tractor Worms(Uops) breed!! The worst was that one about the origins of aflicted kender which I found quite boring.

Overall, this book was okay. Some of the stories was interesting and entertaining, but I still find myself not liking these kinds of books. They feel a little halfbaked, because it isn't an anthology neither a general book. There's no characters that you could possible come to love in a book like this, so in a way i', glad that it is the last in this series.

Average customer rating:

The Action Continues

Deep Trek DELIVERS!

Guts Galore

Great Story

Deep Trek (Earthblood #2) (Earthblood, No 2)
James Axler
Manufacturer: Gold Eagle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Men's Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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Aurora Quest (Earthblood #3) (Earthblood, No 3)

Earth Blood (Earthblood #1)

Outlanders: Sargasso Plunder

Dragoneye (Outlanders #22)

Uluru Destiny (Outlanders)

ASIN: 0373638086

Customer Reviews:

The Action Continues.......2004-07-19

Jim Hilton and the survivors of the Aquila are back in part two of the trilogy by Laurence James (author of the early Deathlands books).

The cast is assembled in a California ghost town looking to contact the general in charge of the old space mission and now a possible new hope in a world where the plant life has been ravaged by a red cancer termed Earthblood.

Contact is made briefly followed by disaster. The survivors again split up in hopes of meeting later; this time in Muir Woods north of San Francisco. All they know is that Zellig has some sort of base and it is somewhere to the North. During their travels we begin to learn more about the bad guys: The Hunters of the Sun.

Action abounds and cliffhangers pop out at almost every turn. Ammunition still seems to never run out and there is still no mention of bows. But still, the book is about action and hope and survival and that is just what it delivers. Reads like the middle book in a trilogy with plenty of development and travel but little resolution (that should be in the final book).

If you like the early Deathlands books you will probably like this trilogy as well.

Deep Trek DELIVERS!.......2002-09-07

This trilogy is a must read for high-octan action/adventure fans!
I have all of this author's novels and this trilogy is a good stand alone tribute to his awesome ability to take us on a grand adventure that only hollywood dreams about.
I have read these novels a couple of times and will again I'm sure.
Check out his DEATHLANDS series and his SURVIVAL 2000 trilogy under the name of James McPhee. AWESOME!

Guts Galore.......2000-07-05

This was a great book, it was a great addition to the first, o though, I never read the first because I could not get my hands on a copy, I totally understood what happened in the first...this book is very action packed, and I loved the way the author described the guns, and the shots along with the hits, and all the blood, it was so tight, I recammend this book to all who love adventure, it keeps the pages turning.

Great Story.......2000-02-23

Great Story and second novel in the trilogy. I wish he would have written more. The crew of the AURORA continue their quest for normal lives after Earthblood.

Aurora Quest (Earthblood #3) (Earthblood, No 3)

Average customer rating:

The Final Showdown
If you like futuristic adventure - here it is!
Similar to the Deathlands Series, definitely worth your time

Aurora Quest (Earthblood #3) (Earthblood, No 3)
James Axler
Manufacturer: Gold Eagle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Men's Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0373638094

Customer Reviews:

The Final Showdown.......2004-07-21

The third and final book of Laurence James's Earthblood trilogy. Earthblood, popular name for a plant cancer, has left the world devastated. Slowly it looks like the virus may have burned itself out and green is just starting to return.

In this devastated world the reigns of power have been seized by to forces. General Zelig and his Aurora base represent the forces of good. The Hunters of the Sun represent a more repressive future. In the middle are Jim Hilton and survivors of the Aquila, a deep space vessel.

In this final book the survivors have united and are pushing to find Aurora. Zelig and the Hunters are looking for Hilton. All is leading to a final showdown that will decide the fate of the country.

Nice action, plenty of cliffhangers and twists and a few answers tie up the series nicely. The series could have easily continued but it ended with the final confrontation. Some may think the ending is a little vague but I think that was because of the possibility of later books. But the story is not hurt by it. Fans of Deathlands will be sure to like this one.

If you like futuristic adventure - here it is!.......1999-08-02

This is the 3rd of the trilogy and is a good read, but the buildup to the conclusion fell short I'm afraid. The ultimate goal was really never shown or told well, but the trilogy was entertaining overall and worth the read.

Similar to the Deathlands Series, definitely worth your time.......1997-01-15

Auroura Quest, the third and final to the EarthBlood series, is one of the best books I have read. I did not read the other two EarthBlood books, but because of superb writing and story-telling genius, I understood the plot of the story. Just like Deathlands, you can pick up anywhere in the story and catch on to the story quickly. Mr. Axler is not a well-known author, but a fantastic one. His mammoth knowledge is incredible. He researches everything and brings something futuristic and makes it seem truly existent. I highly recommend this book and as well as anything by James Axler

Average customer rating:

Return to a Devestated Planet
A 1st in a trilogy of high adventure!
I love the book. It was like Conan, Tarzan and Stra Trek

Earth Blood (Earthblood #1)
James Axler
Manufacturer: Gold Eagle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Men's Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0373638078

Customer Reviews:

Return to a Devestated Planet.......2004-07-16

The Aquila and its crew return to Earth after a two-year mission in space. As they awake from cold sleep they realize that there are problems with their ship that Mission Control should have taken care of. Trying to reach Mission Control gets no response. Then they notice that the green areas of Earth are now red. Mission Control or not, they have to land.

After most of the crew survive the landing, they discover that the world is a much different place. A plant cancer has been used as a bio weapon and all of the Earth's crops have been affected. With no food growing, global population plummeted.

The crew finds a message from their old general mentioning a contingency plan and a meeting date in a California ghost town. With some time to spare, the crew splits up to try and find pieces of their old lives before returning to the meeting place at the end of the book.

Written by Laurence James (author of the first thirty-odd Deathlands books), this is an interesting tale of survival and discovery in a devastated, but possibly healing, world. Much of the action is performed off-stage but there is still plenty in the book. Many of the usual pitfalls of such fiction abound such as everyone seems to be good at wasting ammunition and no one seems to have figured out the long-term advantages of bows.

Still, a pretty good tale with an interesting plot full of surprises and cliff hangers. There are only three books in this series (Deep Trek and Aurora Quest being the others).

A 1st in a trilogy of high adventure!.......1999-08-02

This was a very unboring book. If you like high adventure reading this one is for you. The action is lacking compared to his other novels but it still keeps you wanting more. Go for it.

I love the book. It was like Conan, Tarzan and Stra Trek.......1998-04-01

The book were very well done. Yet I like the way gave the charactors unique personalities. The faith in god and their ethnics and principles. I really thought their love for their familiesand the faith in God were excellent.END

Average customer rating:

Fun Space Adventure
Would make a great movie
The archetypical Space Opera novel
Epic adventure drowned in senseless violence
A Book for a Lifetime

Earthblood
Keith Laumer
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

All 4-for-3 Deals | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0671720600

Customer Reviews:

Fun Space Adventure.......2006-06-06

Earthblood (1966) by Keith Laumer and Rosel George Brown - 311 pages - rating: 7.0/10

A boy is born to foster parents in the slum of a far away planet and yearns to discover his roots.

This cross galaxy space adventure has weird creatures, mutant human pirates, space battles and lots of fighting. I like the gritty unpolished feel of the narrative. At times it feels like a book written for a younger audience and yet at others the violence and gore is clearly meant for older readers.

The sensibilities are unusual and one wonders at some of the authors' plot choices. But while its apparent that the authors do not necessarily give you the good feeling of everything working out well for the hero all the time the result does have a more realistic and less fairytale feel. Some people may not like this approach.

There were periods where I loved this book and others when I felt myself just waiting for it to get good again. Perhaps this can be explained by the fact it was written by 2 authors.

Overall a good, but not great space opera.

Claus Kellermann
2006 June 5
Sci_Fi_Researcher@yahoo.com

Would make a great movie.......2002-09-18

I read this many years ago a a teenager, I felt that it spoke to the yearning that many of us have to "do" something important with our lives. Over the years I have revisited this book several times until, during a move, it was lost.
Looking this book after a space of about 20 years I can more easily see its flaws (ethnocentrism), but in spite of that I believe that if anything this was an honest attempt to tell a good story.
This is one story that is begging to be made into a movie, I hope that someday it is and that the focus is maintained and the special effects are done as well as they can be with today's technology.

The archetypical Space Opera novel.......2001-10-27

As with many other reviewers, I first read this book when it came out (I still have my SF Book Club edition) and re-read it every few years. It is as perfect an example of the 'space opera' genre as you could ask for: a tragic and somewhat flawed main character with a mysterious origin, driven to find what happened to the now-vanished Terran empire. One reviewer here (Steve Duff) criticized it as brutal and violent; I suggest he go read some biographies of Alexander the Great.

Again, as with others, echoes of this book stay with me. The child Roan growing up among aliens and Terran hybrids and struggling to hold his own. His joining, of all things, an interstellar circus, and then a crew of interstellar pirates. Searching for Terra, the homeworld, and what he finds there. And all along the way, making mistakes, hurting those who love him the most, and suffering bittersweet loss.

A great read, and one that will stay with you, too.

Epic adventure drowned in senseless violence.......2001-05-22

I first read this book at the age of 13. Before I was 20 I'd read it 14 times. Now, at 42, I've read it again, and my opinion has changed greatly. This novel has many things right with it but oh so many things wrong.

Unusually for a science fiction novel, it starts before the main character is born. The book is wildly colorful and bathed in blood from the very beginning, as Roan Cornay's future parents are attacked shortly after purchasing him as an embryo. After birth, Roan begins to learn of his unique heritage as a Terran, member of a race which once ruled the galaxy until they were challenged by the powerful Niss. The war between the Terrans and Niss ended, seemingly, in mutual destruction 5,000 years earlier, and now Terrans are rare in the galaxy.

Roan grows up in poverty among many races of aliens on a dirty, backwater world. Logical problems manifest themselves immediately, as the book begins to play on its theme of human superiority by showing us species with limited abilities, primarily lacking the capacity for creative thought and relying instead on pre-programmed instinct. Unfortunately, the point is carried to ludicrous extremes with a species called Gracyls (actually, the name for a species of crow) who, despite an ability to fly, cling to trees in blind panic when attacked by lumbering saurians. Laumer and Brown obviously gave little thought to the process of Darwinian evolution. On our world, even the stupidest flying insects fly away when attacked. In the Laumer and Brown universe, winged beings with written language and technology have failed to manage this instinctive response. So much for the science in this science fiction novel.

Rosel George Brown was a female writer who came late to the field of letters. Keith Laumer was a devotee of Raymond Chandler novels and aped his style. However, the melding of the two writers produced a hyper-macho tale with zero feminine edge. The style is brash and the plot soon decomes drowned in a sea of brutality.

When Roan is a teenager, he's kidnapped by a traveling space circus. This is probably the best extended sequence in the book. The beings are colorful and credit must be given to Laumer and Brown for doing good work on the backstories of various characters. The character of Iron Robert is especially compelling.

Laumer's affinity for the Chandleresque tough-guy style gives this book a meaner edge than any other sf adventure I've read, and in many ways a more believable one. The novel is driven by the passions of even relatively minor characters such as the angry Itch. This gives the book a certain gut-level realism that's refreshing in the often plot-oriented world of sf.

Roan Cornay proves to be a tremendous brawler. Unlike most other sf heroes, Roan is willing to go to any length, however vicious, to win a fight. He doesn't merely beat his opponents, he mangles, disfigures and cripples them. Indeed, he's something of a sociopath.

We can commend the bravery Laumer and Brown showed in creating such a flawed character. Roan, driven by the anger and violence within him, makes many mistakes and senselessly kills several people.

Roan is captured by space pirates who raid the circus. This eventually leads to a scene on the planet Aldo Cerise which, in my view, is the single most beautiful passage in the book. However, it also has its share of logic flaws.

As the book rushes towards its conclusion, the level of violence and illogical plot twists rises. Death loses its dramatic impact. Situations and plot twists become more contrived and unbelievable, and almost always result in someone (often many someones) being killed. The violence, the macho posturing and platitudes, become wearying. Also wearying is all the lunkhead tough-guy dialog.

This is unfortunate. While it's true that "Earthblood" is entirely lacking in speculative rigor and instead intensifies the shopworn elements of space opera, it's also true that the scope of this book exceeds that of any other space opera I've encountered. This novel could have been a masterpiece if handled with more restraint, if it had been allowed greater length so as to avoid the rushed feeling of its conclusion, and if the characterization had been more nuanced. It would have been better without silly 'love at first sight' disease. It would have been better if...

There are too many ifs. In the end this is a very flawed book. In many ways it's a fairly dumb novel, a comic-book novel. The final scene is practically imbecilic. From my own experience, I'd say it's a great novel to read when you're a teenager. It would also make a fantastic movie. Older readers will want to think twice about this one.

Finally, I wanted to rate this book two-and-a-half stars, but that wasn't available, so for the sake of sentiment I went with a higher rating.

A Book for a Lifetime.......2000-08-23

Like other reviewers, I first read this book in my teens in the late 60's. It immediately clicked with me and I've reread the book at least once every five years since.

We don't know what's happened to humanity, but its legacy is a proud one. And embryos with human genes are prized above all others. Roan is 'purchased' as an embryo, brought to term and raised by his adopted parents, and spends his life seeking his roots. His trials and adventures appeal to teenagers and teenagers-at-heart with questions of 'Who am I?', 'Where did I come from?', 'Why am I different from everyone else?', 'What makes me unique?'.

Roan's parents bankrupt themselves for the opportunity to purchase a son that may actually be human. As a boy living a poor, integrated neighborhood (with all forms of aliens), Roan experiences poverty, prejudice, fear, and dreams for a better life. A traveling, galactic circus gives Roan a chance to experience a new life, where friendship, love, loyalty, and competition give him a chance to develop and forge new relationships while exploring the possibilities of his heritage.

After a pirate attack on the circus, Roan learns to exercise some control over his environment and to become a leader. Roan ultimately traces his lineage back to Terra, where he acts to replace the decadent descendents of humanity with a race that will one day reclaim its place in determining the destiny of the galaxy.

Average customer rating:
EARTHBLOOD

Manufacturer: DELL
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000I8U1NK

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Earthblood
Keith Laumers
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HSGIMO

Average customer rating:
Earthblood
J. Kisner
Manufacturer: Zebra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0821732374

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Earthblood
Keith and Brown, Rosel George Laumer
Manufacturer: Berkley Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J2DSLM

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Earthblood
Keith Laumer , and Rosel George Brown
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GRGJX4

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Earthblood
Keith Laumer
Manufacturer: DOUBLEDAY & CO INC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCG5DO

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Masterful Meadmaker

instructional

The Complete Meadmaker

A book the Mead maker ought to have in their library

Title is Accurate

The Compleat Meadmaker : Home Production of Honey Wine From Your First Batch to Award-winning Fruit and Herb Variations
Ken Schramm
Manufacturer: Brewers Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Spirits | Drinks & Beverages | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Wine | Drinks & Beverages | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books | Buying Guides | Cellars | Champagne | Collecting | Food & Wine | Wine & Winemaking
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0937381802

Book Description

Mead (honey wine) is the new buzz among beverage hobbyists as more and more consumers start to make their own. This up-to-date title tells the novice how to begin and the experienced brewer or winemaker how to succeed in this newest of the beverage arts.

Customer Reviews:

Masterful Meadmaker.......2007-01-05

This is THE book to have if you want make the magical elixer of Mead. Ken Shramm deftly show you how easy and wonderfull this amazingly complex beverage is to make and enjoy.

instructional.......2006-03-22

Was hoping for more recipes but gave plenty of information to formulate my own. It did explain all the basic information plus some extra

The Complete Meadmaker.......2006-01-29

Great book , full of everything to get you started making mead, and more. I am so happy that I bought this book, can't wait for the results.

A book the Mead maker ought to have in their library.......2005-11-29

I've gotten several beer brewing books from Amazon and decided to get this book on Mead because I like honey and wanted to learn something about making mead with it. I'd always heard about mead and was curious about it but if you're expecting a lot of recipes this book probably isn't for you.
Mr. Schramm puts out a lot of information on the history, styles of meads, the science and ingredients. I'm not sure if it has enough information to go out and brew the stuff (I'm still reading the book and have never tried to brew anything)if you're a complete novice but it might do it. When Mr. Schramm titled the book complete he meant just that, only 2 or 3 recipes in the first 158 pages- the rest of it covering anything else you'd need or want to know (there is a 9 page recipe section late in the book).
I liked the section on honey and other suppliers, 13 pages long and 9 of them cover mail order honey suppliers, the rest are for spices and other equipment.
I may never get around to making Mead but if I do I'll be glad I've got this book.

Title is Accurate.......2005-11-18

I have been been making homemade fruit wines for several years. I have read many books on wine making, and beer brewing. Yet in this mead book, I learned new things about wine making and the process I had not come across before. The book is holistic in its approach to understanding the brewing process, specifically with mead.

What is especially helpful is the author's command of the scientific understandings, that he relates in layman's terms. Portions read like an episode of "Good Eats" on the Food Network. This is a good thing.

As to the specifics of mead, I cannot imagine a more thorough book. To the qualities of varietal honies, to the methods for determining balance in adding fruits, spices, or grains, no stone is left unturned. Yet the book does not read like a textbook, I enjoyed it as a read, not just a reference.

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