Product Description
Notes: This is an OCR reprint. There may be numerous typos or missing text. There are no illustrations or indexes.When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. You can also preview the book there. ... Read more

Product Description
From William Sarabande, whose brilliantre-creation of the prehistoric world of the First Americanhas thrilled readers everywhere, comes a major newnovel that awakens us to the true spirit of ourancestors. Following their destiny into an unknownland took more than courage--it demanded a beliefin a future they would never see, a certainty thatbraving a path no human had ever taken was theironly choice. Now, in a time of mystery and magic,when all they had protected the People from theirenemies for the eons of prehistory seemed to bevanishing along with the animals they once hunted,the young shaman Cha-kwena must break a terrifyingtaboo, estranging him from his woman and histribe. Driven by a vision, he vows to follow theforbidden trail of the mammoth to where the fate of hiskind will be known: extinction or the possibilityof a land where all their dreams may become real. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

the edge of the world
Loved it..i love prehistoric fiction but no one writes it anymore...wish i could find more

Edge of the World
7th in a series I am reading.Pretty hooked on it always have to find the next book, before I finish the story. Got to see what is going to happen to the people next.Brutal life of the First Americans, their superstitions and beliefs are amazing.

Sarabande
I got through the first two books of The First Americans Series. Ordered them for a friend.She read five and they got more gruesome in each book.I quit after 2 and few chapters of the 3rd book.I kept hoping they would become less cruel, but that was not the case.I think Sarabande might have some issuess he needs to deal with. Not reading his stuff anymore.

Where do I start?
Let's start with Shateh, can he make a decision? Killing babies goes with being shaman and chief, don't get me wrong, he is about the most honorable character, despite putting his sons out of the tribe for not being brave enough, at five years old! Poor Warakan is so confused, so is Cha-kwena (he never wanted to be a shaman) and his Mah-ree can she ever please anyone? I feel sympathy for Ban-ya, her whole life generally [is not good]. I don't recommend reading any of this series, starting with The Sacred Stones, because you will have to know what else happens and you will end up speed reading (or skimming,in my case) to an unfulfilling ending only to find there is another and another and another book in the series! I recommend reading Beyond the Sea of Ice through to Walkers of the Wind and STOP. Nothing gets better than Torka and Lonit.

Epic and suspenseful story!
I have feverishly read all the book in the First Americans series previous to this one. I'm about halfway through this book -- which is the third one in the second set of stories and characters -- and, so far, it's my favorite in the second set.

I had a hard time getting into the second set of stories (which starts with "The Sacred Stones") because I missed Torka, Lonit and all their people from the first set. I thought the second book in this second series ("Thunder in the Sky") was a little slow and uneventful at first, until it finally picked up about three quarter into the story.

Now, with this third book, I am finally finding myself attached to the characters. As Cha'kwena is forced to lead his people to the "Edge of the World", we travel with them through country that no other human beings has seen before. It's really quite exciting to discover the new land and the story is full of suspense as well, as you wonder what is going to happen to the mammoth totem and whether Cha'kwena will lead his people back to the land of his ancestors or not and, if so, in what circumstances.
The story also follows Shateh and his tribe, and reveals what happened to Ban-ya after she was left to die in the Valley of Death.

So if you started reading the second set of stories and find it disappointing compared to the first set, don't give up yet! It DOES get interesting and is well worth reading! ... Read more

Product Description
From the national bestselling author of When Duty Calls, the first book in an exciting new science fiction duology.

In a far-distant future, the Uman Empire has spread to the stars and beyond, conquering and colonizing worlds, ruling with a benevolent-but iron-fist. The Pax Umana reigns, and all is well. But on one planet, the remnants of a violent, shape-shifting race called the Sagathis are confined, kept captive by xeno-cops, who have been bio-engineered to be able to see through their guises. Still, sometimes one manages to escape.

Zak Cato is a xeno-cop. He's returning a fugitive Sagathi when things go horribly wrong. Cato- the only survivor after the rest of his men are slaughtered-must now figure out who betrayed them and bring the alien in, whatever the cost.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Simplistic
This book was tough to get through.The story line reads like a dime store detective novel.The aliens are very shallow and not well developed.Ive always wondered at the notion of star spanning empires that have planets where horse and cart are the way to get around.

The Missing Shapeshifter
At Empire's Edge (2009) is the first SF novel in a duology.It takes place far in the future, when the Uman Empire is clashing with the alien Vord Empire.Other aliens live within the Uman Empire and are policed by the Xeno Corps.

In this novel, Jak Cato is a Section Leader in the Xeno Corps.He has the usual modified DNA, but his genes seem to have flaws.He can read emotions as well as any other corpsmen, but he cannot completely shield his emotions.He also likes to get drunk.

Isulu Usurlus is an Imperial Legate in the Uman Empire.He reports directly to Emperor Emor.

Uma Nalomy is an Imperial Procurator, governing the planet Dantha.She belongs to an influential family.Her father wants to replace Emperor Emor.

CeCe Alamy is a seventeen year old uman.She works in a sandal factory, making a decim per pair.She lives with her stepmother.

Verafti is a Sagathi, a shapeshifting empathic alien species that can replicate the body of any animal with about the same mass.They absorb the fear of their victims and eat their bodies.

In this story, Usurlus mentions his suspicions of Procurator Nalomy to the Emperor.He is told to investigate in person.But the Emperor cannot offer him any troops, so Usurlus will only have his person guard of about sixty men.

On Dantha, CeCe comes home one day and learns that she has been sold as a slave by her stepmother.She tries to get away, but the handlers are ready for her.They snap a slave collar on her and pull her away by the chain.

At the slave market, Alamy is sold to the Majordomo of the palace.The Procurator needs extra help to prepare for Founder's Day celebrations.Alamy becomes part of the kitchen staff.

Elsewhere, Verafti has been captured by the Xeno Corps and is being transported to a prison planet onboard the Pax Umana.Jak is being chewed out by his centurion for needlessly shocking Verafti.Then a Vord destroyer attacks the prison ship.

The captain closes with the enemy ship and gets a boarding party aboard the destroyer.The policemen learn a new skill as they board the enemy ship, but it not too different from urban fighting.The umans take the enemy ship and stow the captives in their spare cells.But the Pax Umana is severely damaged and cannot travel faster-than-light.

The Pax Umana heads toward the only planet in the system with a Class III spaceyard.Unfortunately, their data is out of date and the Dantha spaceyard is really about Class V.They will have to wait for parts.

According to regulations, the Xeno Corps unit takes Verafti in his cage to a remote site to protect the planetary population.Station 3 is a weather beaten compound that needs many repairs, but is far from any populated area.The cage is maneuvered inside and the policemen start repairing the station.

The Centurion sends Jak into Solace -- the capital -- for necessary materiel.Jak makes contact with several vendors and arranges for the supplies.Then he goes out with the last vendor of the day and drinks a little beer.

Soon he is buying drinks for the house.Then a con artist and thief accuses him of being a spy for Procurator Nalomy and the local crowd turns on Jak.During the brawl, the thief steals Cato's money belt.

Meanwhile, Station 3 is attacked by Lir bandits.These flyers attack the sentry on the roof and kill the Centurion.Then they shoot all the other Xeno Corps police within the compound.

Back in Solace, Usurlus lands at the spaceport and disembarks with his bodyguard.The ship has other errands and soon leaves the planet.The Legate meets with his local agent, but the man is killed shortly after the meeting.Then his security finds the hidden spying devices.

Despite this setback, Usurlus meets with the widow of his former agent.Through her, he soon talks to the leaders of the local resistance.They become allies against Procurator Nalomy.

This tale leaves Jak as the only survivor of his unit.Local militia will not help him, so he has to acquire transportation to reach the station.After burying his comrades, Jak finds himself stranded in the desert with a sabotaged skimmer and radio.

The story is fairly typical of the author and certainly doesn't contain any new concepts.However, he weaves these fairly common themes into an interesting story.Maybe this duology will be expanded into a full-blown series.

Eventually Jak and Usurlus meet and join forces.The second half of this duology is Bones of Empire.Read and enjoy!

Recommended for Dietz fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of imperial politics, alien killers, and a bit of romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Non-Stop Action //At Empire's Edge//
William C. Dietz writes hard-edged science fiction filled with action and adventure.Heis an expert at creating intriguing and often hostile aliens and in depicting the chaos, blood, heroism, and randomness of battle.Dietz's latest, //At Empire's Edge//, finds him at the top of his game.

//At Empire's Edge// is the first of a planned two-book series featuring Jak Cato, a "xeno cop" in the interplanetary Uman empire.Xeno cops are genetically engineered with enhancements that make them ideal tools of law enforcement.Jak is a hardened cop with a tendency to drink too much and go his own way.As //At Empire's Edge// begins, Jak and his interstellar shipmates are returning a shape-shifting, man-eating creature called a Sagathi to captivity.Toward the end of the mission, Jak is off getting drunk when his crew mates are suddenly killed and the Sagathi is freed. Driven by the need for revenge, Jak tracks the Sagathi across a planet at the edge of the Uman empire, where he is enmeshed in a political power struggle complete with oppression, deceit, and murder.

The writing in //At Empire's Edge// is spare and tight, driving the quickly moving plot forward.There is plenty of intrigue, fighting, and, of course, aliens.My only complaint is that as masterful as Dietz is in depicting battles and keeping things moving, a romance novelist he is not.Dietz's description of Jak's developing romance is awkward, to say the least.Thankfully, the touchy-feely moments are few and do not detract too much from the overall reading experience.All in all, Jak Cato's first adventure is a fun, action-packed romp, and the second is sure to be more of the same, which is a good thing.

Reviewed by Doug Robbins

The audio version, at least, is better than Sominex
I have three words for this one: Dull, Duller, & Dullest.I'm not sure how it'd be reading it, but listening to this dreary reader read this dreary book was a torture.I kept having to go back & replay big sections because my attention wandered, & then I'd rapidly lose attention again.I just now had to read the description of the book to remind myself what it was about; I finished it yesterday but already couldn't remember anything about it.The characters wooden, the plot unimpressive, I found myself wishing they'd all get slaughtered just to end it.The shapeshifter was the only interesting thing, but even he didn't rescue it. The love story between Cato & Alomie (sp?) ridiculous.btw, the 2 female main characters are named "Alomie" & "Nalomie." I don't know how they're spelled in the book, but they sound so much the same that 1/2 the time I didn't know whether to root for the woman or hope she got killed right away. I kept waiting for a plot device wherein the similarity would be important: i.e. a reason for it.Nope. Just lack of inventiveness, apparently!

Waste. Of. Cash.

Edit: Interesting how tastes can differ....it's got 2 positive reviews on Audible.
I want to add that I've read --& loved-- Sci Fi for decades. & I love SF action stories (RM Meluch's "Merrimack" series springs to mind as a sterling recent example).But I still hated "At Empire's Edge," & say it should be dropped off the edge of the Universe.

Military tension rises in this winner
AT EMPIRE'S EDGE is set in the far future and tells of the Uman Empire, which has spread to the stars conquering and colonizing worlds. All seems at peace despite their stranglehold - until a cop returning a fugitive finds his captive escapes and requires him to act in an extraordinary manner. Military tension rises in this winner. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (11)

The Edge of Never
"The Edge of Never" by William A. Kerig, is a thrilling book with many entertaining literary elements. One element is point of view. Kerig writes this book from his point of view and adds so many details. He writes the story about a boy, not from the boy's point of view though, from his. Which makes it all the more exciting. Another literary element Kerig uses is imagery. With all of the glaciers that Kye, the boy who Kerig writes the book about, skis and all of the big mountains, Kerig writes about every little thing in detail. With him writing all of this he adds amazing imagery that the readers can see. The last literary element that Kerig writes about are all the characters. The characters that he writes about all have their own uniqueness. These characters are all real people. So the people that are also in the movie "The Edge of Never" are the same as in the book, and Kerig does an amazing job with the similarity of the characters in the book.

Somewhat interesting, but not for the story.
I'm an avid skier, and found the technical aspects about ski mountaineering to be quite interesting.

However, as a story, I found this book ordinary.The writing seems to be on the sixth grade level, and I don't buy for a minute the notion about this being a story that needs to be told.To me, this was not the story of a boys right of passage into manhood (or whatever I was supposed to get out of it).To me it was the story of some guys who like to ski who wanted to make a ski movie.

The supposed subplot -- about the "tribe" of extreme skiers taking care of their own, etc., is uninspiring at best and egotistical at worst.Their behavior seems typical for any group of folks that does something dangerous.The same story has been told a thousand times with firemen, policemen, soldiers, teachers and nurses.What's different is that these skiers do this for themselves and their own bragging rights, not to help others.So if we're supposed to hold extreme skiers in higher regard, I am unconvinced.

Giving it three stars because I do think the technical ski-mountaineering part was well done.This would have been a great article in a magazine, but I don't think it needed to be a book (or movie).

Skier Enthusiast Only
Great book if you are into Skiing.I can't wait to see the DVD.

I recommend it
This is a great book about skiing.It's an easy read and you can go through it in a weekend.This book talks about the making of the movie.It's not a novel form of the movie- which I haven't seen.I already wanted to see the movie, but am even more excited now.

Fantastic Book & a Great Film
I read the book last December and loved it. The rest of may family read it as well. Last night we went to see the film. Highly recommend both (read book before watching the film). ... Read more

Product Description
Contents: Marathon Man * Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid * The Princess Bride * Misery. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Four Quality Films by a Master
William Goldman is easily among the greatest screenwriters of our day. This includes four of his memorable scripts: Marathon Man, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Princess Bride, and Misery. The book includes all four screenplays together with an introduction by Goldman for each. The book is an excellent choice for aspiring writers, students of film, or collectors.

Esential reading for all aspiring writers
Most people have seen these four films. Far fewer have read the screenplays. Because of the diversity of the material and the quality of the writing, this book is truly essential to all writers, especially those who want to write for the screen.Goldman's screenplays are unique. In effect, he has invented his own screen language. He's that rare beast, a screenwriter who cares about style.
Prepare to be thrilled and inspired.

Great for fans of screenplays and of The Princess Bride
Well, I've always enjoyed reading screenplays. In addition, I've loved The Princess Bride since I first saw it. I also loved Misery. However, I hadn't seen Butch Cassidy yet. Reading the screenplay made it mandatory.

Goldman's comments about the movies are a wonderful addition to the screenplays. I highly recommend this book.

Wonderful companion guide to four great films
An enthusiastic 'thumbs-up' to William Goldman for including four essays to accompany his wonderful screenplays.

If you wonder why the author chose the idea of using the grandfather as the storyteller in the "Princess Bride" or how beloved Andre the Giant was on the set of the film then this book is a must-read.

Want to know which major scene with Kathy Bates in "Misery" was changed over the objections of the screenwriter? It's all here, colorfully annotated by the author in his essays that preface each screenplay.

The most entertaining book I've read so far this year (1998). If you've enjoyed these movies then, by all means, read this book! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The Myths That Keep on Giving...
William Irwin Thompson is a cultural historian and one of the few writers who pay attention to the myths of humankind that wash within us, over us and through us in this strange epoch of existence we now find ourselves.

Thompson has written that we are like ants crawling across an oil painting:our limited consciousness can sense a series of changes and colors but it is only the poet, the mystic or the artist who is able to glimpse and describe the bigger picture.Thompson uses his nimble, eclectic intelligence to reveal the larger patterns of history that narrate and guide the complex unfolding of human existence in context with both culture and cosmos.

We only see through a glass, darkly. And there is much more than meets the eye.To use another metaphor, the night sky we stare up into reveals the light from stars that left deep space aeons ago.We are truly living in a different universe than the one we can perceive.

Thompson takes the reader on a journey that connects cultural dots that we rarely acknowlege to illuminate our journey to and through the future of our human heritages, our civilizations and our species. This book of essays is no guru romp through the New Age, but a work of serious historical scholarship that is both readable and penetrating.

It is a mythic manual for the new world and can be read, enjoyed and marveled at again and again.

A Must For Every Library
William Irwin Thompson is one of the truly great minds of our time. These two early works (which were originally published separately) are the perfect introduction to Thompson's opus. While some of the pop culture references may seem dated, passed over by events, the basic world view presented here remains valid.

Thompson, riding on the shoulders of such as Jean Gebser and Marshall McLuhan, illuminates the transitional period we are undergoing, as we move out of the modern era into ... whatever is coming -- we don't really know yet, but the so-called "postmodern" isn't the future, it's just a replay of isolated elements of the modern. Thompson sees signs of one possible future in the emerging planetary consciousness where thinking globally while acting locally is more than a pop phrase but a new way of perceiving our oneness with a sacred world. Thompson looks at signposts all over the planet which, taken individually might seems interesting, but taken together begin to form a picture that inspires either hope or dread, depending on your attachment to the prevailing consciousness. (You'll have to read his more recent books to get his take on capitalism's latest phase of globalization.)

I won't give any more away as I don't wish to spoil the intellectual feast that awaits the reader. I urge anyone interested in the history of ideas and in understanding the changes taking place in the world around us to read Thompson, starting with this publication. Then work your way through the rest of his books. It's a journey that can change your worldview and your life.

Outside the Academy
These two books neatly collected into one volume are written by a man who was a traditional academic but chose to work outside the academy and it is this that he discusses in these books.Trained as a historian Thompson takes a mythical view of history informed both by his own views and those of W.B. Yeats whose "A Vision" is interpreted here.To classify Thompson as simply "new age" would be to dismiss him too easily.While his work does fit at times with that nebulous genre he wrote these before that term was coined.This is a different take on history and on the academy.I regularly give copies of this one to my academic friends to keep them from getting stagnated by the university system.Essential reading.

A Model to understand the world with.
This is one of those few intellectual works that can truely change one's understanding of how things work. A profound analysis of historical change that presents both models of change and societal models. ... Read more

Product Description

The world is changing and has neverbeen more challenging to private equityplayers, public companies, and investors. Withrecord market volatility and a global economiccrisis, decision makers of all types canlearn from successful private equity playersand other top value builders.

Private equity is growing at a rapid rate, with $2.7 trillion intransactions since 2001 and buyouts occurringin every type of market, including decliningones. And now, with the end of investmentbanks as we know them, the door is open tomore opportunities than ever.

In The Private Equity Edge, economics giantArthur B. Laffer, along with value-buildingexperts William J. Hass and Shepherd G.Pryor IV, combines the concepts of intrinsicvalue, macroeconomics, and incentives intoa single strategy used by today’s top valuebuilders. You’ll learn how to create valuewhile reducing risk by:

• Thoroughly exploring relevant datato quantify ranges of value and risk
• Anticipating reactions of thosewhom you seek to influence
• Exploring possibilities and optionsbefore making major decisions
• Employing incentive systems that workin both up and down markets

Examples of major private equity playersat Blackstone, KKR, Carlyle, Cerberus, andMadison Dearborne Partners illustrate whatto do and what to avoid in specific situations.

Decision makers seeking to take full advantageof the new, interconnected world ofbusiness and economics will learn how tomake the best decision the first time around,quickly and with conviction—the key toseizing the private equity edge.

Customer Reviews (10)

Good overview of PE, but extremely repetitious.
When i think back, there were some really good points in this book; however, i've never read a book more in need of a strong edit.There are meandering chapters espousing the author's political views, which i agree with, but are tangential to the core messages.In fact, it reads as though someone told him this and he went back and added a summary page to each chapter.
One note on content-the author essentially believes PE is the best ownership model for everything, which strikes me as incomplete.

An Insightful Work
I found the Private Equity Edge to be insightful with useful nuggets of wisdom about how to increase the value of a company based on the traits of institutional investors.The book is written from an economics perspective and supports its arguments with a wealth of data.This is a good read for those that desire to look at value creation top-down from a macro view. Nice Job!by Kenneth H Marks, lead author of the The Handbook of Financing Growth: Strategies, Capital Structure, and M&A Transactions (Wiley Finance)

Thorough book from 3 heavy hitters
This is not a skim and go book.It is thorough and tackles complex topics, not snappy, simple solutions and generalities.Worth the effort.

Disappointing
I was quite disappointed that 3 such illustrious authors managed to put together such a mediocre tome.

The book shows little cohesion between chapters and goes back and forth between anecdotal evidence on success or failure of various businesses with some tenuous links to private equity and high-brow macro-economic chapters whose purpose and positioning is not always clear.

It is almost as if each of the 3 authors wrote their own book and then a (not very good) editor wove the 3 (or at least 2) strands together into one book.

1/3 Business Platitudes, 1/3 Ridiculous Political Opinion, and 1/3 Useful information
This book should have been half the length it was or else they could have expanded on what makes the better Private Equity firms stick out, with more in-depth case studies. Instead they use platitude such as, "Top Value Producers react quicker" and say things such as the Crash of 2008 was caused by Ben Bernanke not considering the monetary levels of the U.S. (these are paraphrases as I couldn't be bothered to look up their exact wording) as well as endless hype of the now completely ignored and rejected "theory" of supply-side economics.I knew with Laffer as the main author (who based on the anecdotes in this book can do no wrong) there would be liberal helpings of his own theories, but this was a bit much. I found myself literally skipping over 5-10 pages at a time. At best, this is a book which will provide you a mediocre understanding of what separates PE firms from public companies. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:IllTHE HOME TOWN OF THE ARMY ANTS From uniform to civilian clothes is a change transcending mere alteration of stuffs and buttons. It is scarcely less sweeping than the shift from civilian clothes to bathing-suit, which so often compels us to concentrate on remembered mental attributes, to avoid demanding a renewed introduction to estranged personality. In the home life of the average soldier, the relaxation from sustained tension and conscious routine results in a gentleness and quietness of mood for which warrior nations are especially remembered.Army ants have no insignia to lay aside, and their swords are too firmly hafted in their own beings to be hung up as post-bellum mural decorations, or—as is done only in poster-land—metamorphosed into pruning-hooks and plowshares.I sat at my laboratory table at Kartabo, and looked down river to the pink roof of Kalacoon, and my mind went back to the shambles of PitNumber Five.1 I was wondering whether I should ever see the army ants in any guise other than that of scouting, battling searchers for living prey, when a voice of the jungle seemed to hear my unexpressed wish. The sharp, high notes of white-fronted antbirds—those white- crested watchers of the ants—came to my ears, and I left my table and followed up the sound. Physically, I merely walked around the bungalow and approached the edge of the jungle at a point where we had erected a small outhouse a day or two before. But this two hundred feet might just as well have been a single step through quicksilver, hand in hand with Alice, for it took me from a world of hyoids and syrinxes, of vials and lenses and clean-smelling xylol, to the home of the army ants.The antbirds were chirping and hopping about on the very edge of the jungle, but I did not have to go that... ... Read more