Customer Reviews (2)

Warning! Abridged!
The editor says, "The present edition is an attempt to 'let Reid speak for himself.'" Yet he deletes the first two sections of Reid's primary essay and begins with the third! And he continues this practice throughout the work. Unacceptable. Get the whole story in an unabridged edition - Reid is worth reading.

Monotonous Litany of First Principles
Reid is the perfect antidote to Descartes, Berkeley, and Hume. He is also progenitor of ordinary language philosophy and ordinary common sense. The sensible world is restored as a first principle; something that cannot be proven, but all must concede exists. And all perception is veridical. The Inquiry captures all the nuances of the five senses as we ordinarily have come to know them. Ditto, reason, which is the focus of the first Essay. Yes, reason can lead one into infinite regress, especially when it comes to causes and effects, but we necessarily rely on some element of reason (conception, imagination, judgment) to give us bearings in the world. The final Essay is on morality. It is the least interesting, if only because Reid appeals to the "Author of our being" to establish first principles of right and wrong. Even so, humans are endowed naturally with a moral sense so that many of the appeals to God could just as easily be appeals to our endowment by human nature. But the number of his first principles is inordinate.

One of the problems with Reid's entire approach is the number of his first principles. I stopped counting after forty. Somehow that many first principles defeats the whole notion of first principle. Even if I agree with Reid that Descartes' starting point, the thinking self, is the wrong first principle, at least Descartes starts with one first principle and deduces others. Likewise, Berkeley and Hume, one to an idealist conclusion, one to a sceptical conclusion. Reid's approach is manifestly opposite. Since he insists so much of what we are consists of numerous first principles, soon the whole notion of "first principle" loses its meaning. In a sense, to save the rest of ordinary language and common sense philosophy, he must abuse the ordinary notion of "first principle."

Somehow, there needs to be a better balance. Surely, that man is sentient can itself be a first principle, and that man is a rational animal can be another, and from these two, the others can be deduced. Maybe not. That's the predicament of modern philosophy. ... Read more

Book Description
A critically edited text of Thomas Reid's Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man.

Thomas Reid's Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man(1785) is widely recognized by intellectual historians, historians of philosophy, and contemporary philosophers as a major philosophical text. It played a central role in the Scottish Enlightenment, presenting a clear and powerful alternative to David Hume's skepticism. Intellectual Powers continues to inspire and challenge the work of leading epistemologists and moral philosophers today.

This edition makes available, in a scholarly yet accessible manner, not only a critically edited text of the Intellectual Powers but also complete manuscript evidence relating to its composition.

Thomas Reid (1710-96) was born near Aberdeen and educated at Marischal College. His major work, An Inquiry into the Human Mind on the Principles of Common Sense, was published in 1764, the year in which he accepted appointment as Professor of Moral

Philosophy at the University of Glasgow. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent Edition of a Great Work
Reid's philosophy was very influential in the early nineteenth century. Unfortunately, his fame declined. But contemporary analytic philosophers recognize his contribution, and Reid is again very influential. Reid is a philosopher of historical importance and contemporary relevance.
Reid's Inquiry established him as Hume's most brilliant critic. Reid treats Hume's scepticism as a reductio against the theory of ideas, offers some independent objection to the theory, and replaces this theory with a more accurate account of the human mind. Reid's method is characterized by careful empirical observation along with keen philosophical analysis and argument.
I think that Reid's style is more beautiful and engaging than that of any of his predecessors; he writes lucidly, elegantly and with sharp wit. The Inquiry is also shorter than Reid's subsequent masterpiece, "Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man".
However, I think that Reid's Essays are better than the Inquiry; the Essays are better organised and more comprehensive. While the Inquiry is a hint of things to come, it is no replacement for the Essays. I recommend both the Inquiry and the Essays.
This edition of the Inquiry includes a nice introduction, and some manuscript material relating to the Inquiry. I think that the most interesting of the latter is the exchange of letters between Hume and Reid. There are also helpful explanatory and textual notes. Every serious scholar and student of Reid will want this critical edition of the Inquiry.
I also recommend the critical edition of Reid's Essays published in the same series as this volume. Fortunately, unlike the Essays in this series, the Inquiry comes in a relatively cheap paperback edition. I have also posted a review of the edition of the Essays in this series on amazon.com, where I suggest some other editions. But I think that the editions in this series are the best, albeit not the cheapest. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by William Hamilton.This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1872 edition by Maclachlan and Stewart; Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green, Edinburgh; London. ... Read more

Book Description
Nicholas Wolterstorff's comparative analysis of Thomas Reid's epistemology relates Reid's philosophy to present-day epistemological discussions. This timely and relevant volume will be of great interest to historians of philosophy as well as philosophers concerned with epistemology and the philosophy of mind.Hb ISBN (2000): 0-521-79013-1Download Description
The two great philosophical figures at the culminating point of the Enlightenment are Thomas Reid in Scotland and Immanuel Kant in Germany. Reid was by far the most influential across Europe and the United States well into the nineteenth century. Since that time his fame and influence have been eclipsed by his German contemporary. This important book by one of today's leading philosophers of knowledge and religion will do much to reestablish the significance of Reid for philosophy today. Nicholas Wolterstorff has produced the first systematic account of Reid's epistemology. Relating Reid's philosophy to present-day epistemological discussions the author demonstrates how they are at once remarkably timely, relevant, and provocative. No other book both uncovers the deep pattern of Reid's thought and relates it to contemporary philosophical debate. This book should be read by historians of philosophy as well as all philosophers concerned with epistemology and the philosophy of mind. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

An enjoyable introduction to the philosophy of Thomas Reid
This book successfully presents the importance of the work of Thomas Reid to those who are familiar with the Western philosophical tradition, or, as Reid likes to call it, the Way of Ideas.In particular, the explanations of Reid's arguments against the philosophical theses of the British empiricists (Locke, Hume and Berkeley) is particularly well-done, and are helpful in revealing assumptions of their outlooks.See especially the sections on indirect vs. direct perception and the chapter "Reid's Way with the Skeptic."
The only warning that I would issue concerning this book is that the section on the doctrine of common sense may be difficult for those with little background in the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein, especially his "On Certainty," since Wolterstorff explains Reid's doctrine by way of Wittgenstein.However, he does a fairly good job of explaining both, so that this characteristic ought not to be a stumbling block for the sufficiently patient reader. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is available either individually, or as part of the specially-priced Arguments of the Philosphers Collection. ... Read more

Book Description
Widely acknowledged as the principal architect of Scottish common sense philosophy, Thomas Reid is increasingly recognized today as one of the finest philosophers of the eighteenth century.Combining a sophisticated response to the skeptical and idealist views of his day, Reid's thought represents an important alternative to Humean skepticism, Kantian idealism and Cartesian rationalism.This work covers not only his philosophy but his scientific research and extensive historical influence. ... Read more

Book Description
The pervasiveness of Protestant natural law in the early modern period and its significance in the Scottish Enlightenment have long been recognized. This book reveals that Thomas Reid (1710-1796)--the great contemporary of David Hume and Adam Smith--also worked in this tradition. When Reid succeeded Adam Smith as professor of moral philosophy in Glasgow in 1764, he taught a course covering pneumatology, practical ethics, and politics. This section on practical ethics took its starting point from the system of natural law and rights published by Francis Hutcheson. Knud Haakonssen has reconstructed it here for the first time from Reid's manuscript lectures and papers, and it provides a considerable addition to our understanding not only of Reid but also of the thought of the Scottish Enlightenment and of the education system of the time. The present work is a revised version of a work first published by Princeton University Press in 1990, which has long been out o!f print. ... Read more

Product Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1856 edition by David Bogue, London. ... Read more

Book Description
The publication of this volume is testimony to a new wave of international interest in the philosophy of Thomas Reid, one of the greatest philosophers of the eighteenth century. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by William Hamilton.This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1872 edition by Maclachlan and Stewart, Edinburgh. ... Read more

Book Description

Product Description
V sbornik vkljucheny populjarnye proizvedenija izvestnogo anglijskogo pisatelja Tomasa Majn Rida, zahvatyvajuwij sjuzhet kotoryh polon tajn i zagadok, puteshestvij i prikljuchenij.Strannyj vsadnik dvizhetsja v jasnom lunnom svete po nochnoj savanne, navodja uzhas na ee obitatelej. U vsadnika net golovy. Kto on i otkuda vzjalsja? Ljubovno-detektivnyj sjuzhet romana `Vsadnik bez golovy` derzhit chitatelja v naprjazhenii ot pervoj do poslednej stranicy.V romane `V poiskah belogo bizona` rasskazyvaetsja ob udivitel'nyh prikljuchenijah treh mal'chikov-ohotnikov v amerikanskih prerijah, a povest' `V debrjah Borneo` poznakomit s uvlekatel'nym puteshestviem poterpevshih korablekrushenie cherez ostrov Borneo v poiskah spasenija. ... Read more

Book Description
The thesis that the mind cannot directly apprehend features of the physical world - what Reid calls the Way of Ideas - is a staple of Early Modern philosophical tradition. This commitment to the direct awareness of, and only of, mental representations unifies the otherwise divergent philosophical systems of Rationalists and Empiricists. Thomas Reid battles against this thesis on many fronts, in particular over the nature of perception. Ryan Nichols lays the groundwork for Reid's theory of perception by developing Reid's unheralded argument against a representational theory of thought, which Nichols applies to his discussion of the intentionality of perceptual states and Reid's appeal to 'signs'. Reid's efforts to preserve common sense epistemic commitments also lead him to adopt unique theories about our concepts of primary and secondary qualities, and about original and acquired perceptions. About the latter pair, Nichols argues that most perceptual beliefs depend for their justification upon inferences. The Way of Ideas holds that sensations are objects of awareness and that our senses are not robustly unified. Nichols develops Reid's counter-proposals by examining his discussion of the evolutionary purpose of sensations, and the nature of our awareness of sensations, as well as his intriguing affirmative answer to Molyneux's questions.Nichols brings to the writing of this book a consummate knowledge of Reid's texts, published and unpublished, and a keen appreciation for Reid's responses to his predecessors. He frequently reconstructs arguments in premise/conclusion form, thereby clarifying disputes that have frustrated previous Reid scholarship. This clarification, his lively examples, and his plainspoken style make this book especially readable. Reid's theory of perception is by far the most important feature of Reid's philosophical system, and Nichols offers what will be, for a long time to come, the definitive analysis of this theory. ... Read more

Book Description
This book is a critical exposition of Reid's philosophicalanatomy of the self, his moral philosophy and his aesthetics, and isaimed at an advanced undergraduate and graduate readership. Thosefamiliar with Reid scholarship will be only too aware of how littleattention has been paid of late to Reid's accounts of beauty, ofsublimity and aesthetic assessment, compared with his moral philosophyand philosophy of action. One main purpose of this book is to helpremedy this imbalance, if only because of the very considerable impactof Reid's aesthetic thought in nineteenth century France.
Notoriously Reid presents his accounts of moral and aesthetic judgmentas the fruits of a sense of morals and of taste. Accordingly hisposition on the nature of a sense needs to be carefully considered, aswell as his position on the origin of conceptions needed for thedeployment of a sense. The Lehrer-Smith III computationalcomputer model of Reidian faculties is assessed at some length as aserious contribution to this task, especially since its employmentwould seem to presuppose positions at odds with crucial components inReid's account, which is also presented in the book, of the self asthinker, decision-maker and moral agent exercising both active andspeculative power. ... Read more

Book Description
Ever wonder what could bring a demon to the gates of heaven?

Aliisza and Kaanyr Vhok have returned from their attempted invasion of Menzoberranzan and turned their sights on Sundabar. But before she can complete a mission in that beseiged city, Aliisza finds herself in the one place a demon would never want to go, no matter how sure she is of her wits and cunning: the very heart of Celestia!

Join everyone's favorite succubus and her half-fiend boyfriend, introduced in the War of the Spider Queen series, in the first installment of their own exciting new trilogy! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Pretty Bad
Reid's fancily titled book, The Gossamer Plain: The Empryean Odyssey, caught my eye while browsing for new books in the Forgotten Realms section. I was elated that a new series came out as an standalone offshoot from the latest Drizzt's book featuring the villain Kaanyr Vhok. 3 hours later, I finished the book, feeling significantly disappointed and unsatisfied.

The book is split into 2 main arcs, one follows the adventures of Kaanyr Vhok (a convincing and sometimes likable villain turned main protagonist) and the other trails Aliisza, Kaanyr's consort. Both arcs start off as seperate quests and eventually merge together at the end of the book.

The main reason for my initial dislike is that Aliisza's story is so poorly developed, utterly boring, and at times confounding (how she gets from point A to point B) that it is worth skipping over whenever Reid transitions to her. Kaanyr's story is infinitely more interesting yet still suffers from a lack of cohesion. The reader is left grasping at straws trying to understand why Kaanyr goes on this planes-spanning quest. Kaanyr himself comes off as too one-dimensional (always angry/annoyed). The battles in general were poorly conceived albeit thoroughly detailed. In addition, there were not enough supporting characters to flesh out the plot considering how insipid the main characters are at times. You just never get too excited about anything when reading this.

One of the mediocre books in the Forgotten Realms collection. I hope Book 2 can right the series.

Great Story
I loved it! Great history lesson for the realms.

Promising start but some flaws
The Gossamer Plain by Thomas M. Reid is the first book in the Empryean Odyssey trilogy. The second book in this trilogy is titled The Fractured Sky and is scheduled for release in November, 2008, the third book is titled The Crystal Mountain and is scheduled for release sometime in the middle of 2009. Mr. Reid first burst on the Forgotten Realms scene with the second book in the War of the Spider Queen series titled Insurrection. Mr. Reid then went on to pen the Scions of Arrabar trilogy. Those three books are; The Sapphire Crescent, The Ruby Guardian, and The Emerald Scepter. All of the previously mentioned books are very much worth the read in my opinion.

For fans of the War of the Spider Queen series, many will be happy to know that this book continues the tale of two characters.Both Kaanyr Vhok and Aliiszra are featured in this novel. For many, these are two of the more memorable characters. For fans of the WotSQ series, Lisa Smedman has also just started a new trilogy with the first book titled Sacrifice of the Widow and focuses on Hallisstra Melarn.

The plot of this book is a little hard to read at first, however, upon completing it and digesting all the nuggets that Mr. Reid puts out there, this novel seems like it is a set up for larger grander things. One of the main plots is a scheme of Vhok's, don't worry, I won't say what it is (I don't do spoilers), but the plot seems to be large in scale. Another plot involves a situation Aliiszra finds herself in that I am fairly sure will please many fans of the WotSQ series. The main plot of this book (Vhok's plot line) stretches far and encompasses many different places and scenarios. Such as the city of Sundabar, the plain of fire, and the City of Brass. Most of these places are well described with just enough information to give the reader an idea of what the scene looks like, but not enough that it comes off as telling the reader what to see. It's often a fine line, but Mr. Reid toes that line well in this book.

The characters in this book fall into three categories for me. The first category is interesting and imaginative. There are about three characters that fall into this group Vhok is certainly one, another is Myshik, a half hobgoblin with some dragon blood (interesting mix there), and Zasian a human priest of Bane. The second category of characters is supporitive, but just there. In this group I would put Aliiszra and a few others. Nothing against these characters, but they didn't grab me all that much. Personally, I wasn't a big fan of Aliiszra in the WotSQ series either. The last group of characters are the ones I could have done without, or that needed something more to be interesting. The main one in this group is Tauran, whom is an angel of Tyr. To me he had little personality and the scenes he was in were a drag and a couple times I wanted to skip them. He just had little personality and I found little motivation to read about him.

With that said, overall this book is a solid addition to the Forgotten Realms. It almost seemed as though, due to the plot, Mr. Reid was constrained in some way as his normal writing style (at least what I perceive to be his normal style) didn't seem as evident in this book. I did enjoy the further fleshing out of Vhok, he seems to have great potential to become a powerful force in the Realms. The twist at the end of the book was a nice touch as well, and one I certainly didn't see coming.

Some things I would have liked to see changed. The plot seemed to drag, for me, during the scenes when Vhok and Zasian were traversing the plain of fire on their way to the City of Brass. It almost seemed to me like Mr. Reid needed to add a battle or two for word count purposes. Also, as I mentioned before, the scenes with Tauran just felt forced to me and while at times they advanced the Aliiszra plot line, he is a character I could honestly care less about.

I will continue to read this series because I think there is a good story here. If Wizards of the Coast has shackled Mr. Reid with the storyline and plot arc, they should loosen the reins a little and let him work his magic that he is quite able to work. While this novel is not the best offering from Mr. Reid it has a solid plot and one I am sure many fans will enjoy.

Absolutely Wonderful
The best book I've read in forever. A delight to read and never a chore just like a story should be. Both cerebral and filled with action the story is written in a style that makes it easy to grasp. A book like this has been a long time coming with anti-heros that are ever so much interesting and worthy of cheering for. Thomas Reid has gained my #1 author spot with this one book. Recommended fantasy reading, FR fans rejoice.

Outstanding
Great book. Lost of action, humor, and a great story line. This ranks up there with the best I have read from FR. I was a little worried about this book because the last one I read from Reid was from the War of the Spider Queen....a series which I hated especially the last book. This book however is outstanding. Reid did a super job. Reid is right up there with the likes of Richard Baker which makes them the top two writers in FR books. I can't wait for the next book in this series to come out. Reid should be commended for this book. ... Read more

Product Description
With an introduction by E. Hershey Sneath. This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1892 edition by Henry Holt and Company, New York. ... Read more

Book Description

Physical Chemistry is a groundbreaking new book that explains core topics in depth with a focus on basic principles, applications, and modern research. The authors hone in on key concepts and cover them thoroughly and in detail - as opposed to the general, encyclopedic approach other books take. Excessive math formalism is avoided to keep readers focused on the most important concepts and to provide greater clarity. Applications woven throughout each chapter demonstrate to readers how chemical theories are used to solve real-world chemical problems in biology, environmental science, and material science. Extensive coverage of modern research and new developments in the field get readers excited about this dynamic branch of science. Fundamental Concepts of Thermodynamics,Heat, Work, Internal Energy, Enthalpy, and the First Law of Thermodynamics, The Importance of State Functions: Internal Energy and Enthalpy, Thermochemistry, Entropy and the Second and Third Laws of Thermodynamics, Chemical Equilibrium, The Properties of Real Gases, The Relative Stability of Solids, Liquids, and Gases, Ideal and Real Solutions, Electrolyte Solutions, Electrochemical Cells, Batteries, and Fuel Cells, From Classical to Quantum Mechanics, The Schrödinger Equation, The Quantum Mechanical Postulates, Using Quantum Mechanics on Simple Systems, The Particle in the Box and the Real World, Commuting and Noncommuting Operators and the Surprising effects of Entanglement, A Quantum Mechanical Model for the Vibration and Rotation of Molecules, The Vibrational and Rotational Spectroscopy of Diatomic Molecules, The Hydrogen Atom, Multielectron Atoms, Examples of Spectroscopy Involving Atoms, Chemical Bonding in H2+ and H2, Chemical Bonding in Diatomic Molecules, Molecular Shapes and Energy Levels for Polyatomic Molecules, Electronic Spectroscopy, Computational Chemistry, Molecular Symmetry, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Probability, The Boltzmann Distribution, Ensemble and Molecular Partition Functions, Statistical Thermodynamics, Kinetic Theory of Gases, Transport Phenomena, Elementary Chemical Kinetics, Complex Reaction Mechanisms. For all readers interested in learning the core topics of physical chemistry.

Customer Reviews (5)

Difficult Chemistry Made Even Harder
Let me begin by saying - I love chemistry. I love math. I'm a total nerd. But this book turned me off to both. Taking a year of physical chemistry is hard - but this book makes it even harder. This is the first year my professors have used this book, and I think it will be their last.

The key points aren't covered in detail. The math is overly complicated, and the problems don't hit the right points. I don't have a lot of P.Chem textbook knowledge, but there has to be something better out there.

I wouldn't recommend the text at all - but if you buy it, you ABSOLUTELY need the solutions manual.

This book makes Pchem utterly boring
I used this book for my pchem courses and found it to be completely worthless.While it does focus on computational crap that's not very important the first time around.The quantum chapters are pretty poorly done, and well the thermo stuff is just boring.All in all, I found this text to be useless.The derivations include many errors, and often are presented before the text introduces what they're trying to derive thereby further confusing you.You're better off not buying this book, unless you need for class, and buying one of the more used books like Levine's or Macquarrie's.

An excellent book
A modern, clear, and extensive physical chemistry text. It does break tradition with the heavyweights in the field (Atkins, McQuarrie), but does so for good reason: there aren't enough computational background or computer computation applications in the others. Those books do a great job with the theory and mathematics, but this book show's you how to use that mathematics to really understand chemistry. It focuses heavily computational chemistry with actual software and the Spartan Quantum chemistry software that book's authors use is very inexpensive if you buy the student version. As a bonus, this book is the most colorful and well laid-out and edited one available today.

worst book ever
I've used half of the book now. The layout is not very organized. I found the graphical representations useful.

ok, 2nd semester in work. I'd prefer to downgrade this rating to negative 5 if I could. This book has turned into a major disaster. It is so riddled with errors...the derivations are never right. Everytime something doesn't work out right it's because the book is wrong. flat out.

This book gets my strongest disapproval possible. Buying this book is throwing away your money. Thanks engel. Thanks for all those hours lost trying to figure out what mistake I had make working out the derivations in this book only to find the book was wrong all along.

I'm still a little bitter about the false advertising when I got it...re: spartan software student copy that wasn't included.

Physical Chemistry... not bad but not good either....
Thomas Engel's Physical Chemistry is a book full of mistakes as well as stupid problems... The Quantum chemistry part is horribly explained(about 10 chapters). Which makes me think... perhaps the author can not explain the material because he does not understand it. Engel take some more quantum classes or repeat them, and then write a book about a subject you have not mastered. I want my money back. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

Excellent Series as a whole
Great Series!As Forgotten Realms books go this series was a great read.It's nice to see a series cover a different area of the Realms other than the more popular "conflicted" areas.The characters were interesting and the plot and story carried it well enough that the books were a fairly easy read.

A good conclusion
The Emerald Scepter" is the final book of the "Scions of Arrabar" trilogy, set in Chondath. The previous two books had a fantastic and unpredictable plot, supported by a large number of more or less average characters, speaking in terms of development, of course.

This novel picks off just where the last one ended. Reid throws even more twists into the story, keeping the high standard he set in previous installments. The last third-or-so of the book deals with tying loose ends and brings a satisfying end to the whole story.

Reid throws an emphasis on development of his protagonists, maybe something he should've done earlier. Two main characters, Vambran and his sister Emriana, get "fleshed out" only in the third installment of the series. Better ever than never, I guess. Same can be told of the villain, Junce Roundface.

Otherwise, Reid keeps the fast pace we got used to in previous books, combat scenes are compact and short, as are the descriptions of places and characters.

"The Scions of Arrabar" is a good trilogy, truly highlighted by the masterfully woven plot. I give it four stars, the same I give to this book, although the second book was the best of the lot in my opinion.

Check it out.

Yet another great story by Reid
I thoroughly enjoyed the conclusion to the Scions Trilogy. Like his other books, Reid captures the interest of the reader using intrigue, and an ingenious storyline full of deception and plot twists without relying upon spetacular, but short-lived displays of power (Ed Greenwood?). Reid holds our attention to the end.

Ended well
This, the third book in the Scions of Arrabar, was a good book to enjoy on a long flight from Beijing. The characters were well done, but not complete. Maybe it was just me. oVer all, liked it and would recommend it.

Good fantasy.

If you like books like this one, might I suggest another I've recently come across. The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. It's another fantasy adventure sure to please. I highly recommend it.

Reid finishes well
The Emerald Scepter is the final book in the Scions of Arrabar Trilogy, but you wouldn't be able to tell from reading it! It seems to me that Trilogys and many of the standalones just won't let you walk away with a solid ending ( which is fine, but sometimes I wish for one)

I enjoyed the story as it 'obviously' carried over from book two, but had to check back ( in both books as I read them ) to understand what was going on. I never really 'felt' for many of the characters ( Especially not the main, Vambrin ) except for Emriana and Arbeendk ( the 'monkey' looking man on the front of The Emerald Scepter ). Many times I felt the story was rushed and choppy, but all did come to a well balanced ending that tied up the loose ends ( though adding new ones ).

As I stated in my review of The Ruby Guardian a general lover of fantasy can enjoy these books, but it is not the 'cream of the crop'.
... Read more