Bond Reviews

It's unclear why two people who clearly loathe James Bond would bother to write a book about the legendary spy. My only guess is that this book was commissioned by Vin Diesel to kill off James Bond and clear the way for more movies in the XXX series, the gen-X James Bond wannabe. Andy Lane and Paul Simpson have almost nothing kind to say about any of the films. For example, the description of every film's credit sequence is in a section called "cringe-worthy title sequence." This is strange considering that the millions of Bond fans around the world love the title sequences, one of the most sacred components of the 007 formula. (Yet the authors praised the witless title sequence from the dull Never Say Never Again, which seemed straight from a television film). Another section for each film is entitled "Mistakes Can Be Fatal," in which the authors try to be clever and witty by exposing errors, but instead only demonstrate they don't have a clue about logic and continuity. For example, they state that in GoldenEye it's illogical for a dam to be in the mountains (?!). Well, I live in the mountains, and there's a dam nearby. Worse, the book provides little behind-the-scenes information; most information about the films can be gleaned from imdb.com or a DVD cover, or just watching the movie. I feel sorry for anyone who reads this book. I pity even more the authors, who clearly wasted a lot of their time, which would have perhaps been better spent playing bocce ball or pitching a Remo Williams sequel.

Unfortunately I can not recommend this book. I used to welcome books about James Bond because they were far and few to be found in the world of publishing. This book falls into the plethora of recent publications about Ian Fleming's creation. Being part of that trend this book carries the stigma of glaring inaccuracies when it tackles Ian Fleming's written word. Many authors do not do their homework and the research into the actual words that Fleming put to paper. Fleming's sublime knowledge into the world of espionage, esoteric life styles and curiosity pieces is something analogous to the riddle of the Sphinx because in many instances the reader either misunderstands Fleming's prose or the reader just glosses over his words totally oblivious to the intent Fleming implied. Hell's belle's.

What can I say? This is one of the best books ever written about James Bond. It tackles every single medium Bond has appeared in, from Ian Flemming's novels to the unwatchable series James Bond Jr. There's plenty of behind the scenes info and some best (No, I expect you to die) and worst (I'll buy you a delecatessen in stainless steel) lines. There's even a comprehensive list of flubs for each book and film. Overall, a must-buy for anyone who loves Bond.

This book's jacket promises "The Latest Instruments, Portfolio Strategies, and Valuation Analysis." A pretty tall order which, not surprisingly, this book does not deliver, in my humble opinion.

I found the analytical sections particularly incomplete and essentially unusable.

Convertible securities combine the appeal of simplicity with the opportunity for serious quantitative analysis. When this book deals with the simple ideas, it does ok. When it ventures into quant-land, I found the short-comings unbearable.

I am sorry to have such a negative opinion. Perhaps other, more enlightened, readers will find redeeming attributes in this book that excaped me.

The table of contents and size of this book suggests a real winner, perhaps even a Graham & Dodd treatment of the convertibles arena. The wonder is how such a long-winded tome can leave the convertibles student so wanting. The book's problem is probably the author's conflicted intentions: "Do I want my readers to go out and find some nice convertible bonds, or do I want them to pay me to go find them some nice convertible bonds?" Guess who gets short shrift?

The introduction to convertibles section is reasonably well written. But the analysis and strategy sections of the book are suspiciously hazy. I say " suspiciously " because the book's author delivers just enough information so one might be comfortable handing over portfolio management to the author's investment management firm, but not nearly enough to implement a portfolio for oneself. Even Calamos' simple price model is insufficiently described.

Thus, after a windy, winding road of nearly 400 pages, CONVERTIBLE SECURITIES reads as a mediocre introduction to convertibles imbedded within an advertisement for the Calamos firm (for which I had to pay $65!).

Upon reading this book I realized what I was missing from my portfolio. Investing in convertible over the past 3 years has enabled me to keep my head above water since the market peaked back in 2000. My portfolio was only down 4% in 2001 and 5% in 2002 because of the addition of converts.

If you've read any number of books on investing, you know they can be tedious. But this book is relatively crisp and to the point. When the details of a subject are beyond the scope of a 200 page read, the book says so. If you are doing anything related to bond investing (even programming!) you should get started with this book.

As a person studying for the Series 7 examination, this document was extremely helpful in understanding the test preparation material. Other people may say there are errors in the document, well, if that is true, then the test-prep books, and the test itself is wrong.

This is a good book people. It can tell you lots of things. Its only downside is that it needs more numerical examples and more mathematical examples to show the concepts behind yield to mature data.

I found this book to be very helpful in understaning this topic. I would recommend it to people new to the industry as a good starting point to learn about the bond market.

I have read a few of Gardner's Bond books and have liked them as escapist fare, but this book is poorly plotted and the relationship between Bond and "Flicka"(?)was insipid. Can you imagine a James Bond who is called a ...well let's just say the phrase was so inappropriate for Bond that I felt like I was reading James Bond by way of Beavis and Butthead. Weak.

Bond is set against a serial killer who is assasinating celebrities in this thriller. Bond's love interest is probably the best one he's had in a novel of movie since Ian Fleming's novels.

Great story! Endearing and great escapism at its best! ***** Loved this a lot! fantastic scenes and great ending! Loved this to the max! High explosive! Octane excitement! Bond stays Irrisistable! Great plotting by a master!

I like this book alot. The vampires were not the main focus but rather how an awakened world might deal with them...[T]he good guys were more than easy to spot as where the bad guys. Doctor Wake was cool. I loved the mad scientist thing. I like doctor Pakow who had inner struggles. I do want to know more about Martin de Vries though. How come he got to keep his soul? Or did he? Rachels transformation from stripper to shadowrunner was done excellently. I have read better books but this is not shabby by any means. Also, you may want to read the Dragon Heart trilogy it was even better.

This is one of the most interesting SR books I have have read.It is a bit more violent than the others, but it is an excellent read.You really don't have to be a fan of vampires or SR to truly enjoythis novel. Be patient as you read the intro, but then be prepared for action.

I thought this book was excellent. It's got all the necessaryelements for a great Shadowrun book: Good characters, good story, andgreat action. And it is Dark. Sometimes very dark. Without spoiling it, things don't always go well for the runners, and certain plot developments actually shocked me. Good to read a shadowrun book where the characters aren't always invincible and bulletproof. Up there next to 2xS and Fade to Black. This is an excellent read for someone with a passion for the darker side of Shadowrun.

Another disappointing James Bond novel by John Gardner. Unfulfilling from beginning to end. About the only Bond book of his worth checking out is Icebreaker.

After reading Ian Fleming's Bond Books and Raymond Benson's novelizations of the movies, this almost top it all. SPECTRE is brought back into play after almost 30 years of absence. Gardner does an exquisite job of re-creating Ian Fleming's style. Plus a great twist at the ending. This should be a movie.
The only problem was the SAAB, who drives a Saab?

This book is without a doubt Gardner's finest work. SPECTRE has returned under the leadership of Nena Blofeld. Markus Bismaquer is a formidable villian and Cedar Leiter shines as a bond girl. What can anyone find wrong with this book? It is a masterpiece!

Win, Lose or Die doesn't give the reader much at all. Look elsewhere for a good read, which should be Icebreaker if you're set on a James Bond book by John Gardner. That's one of the few of his that's worth a look.

Why do most of John Gardner's James Bond novels seem like screenplays? I think that is what was always missing from his writings. Because they were similar to screenplays they read like movie scripts, not novels. It just leaves the reader so uninvolved. Detail and flavor for the settings are always noticeably absent from his Bond novels. This one is no exception. I suppose we all lose!

Like the other reviewers here, I don't much care for John Gardner's James Bond novels. Gardner just doesn't seem to be in touch with Ian Fleming's classic character or the special world Fleming created for him. The only reason I am reading Gardner's Bonds is that I want to read those by Raymond Benson...

However, although it gets off to a slow start, I would have to say that (so far) "Win, Lose or Die" is arguably a highlight of the Gardner books. It is also the only one that I feel could actually work as a Bond film. The characters are a bit more respectable than most of Gardner's creations, especially his usual cookie-cutter villains. The book also carries some of the wonderful, sinister, almost supernatural imagery that Fleming was so fond of, portraying Bond and the other characters as players in a strange spiritual plane that seems to stretch beyond Earthly bonds.

Now, if only Gardner could have learned to do away with all those...one-liners he has Bond spout after he does something. This is supposed to be Fleming's Bond, not Roger Moore's. Furthermore, the book continues to slip with the horrid scenes in which Bond interacts with M and Bill Tanner. In Fleming's books, M was a man of few words, and when he said something, it was to the point and deadly serious. Unfortunately, Gardner again sinks to the level of having Bond and M trade barbs, if you will. Fleming's Bond would NEVER smart off to his boss the way Gardner's does.

However, once you get past the tepid first third of the novel, the narrative really picks up. This book actually has enough high points to outweigh the low points. The section where Bond is used as bait at the Italian villa is almost up to Fleming's speed. And the climax aboard the hijacked carrier is absolutely spellbinding.

"Win, Lose or Die" is one of the few Gardner Bonds that those of us "Fleming purists" can get through without rolling our eyes darn near every page.

I usually like every James Bond book that comes out, especially when they are complete with information on both the films and the novels. However, this book left me both shaken, stirred, and just plain mad. First off, I want to know how this book got published. I have been trying to sell my ideas for books about Bond for years and have been slapped with court threats. However, this book contains spelling errors, incorrect facts about both the films and books, and it is just a bad read. The pictures are bad too, when they are there. The way the format is was not great and I would have liked to see more than just a listing of crew, which looks like they ripped off part of Steven Jay Rubin's 007 Encyclopedia to get. Is this book official? No. Should Bond fans buy it? Only the die-hard collectors like me. However, it is not in my display case.

I recently purchased this book and found that most of the information is correct. Whoever edited the book did a lousy job (these people should learn how to spell S-C-A-R-A-M-A-N-G-A). Also, a few facts are totally fictitious. In one part, it lists all of the automobiles driven by Bond in films. It doesen't even mention that Bond drove his Aston Martin to M:I-6 headquarters in Tommorow Never Dies. After skimming through the book, the thought crossed my mind that these guys might not have even seen all of the Bond films.

I am a serious fan of the Bond films, and enjoy any written works on the topic. But what set this book apart besides its marvelous detail, was that it also paid homage to the novels, which, thanks to the preponderance of the movie industry, one may not even know about! I knew that Ian Fleming had written books, but had no idea that there is an ongoing series of Bond novels, including some recent and current ones that are not even in movie form. At least not yet. Further, the thumbnail sketches included in this book about each novel let me know that they, and not just the movies, are exciting and worthwhile.

Thanks to this book, I have discovered a whole new Bond interest/outlet. In fact, I immediately went out and bought four of the recent Bond novels for my library, have read three, and plan to acquire all of them over time.

Bond fans should not miss this book!

This book only touches the important subjects on the surface. This book is not good for someone who seriously wants to learn tomcat. It does not discuss most important parts in detail except for the installation.

For me, it was a waste of money and I had to buy a another book called Mastering Tomcat Development, which is a great book for beginners and experienced tomcat users.

This book provides a lot of overly simplistic examples, and does not provide any explanations of how to get anything done. For example: instead of describing in detail what is involved in setting up a server, this book provides instructions without explanations for setting up a specific example - leaving the reader wondering how to adapt these instructions to different situations (beyond your basic 'hello world' example).

The book is too high level to be useful for a developer or admin. I tried using it to get up and running with a new project, but honestly got absolutely nothing useful out it.

I think this is a very good book.

Some who wrote in were expecting A and got B. A lot of books on the computer field are long on theory and short on practice. Tomcat Kick Start is more of the reverse, shorter on theory and longer in practice. This can frustrate someone who is expecting a lot more theory.

One of the commenter's says, "Basically, this book tries to demonstrate how to develop enterprise applications on pretty weak examples, and this does not help you learn how to do these tasks in a generic manner." I disagree with this comment, many people do learn by example. Lots of people don't like to wait and read and read and read, then try something... I think the Tomcat Kickstart appeals to the impatient. And the simplicity of the examples encourages users to try things. I think this is a great way to get going quickly.

I too was foolish enough to think that "Being a Pagan' today was a new work. Unfortunately, as stated by the other reviewers, it is simply a republication under a new title of a book that seemed pertinent and timely in 1996 but now seems outdated and a bit tired. Perhaps the authors could have updated the interviews, as is the title should have been "Being a Pagan in 1996". Many of the interviews are interesting and the book is well put together...

Ms. Hopman and Mr. Bond gave us a very memorable view of the pagan world in their book "People of the Earth: The New Pagans Speak Out".  Published in 1995, it was a look at a time in the early 90's from the point of view of some of the members of that pagan culture.  It was a look at those who comprised the pagan community at that time.  Draw from interviews done around 1993 and 1994, many of which were done at the Starwood Festival in New York State, they were insightful and gave a picture of what paganism was at that time, at that place.
"Being a Pagan" is the re-release of this book.  New title but the same material right down to the graphics and photos. 
While some of you may not have had the opportunity to obtain the first book "People of the Earth", which is now out of print, this is an opportunity to obtain a new copy.
Those of you who already have "People of the Earth" may want to bypass this, as it really does not contain any relevant new material.
While this may be a wonderful look at the world of paganism in the early 90's, the pagan community has changed so much in the last ten years.  This book now serves as a small window of history about an event and a time in the early pagan culture. 
It's a shame that the cover does not mention this is a release of the older book.  I've noticed many people upset by that fact and I feel it should have been made very clear on the front cover.  The book is supposed to be "revised" but I was hard pressed to find any obvious revisions. Otherwise, it is a book worth having for its look at the pagan culture at that time.

Dear readers:
Thank you for your interest in this revised and updated version of the book formerly known as "People Of The Earth - The New Pagans Speak Out". I understand that the change of title may have caused some confusion.
It is very common for books to be updated and re-released
with a new title. In this case it was done to help clarify the books contents.
The new version has an
expanded and updated resource section and updated bios. The resource section
is a unique and comprehensive overview of the services, groups, publications and activities of Pagans today.
There has already been a greater interest in the book due to the clearer title. Stores
that ignored it before (because they hadn't a clue what it was about) are now
ordering it because of the "P" word. This is ultimately a benefit to all of
us as our beautiful religion is getting out there and becoming more widely understood.
I sincerely hope that you will enjoy this updated version and will share it with your friends.
Blessings of Stone, Earth, Water, Sea, Fire, Sun, Wind and Sky.
Ellen Evert Hopman (co-author)