Futures-market

Princess Tee'ah Dar was sick of enduring life in isolation as Vash Nadah tradition demanded. In a desperate bid for freedom, Tee'ah stole a starspeeder to begin a new life doing what she loved most, flying!

Ian Hamilton, an Earth dweller who was the heir to the Trade Federation and crown prince of the Vash empire, was deep undercover. He posed as Ian Stone, a trader of black market items. He was determined to bring the human people of Earth, the Vash people of Sienna, and all the people in the Federation together in peace! However, freak accidents and bad luck kept getting in the way. When his pilot died, Ian's crew was stranded on an awful world called Donavan's Blunder. Ian's critical mission would have failed right there, had a spunky pilot, Tee, not happened to appear. But neither Ian nor Tee told the other who they really were.

King Romlijhian, Tee's uncle, sent Gann Truelénne after the runaway princess. To do so, Gann had to hire Lara Ros, a master tracker. Gann and Lara clashed instantly, but are forced to work together if they were to succeed.

The galaxy would never be the same again!

***** In a word, "W-O-W!" And throw in a few "WOO-HOO's!" Why? Because Susan Grant has created an amazing universe with some very interesting characters to turn it upside-down! The story was well written and very believable. I could not help but cheer Tee's bravery. When the name "Susan Grant" is on the cover, readers best hold onto their seats because it's going to be one heck of a ride! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Ian Hamilton has been the picture of propriety since his stepfather, Rom B'kah, named Ian his heir as King to the galaxy. Now, seven years later, Ian is fighting to keep Earth on good terms with the Vash. Wanting to pull out of the treaty that Earth signed seven years ago, Ian has set out to prove that it is best for the galaxy all around if they all stick together. With the return of Muffin, we are also introduced to a crew that will go straight to your heart. When Ian finds himself not able to keep a pilot, he hired 'Tee' whom he knows is running, but he doesn't know from what she's running.

Tee'ah Dar has fled her life as a Vash Princess. Never having the freedom to make her own choices, not even choosing the man she marries, Tee'ah is sick to death of her life as a pampered princess. The only thing she has ever done behind her family's back is learn how to fly, the one thing that she can't live without doing. When her father finds out, Tee'ah knows that she can't stay and keep suffocating under her father's rule, or her heart will slowly die. When she meets Ian, he seems a gift from God, or so she thought. What she didn't know was that he was the prince of the galaxy and if he knew who she was, he would return her before she could say 'Earthdweller'.

Tee'ah and Ian's story is truly heartwarming. All her life Tee'ah has been taught to put the needs of others above the needs of few. This once she has denied her heritage and fallen in love in the process. Ian has done everything he can to please Rom, and not end up like his father, who treats women as bad as he ever treated his mother. Ian has a rolemodel in Rom who he wants to be proud of him, but he doesn't think he could give up the love of his life.

Don't miss it!

I love the time travel aspect. I wish Susan Grant had written more books like this. I read it all the way through. It has everything you could want -- adventure, time travel, sensuality -- great dialogue -- even humor!

If you are new to trading, or are interested in learning about the futures markets, then you will not be disappointed with this book. I was definitely impressed with the amount of market information that it covered. The History of the Futures markets, fundamental & technical analysis, mechanics of the trading floor, margins, interpretation of news, are all explained. In addition, it contains a great section on trading techniques for each specific commodity market. This would make a great reference textbook for seasoned traders and brokers as well. I would definitely recommend this book.

Utilizing her years of experience as a floor broker and expert futures market commentator (Bloomberg TV), Donna Kline successfully addresses a broad array of futures related topics in a pragmatic and succinct manner that is easy to absorb. Whether you are an experienced trader, or more importantly, a neophyte to the futures market, Donna Kline's "Fundamentals of the Futures Market" is an ideal primer.

"Fundamentals of the Futures Market" is an excellent addition to any intelligent investor's library collection and further validates Donna Kline's status as a maven within a market known for nebulous and sometimes treacherous trading conditions.

Anyone who watches Donna Kline on Bloomberg Television knows she's the authority on futures and credit markets, a knowledge she shares in Fundamentals of the Futures Market. Written for those with some experience in financial markets, Fundamentals of the Futures Market takes the reader step-by-step through the process of evaluating, buying, and selling futures. The book traces the history of financial markets and the development of futures trading, defines the key terms, and outlines the external factors -- from the economy to the weather -- that affect futures prices. Drawing on her years of experience in and around the trading pits, Kline also offers tips for traders and dealers. It's full of practical advice, leavened with humor and clear cautions about the dangers inherent in trading. Buyers, brokers, and those who follow the futures markets should keep this handy reference nearby.

When I started reading this book I was disappointed. The background chapters that attempt to teach Technical Analysis for example are covered somewhat better in other books (see John Murphy).

But the treasure of this awesome book is in the examples and stories in the later chapters. I wish I had read this book a couple of years ago. From a number of books that I have read, it talks quite a bit about short selling and risk. In my opinion .. it is a five star book ..

I have been an investment professional for over 20 years. I have read dozens of books--most long before the flood of "you to can be a super trader" trash of the 1990s. This is the best one. Mamis is an original and independent thinker. The book deals with psychology, tactics, technical indicators. His "How to Buy" is not nearly as good.

If you invest, wish you had a mentor on the trading floor, but don't know anyone who works on the exchange, you should read this book. Mamis discusses not only market indicators so you can better time buys and sells, but explains what happens on the trading floor and how the professionals -- the "they" many investors refer to grudgingly -- benefit from herd psychology. After reading this you will better understand why the "average investor" is more likely to lose than win, and why many people, in fact, subconsciously prefer to lose. Mamis has an easy style which reflects his many years of investing experience -- it is not a dry, academic discusson of the market.

Along with "Reminiscences of a Stock Operator" and a couple of others, this is one of the best and most informative books I've read about the market.

Mr. Walker is clear and concise in his depiction of how the options markets work. He details various strategies and makes options investing understandable to those new to it.

In my 11 years as a futures investor, broker, and author, I have never seen someone with as much grasp of options investing as Mr.Walker and have the capability to explain it.

Comprehensive, simple, full of examples - worth the money.

Yes, As a beginner I can confidently say I know what option is, it's uses and the risk involve. The Author did not only explain the principle but gave practicable example everyone can relate to. All in simple and plain English, you don't need to have been to a school of economy to know what an option is. With the help of this book, I can't look stupid when others uses terminologies relating to option. Keep up the good work Joseph.

Beyond ranking this fantastic work, there isn't much I can add that previous reviewers haven't admirably covered. It is necessary for our country to understand the needs that motivates the calculations Pillsbury illustrates in his book. It is essential for the American debate about our relationship with China to include texts such as these, which highlight important concerns for Americans, but transcend the current dichotomy of right-wing paranoia and left-wing romanticism toward China.

While Pillsbury's book is devoted to a very specific topic, the tone and quality of his work helps illustrate China's foreign policy communities in ways that are absent in the sterotyped visions of China usually constructed. Instead of having to fall in with one or the other viewpoint that is more an argument about domestic ideology than about China, we ought to remember that it is the clarity of our vision that is the most important technique for ensuring American security. Public relations gestures of saber-rattling or apologia accomplish just the obvious. That is why careful attention paid to work such as Pillsbury's book makes us better off in the long run.

The work of Michael Pillsbury has been almost as popular in Chinese military circles as it is in the United States. His previous report on Chinese views of future warfare was noted enthusiastically by Chinese military scholars, although there was some concern over his liberal reference to high ranking Chinese sources.

Nevertheless, Pillsbury was able to return to drink from the same well in preparing China Debates the Future Security Environment. His sources are highly placed and respected members of China's security apparatus, and include members of leading think tanks, such as the China Institute for International Studies, as well as People's Liberation Army leadership.

The great value of the work is that between its covers Pillsbury shows a comprehensive picture of Chinese perspectives on a variety of topics relating to future security environments. He explains contemporary Chinese Communist Party rationale for viewing the future based on an amalagam of ancient Chinese statecraft (views drawn from the Warring States Era, which many Chinese use to draw comparisons with today's single superpower system) and current methodology for calculating the comprehensive national power (CNP) of modern states. The CNP of the United States will decline in the future, the Chinese are required to believe, and their calculations go to some lengths to show this pattern in various ways.

Most interesting to me was a discussion of China's three views of future threats and how these relate to special interest groups inside the PLA. People's War traditionalists are still the most powerful bloc and control most budget decisions. Their future posits a large enemy, such as the United States, Russia, India or a resurgent Japan. Power projection advocates see the future differently in terms of local wars around China's periphery. They advocate modernization, smaller and more professional forces. The revolution in military affairs (RMA) enthusiasts see no immediate major threat for a number of years, time, they say, to transform key parts of the military force to be technologically competitive with the West.

There is a fourth future, explained in Unrestricted Warfare, a book by two senior colonels in the PLA published last year. It advocates removing all rules and restrictions in the conduct of war to enable the "inferior to defeat the superior." Available too late for Pillsbury to consider in this work, Unrestricted Warfare may represent a synthesis of views on the future way of war from a Chinese perpective, even though it "does not represent official doctrine."

I commend Pillsbury's work to both the serious and casual student of Chinese military affairs. He has done a service for those on both sides of the Pacific.

I have learned that perceptions are sometimes more important than facts and in the case of the Chinese viewpoint of the world situation, this holds true. This book describes in an interesting fashion, the Chinese perception of the motives, strengths and weaknesses of the world powers.

The Chinese use an interesting method of determining a nation's relative power using a quasi-mathematical formula to determine the Comprehensive National Power (CNP) of any given nation. They use this also to project the future CNP of given nations.

This interesting process is described in detail and the varying uses of this CNP are described. The Chinese show the most interest in the United States, Russia, Europe (mainly Germany, France and the United Kingdom), Japan, India and China. These calculations are focused through the lens of Chinese perception. This is based on Chinese history including ancient Chinese history, Marxism, Mao thought and the writings of Deng tso Peng. This is the most fascinating portion of the book.

For example, some factions in this debate feel that Japan is becoming militaristic and will want power in Asia. Most feel that Russia will become their friend in the coming struggles. The optomists feel that there will be a multipolar power sharing between China, Europe, Russia, the United States and Japan in a atmosphere of cooperation.

You may or may not disagree with the Chinese conclusions but the reality is, they believe that the world operates the way they see it and will react to world events accordingly.

Murphy has written a very good reference book, useful for brushing up on the finer points of charting, indicators and so forth. He also does a good job of going over the various technical theories with a straight face, neither endorsing favorites nor casting ridicule on the ones that are more logically suspect (cough cough, gannelliottfibonacci, cough cough).

The only thing I really took issue with was the habit of trying to predict the size and extent of price moves rather than sticking with more general observations regarding momentum and overall movement. Looking for something to happen before there is evidence of its arrival is a dangerous game for technical players, and to devotees of the approach, a friendly warning: be careful not to become a fundamentechnicalyst. Meaning, always keep in mind that effective technical analysis highlights probability rather than makes predictions. Since I just made up the word for this review, I'll now throw in the definition: A "fundamentechnicalyst" is one who makes predictions, just like the run of the mill fundamental analyst does- except the fundamentechnicalyst is making predictions based on technicals: chart patterns and various indicators, rather than supply and demand, weather, politics etc. In giving advance notice of how the movie is going to end, the approaches have similarity in their folly. The answer is to not say, "aha! because of pattern ABC, result XYZ must now occur...." Instead, say, "aha! because of pattern ABC, there is a reasonable probability that XYZ could possibly occur, but I recognize this is an odds game which means 1) it is normal, reasonable and expected for me to be wrong a portion of the time (the odds say so), and B) I gotta have a risk point, just in case this is one of those occurrences where the odds don't play out in my favor.

The difference in the thought process is subtle but critical. A prediction locks you in, creates a psychological commitment, brings your ego into the game, and screws up your mindset in general. Whereas if you recognize trading is essentially nothing but an odds game, then flexibility and peace of mind remain intact.

One of the hidden gems of this book was an excellent outline of why the contrarian method works. I don't want to give away Murphy's goods here, so I will just say that he points out a few very interesting reasons why it is natural for the majority to be wrong at turning points, and it is not simply because the masses lack trading ability or intelligence (though that is a factor, of course; the lumbering beast called Crowd is known for strong back and weak mind.)

To sum up, buy this book if you are new to technicals, if you want to brush up on your knowledge, or if you just want a handy reference. But be wary of the prediction trap. Keep your understanding of probability and odds intact.

Murphy has taken a very technical analysis of a "dry" subject and turned it into a readable, useful guide that should by read (and referred to often) by everyone who dares trade in the futures markets. It's a great first book on the subject, and a great book for experts alike.

Murphy has collected, collated, condensed and presented just about every method of technically analysing the futures markets. His text, whether dissecting simple or abstruse concepts, is remarkably lucid. Comprehensive and comprehensible, this is a reference futures traders must own. All I would have asked for in addition would be more suggestions for implementing trading strategies, but that, in fact, might require another book. If Murphy were to write it, he might outsell all those fake futures promoters and their $195 "courses" combined.

As the cover of this book says: Liquidity! Accessibility! Transparency!

The authors take a European perspective to challenge the traditional way that financial markets have operated in the United States and elsewhere. They point out, correctly I think, that the revolution is here. Fully automated markets now do the bulk of the worldwide futures trading. For example the Chicago Board of Trade was overtaken in futures volume by the fully automated German-Swiss EUREX in Frankfurt in 1998. London was charging from behind to take a big piece of the automated futures business as well. Automated trading experiments are going on in a number of other places, as well.

The vision the authors have is captured by a quote from Ludwig von Mises: "Economic history is the story of the gradual extension of the economic community beyond its original limits of the single household to embrace the nation and the world."

This vision is essentially of convergence into one global market, with one clearinghouse, and one regulator to do everything. The need to get costs down will require that convergence as the ultimate solution. How imminent this vision is has to be a guess (the authors convey the vision in the form of a dream), but the stories in the book show how often the complacent, traditional view has been wrong. The authors are good at pointing out the speed bumps that will delay progress, and outline good ideas for better and faster implementation.

But they are definitely tolling the bell in the near future for face-to-face selling. "In the future there will only be electronic traders." They also see a rise of small traders, small banks (doing direct placements of IPOs over the Internet with traders without underwriting syndicates), and greatly squeezed paychecks for traditional investment banking and trading activities.

I found the book to be consistent with my own vision. I was still left with the question of why the transition has not been a faster one. Financial markets should be converging at a much faster rate, if one looks only at the technology and the use of the Internet. Which aspects of human stalls are the worst delayers? Probably the tradition and bureaucratic stalls, because the existing markets and regulators are very slow to see new opportunity. Consider how recently fixed trading commissions disappeared. Those should have been gone in the Roaring Twenties.

If you want good detailed information on the state of the electronic market revolution, this book is essential reading. If you own a seat on an exchange, your pocketbook requires immediate attention.

There is an excellent section on how to prepare for the transition, and another one on the dangers to be cautious of.

Good look in building your wealth faster through more efficient markets!

In reading the book, there are many things that would scare traditionalists in our business. The rules are changing, and unless we adapt as traders and exchanges, we will be doomed. As I have discussions with other board members, and other floor traders, some intuitively understand the coming electronic age. Others pass it off as a purely European phenomena. "It won't happpen here.", is a phrase I hear every day. Brokers and traders see that the computerized competitors are having a tough time gaining a foothold in the American futures market. They rest thinking that their future is secure, and that maybe their margins will be squeezed a little. The revolution has only begun. While some of the positions the book posits seem outlandish, Columbus was seen as outlandish in 1492 too. This is a must read for any person associated with floor trading or an exchange. This also makes good reading for anyone involved in government regulation. Barriers are being broken down. Borders set by politics are not relevant to the sea change taking place in the financial marketplace. The U.S. is the titan of investment capital today, but a government that shackles the growth of the marketplace due to over regulation, is doomed to see all that capital leave for less regulated environs. I am on the Board of Directors at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, so I speak from experience. The revolution has begun, and we are trying to embrace it.

Building on the monthly news and insight from Patrick Young's ADTrading.com newsletter, Patrick Young and Thomas Theys have put together a concise history of recent developments in capital markets, especially the futures markets, and the steady advance of electronic trading. As a longtime reader of the newsletter I have been exposed to most of these ideas on a monthly basis; as an industry executive I have watched the events unfold day by day. Nevertheless, this compilation provides fresh insight into Capital Markets trends.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in an overview of the recent history of the futures, equity and FX markets and a plausible view where the markets are heading.

I would also recommend Capital Markets Revolution to industry insiders who are well aware of the events and ideas discussed, as they can benefit from the framework and view of the future into which current events are placed.

WotF XIX is a compilation of excellent stories (with a few, notable exceptions) spanning the genre range from historical fiction through horror and fantasy to science fiction. Despite the ever-present copy-editing errors, this was a very good read.

I would put the stories in four categories of excellence (well, three of excellence and one of crap).

Group One: The best

Walking Rain - Ian Keane's tale of supernatural beings in present day America, reminiscent (but not derivative) of American Gods, is compelling. The writing is lush, the characterizations beautiful. Hands down the best of the best. I can't say enough about this story. The book is worth buying for this story alone.

Into The Gardens of Sweet Night - Algis Budrys weaves a fairy tale-like tapestry of words as a boy takes a fantastic journey into the sky looking for the fabled gardens. Sometimes the discussions on freedom get a bit thick, but still great.

Blood and Horses - Myke Cole brings us a story of military sf where rebels riding horses seek the oil that gives life, losing their own blood fighting against a technically far superior opponent.

Group Two: The very excellent (in no particular order)

From All the Work Which He Had Made - Michael Churchman's style is strikingly odd at first, but within a page he had made me a convert with this interesting tale about the development of a humanoid robot exploring the questions of his soul.

Dark Harvest - Geoffrey Girard brings us a story about what happens when you find your worst nightmare dying in a field, and it becomes a tourist attraction. Excellent writing, and a wonderful story.

Beautiful Singer - Steve Bein's story of a haunted sword is elegant in its way of presenting feudal Japanese culture and characters. Every word of this story echoes with the culture of the samurai. The only thing holding back this most savory of writing from the top slot was the way the ending rushed together (a common difficulty in short-story writing).

A Few Days North of Vienna - Brandon Butler takes us along as a band of thieves join up with a group of vampire hunters to eradicate those evil creatures. The plot is nothing new or innovative, but the writing is top notch, and that's more important anyway.

Group Three: The still excellent (still in no particular order)

A Ship That Bends - whatever Butler lacked in innovation, Luc Reid makes up for in spades with his characters who live on a flat world and must build a bending ship if they wish to sail to the other side without falling off. The ending is its great weakness, suddenly ending the story before it really reaches its climax. Fun world, great writing, but it just stops cold.

A Silky Touch to No Man - a weak ending is also the problem with Robert J. Defendi's exploration of life in the near future where virtual reality has become the only reality. For a murder mystery, it was painfully apparent "whodunit" from the very beginning. But the writing is strong and the world well conceived (almost scary, actually) which makes it fun anyway.

Gossamer - Ken Liu offers a scenario where Earth finally makes contact with an alien species, and has no idea if they can even communicate. Art seems to be the only thing the Gossamers are interested in, but what does that mean? Interesting twist on the first contact plot.

Numbers - Joel Best brings us a stark account of a world where mathematicians can do almost anything, including make animals and people. In this world one woman seeks to create the perfect mate, but learns that perfection (and creation) are about more than doing everything flawlessly.

Group Four: The stories that really don't belong

Trust Is A Child - Matthew Candelaria's overly long story of negotiations with aliens is really just a painful rehash of about a thousand other identical stories, offering no new slants or anything. That alone wouldn't make it so horrible, but the main character is painfully stupid, and the plot has a hole in it the size of a small star system (it has to do with her being stopped by Marine guards while the aliens can just cruise on by and enter her private quarters without explanation). Also, her solution to being stopped is just horrible (apparently the guard is even dumber than she is). Still, with a good edit and re-write, I think it could have been decent, so I wouldn't write off the author.

A Boy and His Bicycle - Carl Frederick offers a story about just that: a boy and his bike. They don't do anything interesting, or go anywhere fun, or give us any reason not to hope that they just crash into a bus and die. The only saving grace is that it's short and over quickly. And to think this story got first place that quarter...

Bury My Heart At the Garrick - Steve Savile takes the prize for plodding, pointlessness. This story of Houdini was confusing, but not in that good way where you want to know what's going on, more in the way where you just don't care and want to skip to the next story. I kept reading to see if it would get better (imagine a short story that took me a week to read!). It didn't.

I love short story anthologies and this is a book packed with good stories. from "Blade of the Bunny" to a thought provoking "The Price of Tea in China" every story is a must read. The tales are mixed with thoughtful tips and hints for new writers and the whole book makes a worthwhile text for anyone trying their hand at writing.

While I do not get a chance to read much science fiction, I decided to pick up this book mainly because I enjoy short stories. And I must say that this book surprised me. There are a number of well-written, very entertaining stories in this book. There is also a good amount of variety. As more than 12 authors contribute to this book, if you are not a fan of one story, you can move onto the next. There should be four stories in this book that will captivate you. From the quality of the prose and the structure of the stories, I was at first surprised to see that these are first time authors. Now realizing that these are contest winnners from L Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest, it makes more sense. My favorites include Oragami Cranes, Eating Drinking and Walking, Windseekers, and Rewind (for it's writing style).

I am already a manager, and alot of the advice in this book I completely agree with. I also enjoyed Oz's casual style, and Palvia's witty cartoons.

Great book. This book has been reviewed by the following publications:
1) Business Library Review International, founded The Wall Street Review of Books before becoming BLRI.
....Effy Oz's cartoon supported guide to business-a perfect high school graduation present. Nuggets of wisdom includes his observation that "Objectively, your performance may be excellent, and yet, people may not like you"(p.49); "Organizations are systems made up of people"(p31); "Be PC (politically correct)" (p119)

2) Dennis McCafferty, writer for USA Weekend
.....Oz's observation that it is a mistake to avoid office politics is worth noting....

3) Business Journal, Allentown, PA
....Oz offers many good tips, eg, One good word about you from an insider is worth more than a thousand recommendations from former professors...you should not let anyone leave a meeting without summarizing theree things: what is to be done, who will do it and when is the deadline... .

3) Journal of Information Technology - Cases and Applications
....something you will not learn in Harvard Business School...meets a largely unmet need... .

This small and entertaining book is a must for any beginning manager. Easy to read and highly informative. It helped me a lot.

This was a fun, colorful book, the Sci-Fi style where the galaxy is well-populated and people/creatures have spaceships and zip from planet to planet the way we have automobiles and drive from town to town. Nevermind the physics and the rocket science. This is more fun!

"Santiago" is a legend of truly legendary proportions. Someone hijacked the weapons transport of the toughest navy in this part of the galaxy? Santiago did it. The well-defended space mercenary training compound is now a smoldering crater? It was Santiago! The slaves were not only liberated, but resettled... and presented with the wealth of half a planet? Why, it was Santiago and his gang. Someone overturned the police aircar outside a local post office? It was Santiago, hey that guy was just here!

Of course someone as popular/infamous/notorious as Santiago is certain to have a long trail of bounty hunters, amateur and professional, after him. And so he does, one of them Sebastian Nightingale Cain (don't use his middle name in his presence), the most feared bounty hunter of them all. There is an obnoxious freelance journalist looking for the scoop of the century. She'll interview Santiago, or at least cover his death/capture at the hands of Cain. There is a thoroughly disreputable art dealer, he wants some art pieces that Santiago is said to have acquired, and besides, the art dealer needs to leave town fast anyway. They all search for Santiago, going from planet to planet, always one or two steps behind Santiago. Many along the way claim to have seen him. There isn't a photograph or a hologram anywhere... Cain has to really work at this one. Even Santiago's men don't *really* seem to know where Santiago is at this very moment.

There is a well-liked minstrel who goes from spaceport to spaceport singing of Santiago's deeds, he was a nice touch.

Although much of the story was predictable, as were quite a few of the characters, this book was a fast-paced, exciting read. There are memorable characters and locales too, both good and bad. The character Cain is sure to stick in your mind, it's hard to not like the guy. This is the kind of book that gets read in one sitting. This is the kind of story that will make you smile when you finish, and you'll say "That was fun!"

When I bought SANTIAGO, I was expecting a "space opera" type of novel. That is, a melodrama typified by shallow characterization, simple plot line and lots of action. What I wasn't quite prepared for was a "space western". That's what this is, though. It reads like a cowboy story complete with bounty hunters, a lawless frontier culture, and aliens calling themselves "the sioux nation" and living in teepees.

My first reaction was to laugh. The parallels are so blatant that it seemed comical. Resnick posits a galactic "frontier" where cheap, personal inter-stellar transportation is available and goes the whole nine yards in comparing it to the western frontier of the U.S. in the second half of the nineteenth century. It's like Dodge City goes galactic.

The surprising thing here is that Resnick actually pulls this off. It may seem a little corny at first (at least, it did to me), but overall it's entertaining and fun to read. Not only does the story move along at a good pace, but it is populated with some of the oddest and most intriguing characters imaginable. They aren't deep, but each is quirky and VERY different in his/her own way. Some are likable, some are at least sympathetic, some are downright despicable, but they're not boring. This progression of wierd characters is enough to keep the book from getting dull all by itself.

SANTIAGO isn't a deep, thought-provoking tale, but it is entertaining. I enjoyed it. It's fluff, but it works. If that works for you, give it a try. I recommend it as a good, light scifi read.

This is one of my top ten all time favorite sci-fi novels and has been since I first read it when I was about 13 (I am more than TWICE that age now and that's all we'll say on that subject). The book has held up through many years and many re-readings and I enjoy it every time. Far from being traditional and technical science fiction, this is one part pulp western, one part space opera, one part Robin Hood type adventure and five hundred parts cool. Here Resnick has peopled a far flung corner of the Universe with more unique and colorful characters than you would normally get in ten such novels, and the dialogue is snappier than any other book of this genre, guaranteed. The book runs very fast and is fun from start to stop. I couldn't put it down almost two decades ago and I still usually read it in one or two sittings.
Santiago is the most notorious criminal in the galaxy with a price on his head like no other man past or present. He is a legend of close to mythic proportions. The only problem is no one has ever seen his face or dealt with him directly in his many years of looting and pillaging. This doesn't, of course, keep every bounty hunter on the galactic rim from trying to hunt him down. Sebastian Cain is one such bounty hunter, a disillusioned freedom fighter who decided to start killing people for profit once he realized all of his fighting to make the universe a better place was futile. The book begins with his receiving a simple tip in a small out of the way bar that puts him on the trail of the most notorious criminal in history. His adventures take him to many ports of call and he crosses paths with gamblers, assassins, a gun toting preacher, a starving artist, a sentient spaceship, alien indians and even a reporter or two. The only problem is that The Angel, the best bounty hunter in the biz, is also close to figuring out the puzzle that is Santiago. The book is a race, a chase, an adventure of the highest order and makes the point that nothing is ever really what it seems. After all, in a world where your name is a description of who and what you are (Poor Yorick, Jolly Swagman, Man-Mountain Bates), the most dangerous man in the universe is named Santiago. Look it up and see what it means.
There was a point when the paperback of this book came with a blurb saying it was soon to be made into a movie. I guess this never came to fruition, but it would certainly make the best animated sci-fi flick I can think of. I also see that Amazon is advertising for the sequel to be published soon. I cannot wait. Like I said, this is one of my favorite fun books ever and if the follow up is only half as good, it will still be an absolute blast.