Three Novels: The Soft Machine, Nova Express, the Wild Boys

Customer Reviews:

Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03

A tale where the interest is in the unmasking of the antagonist, who is of the Foolkiller variety. Batman, a little bit further into his career than in Year One (naturally) is up against an extremely formidable opponent, and he must find out his secret before it is too late. Otherwise, death will result, and quite possibly his own.

The cons are vastly more than the pros.......2007-07-30

First, this is the standard info that I would be hard pressed to give any graphic novel five stars as those are reserved for books by people like Hemmingway, Twain, Fitzgerald, ect.

With that said, I will agree with other reviewers that you cannot call something Batman Year Two and not get comparisons to Batman Year One. This does not compare. The Reaper story is decent though and I will give kudos to the artwork; however there are a lot of negatives.

First, and foremost, Batman uses a gun. I don't know how DC approved this. It is totally against Batman.

Second, the demise of Joe Chill would just seem to detract from the entire Batman psyche as to why he is out night after night. However, the combination of this, along with a love interest, does have a good tone in that if things may have ended differently, Batman would have ended being Batman right there and been in love. So, that adds to the Batman mystic. I mean if Joe Chill is dead, and Bruce Wayne is in love, so early in the Batman crusade, does Batman just fade away and Bruce Wayne take back his life?

The origins of the Reaper are similar to Batman. The Reaper is just a more violent vigilante than Batman and the line as to what is helping v. fighting crime is much different. I wish we knew more about how the Reaper became so powerful.

I may be a bit hard with only two stars, but it isn't like a Miller story (four stars), and the story itself is not as good as something like Dark Victory (three stars) and there isn't as much Batman significance like the Killing Joke. So, it was hard to place.

A far cry from what Batman fans expect.......2007-03-07

Let me start off by saying, Year Two was not high on my list of must read Batman novels. But at this point I've read a fair share of them, and I eventually got around to it. It will never be considered one of the great groundbreaking Batman storylines, but that's not to say that it is unreadable.

What enticed me to read this was the fact that Mask of the Phantasm, one of the best Batman movies ever made, is loosely based on this. I believe MOTP not only improves upon this story in many ways, but helps me appreciate Phantasm even more for adding a better twist and a well executed finale.

The worst part about Year Two is Batman carries a gun. When I opened it up for the first time and I saw on the inside cover an illustration of him wearing a gun holster, it really threw me off. I don't think the way they rationalized it either (the Reaper utilizes a gun, so I'll fight him with his own weapon) was very convincing. It made Batman feel very out of character for a lot of it. And I won't even bother telling you who Bats teams up with and how much that bothered me.

Overall, not the worst, but it will never stand shoulder to shoulder with Year One, The Long Halloween, Dark Knight Returns, or any of the other defining Batman stories we've come to admire over the years.

Flawed, especially when compared to Year One.......2006-08-02

While the Batman: Year Two storyline from 1987 is not tied to Batman: Year One in any way other than chronologically, it is hard not to compare it to Year One. Released earlier that year, Frank Miller and David Mazzuchelli's Year One storyline was nothing short of a masterpiece, and redefined the origin of the Batman. Following in those footsteps could not have been easy for the folks behind Year Two.

Writer Mike Barr crafts a tale in which a young Batman encounters the Reaper, a vigilante killer who terrorized Gotham's criminals decades earlier. Meanwhile Bruce Wayne begins a romantic relationship with a woman who turns out to be the Reaper's daughter. In his quest to end the Reaper's comeback, Batman chooses to work with the mafia, who assign one of their top hitmen to work with Batman. The man is none other than Joe Chill, the mugger who killed Bruce Wayne's parents!

There's enough going for the story that it could have been a real winner. Unfortunately the handling is a bit sloppy. The dialogue is over the top at times, even by comic book standards, and coming so soon after Year One, Batman fans couldn't help but expect better. There are also some plot points that defy logic. Batman resorting to using the very gun that killed his parents is perhaps believable, but to do so after a single loss to the Reaper? Is Batman that much of a quitter? Since when does a single loss make the most driven character in all of comics take the easy way out? Bruce Wayne's sudden willingness to abandon his war on crime in favor of marriage to a woman he just met also stretches belief.

The artwork is better than average, and helps redeem Year Two somewhat. The first part was drawn by Alan Davis, who would go on to successful runs on Excalibur and Uncanny X-Men. The final three issues feature artwork from a young Todd McFarlane. Remember way back when he used to draw comic books? His work here isn't as good as his later Spider-Man work, but it is still pretty dynamic, particularly when it comes to Batman and the Reaper's huge flowing capes. Unfortunately his pencils were hampered by sub-par inking until the final issue, when he inked his own work. Still, when compared to David Mazzuchelli's unique take on Batman and Gotham City, both artists fall short.

In 1991, Barr and Davis revisited the Year Two storyline in a prestige format one-shot called Full Circle, which is also included in this trade paperback. The story took a look at the legacy left by the events of Year Two. It suffered from many of the same weaknesses as the original story, but Alan Davis's more mature artwork was a big improvement.

On its own merits, Batman: Year Two is a decent Batman story. The problem is that it brings to mind Batman: Year One, which is superior in every possible way.

NOTE: While Year Two was something of a disappointment, some of the better elements of the story were incorporated into the excellent Batman animated movie Mask of the Phantasm.

Not the best bat-collection, but there are certainly worse ones.......2005-08-24

This trade paperback collects two related storylines: BATMAN YEAR TWO, from DETECTIVE COMICS #575 - 578, and the one-shot BATMAN: FULL CIRCLE. While it may seem natural to combine these into one book, they don't go together very well in terms of story quality.

The unfortunately named BATMAN YEAR TWO immediately invites comparisons with Miller and Mazuchelli's BATMAN YEAR ONE, and in this regard, it doesn't hold up; however, it is a fairly engaging story. In the second year of Bruce Wayne's war on crime, he is confronted with the return of The Reaper, a crime fighter from Gotham's past. The problem is, this Reaper is little different from the criminal element in Gotham City, and so Batman works both with and without the police department to bring him in. The quest to bring down the Reaper causes no small share of problems in the life of Bruce Wayne, and by the end of the story, Batman has been put through the ringer. While Mike Barr is not my favorite Batman writer, he does a good job of keeping the plot focused. The art chores for BATMAN YEAR TWO begin with Alan Davis, one of the best in the biz, doing only one issue, with justly-maligned Todd McFarlane picking up parts 2 - 4. Artwise, the first two parts of McFarlane's work are actually pretty good, but this is due more to the skilled inking of Alfredo Alcala than to any talent of Mr. McFarlane. This can be clearly seen in part 4, where McFarlane flies solo - trust me, it shows. If I have any complaint story-wise, I'd say that Batman seems far too capable and confident. Even after a year on the job, I wouldn't expect him to be this resourceful.

Next is BATMAN: FULL CIRCLE, a completely unworthy follow-up prestige format tale by Barr & Davis. In this story, the Reaper has again returned, spreading fear throughout Gotham and playing with Batman Batman must confront the secrets of his parents' murders once again - at the risk of his own sanity (yawn!). This story was by no means up to par with Year Two; in fact, it was very trite and boring, with all kinds of inexplicable developments that were conveniently explained as having happened either during or as a result of YEAR TWO.

So, this trade collection starts with a bang and ends with a whimper. You may be better off if you can find the original trade collection of BATMAN YEAR TWO, which omits the FULL CIRCLE story. It certainly works better that way.

Average customer rating:

LEM: CAPTAIN OF SCIENCE FICTION

Overly ponderous

Indispensable for Lem fans

Very nice Lem showcase

As amusing as it is thought-provoking

Imaginary Magnitude
Stanislaw Lem
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Lem, Stanislaw | ( L ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Fiasco Fiasco

ASIN: 0156441802

Book Description

These wickedly authentic introductions to twenty-first-century books preface tomes on teaching English to bacteria, using animated X-rays to create "pornograms," and analyzing computer-generated literature through the science of "bitistics." "Lem, a science fiction Bach, plays in this book a googleplex of variations on his basic themes" (New York Times Book Review). Translated by Marc E. Heine. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book

Customer Reviews:

LEM: CAPTAIN OF SCIENCE FICTION.......2006-03-02

"Imaginary Magnitudes" is a forceful, blackly humorous introduction to the irreducible mystery that powers Stanislaw Lem's work. Composed of introductions to works of non-fiction and literature to appear sometime in the coming century, one can only marvel at the breadth of imagination involved as well as the smoothness and cleverness of the translation from the Polish. The lectures of GOLEM XIV are the diadem of this collection, adumbrating most of the earlier prefaces in one vast, misanthropic razz of humankind by a very advanced (but still very humanlike), very disillusioned defense-management computer -- sort of a HAL9000 without the homicidal (or genocidal) impulse. I never have a copy of this book because I always give it away to people -- it is that good. Like most of Lem's work, it is where literature and SF become indistinguishable. Lem ranks with Clarke, Asimov, Herbert and Dick in the SF pantheon.

Overly ponderous.......2001-04-08

"Imaginary Magnitude"'s value as entertaining literature is essentially nil. Only occasionally does it lapse into readability - otherwise it is an undiluted philosophical treatise. To be sure, this is Lem at his most intellectual - it just doesn't lend the writing the same measure of livelihood his more straightforward pieces do. The format is quite something conceptually - a set of introductions to not-yet-written books. "Imaginary Magnitude" showcases four - plus "GOLEM XIV", which, being a separate piece of literature altogether, is included only for the sake of its similar spirit.

The short pieces themselves aren't particularly exciting. This is Lem's chance to preach his views, and he does so extensively. "Necrobes" piqued my interest with its laconic treatment of creatively-posed x-ray nudes as art. "Eruntics" was even partially plausible - it deals with evolving a genome which is, basically, word-processing software. And then the bateria begin predicting the future. The "Extelopedia" lacked any sort of real structure - it is an encyclopedic dictionary of purely prognosticated words. The introduction includes a "Proffertinc" - a prognosticated offer, and a sample page of words that begin with "prog-". The following introduction to a treatise on bitic literature - that is, books written by non-human authors - is an excellent piece of short fiction dealing with epistemological topics. The summary traces the development of artificial thinkers through several stages - from cladogenesis, where computers generate random meaningless words, through mimesis, where a computer formulates the mathematical basis of books, allowing perfect translations, and even creating entirely new works in the author's exact style, and to transhuman apostasy - works generally incoprehensible to humans - from incredibly complicated math to elaborate works on cosmogony.

Then the reader gets to "GOLEM XIV", and the book takes a nosedive. Even despite the warning, the superhuman, impersonal intelligence within the computer seems snobbish, patronizing, and the text of its lectures - overly elaborate and peppered with metaphors. Likewise, the leading points of the two lectures - on man and on itself - coincide: the evolution is an asymptotic blunder; it has reached the maximum level of complication in its creations, and further random "progress" is impossible; man has reached his potential ceiling and is drowning in his civilization, etc. Like most of Lem, taken piece by piece this is profound theorizing, but as a work of creative, non-academic literature it is ornate and unreadable.

Indispensable for Lem fans.......2000-02-11

Whereas with "A Perfect Vacuum" Lem wrote reviews of fictional books, here he writes introductions to different fictional books. You get some of his more straightforward philosophy with "Golem XIV," typical Lem cleverness with "Necrobes" and sheer, amazing, mind-blowing virtuosity with "Eruntics," probably his single most impressive piece of short fiction. This "story" alone is worth the price of admission. Ranking near the Tichy stories, with plenty of distance between "The Cyberiad" on one side and "Solaris" on the other, on the fun and ponderousnness scales. Among his best.

Very nice Lem showcase.......1999-05-13

Though it wasn't the most entertaining book of Lem's, it definitely gives the best span of his talents of any that I've yet read. We get the simply goofy in the first couple bits, and the hard-core philosophical in the GOLEM lectures. This is an excellent survey of Lem's talent, but the individual parts are not his best. The humorous bits are certainly not "Cyberiad" or "Star Diaries" quality, but they are good nonetheless. The GOLEM stuff is a bit dry, but very intruiging. Overall quite good stuff, so it gets 4 stars. Mediocre Lem though.

As amusing as it is thought-provoking.......1998-09-05

This book was my introduction to Stanislaw Lem, which is ironic, because this is a book consisting only of introductions of other (imaginary) books. I found it completely by accident on the bargain rack, and I don't know why I bought it. But I did, and I'm certainly glad. When I started reading him, I said to myself, "What *is* this?" and found it all very bizarre. But Lem is one of those rare writers who makes you feel smarter just for having read him. For all that, this book is not only fascinating, but surprisingly funny at times. (How do you write an introduction to a book of introductions?) And for being so fanciful, Lem's discussions are surprisingly relevant.

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Imaginary Magnitude
Stanislaw LEM
Manufacturer: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UZVMQG

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Imaginary Magnitude
Stanislaw Lem
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJEX7S

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Imaginary Magnitude
Stanislaw Lem
Manufacturer: Harvest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJECB0

Book Description

What if you could use sacred sound syllables to bring love into your life? On Mantra Meditation for Attracting and Healing Relationships, Thomas Ashley-Farrand teaches how to use mantras to discover intimacy, create spiritual partnerships, and either repair existing relationships or open up to new ones. Try these simple chants just once or twice a day, and see how powerfully this ancient practice can change the way you connect with others.

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Foolproof

Great cookbook

Sugar Reef Caribbean Cookbook
Devra Dedeaux
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Caribbean & West Indian | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Caribbean Cooking

ASIN: 0440503361
Release Date: 1991-02-05

Customer Reviews:

Foolproof.......2005-04-13

I bought this cookbook when it first came out, and have been using it for years. It's my favorite cookbook -makes reliably delicious dishes. The key lime pie and stewed chicken are two recipes which are fabulous!

Great cookbook.......2001-08-04

If you can get your hands on this cookbook buy it I was lucky enough to find it in the used section. I had seen it when we were in the Caribbean & found some great recipes in it.Very well done.

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The Sugar Reef Caribbean Cookbook

Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

For readers looking for a profitable pursuit, furnishing a new home, building up a collection, or simply clearing out the attic, Judith Miller shares advice on what to repair and restore, how, when, and where to sell, where and what to buy, and how much to pay. How to Make Money Out of Antiques takes the fear out of buying antiques but none of the fun.

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How to Make Money Out of Antiques
Judith Miller
Manufacturer: MITCHELL BEAZLEY (OC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K7MTF2

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How to Make Money Out of Antiques

Manufacturer: Arrow (A Division of Random House Group)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0749319798

Average customer rating:

Very Disapointed

An interesting book with ideas that will be fu to try

Beaded Greetings Cards (Greetings Cards series)
Patricia Wing
Manufacturer: Search Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Papercrafts | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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Embossed Greetings Cards using Stencils (Greetings Cards series)

ASIN: 1844480593

Book Description

Patricia Wing shows how to create exquisite cards using beads, thread, gems, and lace combined with pricking and embossing techniques. Learn how to glue on beads or sew them into pricked designs, create gem flowers, cut out and dye lace, and how to use punched shapes, parchment and embossed patterns to decorage cards. Complete beginners and experienced crafters will be inspired by Patricia's subtle, delicately beautiful cards.

Customer Reviews:

Very Disapointed.......2007-05-06

I was very disappointed with Patricia Wing's book Beaded Greetings Cards. She does not include any patterns, only a list of suggested templates and stencils to purchase. With Erica Fortgens Embroidery on Paper books she includes lot of patterns for you to use.

An interesting book with ideas that will be fu to try.......2006-08-31

Interesting book that appears to havew very clear photographs and instructions. I think the card will be fun to make.

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Beaded Greeting Cards
Margriet Kors
Manufacturer: Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9058774589

Book Description

This book deals with the intricate, and often uneasy relationship which developed between Jews and Venetians, as they struggled to cope with the changing realities of the sixteenth-century Mediterranean world. The fruit of many years of research in the Venetian archives, this volume explores undiscovered aspects of Mediterranean history regarding the involvement of Venetians and Jews in the international maritime trade, Venetian attitudes towards Jews, the impact of Venetian-Ottoman contention on the relationship between Jews and Venetians, and more. The unfolding of this relationship reveals new perspectives on the history of sixteenth-century Venice, on the social and economic history of the Jews, and on the history of the Ottoman Empire in its prime.

Trading Nations: Jews and Venetians in the Early Modern Eastern Mediterranean.: An article from: Renaissance Quarterly

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Trading Nations: Jews and Venetians in the Early Modern Eastern Mediterranean.: An article from: Renaissance Quarterly
Benjamin Ravid
Manufacturer: Renaissance Society of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Renaissance Quarterly, published by Renaissance Society of America on June 22, 1998. The length of the article is 910 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Trading Nations: Jews and Venetians in the Early Modern Eastern Mediterranean.
Author: Benjamin Ravid
Publication: Renaissance Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1998
Publisher: Renaissance Society of America
Volume: v51 Issue: n2 Page: p602(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Advancements in digital/inkjet technologies and color management have made stochastic screening a popular choice today. With options spanning differences in spot sizes, algorithms for placement of dots, and spot shape within each manufacturer, some screening patterns have been developed that combine the benefits of conventional and stochastic screening—these are the hybrids.

This study was designed to show the differences between currently available conventional and stochastic/hybrid screens and to show the steps required to predict the outcome of the process. Seven suppliers participated in the study, supplying GATF with two sets of plates, one for image analysis and one to be printed under controlled conditions at GATF. Measurements were collected for density, tone value increase, print contrast, and gray balance and compared to show the differences between the conventional and stochastic/hybrid screening solutions.

The goal of this study was to print stochastic screens at different spot sizes and by some hybrid solutions in order to provide knowledge for implementing this type of screening into a workflow by applying the fundamentals of process control. Additionally, information is provided about six different screening patterns in comparison to comparable conventional screens.

Customer Reviews:

Upbeat life experiences loaded with humor and tenderness........1999-04-21

This book caught hold of me right at the start. I couldn't believe it! This man was telling about my life, too, in some of his stories. Now that I've finished it I realize I must begin now to keep a journal and write about my own life experiences and family history so that this won't be lost to my children and grandchildren.

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