Austin Reviews

Considering that this seems to be the only book in print on Abbey and his works, I'd have to say it is certainly the best of it's kind. I am a fan of Abbey's work, especially his Shakespearean subjects. Unfortunatly, I have been unable to learn much more about him with the expection of this book. It seems, in his day, he was considered an illustrator more than an artist and suffers from the classification in much the way that Norman Rockwell has. It is a shame, because much of his work is very beautiful and yet seems lost, even in this age of information super highway. This book is not so much a biography, as it is a simple chronical of his works relating to Shakespeare. It makes an interesting connection between his work and and the general notions in late 19th century Theatre about how a Shakepearean production should look. Unfortunately it reads very much like a University essay which has tackled a very narrow bit of subject matter. This and a lack of many full color images of Abbey's work is dissapointing, but when it seems to be the only source available, I will be thankful that it, at least, exists.

The author has done a fine job of creating an interesting and believable plot that keeps you wondering "who dun it." I could identify with the main character and care what happened to her and other believable characters in the book.

I have read many of the books written by this author and this is my favorite.

I liked this book very much, although I really think they could have gotten more detailed. I would recommend this book to anyone doing a research project on women inventors. If you read it, you will definately have a better day, and get an 'a' on your project!

I was very critical of the first joint effort by Mr. Cussler and Mr. Kemprecos ("Serpent") because it was subpar by Cussler standards. I also thought he had let himself fall into the "franchise trap", where he stamps his name on books authored by someone else and watches his credibility and reader base suffer. However, I wound up giving Mr. Cussler the benefit of the doubt and read "Blue Gold".

"Blue Gold" is the second novel featuring the NUMA team of Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala. As with the first book, however, one cannot help but continually visualize Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino - the descriptions of the characters are that similar. Oh, there are some minor differences, but they only serve to make you feel that you are reading the adventures of "Pitt Lite" and "Giordino Lite". The Trouts, minor characters spotlighted both here and in "Serpent", are wholly unappealing because they don't bring much to the overall story, other than an excuse to print an extra chapter or two revolving around a chase or escape.

This book is much improved over "Serpent" mostly due to its, shall we say, more judicious use of detail. Whereas "Serpent" was bogged down by mind-numbing, superficial detail, "Blue Gold" is free of most of these anchors. The end result is a story that reads slightly closer to the Cussler adventures we fans are accustomed to, and moves along at a much quicker pace. The plot is average, though the closing sequence is exciting and unique, with an interesting turn of events not typically found in the Dirk Pitt tales.

All in all, the "sophomore" Kurt Austin adventure is an average effort. It is much improved over the first outing in this series, but continues to be vexed by too many similarities in characters and plot. It seems to me that for this series to fly, Mr. Cussler needs to ditch Mr. Kemprecos and just write the stories himself. Also, if he does indeed have this wealth of material for stories, he should have not bothered creating Kurt Austin and stuck with the tried-and-true Dirk Pitt. After all, Cussler claims Pitt to be his "alter ego", and that familiarity has lent itself to great storytelling. Creating a "mirror" alter ego in the persona of Austin has not had the same effect, in my opinion.

I will continue to anticipate and read the Dirk Pitt novels. However, this series has proven to be a general disappointment, and makes me less inclined to shell out a few extra dollars in between Pitt adventures. I hope that Mr. Cussler will realize that he can't keep running with a knockoff version of the character that made him a top-notch author. His reputation will suffer otherwise, and he will quickly find that even lending his name to generate sales won't work the same magic.

An entire pod of whales surface, dead, in the middle of a boat race; they died because they swam in too warm waters ... In the Amazonian jungle, a pair of NUMA scientists (the Trouts) find a dead Indian in a canoe; in his bag lay an array of tools and gadgets far more sophisticated than you would expect ... Thus starts the story that pits Kurk Austin and Joe Zavala against Brynhild Sigurd, a beautiful Scandinavian amazon who, as head of a large multinational corporation, wants control of the world's fresh water supply.

After the fiasco of Serpent, I was very reluctant to get into the NUMA Files again. However, in Blue Gold, Cussler and Kemprecos give Kurt and Joe a life of their own, instead of writing them as being Dirk and Al look-alike. The characters have similarities, but not so much as to distract a Dirk Pitt fan from the story. Plot and subplots link perfectly as in all Cussler novels I have read, and the pace is typical of the previous novels. The difference in personality between Austin and Pitt makes this story standout against the typical formula of a Pitt adventure with refreshing twists and turns. It is not a Dirk Pitt adventure, but I would definitely recommend it to a Dirk Pitt fan (and I am one of them).

A beautiful female scientist has found the secret of a process to produce drinking water from seawater, but the leader of an imperium that controls the world's water supplies wants to get her out of the way. She ends up in the Amazonian jungle, where she is found by two of Kurt's colleagues. In the meantime Kurt and Joe try to solve the death of a group of whales before the coast of Mexico. Soon they find out that their quest is related to that of their colleagues. Their explorations bring them from Mexico to Alaska and then to the shores of Lake Tahoe, where they stop the impending global disaster only a few days before it is due to happen.

Here is your recipe for the 21st century's books by Clive Cussler: replace Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino by Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala, Dirk's love for old cars by Kurt's love for duelling pistols and let the rest of the ingredients be the same: NUMA, the wisecracks, the superhuman efforts, the beautiful ladies and the megalomanic villain that wants to rule the world. Normally speaking such changes irritate me, but Kurt and Joe are so much like Dirk and Al that one hardly notices the difference. And all in all it is just a nice action thriller to read on a warm summer's day (or a long winter night).

One of Ours begins as vintage Cather, you can feel the sun on your face and the soil under your feet. The characters are real and people you know. The troubled protagonist, Claude, is sympathetic. Why not? There's something of him in all of us. Unfortunately, the book falls apart when he enlists as a doughboy and ships to France.

Cather once stated that she experienced everything that ever went into her writing by the time she was 15. Clearly that didn't include the Western Front. The second half of the book, based on her research and interviews with WWI vets, is not her experience and it shows. The events and descriptions are shallow and superficial, and felt more like an outline, without flesh and blood. The book was a disappointment.

Though you begin to realize where this story is headed early in the novel, you are not quite prepared for where it takes you. It is heartbreaking, and Willa Cather does not beat you over the head with that. The story begins in Nebraska- this is where Cather exhibits her best writing in the story. Her description of our hero's lament is sincere in its vaguery. His feeling of entrapment spills over to the reader. Ms. Cather loses some of her magic when he goes off to The Great War. While we imagine that his sense of entrapment in Nebraska is lifted, we never really feel the emotional evolution that we expect he is going through. In addition, the first three quarters of the story contain a complicated familial element to which we never return.

In the end, where we knew we were headed, we long a little bit for the entrapment of our hero's Nebraska, but feel a little bit liberated by his new freedom.

This novel represents the heroic struggle of one individual against farming, social ambition, marriage and war.

Although strong and capable, farming is the worst profession imaginable for this red headed hero. Willa Cather shows every respect for the hard honest life of a Nebraskan farmer, but Claude makes a hard honest fiasco of the farming life. This book is the story of a soul. A strong daring soul that needs to wrestle something bigger than itself (even if it loses). Claude begins by trying to manage his father's farm. When he spends a few years at college, he is shown the world of social ambition, but neither of these experiences set his life on the right path. If you are interested in the dynamics of male/female relationships, Claude's marriage provides plenty of food for thought. Willa Cather chose a very interesting backdrop for her hero when she describes the home front of these two very black sheep.

This book may be the most realistic description of middle-west sentiment during the first world war. It describes the emotions of Americans who volunteered to fight for people they had only met via the black and white media of newspapers. The war becomes a sort of crusade, and Claude feels compelled to answer the call. Willa Cather gives a wise description of the issues, and even expresses the sentiments of honest German farmers in Nebraska. Claude's best friend is from the Bohemian old country, and doesn't quite agree with Claude's choices.

This book has received quite a few reserved reviews. I recommend this book without reservations.

Hawthorne was a complex writer that used big words --oh did he use them often-- to get his message across. He uses symbolism a whole lot. He can write 5 pages about one object or thing. If you're looking for something with fancy language this is THE book to read. If you're looking for a good story this is also a good book to read.

"The Scarlet Letter" is a literary masterpiece that takes place in the Puritan community of 1600's Boston. The title character Hester Prynne commits the ultimate sin of adultery and is punished. Her punishment is fact that she has to wear a big red letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life. So that when anyone asks her, "Oh... what's that on your chest?" She will have to answer. "It is proof that I am a lower being and don't deserve the respect of God or anyone for that matter. Please, kill me where I stand!"

This is a great book that deals with human emotions superbly. The language is beautiful and full of life. The only reason I give this book 4 stars is that some of the modern readers will find the big words a little confusing. This surely is not a high school book even though they read it in high school. You need to be a good reader to appreciate it fully. If you read one page and find it horrid and shrug it off when you have to read it for class, you will never enjoy this great book. Probably because you will never pick it up again and try to read it.

Although "The South Beach Diet" has many more cooking suggestions, this fine novel happens to perfectly complement the process of salad-making.

By reading the title of my reviw, most would probably not believe that I am an 11th grade student who was initially 'forced' to read "The Scarlet Letter" for an assignment. I knew of the book before I read it, and had been interested in it and its plot for some time before, as, for some reason, I'm utterly infatuated by the American Puritan period. I read "The Scarlet Letter" on the day I recieved it, and found it amazing, one of the best books I've read; very true to its title of "classic". They don't write books like this anymore; pity. The "copious style" of Hawthorne is not for everyone, but it certainly was for me; as, being an 'aspiring writer' myself, who loves to explore language, I found the style inspiring with incredibly beautiful discriptives. Some also find the book to be slowly paced, but, then again, what is the pace your teacher is making the class read it at? If they told you to sit down and read it as a normal book, it would pace itself much quicker. The plot is timeless, and a change for those involved with today's plot-driven and bland tales, the language is masterful, the characters thought-out and filled with emotion. I truly enjoyed this book. And, to whoever said the book wasn't 'romantic in any way', they're gravely mistaken, as "The Scarlet Letter" itself was indeed a book of the 'Romantic' period of American lit...

I totally agree with the gentleman from Australia - Kirt is no Dirk.

I am so disappointed in Cusslers new series that I am switching to another author; and yes I am rereading the Dirk and Al series.

I am what you would call a MAJOR Clive Cussler Fan (all I need is a paycheck, and I'd be a Professional...) and I absolutely LOVE the Kurt Austin adventures--ALMOST as much as his counterpart Dirk Pitt. I MUST admit 1-tiny fact: I have enjoyed the last TWO Kurt novels MORE than the most recent Dirk Pitt tale ('Valhalla Rising'). I ALMOST feel dirty admitting that, but c'mon! It's TRUE! For those who continue to persist that Clive puts way MORE into his stories for Dirk than he does for Kurt, well I'm beginning to think othewise. Don't get me wrong, as long as Dirk Pitt lives on the pages of a Clive Cussler novel, he's got at least ONE die-hard reader. He has NEVER let me down. Sure, some novels are better than others, but they are ALL entertaining.

'White Death' is among his better releases (in MY opinion, anyway). I found one thing VERY interesting as I devoured this book: it doesn't contain as much action as the average Dirk Pitt/Kurt Austin novel--which ISN'T to say that the action is absent entirely. On the contrary, there is plenty--just not as much as I have grown accustomed to over the years--and this in NO WAY slows the story one tiny bit. I found 'White Death' to emphasize the plot more than action, which I enjoyed tremendously. There is never ANY doubt who will win in the end here--and as I read on, I found the topic of 'White Death' to be MUCH more entertaining than I would have normally thought possible: A modern evil Eskimo tribe plans to genetically engineer horrific 'Frankenfish' that will decimate the population of certain species of fish in the oceans--while stockpiling these same in 'Fish Farms', monopolizing the supply and making billions in the process. Simple plan, right? Sure--until you factor in a certain Kurt Austin and his trusty sidekick, Joe Zavala (absolute CLONES of Dirk Pitt & Al Giordino). Joe has a more subdued roll in 'White Death' than he has in his previous adventures with Kurt--but when he does make an appearance, it usually involves chases, explosions and even a little sword-play. Along for the ride we have a radical environmental group calles SOS (Sentinels of the Sea) and the dangerous and explosive company bent on total control of genetic fish engineering, Oceanus (a front for our evil Eskimos).

As usual, the beginning of the story takes us back in history, my personal favorite was an undocumented Nazi/Germany ill-fated trip to the North Pole in a massive Zeppelin. There is MUCH to like in the pages of 'White Death' but I HAVE to admit, one particular conversation between Kurt and the leader of the Evil Eskimos had me scratching my head...NOT because it was confusing, but because it seemed forced and almost comical in how the bad guy spoke and declared he was '...the instrument of your (Kurt's) death...', other than that, I truly loved this latest outing with Kurt, Joe, Admiral Sandecker and even an appearance by Rudi Gunn. I now long for another installment featuring Dirk, but I am thrilled that with the introduction of Kurt, I no longer have to wait a full year and a few odd months before I see something new from Cussler...All in all, 'White Death' is FINE brain candy.

Clive Cussler is unequaled, surely unexcelled in the field of eco-thrillers. His real life experiences and gift with words have given new meaning to the action/adventure genre. The fourth in his mesmerizing series The NUMA Files is sure evidence that Cussler is a master at his game.

"Master" might also apply to voice actors James Naughton and Scott Brick who render electrifying readings of "White Death." Naughton has received various honors during his theatrical career, among them are Tony Awards for his performances in Chicago and City of Angels. With film television, radio and stage appearances to his credit Brick is an accomplished veteran of audio book readings.

As readers and listeners of earlier works in this series know hero Kurt Austin heads NUMA's Special Assignments Team. Now, along with his working buddy Joe Zavala, the two have saved a shipload of men. These men were trapped after a head-on between a Danish cruiser and a radical environmental group.

But, true to Cussler's suspenseful form, that's not the end - just the startling beginning as Austin and Zavala discover that a sinister multinational corporation wants control of the seas, and will kill anyone who stands in the way of its total rule. Austin's ship explodes but he survives - just barely. What must he do to make sure that he doesn't become a target again?

This is vintage Cussler which means action at its best.

- Gail Cooke

The book does not have the in-depth coverage that expert SQL users would expect. If you are a beginner then it may suit you just fine. There are not enough nuts and bolts for people like me who really need the complete reference book.

A very good book on Oracle8 administration, performance tuning, backup and recovery. Full of well organized useful information.

I am primarily a Solaris system admin who wants to learn more about the inside of Oracle and what it takes to keep it up and running. The O'Reilly titles were a major disappointment since most of their stuff usually rocks, but let's hope for better 2nd editions on those along with some good tutorial material. The Oracle Press titles are totally disorganized and a major embarassment! David Austin has put together a great book with Using Oracle 8, and if you have to suffer through NT (and thank God I don't), he has plenty of material on Oracle Enterprise Mgr (all of chapter 4). Then he moves on to the nitty gritty, with a Unix-oriented or at least generic "pure Oracle" approach. I have spent two weeks browsing and reading various Oracle books and good choices are hard to find. I strongly recommend Alomari's "Oracle8 and Unix Performance Tuning" as well.

NUMA, the supposedly research-geared government-funded agenyc that has tackled such boring dilemmas as raising the Titanic or otherwise deterring the dreams of many would-be world concquerors, has its share of heroes. Until now, NUMA has been the home-base of adventurer Dirk Pitt, the legendary creation of real-life submarine archaeologist Clive Cussler. Author Paul Kaprecos tries to carry the franchise a little further by adding new heroes to NUMA's roster - Austin and Zavala, but the result is a pale rip-off of a formula that was getting old when handled by Cussler. In this story, as with many of the Pitt-novels, a modern day crisis has roots or some other connection to an age-old mystery. Here, a Mayan artifact, shipped across the Atlantic on the Andrea Doria, goes down when that ship collides with a Swedish luxury liner. Fast-forward a few decades later: an archeological expedition in North Africa is brutally massacred, leaving only one survivor, a supermodel-esque archeologist who barely escapes death when managing to reach a nearby NUMA research ship. Helping out, and then having to confront the assassins themselves on a follow-up raid, Austin and Zavala pick up the pieces and discover a shadowy cabal that stretches from the age of Christopher Columbus to a shadowy southwest American businessman named Halcon. When the trail leads to a ring that smuggles mayan relics out of South America, Zavala and Austin uncover further proof that America's first "discoverers" had crossed the Atlantic ages earlier than Columbus. Through it all, a band of assassins linked to Halcon follows NUMA, indicating that even these age-old relics are important. With its offbeat NUMA charachters (like the obese St. Julien Perlmutter), the heroes put together an impressive theory to account for the presence of non-Mayan relics in Mayan temples, clues that signal an even bigger pay-off down the line.

What kills the book is how thin a story it is, one that will be familiar to anybody who's read the other Cussler novels. The evil Halcon is in turns no more greedy, magalomaniacal and insane than the baddies faced by Dirk Pitt, so his master plan, when revealed, won't exactly come as a surprise. The mystery itself doesn't seem to offer that much appeal. Searching for buries treasure is less NUMA than "Little Rascals" - as say an exotic metal that will power an anti-missile defense ("Raise the Titanic"), a missing nuclear submarine ("Pacific Vortex"), the dommsday bug bacteria ("Vixen") or a treaty that gives Canada to the United States ("Night Probe"). Also, Cussler was better when he put his pieces together - usually a round-up session when the major charachters gather togather and tell what they know, only to have Dirk Pitt put the pieces together in a way that nobody expected. In "Serpent", the mystery involves a "talking stone" whose meaning escaped the Spanish exploerers. Somehow, the rock never becomes more than a mere slab in these pages. The new NUMA novels had an interesting idea - replacing the lone hero with some teamwork and camaraderie. Only, the payoff would have been a more expansive story. Instead, the charachters never become more than fragments of Dirk Pitt, accomplishing together what Pitt would have pulled off alone. Instead, opt for one of Cussler's own Pitt novels.

I don't give it a full five stars,mainly because there are better adventures. It is a hell of a read though!

I have read all of Cussler's novels, and I tought this one was one of the best. People feel they should critizice the writing just because of the new author. Yet I didn't notice anything different about the style of writing nor the characters in the book. The only flaw that I noticed were the actual two characters. I just felt that they were a little too much like Dirk and Al. What I mean is that they were exactly like them in almost every way. It just didn't seem believable to me(not that the story did). But throughout the story Cussler brought up the historical elements which make his books so enticing and unique. The historical background was even more interesting and more researched than his other books which I loved. This was one of Clive Cussler's greatest books yet, and I recommend it to any one.

If you're looking for a sexually and gorily graphic half-story/half-real account of Satanism in a small, rural town, this is the book for you! Meant to shock you at every corner and sometimes going way over the top, this book still gives you an idea (not necessarily factual though) of how Satanism can affect a town. I personally found this book fascinating and difficult to put down, but it also was very tirggering for me. I suppose that's my own fault, being an SRA survivor, I had no business reading this book. But it's a good read. Just as long as you are prepared to read about every disgusting thing that looms here on earth. Recommended with caution. :v)

I found the book to be interesting and informative, but it seemed more like story form than what I expected. It is really sexually graphic, which I found to be a bit much, but all in all the book was interesting.

Judith Spencer's first book on ritual abuse made me afraid, but Satan's High Priest made me cry. This insightful, new book tells the story of occult crime from the viewpoint of the perpetrator. Joseph Warren, operates the local mortuary and the mercantile as well, so he's exceptionally well situated to succeed his father as high priest of the local satanic cult. As we watch his rise to power, the broadening of his sphere of influence and his masterful control over his subjects, both human and demonic, we see a man driven to flee awareness of his own traumatic past, an awareness that could lead to his own healing. Joe Warren never chooses awareness, but he does lose his power to a bigger player, and the latter days of Warren's life are ruled by fear -- the natural fruit of his labors for evil. Then, just when things look darkest, adults Joe abused and trained to do evil as children begin to remember and reach out for help as they embrace the awareness Joe never had. One of them is Joe's own da