Eagle Reviews

This is the eight Bill Slider mystery that I have read. I have enjoyed all previous seven books, but this one I found utterly confusing and worse, utterly boring. I found myself not only starting to skim the pages, but actually flipping pages. There were too many characters to keep track of, let alone care about. Harrod-Eagles fared better with her series characters: Slider, Joanna, Atherton, and Sue. They had some relationship issues that were interesting, but since this is a mystery book, I would expect the mystery part to be better than the relationship part.
Only die hard Slider fans should read this one.

We've had to wait close to four years for the latest (Brit) Detective Inspector Bill Slider since "Blood Sinister", so we were delighted to get hold of this hardback and catch up on Slider and love-interest and roommate Joanna; his sidekick Atherton (and his new love interest, Joanna's friend Sue); and the gang at Shepherd's Bush PD. The plot gets going in a hurry as a dead body is discovered in a park; and we're off and running despite a paucity of clues in this entertaining police procedural. It takes an awfully long time and another body or two to head the good guys to the right solution, so the reading gets a little logy at times. Meanwhile, we learn Joanna did take the orchestra job over on the continent, so her live-in relationship with Bill is pretty cold -- phone calls and an occasional visit or two per month is causing its own share of frustrations for our ever so gentle leading man.

Harrod-Eagles is a lovely writer who gets us inside the heads and hearts of our favorite characters. While they busily solve crimes, the leading characters become our friends and companions, and their relationships and affairs matter to us. Their skills at solving murders and other crimes are impressive, and generally the plots satisfy. This one is probably a tad weaker than some other entries in the series, but we do finally find out the status of Joanna and Bill, and Sue and Atherton. In all honesty, this novel will probably appeal to the author's faithful fan club; but read standalone without the previous eight as background, it would probably generate only lukewarm enthusiasm among the average reader. Hopefully now that some of the love-life stuff is resolved, maybe the zip will be back in the tenth entry to be released mid-year 2004. New readers might well just wait.

I love Ms. Harrod-Eagles' Bill Slider. He is one of my favourite Police Detectives out there right now. He's smart, funny and has a droll sense of humour, and he's a genuinely nice guy. But I was disappointed with this book. It was somewhat disjointed and had a loose plot. The reader figures out who the bad guy is practically right away and it's a matter of reading to find out how they manage to get him. And even there we are thwarted because the ending is rushed and we don't actually get the satisfaction of seeing the bad guy nailed with the evidence. Ms. Harrod-Eagles' dry wit and her puns are still excellent though, and I will continue to read this series.

Unlike what a recent reviewer wrote, this novel does not hold a candle to Pressfield's "Gates of Fire." That book is by far the finest historical novel ever written. However, Scarrow's small book is a decent read, keeps you turning pages, and the characters are well crafted and presented. The place Scarrow stumbles is when he uses occasional modern phraseology 2,000 years ago, and a few thread lines don't fully hang together. (The plot and its outcome is also obvious.) If you enjoy ancient history, read it. (I would have given it 3.5 stars if that choice had been available).

Just a quick review. If you love good historical fiction with gripping action, snappy dialogue, great characters and good quality writing, then buy this book. Really. It's the best book about the legions I have ever read, and about the best opening to (what I hope will become a long one) a series. Puts Cornwell into the shade, and the action makes Pressfield look like Peanuts.

One of the big problems in following any series is waiting for the author to get the next novel out. Having read Vagabond I was at a bit of a loose end until I picked up Scarrow's first novel, having browsed these reviews. I'll be honest, while most people are very flattering the negative reviews did put me off a bit, but being something of a Roman nut I thought I'd give it a go. Lucky I did. Scarrow is a first rate writer who can describe a scene as if you were there yourself. Especially when he moves into action sequences where no-one I have ever read can beat him. The characters are wonderfully rounded and play off each other very well; the dialogue flows like the real thing and does not feel stilted in any way. At first, I'll admit to being a little shocked by the graphic use of language and harshness of Roman army life, but then again the heroes are soldiers, not preachers and the immediacy of their language is a real tonic.
One particular aspect that I found impressive, was Scarrow's grasp of the position of the army on the political scene. They were not just there to fight the enemy, the legions decided who would be emperor, and the emperors knew it. Thus the intrigue of the sub-plot fleshes out the representation of life in the Roman army and made this a first rate page-turner.
I'm already reading the second book, The Eagle's Conquest, and I have so say it is even better than this novel; and that, my friends is no small achievement. I have to wonder about the complaints by other reviewers. Scarrow is not out to win a Pulitzer (or whatever they have in the UK). He is writing action adventure, and he does it 'bloody' well. Frankly I'd rather read this kind of book than any of the posturing 'literary' garbage that imposes itself on you from the shelves of bookstores. So ignore the gripes of some of the other reviewers and treat yourself to the huge pleasure of a wonderful new series of novels.

While i was inspired by all of other castaneda books (i have not yet read second ring of power) this one was my least favorite. It did not have any of the great quotes of don Juan Matus or commical actions of Don Genaro, and it was not inspiring. it did have a few interesting parts here and there, but overall was kinda [crummy] compared to his other books

The eagle's gift is the first of the casteneda series that dives the reader into the world of dreaming. Casteneda has evolved from the shaman's apprentice to being the one in charge of the party of sorcerers. His evolution leads him to dreaming practices that build upon the basic abstract cores that are outlined in his earlier books. The dreaming is actually an advanced way to further the apprentices understanding of awareness... always with the purpose of strengthening one's connecting link with intent and building a concentration on the spirit. The connecting link with intent becomes unbending intent which eventually serves as the way to total freedom. The goal is to gain the totality of one's self by nurturing one's awareness through dreaming. The fixation of attention on a solid object in quick gazes ie. to the object and away from the object is one of the preliminary techniques introduced in the eagle's gift.

Carlos Castaneda's "The Eagle's gift" is the best and most important book I have ever read. It makes me sad to read about other people's skepticism which, in my opinion, is dictated solely on the base of prejudice or shallow knowledge on the subject. Those who have met Carlos Castaneda know that there is nothing invented in his books, as strange as it may seem. Unfortunately, when one is confronted with something that does not fit in our dayly reality, we immediately discard it as "fake" or "absurd", so that before giving up to stupidity or bigotry, one should first have a deep knowledge about what he is criticizing. "The Eagle's Gift" opens untapped possibilities for all human beings who have enough courage and are enough open-minded to venture into the magic world that Carlos Castaneda presents us with. This world is a magic realm that we can experience right in our own realities and lives. Finally, because there are no words to express my admiration and gratitude, I will just say that I recommend this book to anyone who wants more from life that just being drift through it.

The beginning of "Eagle-Sage" is quite promising. In the first chapter, Jaryd binds to an eagle, thus fulfilling an ancient prophesy and indicating the mages of the Order will soon go to war. He becomes the new leader of the Order and gathers the mages in the city of Amarid. At first, nobody knows who their enemy will be in the upcoming conflict. The League is still trying to destroy the Order, the Children of the Gods have bought new weapons from Lon-Ser, and a group of "free mages", who serve neither the Order nor the League, are attempting to stir up trouble throughout Tobyn-Ser. Meanwhile, back in Bragor Nal, Melyor has to contend with assassins and a rival sovereign who wants to overthrow her.

It looks like Coe is setting up for a suspenseful finish to his series, but after the first two-hundred pages, the book breaks down. Once the archvillain is revealed, the book loses most of its punch, in part because he turns out to be a weak and poorly-written character, with no apparent personality traits other than a general propensity towards evil. The final four-hundred pages of the book are agonizingly slow (they contain only two action scenes) and developed with almost no skill, as if the author was simply trying to fill up as much space as possible. There are many predictable scenes that should have been omitted. For example, there's one occasion where the head bad guy has Jaryd, Alayna, and several other mages at his mercy, but he decides to leave them alive so that he can taunt them a little longer. Needless to say, this eventually leads to his undoing. How many earlier books and movies have included a scene exactly like this one? Another big problem is the lack of continuity with the earlier books. In "The Outlanders", for instance, Cailin had a vision where she was fighting against a new band of Outlanders, but this event never actually takes place. This sort of mistake suggests that the ending of the series wasn't planned out very carefully. In short, "Eagle-Sage" doesn't even live up to the fairly low standard established by the first two books of the series; I would suggest skipping this one.

I was disappointed in the author Coe's character development for the "Eagle Sage". Marar, rival leader to Melyor, is crafty and ingenious one moment, and then a complete idiot in the next scene. The free-mage Tammen and her bumbling cohorts seem way too venal, gullible, and downright dumb to have survived to become adult mages. Lastly, bringing Sartol back from the dead, more powerful than he ever was alive, seemed a bit hokey to me. Sartol's rise and fall from power in this book appeared to be made up as it went along.

I think Coe should have developed a logic to his system of magic that the reader could grasp. Though the main protagonist Jaryd believes that magecraft is a gift from the gods, the overall stupidity of many of the mages leads the reader to think that the ability is a random genetic fluke of some sort.

I gave this book 3 stars because it is 600+ pages, but keeps the reader enertained and turning the pages right to the end-- despite it's shortcomings.

There is one thing that you will not like about this book. It will have you wanting MORE at the end. I do not mean that the story is lacking by any means, though. I mean that you will want to know what happens next to the characters and hear more of their stories.

This is actually two books in one. Half of it takes place in Tobyn Ser revolving around Jaryd and the other half in Lon Ser revolving around Meylor. I found it very amazing how Coe seemed to change the characters (there is a ten year period between the happenings in the first book and the third) while keeping them the same. Coe's ability to tell a story is one of the best. You will not get bored or recieve any filler all the while being on they edge of your seat. I had trouble putting this book down and though it is not so in depth as many other fantasy series, it is fun if nothing else. Definately read this series.

I've been in a Joanna Trollope phase lately, having read "Other People's Children" and "Best of Friends" and loving them both. This earlier title did not appeal to me as much, although I enjoyed it more towards the end of the story. The other two titles seemed simpler and yet somehow more complete and less contrived. Perhaps its just the growth of the author's talents.

It did seem a bit much that suddenly, after living as the rector's wife for so many years, Anna was both fed up with her life and attracting the attention of multiple men. She barely interacted with Patrick, the rich city man who decides he's mad about her.

However, I did enjoy the descriptions of English country life and applauded Anna's meager attempts to break the ties that bound her. The fury over her taking a job at a supermarket is priceless. One of Trollope's strongest suits is the way all of her character's actions affect their entire families. As in life, all decisions have fallout, and Trollope is a master at making that clear. Not her best, but worth a read.

This is story that keeps you interested -- I was amazed at how well the author captured the story of two people who really didn't know each other -- I have compassion for anyone who has to live in a marriage like this one!

Having read just about all of Joanna Trollope's wonderful books, I have come to regard "The Rector's Wife" as her very best, for so many reasons.

For those of us who have ever felt the despair of knowing that love alone cannot save a marriage; for those of us who have been drawn into a loved-one's depression and cannot break free; and for any mother alive who has had a hurting, unpopular child--this book describes feelings that are impossible to put into words.

Anna Bouverie (yes, I see the parallel to Madame Bovary, but Anna has more soul) is the wife of a village rector. Her life is rigidly circumscribed by the expectations of her husband's parisioners. Thus, it is important that she head certain "rotas" (I love that word; British for "rotations," meaning committee members who take turns doing church chores). It is imperative that she appear impeccable in her clothing, her behavior, her mothering, and just about everything else. This is not easy, as her stolid, dogmatic husband Peter makes such a paltry living that their children have to wear parishioners' second-hand giveaways. In fact, the Bouveries are living in a kind of static hell, although nobody but poor, miserable schoolgirl Flora seems to realize it, and her perceptions are all about being a misfit in her horrid school.

Peter and Anna are sustained by a bright vision of the future: Peter hopes to be named archdeacon, which will change their circumstances considerably. The bitter loss of this hope is the catalyst that eventually destroys Peter--and sets Anna free.

As Peter sinks inexorably into a deep, surly depression, Anna's attempts to reach him, to connect as they did when their marriage was young, are angrily rebuffed. On her own, metaphorically at least, Anna, desperate to remove Flora from the hated school and place her in another where she can thrive, takes a practical step. She gets a job stacking shelves in a supermarket, so she can earn enough money to pay for the new school.

The outraged gossip from a secretly delighted parish (not only is the rector's wife working; but she is placing their child in a Catholic school! Horrors!) Peter's icy, enraged reaction, and Anna's rebirth as a woman form the crux of the rest of the story. Events simply evolve, unstoppable and unpreventable, even as they race to their (...)conclusion.

I love this book. I love the truth of it. I love Trollope's eye for rural British life; I love her characterizations; I love her understated and measured style of writing. If you only read one Joanna Trollope book, make this the one.

The cover alone says it all -- no one in their right mind would punch and defend like that in a real fight! If you want to learn how to defend yourself, find a qualified instructor who knows what he's doing; otherwise, for your own sake, skip this book.

Master Shum is the teacher of my teacher's teacher, and I have had the opportunity to assist two seminars by him. He is a real fighter and a very traditional teacher. This is probably what the other people criticize from the book, the traditional focus. The book is not a self teaching manual, nor a complete guide. The book is useful for whoever is interested in learning about the history and features of Eagle Claw, for the current students and for real students of other Chinese styles. Learning Kung Fu is not as learning other martial arts, Kung Fu has a tradition and Master Shum follows strictly this tradition, therefore the forms are taught the way they were designed, though the real application will vary. The angles and distances in a form are different of an actual fight, as the form is designed to train the reactions, the stances and the timing. Eagle Claw is so subtle, that without a teacher you won't be able to apply it. This book is just a reference, but don't think that without a proper guide you will learn a kung fu system.

The author of this book, Leung Shum, is a true master of Eagle Claw kung fu. He is the inheritor of the style, so the aunthenticity and quality of this book is of the highest standard.
The reviewer who keeps writing the same bad review over and over again obviously knows absolutely nothing about kung fu. He doesn't realize that the techniques in this book are the beginners training techniques of a complex kung fu system, not simple self-defense moves. This reviewer says "the locks are too complicated to use in a real fight". Some of the techniques are complicated, and they require lots of practice. But after they are mastered they can be executed in a split second by a skilled martial artist. This what separates martial arts from self defense; self defense is simple and easy to use, while martial arts are very complex and take many years to master. Marial arts can only be learnt directly from a master, people who think they can read a book and suddenly be able to use the techniques in fighting do not understand martial arts.
The reviewer also says that kung fu is only for looks. It is understandable that someone would say this because the movements in kung fu are often very unsusual, and look as though they have no value as a fighting technique. This is part of the mystery of kung fu, in reality every movement is a powerful fighting technique.

The book is well made and the pictures are of high quality. A person cannot learn kung fu from books, but this book is very good for getting familiar with authentic Eagle Claw, studying the comlicated techniques of this style, and learning the basic priciples of this style. The book also includes the 108 locking techniques of Eagle Claw, which have previously been kept secret for many years. I would recommend this book highly to anyone interested in learning about this style. It is rare that such a distinguished master such as Leung Shum writes a book, most books written on the subject of kung fu are written by unqualified masters.

I am very disappointed with this "book". And I use the term "book" loosely, it is really nothing more than one big commercial for her workshops.

There are people who think that the only way to practice Native American (or any indigenous) spirituality is the traditional way. According to them, Creator and the spirits only listen when they are addressed via rituals established within a tribe-specific context and transmitted unchanged through time. These people will not appreciate Brooke's book (forgetting all the while that most "traditional" Native practices are actually rather recent, at most a couple of hundred yrs old).

What Medicine Eagle is trying to do here is present her experiences and conclusions about the nature of reality and the spirit world. These conclusions are often tentative and one often gets a feeling that her work is still very much in progress. In any case, one can be virtually certain that anyone who writes books about Native American spirituality is either a sincere beginner (who still harbors the illusion that talking about it can be useful) or a shameless exploiter of naive audiences, or both. This book belongs somewhere in between naivete and exploitation. The first part, which deals with her vision quests, is interesting. The second part is a plug for her workshops and is boring.

One chapter I liked was the one on Moshe Feldenkreis. The Westerner tends to be disconnected from his/her body and any spiritual work done under such circumstances can be fruitless or positively dangereous (spirits talk to us through the body and if we are not conscious of the talk, they will tweak the subconscious mind in ways we might not appreciate). Feldenkreis was a true expert in bodymind integration and a combination of his teachings with those of indigenous traditions is a great thing.

Creator has created all of us equal and what (s)he cares about is not the tribe one might belong to but the sincerity of our prayers and a dedication to "save all beings" because all of them are our relations. Spirit has many ways of seeping into our body and expanding our awareness of interconnectedness. Brooke, in this book, shows us her own path towards such awareness. It seems to work for her and maybe it will work for others, too.

Brooke Medicine Eagle is one of the few native medicine teachers that have not been forced by threats of violence to stop teaching non-native peoples. She has consistently through the years been a voice of the rainbow way - joining all peoples together in the celebration and love of Mother Earth. This remarkable book tells of her journey, her visionary call to her work, the long years of training that occurred before she began to teach, and offers many techniques she has found useful in helping promote personal balance on the Earth path. Brooke is one of the remarkable voices of our time - this book offers her voice clear and unfettered. The voice of a contemporary Earth mystic who has been trained in both traditional Native and contemporary healing paths. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I too should write a book like this and jump on the fantasy bandwagon. I know as much as Ken does about Castaneda, his book is a rehash of the Castaneda books and says nothing new. Why pretend you knew Don Juan. The book is full of ego and self importance and is completely opposite to the teachings of Don Juan.

Ken, you're supposed to lose self importance not inflate your ego even more.

The author does a good job of presenting the Toltec path for those who might otherwise struggle with the writings of Carlos Castaneda.

He claims to have met "Don Juan". I won't comment there, perhaps it was a vision, perhaps Castaneda only had a vision. Perhaps Don Juan met a lot of people (I've met a lot of people, why shouldn't he?). The quality of the work stands above and beyond such things.

However, one thing that was a major turn off was that the author changed a lot of the Castaneda terminology so it would be "politically correct". Personally, I think that the term "ranger" sounds pretty dumb. The terms "warrior" and "stalking" reflect and suggest the strong link to death that runs very strong in the Toltec world. Are we really only "tracking" power? Do we just want to see were it has been so a real "stalker" can capture it for us because we're a bit to PC for the job? :P

Why "pretty it up"? This annoying feature couples with what I found to be a bit too much of a "joy joy" New Age and PC perspective. I suppose the author isn't just redoing Castaneda, and offers his own perspective. Frankly, this addition isn't appreciated. What I loved so much about Castaneda was the "no bs" grit of the perspectives offered there. Castaneda kept it real and this author does harm in my opinion by bending the system like he does. I'd rather have seen him simply offer his own view of the Toltec universe without the references to Don Juan or Castaneda and thereby sully them by association. Either you have the ethos to do it on your own or you ought to submit something more in the spirit of those whom you want to represent.

Oh well, otherwise, it's a comprehensive introduction to the world of the Toltec "sorcerers" found in Castaneda's books (my apologies for saying a bad word).

5 stars for a comprehensive and readable job, 1 star for the patronizing PC goop that pervades this book. I'm weighting the content, and simply plugged my nose when I had to, so 4 stars.

Thank you, Ken, for writing this book. It has been one of the most useful books that I have ever read. Next to Castaneda, this book of yours comes to mind as a solid Toltec reference.

I give this book 5 stars, well-deserved.

Nothing profound or new here, but it is interesting and light reading - good for a long distance train ride or any similar trip where you have some time to burn. I found the final section where she talks about her "love," referring to herself in the third person, a bit annoying.

I disagree with an earlier reviewer about the graphic nature of the book, however, I agree with others that the writing leaves much to be desired. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading the book because it was interesting in part and also a fast read.

I was a bit disappointed in the context of this book. It seemed to me that Rosemary Altea was "boasting" of her relations with princess Diana more than she was addressing the realm of her profession. I found it uninspiring and, quite frankly, a publishing blunder. With the popularity of all things spiritual, one would think those responsible for overseeing this project would have enlightened Rosemary to the potential danger of jumping from one subject to another...the pattern of the book is almost nonexistent.

After seeing Rosemary Altea on a talk show. I put this book on reserve from the Library. About 3 months later I finally received a copy to read. I do agree with some of the other reviews. The book was not proofread very well. It was sometimes hard to follow. I found myself reading a sentence over and over again to follow what the author is saying. I was a bit weary about reading this book. Because of my personal Christian beleifs. I was pleased to see there was talk about God, Prayer and Heaven. I am half way through the book and besides the errors in the proofreading itself I find it a interesting topic to read about. Not sure If I believe it all myself but I have been able to pull some good out of it and apply it to my life and lives around me. I am not an avid reader but I do enjoy her writing and stories. I found myself not being able to put it down because I cant wait to see what she says next. I would recommend this book to a person who is having to deal with a loss of a loved one.

Although I am very sympathetic to the fact that Europeans "stole" this country from Native Americans, this social commentary about the heartless "white man" really got to me. It's very rare when I put a book down without finishing it, but I did this one. I kept thinking it would get better, but unfortunately, it didn't.

Yes, I admit, a majority of the books I read are true romances so therefore I'm a bit predjudiced when I say I didn't like this book. Romance is not the main theme here. It is the struggle for Native Americans to receive recognition.

The chemistry between Heather and Kole (who the author can't decide whether to call Kole or Kola) is tepid. They fall in bed almost immediately and everything else is anticlimatic (sorry for the pun). He's got issues with his past, is on the run for a prison break and unfortunately Ms. Eagle gives him the type of dialog that puts you to sleep.

Thank goodness I just got this from the library. I'd hate to think I wasted money purchasing this book.

I like to buy books by authors I've read before. Sometimes this limits my selection, but I'll have a good idea whether the author's style pleases me. The first book by Kathleen Eagle that I read was THE NIGHT REMEMBERS. I loved it and have made a point of buying all her books. YOU NEVER CAN TELL won't disappoint romance readers who are looking for a love story that has a page-turning plot.

Kole and Heather have a lot of road blocks in the way of their love. That's what makes a page turner. I sat up way past midnight reading this one in a single sitting. Kole doesn't seem attractive as a hero at first. He can even seem threatening to Heather, but when she needs him, he's there and the ending is beautiful, perfect. I loved every word!

I have read all of Kathleen Eagle's books and this is one of my favorites. As usual, she writes with a sensitivity that touches my heart in a way few writers are able to do. She is a master when it comes to writing beautiful prose and all of her characters come alive. When I read this story it was as if I was right there on the journey with Kole Kills Crow and Heather Reardon. Being from northern Minnesota, I was especially interested in the setting of this story and thought she did a terrific job depicting this part of the country. This is a beautiful love story I know I will read again and again.