Subjects:  1. 356-323 B.C   2. Alexander,   3. Ancient - Greece   4. Ancient - Rome   5. Ancient Greece - History   6. Biography   7. Generals   8. Greece   9. Historical - General   10. History   11. History - General History   12. History: World   13. the Great,   

Customer Reviews (14)

5 stars for software building 3 for architecture
This is the book that set the whole software patterns movement in motion. It's a great read. It made me realize how the builder blew it when they made my house. One small design change, the house is 1 ft too narrow makes it impossible to put a screen door on the front door. It made them build a extra platform which causes people to fall down into the living room.

On the other hand, if I was building a building I'd use his visualization techniques before I drew plans. But I wouldn't use this technique to actually construct a building. It would triple the cost. (The essence is to build it as you need it.)

On the other hand he explains why swiss barns look "alike" without the need for a design review committee. (Or barns in general.)

As for software, Design patterns give programmers a way to talk about problems and solutions without talking about code. Its a great idea and I use software patterns all the time. (Get the GOF book for actual software patterns.) Read this one to understand how they came onto this idea.

this book blew me away
I bought this book because i am about to build a house. Coincidentally, i am also a senior software engineer and very familiar with design patterns in my field - i use them every day. They work very well for programming computers.

This book, however, literally takes the concept of living patterns to architecture, and, by extension of the act of creation, to life itself.

At the same time as being a great philosophical read, it's also a handy guide to building a house. Bonus points for the author: The book can be read in 15 minutes (reading the "detailed table of contents"), in one hour (reading only the headlines), or in the full. These modes of reading the book come from the author's emphasis of the whole over the parts, e.g. the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

I am not entirely sure that, as the author promises, i will now be able to go and build a house, without drawing a plan... but that this idealistic goal is in practice hard to attain does not make the incredibly deep insights in this book any less true or any less practical.

Like another reader said - the book changed the way i think about... everything!

Patterns as described in this book are far more refined than anything we use in computer science, and that he sees them in a much broader light. The central grandiose idea is the one of complete interconnectedness of the patterns - the whole, which is more than the sum of its parts.

The Etymology of Software Architecture
I found this book so mesmerizing that I read it twice. During the first pass, I was surprised that the book was so philosophical and poetic in describing architecture. I expected something more technical. Later during the second pass, my goal was to find derivatives and analogies in software architecture. Based on what I found, I think every software architect would enjoy this book.

The writing style that I noticed in my first read of the book made me feel like I was reading an architecture bible. I hesitate to describe the book as religious, but the book's description "the power to make buildings beautiful lies in each of us already" and the description of the word "alive" giving architecture "the quality without a name" triggered an epiphany when recalling that the Bible says "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." and, "So God created man in his own image." This is why I'd say this book has a primal, sacred aspect, and this is why we like to build. Additionally, the book especially moved me so my mind's eye was opened to see "alive" patterns and to think about the morphology of architecture filling voids and generating towns.

On the second pass of reading, I was struck by this software architecture analogy in the table of contents: "16. Once we have understood how to discover individual patterns which are alive, we may then make a language for ourselves for any building task we face. The structure of the language is created by the network of connections among individual patterns: and the language lives, or not, as a totality, to the degree these patterns form a whole." Could this be the guidebook for designing enterprise software architecture?

Obviously this book was the inspiration for the philosophy and vocabulary for software architecture, and I thought some of the following excerpts were noteworthy paradigm shifts.

"The patterns are not just patterns of relationships, but patterns of relationships among other smaller patterns, which themselves have still other patterns hooking them together---and we see finally, that the world is entirely made of all these interhooking, interlocking nonmaterial patterns." This sounds like the difference between patterns of software architecture and object-oriented software design patterns.

"Each pattern is a three-part rule, which expresses a relation between a certain context, a problem, and a solution." Deja vu for software patterns.

"You may be afraid that the design won't work if you take just one pattern at a time...There is no reason to be timid...The order of the language will make sure that it is possible." Likewise in software architecture design, as one design pattern is considered at a time to see how it fits needs into the large picture of design. If this pattern is later deemed to be dead, it can be replaced by an "alive" design pattern.

"Next, several acts of building, each one done to repair and magnify the product of the previous acts, will slowly generate a larger and more complex whole than any single act can generate." This correlates to software refactoring.

"It is essential, therefore, that the builder build only from rough drawings: and that he carry out the detailed patterns from the drawings according to the processes given by the pattern language in his mind." When I read this, I thought about the metaphor to the software architect's vision and design. The software architect's design needs to be abstract enough to accommodate change easily, but yet simple enough so software programmers can understand it, finish the detailed component design and build the component to fit the architectural whole. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture   2. Design & Drafting   3. Pattern perception   4. Planning   5. Study & Teaching   

Customer Reviews (1)

A good introduction to petrologic processes
I used this text in my petrology course, and I really enjoyed it. Some parts are quite dry, but the descriptions of real-world rocks, such as the Skaergaard intrusion in Greenland, are very interesting. I think this book is superior to any other introductory petrology text out there. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Earth Sciences - Geology   2. Nature / Field Guide Books   3. Rocks & Minerals   4. Rocks, Igneous   5. Science   6. Science/Mathematics   

Subjects:  1. Botswana   2. Fiction   3. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective   4. Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths   5. Mystery/Suspense   6. No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency   7. No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Imaginary organization)   8. Ramotswe, Precious (Fictitious   9. Ramotswe, Precious (Fictitious character)   10. Women private investigators   11. Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths   

Poised against the sky like fantastic giant birds, the bridges and buildings of Santiago Calatrava possess a breathtaking grace and rhythm. Some--including the Milwaukee Art Museum and the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain--are designed to expand and contract like living organisms. In Santiago Calatrava: The Complete Works, Alexander Tzonis portrays the Spanish architect as a unique blend of artist and engineer. Using analogy as a creative tool, Calatrava has filled notebooks with bold sketches of lunging and leaping human bodies that mutate into arcing roof forms and bridge suspensions. At the same time--as the author of a doctoral thesis about how to design frame structures that can open and close--he has invented new systems that combine efficiency and stability with the elegance of a brilliant mathematical solution. Tzonis, an architecture professor whose writing is a model of clarity, leads the general reader through the intricacies of Calatrava's solutions for folding frames and new kinds of curved surfaces. Vastly superior in its depth of analysis to Philip Jodidio's Santiago Calatrava, Tzonis's authoritative text is accompanied by hundreds of glorious large-scale images of the work by numerous photographers. The book opens with a photo anthology of Calatrava's greatest works and then follows the development of his vision from 1979 to his 2004 design for the World Trade Center Transportation Hub. At the beginning of his career, Calatrava designed a roof that looks like a flying machine from the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci. Tzonis writes that the concept was "a personal manifesto of what architecture could be: innovative, optimistic, rational, and playful." Conceived a mere eight years later, the Alamillo Bridge in Seville became an instant landmark. A towering, dramatically back-angled pylon supports 13 pairs of cables as deftly as if they were strings on a harp, pushing notions of tension and stability to a thrilling new extreme. --Cathy Curtis ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture   2. Individual Architect   3. Architecture / Individual Architect   

Customer Reviews (8)

Of Myth and Men
The most amazing thing that about this book is that Arrian somehow managed to rescue the man from the legend, the god from the myth and the story from the soothsayers. He intended to write a factual history of the great leader but by necessity was forced to rely on word of mouth, old stories, past recollections and hardly any authoritative manuscripts.

Considering what he had to work with, the outcome is simply amazing. Like Thucydides, Herodotus and Livy, his goal was to write a factual work that was to have been definitive...and it was. The campaigns are given much attention as well as the character of Alexander. For a more scholarly and literary work I recommend Robin Lane Fox and his biography of Alexander - just stupendous.

Amazing Book!
This book is a PRIMARY SOURCE that is great for any student. An ancient work that has great deatails. It is actually interesting to read, even if you just use it for school. If you want more information on this book, feel free to e-mail me at Silvermouse51@aol.com. I will try to respond to your e-mail as soon as possible. Again, buy this book if you're doing a project on Alexander the Great! It's the absolute best you can ever buy!

Alexander the (Great?) - yeah, I think they're right.
This book is ok. I gave it a five because it seem to give an accurate account on what was going on back then(except for the number of the troops that died on Alexander's side). I, also, liked it because it's partially exciting, even though it starts to get boring past the middle.

But, buy it if you're looking for something exciting and/or to get an idea of how Alexander fought and commanded during his reign of (12 years,I think).

But, I have to say again, it may be the most accurate because this book has been extant for probably 2000 years and people are still looking at it. But, if there are doubts, the notes or Arrian let you know when accounts differ or are wrong.

That's it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 356-323 B.C   2. Alexander the Great   3. Alexander,   4. Ancient - Greece   5. Early works to 1800   6. History - General History   7. History: World   8. the Great,   9. Alexander   10. Ancient Greece   11. Campaigns   12. European history: BCE to c 500 CE   

Customer Reviews (8)

This Book Simply Lands Jobs!
Great book gives you all the insider information that you need to get the job of your dreams. I am in the final interview process with the regional manager and couldn't be happier. I loved the book and used all of the knowledge from it to get by my first 5 interviews with a breeze. Great book, low price, can't beat it. Thanks Lisa for all the help!

Great Book & Even Greater Service
Prior to reading this book I felt I had a very good idea of what landing a pharmaceutical job would take. After reading the book I quickly realized that I may have been giving myself a bit too much credit. The Manger Surveys, sample interview questions, brag book suggestions, and follow-up chapters are the one's I found most informative. This book definitely taught me techniques that will help me stand out from the crowd both before and after securing an interview.

The service provided by Lisa Alexander and her staff have also been excellent. I have e-mailed Lisa and her staff approximately four times since completing the book and have received a reply within 24 hours every time. The questions she has answered and tips she has offered me via e-mail alone are worth the $29.95 I paid for the book.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone that is serious about entering the Pharmaceutical Sales Industry.

Excellent Book & Even Better Service
Prior to reading this book I felt I had a very good idea of what landing a pharmaceutical job would take. After reading the book I quickly realized that I may have been giving myself a bit too much credit. The Manger Surveys, sample interview questions, brag book suggestions, and follow-up chapters are the one's I found most informative. This book definitely taught me techniques that will help me stand out from the crowd both before and after securing an interview.

The service provided by Lisa Alexander and her staff have also been excellent. I have e-mailed Lisa and her staff approximately four times since completing the book and have received a reply within 24 hours every time. The questions she has answered and tips she has offered me via e-mail alone are worth the $29.95 I paid for the book.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone that is serious about entering the Pharmaceutical Sales Industry. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Business & Economics   2. Career/Job   3. Careers - General   4. Careers - Job Hunting   5. Careers - Resumes   6. Pharmaceutical industry   7. Sales & Selling   8. Medical   9. Employment interviewing   10. Vocational Guidance   11. Pharmacology   

Customer Reviews (106)

The ending of the Prydan Chronocles
The High King is a Newbery award winner in a series of 5 books (The High King is last book in the series). Starting with the mystical and astonishing book The Book of Three, this series builds over time and forces the reader to read these books again after time. The book starts off with Taran, once a cowardly assistant pig keeper. After the other books he develops the skills needed for a warrior, and is now grown up into a majestic character with the other characters met and discovered in the other books. The saddest and dreadful book in the series, the story must end, and main characters that played an important role are enforced in this book, ending the series once and for all. This book is the final attack made towards the Death Lord, and seals the paths for epilogues, but leaves room for the past to be revealed. The series read together make a great connection towards each other, and answers all unanswered questions that remain in the readers' head. This adventure plots all the characters from previous journeys, and makes a perilous excursion for the fantasy readers. Just like any series, what happens in the past controls the future. This book, read with the series or alone, provides adventure for any age. The fantasy based book implanted on the fundamentals of a welsh legend shows how people can react sometimes, or how much their customs make notice in front of intelligence and common sense.

Beautiful conclusion to an excellent series

I've loved Lloyd Alexander's classic series ever since I read "The Book of Three" in elemantary school. A well-chosen Christmas gift from my parents ensured that I got my hands on the next four books, concluding with "The High King".

One of the strengths of this series is that the characters learn and grow from one book to the next; it's great to see Taran from "The Book of Three", who reminds me rather of myself at that age (*grin*) grow up to take the responsibilities he has earned by the end of "The High King".

Alexander's use of Welsh mythology is excellent and for the most part right on target, though Arawn isn't quite as malevolent a figure in myth as he is in the Chronicles of Prydain, and the Gwydion of the Mabinogion is as much a trickster as he is a hero. (This isn't really a criticism; these are books for children, and I know that making Arawn and Gwydion more ambiguous characters would have confused me when I was younger.) The Triple Goddess, the people of Twylyth Teg, the people of Llyr--they're all here, forming a seamless and very real-feeling backdrop to the main characters' adventures.

Older readers may be interested in checking out the Mabinogion, the main body of Welsh myth that has survived the ages, after finishing this series. Gwyn Thomas and Kevin Crossley-Holland's "Tales from the Mabinogion" is an excellent edition to try, with beautiful illustrations.

Overall, the Chronicles of Prydain remain among my favorite stories, with "The High King" the best of the lot. I highly recommend them.

I'm waiting for this to become a movie...
Others have summed up how good this book, and indeed, the whole Chronicles of Pyrdain series is -- I heartily agree. What I would like to see is the series translated into film. It would be marvelous -- kind of like a combination of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Literature - Classics / Contemporary   2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)   3. Classics   4. Fairy tales   5. Juvenile Fiction   6. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic   7. Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic   

Subjects:  1. College stories   2. College teachers   3. Fiction   4. Fiction - General   5. General   6. Humorous   7. Humorous fiction   8. Philologists   9. Fiction / General   

Customer Reviews (4)

Limited, but good for tourists
Very small, both size and number of pages, so it fits in your pocket. It offers a very limited set of phrases, geared to the tourist seeking help with finding their way around. If you are looking to actually learn Portuguese, you may want to pass on this book. At $1.95 it would be a nice pocket phrase book for tourists to Brasil.

Save Your Money
Sadly, everyone using this book as a pronunciation guide will show themselves a "tourist" within about two syllables. The authors' pronunciations are closer to Spanish than they are to Portuguese. I lived in the Sao Paulo area for a year, and my wife and daughter are both native Brasilians (no spelling error; they spell it with an "s", not a "z"). The pronunciations used by these authors are akin to a deaf-mute person judging American Idol competition! For example, most of the time, the letters "r' and "rr"are pronounced like "h"! They are very seldom "trilled", as the authors claim. The words Rebecca and Marriot, are pronounced "Hey-BEK-kuh" and "MAH-he-yo". The word "desculpe" (I'm sorry) is a word they mispronounce AND misuse! The "d" is almost always "dj" blend. Thus, "desculpe" is pronounced "djes-COOL-puh". The correct phrase for "excuse me" (such as getting past someone blocking a door) is "Com licença", pron: "KONE leh-SEN-suh", NOT "desculpe" You will also hear this shortened to just "licença" Then there are the "t"s, which are almost always pronounced like "tch", as in "itch" Even "th" gets pronounced "tch". For example, Beth is pronounced "Betch". Portuguese and Spanish have many similarities, but they ARE DIFFERENT! If you want to practice PORTUGUESE, get a good English-Portuguese / Portuguese-English dictionary. The Collins-Gem dictionary is a good one; it served me well while I lived and worked there. It still serves me whenever I go back because my in-laws speak no English at all. Don't waste your money on this book. One important thing more: the word "obrigado" is spoken ONLY by males. Females will say "obrigada", with an "a" on the end, not an "o".

PRICELESS!
A must have for any visit to Brazil. I travelled to southern Brazil in April. It was my first trip to a portuguese speaking nation. I thought my many years of spanish would get me through(Big mistake!!). This phrase book was with me all the time. It became as essential as my toothbrush. It really saved the day for me. It's also very compact in size and easy to carry on your person.. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Conversation and phrase books   2. English   3. Foreign Language - Dictionaries / Phrase Books   4. Portuguese   5. Portuguese language   6. Foreign Language Study / General   

Customer Reviews (2)

A terrific review for the ABSITE
I read this book and my in-training exam score went up by over sixty points. It's not exactly a quick read at over 500 pages, but it's very readable and it contains all the information covered in the ABSITE exam. I highly recommend it as a review book for surgery residents looking to improve their scores.

Intense absite review
This book is the first of its kind to prepare you in total for the Absite examination. This book incorporates basic science with the clinical science in order to allow you to review for the tests in a short text version without having to decipher through large textbooks. It has references to O'leary, the basic science book used during my residency, as well as to other major textbooks. This book seems to cut out the redundency of larger books and includes small facts that they love to ask on the exam. A must for those with weak scores or those looking to gain extra points... who isn't. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Examinations, questions, etc   2. Medical   3. Medical / Nursing   4. Study Guides   5. Surgery   6. Surgery - General   7. Surgical Procedures, Operative   8. methods   

Customer Reviews (1)

Great way to learn some Mobtown history!
This book is a fabulous collection of then and now pictures of Baltimore. Through the photos, you can see the evolution of the city over time. It really paints an interesting picture of how a city changes just like a human being. It's interests change, parts of it get old and fall apart, some things never change, and some only get better with age.

You will learn what used to stand in certain places, and you will learn about the great fire. You will see how the city not only began, but how it has developed, and how it is still developing.

I was given this book when I was first moving to Baltimore, and it helped me to develop a historical appreciation for the city I was about to live in. Now I can take visitors and show them what a building is as well as what it used to be. I also feel like I know Baltimore. Not just its streets, but it's life.

I would recommend this to anyone with a connection to Baltimore. Whether you live here yourself or know someone who does, or maybe you lived here at one time, this is a very great book to give you a different view of Charm City. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Baltimore   2. Baltimore (Md.)   3. Essays   4. Historic sites   5. History   6. History - General History   7. History: American   8. Maryland   9. Photography   10. Pictorial works   11. United States - State & Local - General   12. United States - State & Local   

Customer Reviews (1)

Gets the Job Done
The information is presented in a sequential format and is easily understood until the last couple of paragraphs of each case where the authors give their opinion of the court's ruling. It is difficult to understand what the courts actually decided. I often found myself wishing there would be a simple statement giving the final verdict. It is a good read until the ambiguous verdict, than frustration sets in. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Educational   2. Educational law and legislatio   3. Educational law and legislation   4. General   5. Law   6. Legal Reference / Law Profession   7. Reference   8. School Laws And Legislation   9. United States   10. Law / Educational Law & Legislation   

Customer Reviews (79)

Follow the River is the best survival book I've read.
I've read this book three times and teach it to my twelfth grade English classes. Mary Ingles is an inspiration of the possibilities of endurance of the human spirit. Victim of a brutal Shawnee attack in the summer of 1755 she is force marched from Virginia to Shawnee, Ohio while nine months pregnant giving birth on the trail. She is sold into slavery and taked to the area near Big Bone Lick State Park in Kentucky. Together with an old Dutch woman she escapes and begins a 1,000 mile trek home through unknown and hostile wilderness. In 43 harrowing days she goes from 125 pounds to under 80 pounds as she faces the elements, starvation, wild animals, hostile Indians, implacable nature, and a companion that turns cannibal. The reader shares the agony of the journey with Mary as she must go the final miles on her hands and knees. The most amazing thing about the story is it is true. Like his other historical novels Thom has done his research and he makes the history come alive for his reader.

Determination, focus, and survival against all odds!
The first time I read this wonderfully gripping novel was about 15 years ago, and when I started reading it, I could not put it down. Now, 15 years later, I have had the same experience. It kept me up at night and I found myself in the same state of awe as the first reading.

Mary Draper Ingles was a 23 year old pregnant mother and wife, when the settlement she lived in was invaded by Shawnee Indians. They killed her mother and took Mary, her 2 sons, and her sister-in-law captive, leading them deep into unsettled territory. While on the trek to the Shawnee camp, she gave birth to a daughter.

After being in captivity for months, Mary escaped in the company of an old Dutch woman. Together the two survived a walk of one thousand miles through untamed territory in the beginning of winter w/no food, no warm clothing, no weapons, nothing - except the Ohio River as her guide to "home". Eventually, literally starving to death, the old Dutch companion started seeing Mary as a "meal", and it was Mary's determination and wits that kept her from being Gretel's next meal.

The Shawnee Chieftain, Wildcat, kept Mary's 2 young sons - the youngest died shortly after being seperated from his mother, and the oldest stayed w/the Shawnees for around 13 years, before Mary's husband, Will, finally managed to locate him and get him back. She made the very hard and unimaginable decision to leave her baby daughter w/Otter Girl, for she knew there was no way her baby would survive the trek home. When she finally did get back to civilization, she was unrecognizable, starved, and frozen. This is a remarkable story of determination, focus, drive and strength of character of one 23 year old woman! It is well written and as I read it, I find it very easy to "experience" all she experiences. I am in total awe of this great woman and story of her survival. I HIGHLY recommend it for anyone - for I cannot imagine it not touching the heart of any who read it!

OH, I COULDN'T DO THAT
When reading this book, I would put it down and say out loud OH, I couldn't do that and then I would think, most women are never really challenged to do something so hard that they learn their true character. Modern women are not allowed to be as bold and as fearless and as determined. What are you capable of? Maybe if you are lucky you will find out and it will inspire you to try new things and new adventures and realize your own worth. But in the mean time read this book and know that women can do whatever they put their minds and backs and wills to. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)   2. Fiction - Historical   3. Historical - General   4. Fiction / Historical   

Customer Reviews (41)

Eilonwy has to learn to behave as a lady on the Isle of Mona
The Princess Eilonwy has to go to the Isle of Mona to learn how to behaeve as a young lady. When she arrives she is captured by Achren, an evil enchantress. Her friends, Taran, Assistant Pig-Keeper, Fflewddur Fflam, A bard, Prince Rhun, and Lord Gwydion set out on a mission to rescue her from Achren. This is the third book in the Prydain Chronicals.

A pleasant side adventure in Prydain
The third volume of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, "The Castle of Llyr," is something of a diversion. The action leaves Prydain, and the adventures have less to do with the larger struggle against evil in the wider lands.

That doesn't mean this isn't a fun and humorous book. It is. Consider it something of a side adventure.

One of the great joys of this series is the steady progression from lighthearted children's fantasy to more adult themes and a grimmer tone, allowing the reader to grow along with the characters. What begins as a light fantasy becomes very serious, and it works well. By the end, you feel as if the characters have taken a life's worth of journeys, learning from them as they went.

The five wonderful books in this series feature an interesting cast of characters. Most of the action centers on Taran, a pig keeper destined for great things. Others, including a stereotypical spoiled princess, a crazed Gollum-like creature, and a hapless bard, take part in a series of increasingly epic adventures.

In this volume, the cast find themselves in another kingdom, where Eilonwy is busy learning to be a lady. A conspiracy of sorts appears, and our hapless heroes find themselves caught up in it. They encounter another batch of odd and interesting creatures, including a giant stuck in a cave too small for him and a giant cat, and grapple with corrupt (or simply irritating) nobles. By the end, we have some new and welcome cast members.

While on the surface this volume is not wholly essential for the broader Prydain story, "The Castle of Llyr" advances Taran and Eilonwy's relationship and introduces some characters who will appear again later. The writing is direct and lively throughout, frequently using humor to disarm serious situations, though the pacing is not as perfect as other volumes.

The Prydain Chronicles, including "The Castle of Llyr," are recommended reading for anyone who enjoys fantasy, especially classic children's fantasy. This series is among the best of children's fantasy literature, walking the fine line between being accessible to young readers and being appealing and engaging enough for adults to enjoy.

Wonderful middle volume
Taran has matured a little since the first two books; he's now less eager for a fight and also more aware of his feelings for the Princess Eilonwy. However, she's sent to the Island of Mona, the homeland of her ancestors off the coast of Prydain, to learn about becoming a proper young lady.

Taran escorts her there with the loyal creature Gurgi and the foolish Prince Rhun as company. Once on the island Taran learns that Eilonwy's alleged aunt, Achren, has intentions for Eilonwy's magical powers that would be disastrous for all, and when one of Achren's sinister agents kidnaps the princess Taran leads a rescue mission to save her.

Along the way they meet a harp-fancying cat in the forest and a midget named Glew in a cave, though both cat and midget have become giant-sized from Glew's magical meddlings, and the delays they cause make Eilonwy's plight all the more urgent.

The themes of the book become ever more mature, as Taran sees in Rhun some of himself at a younger age--much to his irritation. And though I missed it as a child, the romantic tension between Achren and Gwydion is very much there (as it is in the first and last book, as well), adding greater nuance to a story in which Taran can't quite express his feelings for Eilonwy the way he'd like her to understand them. Not unlike most people in love, actually.

The locations and plot may suggest that this story is a sideshow from the rest of the books, though the observant won't fail to notice certain characters and plot elements that lead directly up to the conclusion of the series. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Children's 9-12 - Literature - Classics / Contemporary   2. Children: Young Adult (Gr. 7-9)   3. Classics   4. Fantasy   5. Folklore   6. Humorous Stories   7. Juvenile Fiction   8. Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic   9. Wales   10. Juvenile Fiction / Science Fiction, Fantasy, Magic   

Subjects:  1. Design   2. Garden Design   3. Gardening   4. Gardening / Horticulture   5. Gardening/Plants   6. Gardens   7. General   8. Landscape   

Customer Reviews (1)

Love affair with the bungalow
I live in a California Craftsman bungalow and therefore gravitated immediately to this book when I saw it in Builders Booksource in Berkeley, CA. It's absolutely lovely: the story of 75 bungalows in LA, Seattle, Chicago, DC, and Minneapolis. I was surprised that Berkeley wasn't included, but the homes shows epitomize America's love affair with these cozy, well-built structures. Included are features on porches, fireplaces, numerous built-ins, furnishings, landscaping, and interior/exterior decoration. You'll love this book, as I do. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century   2. Architecture   3. Arts and crafts movement   4. Bungalows   5. Decorating - General   6. Design & Construction   7. Do-It-Yourself   8. Domestic   9. History   10. House & Home   11. Influence   12. Interior Design - General   13. Interior decoration   14. U.S. Architecture - General   15. United States   16. Architecture / Domestic   

Customer Reviews (13)

The haunting of Alexander's heirs
Someone described "Funeral Games" to me as "a ghost story", which is the best way I can think of to summarize this story. It is the most affecting, haunting tale I've ever read. Alexander the Great has died; from the moment of his death, the cohesive force that was the Macedonian army is no more, and his generals, wife, and enemies fight for prominence--as well as a young woman unmentioned in Renault's previous novels.

Once again, Renault brings us deep into that time, so deep we can almost see each character before us; her writing is clear, yet layered in its concise, descriptory power. There are no wasted words, anywhere. The dialogue is direct and to the point; this tale is a much faster "read" than "Fire From Heaven" or "The Persian Boy", but the adventures turn grim as the desire to take up Alexander's mantle overcomes nearly everyone he knew, favored, or despised. Although luxuriously buried in the tomb of his beloved Hephaistion, Alexander is an unquiet spirit all through the book. As Perdikkas, Philip Arrhidaios, Demetrius the One-Eyed, Ptolemy, Seleukos, and Kassandros vie for control of Macedonia and the remains of Alexander's empire--and of his legend--a granddaughter of Philip, Eurydike, steps forward to make her own claim for the throne. Too, Roxane and Olympias take their places, one as mother of the dead king, the other as mother to his only living son. Both women have blood on their hands; both women--in fact, nearly all the contestants--meet their end. The only one left standing by the end of the story is the only man who leaves what was Alexander's alone: his half-brother Ptolemy, who takes up the throne at Egypt and pays honor to Alexander there.

There is a brief mention of Bagoas, and his mourning is displayed with a gentle elegance, but neither of Alexander's wives are portrayed favorably. Renault seems to have had a dislike of women in general, particularly ambitious ones. Stateira, Alexander's Persian wife, is shown as a naive victim of Roxane's vindictive jealousy, and Roxane herself is so unpleasant that her fate evokes little besides a sense of justice done at last. Eurydike, the young challenger, is almost patronized by the author. Olympias, who was shown in "Fire From Heaven" as a smothering, damaging mother, is shown behaving in much the same way in "Funeral Games", but her reaction to Alexander's death--and her own--is moving.

Some battle scenes are alluded to; Renault does not linger on gore and violence, probably because she knew that do so would be excessive, as deaths occur in every chapter. This succession war is so bloody that it should come as no surprise that no one of Alexander's family or inner circle holds on to the Macedonian empire. The betrayals and murders are numerous. It is almost as if a curse claims each and every man (and woman) who attempts to follow Alexander to the throne. Perhaps so? It's hard not to wonder when the bodies start piling up, with the survivors being those who chose (for whatever reason) to stay out of the fight.

Finish the book, and the ghost remains with you for days. Mary Renault was a conjurer without peer.

Things fall apart....
...the Center cannot hold. Yeats' immortal words could be a fitting epitaph to the Macedonian empire after Alexander's death. No one could have anticipated Alexander dying so young, and his death left a void it quickly became apparent no one could fill. The army and the empire had been held together solely by one man's dynamism, and when he died, everything fell apart.

"Funeral Games" was Renault's last book, and, fittingly, the subject was the Alexander she was so fascinated with. Coming after "The Persian Boy", which was the best of her Alexander books, "Funeral Games" is a bit of a letdown. For one thing, it's lacking its main protagonist. For another, for some reason I can't fathom, Renault returned to the Latin spellings of many of the Greek and Macedonian names; for instance, Antipatros becomes Antipater. It wasn't necessary and it diminishes the sense of time and place. And thirdly, Renault went back to writing in the third person, as she did in "Fire From Heaven". Part of Renault's magic is that when she writes in the first person, she propels us right into the middle of the action; when she writes in the third person, it's like watching the action through a clear sheet of plate glass. We see it, but we're not part of it.

Furthermore, with Alexander out of the action, the rest of the figures are simply supporting players without a lead. Renault does introduce a couple of new characters; one is the tragic figure of Alexander's mentally retarded half-brother Arridaios, who had a bit walk-on part in "Fire From Heaven", and who conveniently turns up near at hand in Babylon at Alexander's death; the other is a young grand-daughter of Philip named Eurydike, as ambitious as Alexander's mother Olympias but unfortunately lacking her shrewd calculation; she marries Arridaios in a clumsy power play but she's helpless against Olympias's cold-blooded malice. Few of the characters actually engage us; Olympias fascinates us as a figure of pure evil; Perdikkas is exasperating in his wrong-headedness and tunnel vision; Bagoas makes a brief but ultimately frustrating appearance -- we don't see nearly enough of him this time; Roxane starts off as a miniature Olympias but she quickly pales into insignificance next to the real thing (maybe, when she met Olympias, Roxane wisely decided to keep a very low profile), and Eurydike came off as just plain annoying to this reviewer, blundering blindly from one mess to another and seemingly unable think before she acts. The only character who is wholly likeable in this book is Ptolemy, Alexander's half-brother; wise, sensible, realizing from the beginning that no one could take Alexander's place, he hewed to the Greek adage of "nothing too much", bit off no more than he could chew, and turned the satrapy of Egypt into one of the most flourishing kingdoms of the Hellenistic age.

"Funeral Games" would have profited immensely from a first person narrator, one who would have tied the story together; without it, the story jumps back and forth from place to place, and the fragments never achieve a cohesive whole. But it's a fascinating ride through a chaotic period, and Renault's scrupulous research is evident throughout the book. Perhaps it was inevitable that the book, as well as the world he lived in, would be diminished without Alexander.

strong and consistent
As with most of renault's books, the author succeeds in creating a cogent portrait of antiquity with apparent ease, and within this climate paints convincing representations of the more important succesors who warred so terribly in the wake of Alexander's death. There is quite a bit of information available from copies of old texts concerning this period. It is frustratingly patchy, however, and consequently I am surprised at how rigorous Renault's treatment has been. She simplifies somewhat the more obscure politicing between the succesors but never in such a way as to detract from the overall events that took place. As such, one could say that this is a fairly accurate assessment of what occured post 323B.C. I have only one historical quibble. The wars were considerably more unpleasant and personal than the scenarios she describes; and they effected the entire human sphere around them - all of what was then the known world reverberated as the Macedonians started to tear each other apart with unbridled ferocity from the borders of India, through Asia Minor and into the Balkans. It was a very very dark time. Yet in spite of this, and here Renault is unimpeachable, Alexander's memory loomed large over everyone - and why would it not? He had dominated his age more forcefully than any individual human being has ever done before or since. It must be pointed out that the book does not have the same easy narrative flow that her previous Alexander offerings do. But, in a way, this reflects the reality of what happened - While Alexander lived the lives of these protagonists unfolded smoothly and steadily; when he died the pattern became fractured and disjointed. I think that the book's greatest strength is that it treats of a period that is inextricably linked to Alexander, yet nonetheless is often ignored by the scholars, historians and popularisers. The wars of the Diadochi shaped the future of the Western world for some time by laying open the way for the rise of a new power. And that power did eventually come in the form of Rome. Renault is right to have drawn our attention to what became of those that surrounded the youthful king and also correct to show us that they were competent, talented and sometimes brilliant people within their own right. Too often it is assumed that Alexander's success was due exclusively to himself. Whilst this is true in many ways it forgets that he knew that he could always rely upon the immense talents of those around him, which he often did - look at his three top lieutenants and in India on the way down the Indus, and how much trust and confidence he places in them while he is weak from a wound! All in all a fine account of it. What it lacks in grit and scale it makes up for in emphasis and characterisation. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 356-323 B.C   2. Alexander,   3. Death and burial   4. Fiction   5. Fiction - Historical   6. Historical - General   7. Renault, Mary - Prose & Criticism   8. the Great,   9. Fiction / Historical   

Customer Reviews (3)

Good overview
The management of risk in the context of energy or weather is quite different than in other contexts, due to the peculiarities of the data that occurs in energy prices. The high volatility of energy prices can range, as the authors of this book point out, between 50-100% for gas, to 100-500% for electricity. No doubt this kind of volatility, and other properties such as correlations and mean reversion, entails that some different mathematical strategies for modeling energy derivatives be devised. The authors give a good tour of some of these strategies, and anyone interested in energy derivatives will gain a lot of insight into their modeling when reading this book. Due to space constraints, only chapters 5 and 7, which this reviewer considered the most important of the book, will be reviewed here.

In chapter 5 the author presents techniques for energy modeling that go beyond the used of the convenience yield by using forward pricing techniques. The goal is to describe the dynamics of future contract prices that takes into account the correlations with other futures, and not on the price evolution of a single contract. Thus it is the 'forward curve' that is relevant for obtaining a useable model for derivative cash flow. The HJM model is presented as one of these, with changes in the forward curve over a particular time interval represented as a linear combination of random perturbations. For energy markets, each perturbation is specified by a deterministic shape function multiplied by a Gaussian factor. The unobservability of the factors determining the forward curve evolution makes the use of historical data mandatory if the parameters are to be estimated. But lack of sufficient historical data and its nonstationarity complicate this estimation. The authors discuss the Schwartz-Smith multi-factor model as an example of a forward curve dynamics model and give some solutions. They then move on to a model that specifies the dynamics for only the contracts that are actually traded, which in the literature are called 'market models.' The model they actually discuss is a multivariate geometric Brownian motion representation of the forward curve dynamics, where the volatility and drift functions are linear functions of the forward prices. The authors then derive the 'discrete string models', where it is assumed that the number of factors is equal to the number of contracts, and the random factors are governed by ordinary Brownian motion. String models are represented as having the advantage of being able to directly observe the factors in the historical data. The authors apply string models to multi-commodity cases, and discuss an example for monthly forward prices. They show how to match the current forward curve, the option prices, and the correlation structure for this model.

The discussion in chapter 7 revolves around finding better models for the dynamics of power prices that capture the special properties of energy prices, such as mean reversion and seasonality, and the need for stable models. They therefore introduce 'hybrid models', which they claim give a more natural representation of the dynamics of power prices, make use of nonprice forward-looking information, and can take the historical data on power prices and then extend it to information on fuel prices, outages, etc. The construction of these models is based on the use of nonlinear transformations on a collection of random variables. The random variables are essentially the system demand, natural gas and oil price, outages, emission prices, and weather at a particular time. The power price then can be written as a function of the dynamics of these factors, the latter written by the authors in terms of the corresponding tradables. Recognizing that hedging cannot be done on some of these factors, they adjust the power price formula so that the power tradables, i.e. the forwards and option prices, are exactly matched. This matching transformation is chosen so that if the forward contracts and options are priced using the adjusted formula, one recovers the exact current prices. The model, as the authors summarize it, is an attempt to explain the behavior of the tradables in terms of the evolution of the underlying factors and static adjustments to the terminal probability distribution. Historical information on the tradables and spot products is not used to calibrate the model, but it is used to validate the model. The authors distinguish between 'reduced-form' hybrid models, where the transformation is calibrated from the historical prices, and 'fundamental' hybrid models, where the transformation is calibrated from the market structure and is only tested on the historical prices. The authors discuss an example of a reduced-form hybrid model that is heavily parametrized, but has the advantage of using price data more efficiently. The rest of the chapter concentrates on fundamental hybrid models, with the author first discussing how power prices are formed in competitive markets. They consider a typical pool market, with the price determined via auction mechanisms. The authors then try to identify and characterize the underlying random variables that actually affect power prices. The time series for the price of power is written in terms of the demand using a 'bid stack' function. The bid stack function is approximated by a 'generation stack' that is found for a given time by sorting generation units by their generation costs. This approximation is checked by comparing the marginal generation costs generated by the generation stack with the distribution of power prices determined by the time series via the bid stack. There should be agreement in both approaches between the higher order moments. This comparison forms the basis of the authors' hybrid approach to modeling power prices. A transformation is found which relates the marginal generation costs to the distribution of power prices with the requirement that the prices of market instruments used for calibration are matched, and the higher moments are (approximately) preserved. The transformation is not unique, and in fact a family of transformations induced by the multiplication and stack scaling operators can be found.

Excellent subject treatment
Until now there were a handful of papers, precious few books, and mostly inside proprietary models and experience that dealt with the complex subject of power trading and all its flavors. This book provides a nice summary of many of the present issues. The treatment of the subject is somewhat mathematically rigorous, so the book might not be for traders as much as it is for quants or risk managers.

To me, the greatest strength of the book lies in its fairly detailed analysis of what DOESN'T work, i.e. why common models and methods from the financial and other commodity realms can not be successfully grafted onto the energy market without risking significant valuation and cash flow prediction errors. The hybrid model they formulate towards the end of the book is very similar to Skantze and Ilic (2001). The departure from most previous models is that they attempt to use the markets to formulate and calibrate the structure instead of relying too much on past historical price/load data, which without some empirical understanding of the underlying processes, is fraught with danger due to rapidly evolving nature of the power market (or at least once rapidly evolving--it seems to be a little static at the moment).

Some familiarity with the market and stochastic/statistical mathematics is assumed. References to specific topics and more in depth analysis of particular subjects are good. The authors have a grip on real-world trading, risk, and cashflow issues, which makes this a useful reference for just about anyone associated with those aspects of the power market. I recommend it.

excellent book
Extremely well written and right to the point, with the appropriate level of technical detail, Eydeland and Wolyniec's Energy and Power Risk Management is arguably the best book on the subject. A must have for every professional in the industry. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Accounting - General   2. Business & Economics   3. Business / Economics / Finance   4. Business/Economics   5. Energy industries   6. Entrepreneurship   7. Finance   8. Industries - Energy Industries   9. Industries And Trades (Economic Aspects)   10. Investment Analysis   11. Portfolio management   12. Risk   13. United States   14. Business & Economics / Finance   15. Commodities