Gnomes Books

"Simon Says" is a story featuring Simon, a guest star from an episode of "Dragon Tales." This funny little gnome first met the Dragon Tales gang and played a game of Simon Says with them, helping them learn to follow instructions and in the process repairing Emmy's yo-yo.

In "Simon Says," he's back and by playing Simon Says, the gang hopes to learn what a group of songbirds are singing in Spanish. Along the way, readers will learn a variety of Spanish words. Each page, including the cover is beautifully illustrated and each new page has each new object labeled in both English and Spanish. Children will want to read the story and then read it again and in the process will learn new Spanish words in a fun and engaging manner.

Truly beautiful. I love these images and the cards work well too. Just remember to clean their energy before each use.

These delightful 3 little hardback books come in a pictorial slip-case box by publisher Harry Abrams, Inc. They were adapted from the book "Gnomes" by Poortvliet & Huygen. The 3 titles are: Little Gnome Facts, Gnomes to the Rescue, & Gnome Counting Book. Each book has a story & beautiful illustrations centered around our friends the gnomes. Sure to intertain humans of all ages.

Long out of print and never available in mass-market paperback, this book collects 13 of Bond's best stories, most of them science-fantasy. My particular favorites are "Pilgrimage" and "The Sportsman", a low-key but effective story about a riding club. Bond is a masterful story-teller, with a subtle and definite wit.

Well, to be perfectly honest, the book that I'm reviewing here is Henry Kuttner and C.L. Moore's "Chessboard Planet and Other Stories," but this location at Amazon is as close to that title as I can find, and I did want to enthuse a little on what I've just read. This collection, by sci-fi's foremost husband-and-wife writing team, is comprised of a novella, two longish short stories, and a short piece. The novella, "Chessboard Planet," originally appeared under the title "The Fairy Chessmen" in the January and February 1946 issues of John W. Campbell's "Astounding Science-Fiction" and, in my opinion, is an unjustly forgotten masterpiece. In it, the United States and the European union known as the Falangists have been at war for decades, and as the story opens, the U.S. is in big trouble. It seems that the enemy has come up with a scientific equation that can completely preempt reality; a formula made up of variable constants, the solving of which is driving our best scientific minds insane. A team of men at U.S. Psychometrics is given the task of unraveling this scientific riddle whilst resisting the reality-bending effects that the enemy is bombarding them with. They must also contend with a battle-hardened supersoldier from the future, a band of mutants possessing ETP (extra-temporal perception), a physicist whose merest thought can erase reality, AND the appearance of 74 mysterious alien domes. The book becomes fairly way out and hallucinatory at times, as equations and counterequations for abrogating reality are bounced back and forth by the two sides. (I almost wish I'd read this novella 30 years ago in college, while under the influence of some psychotropic substance!) The book is quite a departure from Kuttner and Moore's previous novella, "Earth's Last Citadel" (1943), both in terms of style and content. That previous work is a pulpy, well-written sci-fi/fantasy of the far future, whereas this is almost a hybrid of hard sci-fi and 1960s New Wave. Indeed, the book almost anticipates the works of P.K. Dick, and that author's recurring theme of the tenuousness of reality. "Chessboard Planet" is the type of book that just brims over with imaginative ideas, mind-blowing speculation, unique settings and unexpected plot twists on just about every page. It is an extremely sophisticated piece of work that must have been all the more impressive to readers back in 1946. As I said, a neglected masterpiece. To round out the collection, the (British) Hamlyn edition that I just completed contains three other pieces. In "Camouflage," which first appeared in "Astounding Science-Fiction" in September '45, a group of criminals hijacks a spaceship that is under the control of a Transplant: a human brain in a box that operates all mechanical functions aboard. The resulting game of cat and mouse between the human/machine and the bad guys is both tense and exciting, although the story's underlying theme--can a human remain human in a mechanical body?--is one that Catherine Moore had visited to even greater effect in her classic 1944 short story "No Woman Born." In "Android," which first saw the light of day in the June '51 issue of "The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction," a man comes to the conclusion that the majority of "people" on Earth are androids. Too bad he has more trouble convincing others of this theory than Kevin McCarthy had with his "pod people" story in the 1956 film "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"! Like that seminal film, "Android" is a wonderful piece of sci-fi paranoia, with an ending that is at once downbeat and curiously uplifting. To complete this collection, there is the oft-anthologized short piece "Or Else!," which was first published in the September '53 issue of "Amazing Stories." In this one, a Klaatu-like alien attempts to bring peace to a pair of feuding Mexican farmers. But, as it turns out, the simple Earth peasants seem to possess more in the way of practical wisdom than the technologically superior but simplistically naive star dweller, in this pithy little tale. Anyway, to sum up, this is a wonderful collection from Kuttner and Moore, worth owning for that "Fairy Chessman" story alone. I mo(o)re than highly recommend it to all Amazon readers.

Asimov has crafted a sci-fi masterpiece in this novel. It is this novel that takes the Foundation series to a new level of brilliance. While the original novel is strong, this book is stronger. One advanatage of this book over its predecessor is that it is a single story as opposed to a series of novellas. This yields greater investment in the characters as they develop throughout the book. Asimov displays here all the attributes that have earned him monolithic status among sci-fi writers--unforgettable characters, ahead-of-his-time technology, and an entrancing plot with endless twists and turns. Essential reading for sci-fi fans.

Foundation And Empire, by Isaac Asimov is the second book in the original Foundation trilogy, which won a Hugo Award in 1965 for Best All-Time Series. It follows much the same narrative structure as the first book, Foundation, save that the book has only two `books', to the original's five, which allows for less epic scene setting, and much more character development. And don't let some of the books' critics fool you. The characterizations in these books are wonderful, deep, and complex. They simply are not done in the usual ways. They use a characterization style I term `silhouetting', wherein characters are portrayed not so much by what they do as the important things they do not do, or that which is not described in `on stage' actions. This book, though, is not merely a continuation of the first book, but an expansion of its themes, which includes some more detailed characterization.

The first book set up the history of a senescent galactic Empire on the verge of tottering into oblivion and thirty thousand years of barbarism. A scientist named Hari Seldon attempts to shorten that Imperial interregnum by establishing two Foundations on either end of the galaxy, ostensibly to compile an Encyclopedia Galactica. In reality these two Foundations will be the cornerstones of the Second Empire, which Seldon's Psychohistory- a deterministic pseudoscience, predicts will cut the interregnum down to s ingle millennium. By the first book's end the first Foundation, on the planet Terminus, has survived several `Seldon Crises' via his holographic intervention, which helps the Foundation outwit its enemies, and the work of legendary leaders- Salvor Hardin and Hober Mallow, and a few centuries in to its existence seems poised to actually take on and destroy the ruined Empire.

This is where Foundation And Empire starts....the book is relatively easy to get into- even if you've not read the first book. That's because Asimov's style of the pseudo historical work allows for quick recaps (in the old movie serial vein), and the fact that each chapter within each book has new characters and situations means that they can stand alone, even as they add to the overall tapestry. Asimov also makes a wise dramatic choice in The Mule section. By spending a book and a half showing Psychohistory's upside, and proving its internal `validity', the second half of Foundation And Empire shows the downside of lulling oneself into a false sense of security, as well the consequences that coyuld await the Foundation if it falls the same way the Empire did. The funereal descriptions of Trantor contrast vividly with the awesome complexity that opens the first book of the trilogy. Then, the Empire seemed impervious. Yet, Asimov is so good a writer that he rarely lapses into caricature. Even The Mule is sympathetic, when we understand his drive to prove himself. Even more interesting is that he seems no worse than the old Emperors, nor even the dynastic heirs of the current Foundation. With his powers his Second Empire might even be better than the Seldonian one. Yet, lacking an heir- due to his sterility. and his own powers, it would seem likely that even greater chaos would befall the galaxy upon his death.

This begs the question that seems to be central to the trilogy: `What place does the individual have in the overall scheme of things?', or, more succinctly, `Does an individual matter?' The Mule seems to be a resounding answer of YES! He also seemingly cuts to the dubious heart of Psychohistory, which is based upon the well known Fallacy Of Uninterrupted Trends. Because of these philosophical depths, wonderfully concise and spare writing which does not bore one silly with extraneous detail, but a lean, clean narrative line, excellent characterizations, and an ability to deliver a twist ending many mystery writers would envy, Foundation And Empire ranks as a truly great novel, even outside its genre. Only readers addicted to the modern need to reveal why everything is, in excruciating detail, and to have mere action, action, action on every page, will not recognize this as not only great sci fi, but great literature. Asimov, too, deserves the label as a great writer. As The Mule might say: On to Second Foundation!

Great book! Second in the series of three novels, all three are worth the read. I read all three in about two and half weeks. It might be interesting to read them in conjunction with Kuhn's Structures of Scientific Revolutions. Every "Seldon Crisis" brings about a "new world". Really fun stuff. Don't miss out!

Rescued from two-star "waste of time" by a surprise twist close to the end. Episodic plot, weak character development, stilted dialogue, meek action and little humor or passion; frankly this series is just not that well written. I'd expected more from such a big-name writer. I'll finish it out to see how the twist plays out, but don't expect much.

The second book in the original trilogy, and the fourth book overall, Foundation and Empire is the great sequel to Foundation. It's really two different stories set many years apart.

The first story covers the empires attempt to conquer the First Foundation led by its last great general. The second covers the mutant known as the Mule and his attempt to conquer the entire galaxy. The mysterious Second Foundation comes into play for the first time at the end of this book.

Like its predecessor, at only 320 pages it makes a quick and interesting read. As one of the few sequels I've ever read which isn't a let down from the book it follows, I highly recommend it as well as the rest of the series.

A collection of eight stories linked by faux canine literary archaeology talking about the provenance of the stories, etc. Desertion is definitely the highlight story, but taken all at once, this man goes into space and leaves the dogs and robots behind in general gets somewhat tedious.

City : City - Clifford D. Simak
City : Huddling Place - Clifford D. Simak
City : Census - Clifford D. Simak
City : Desertion - Clifford D. Simak
City : Paradise - Clifford D. Simak
City : Hobbies - Clifford D. Simak
City : Aesop - Clifford D. Simak
City : The Simple Way - Clifford D. Simak

Moving Gramps.

3 out of 5


Homebody scaredy-cats.

3.5 out of 5


Talking dog passing change.

3 out of 5


Altered man mission adds a mutt.

4.5 out of 5


Man came back, to mutants.

3.5 out of 5


Robots and dogs living together.

3 out of 5


Peter and the wolf and the bear and a new robot body.

3 out of 5


Renegade raccoon, wild robots, Hey Joe.

3 out of 5

Clifford Simak was among the brightest luminaries of modern SF, and two of his novels have never lost their power to capture the reader and to hold he or she enthralled - TIME IS THE SIMPLEST THING and CITY. Even if you sometimes despair of, or have little interest in, SF, read them both.
CITY, with its canine civilization, and its memories of Man, is one of the most touching of novels - unusual in this genre is an understatement.

New editions of all Simak's works are long, long overdue!

I am impressed by the depth of these reviews, but I did not find the book as riveting, prescient or as well written as the other reviewers found.

I think the main problem for me is the overwhelming tone of patriarchy in the book. In the thousands of years that see the devolution of the City and the rise of the dogs and the mutation of humans, not one Webster - the family who is responsible for everything in the stories - is a woman. Like most books written by male science fiction writers of that era, the woman when she is not half dressed is, as in this book, somewhere offstage producing male children and baking pies on the farm. In Simak's world, it is Jenkins the thousand year old robot who takes the place of the quasi mother wife and helpmate. In this way, the book feels old, quaint and not to be taken seriously. Oh yes there are a few women in it. There is a woman who is the best "transfer technician in the solar system", but she is there to perform the real function of womanhood - to be worried that something very bad is going to happen to the hero, Webster.

The core of the book, that cities were abandoned because of the rise of hydrophonic gardening and therefore farmland became more available and so men rushed to the farms to live alone with their robots harkens I suppose to a misanthropic despair common to men who prefer robots. But come on.... hydrophonic tomatoes as the giant killer?
The only interesting part of the book is the philosophical question at the end. Whether voluntarily surrendering being human to become a creature of another planetary species in order to attain nirvana and happiness is worth the extinction of the human race . Very good question from a not very good book.

Simak wrote these interconnected stories in the mid-1940s, and it's a mark of his talent that you can't tell. So much early science fiction is marred for the modern reader by a telltale stiffness of language and a jarring quaintness of outmoded science. With the exception that one of these stories suggests that surgical modifications have become hereditary, there's nothing dated about the science in "City," while Simak's ideas about what it means to be human and about the ways in which non-human intelligences might be both far more than and vastly different from human are as relevant now as when they were written. "City" is a very slim volume to contain so much food for thought.

This is my favorite book--period.
An astonishing collection of such brilliantly original ideas that they will stay with you for life. CITY is crafted in a deceivingly folksy style that anyone who is literate can enjoy (without going through the labors of, say, DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA, CRIME AND PUNISHMENT, or MOBY DICK, for examples.) But that is not to say that it is simplistic---not in the least. This little book contains profundities not found in the majority of literature, of any genre. Sorry, no spoilers.
Just buy it and cherish it.
Sheer genius!

It reminded me of the good old days of being a kid. You know doing nothing, cracking open favorite book, reading until dark. Arianna Kelt, written by J R King when he was twelve truly captures the sense of wonder and atmosphere of a classy adventure story, the kind any kid or any one who is young at heart can truly enjoy. I was really impressed with King's writing skills. The story was outstanding, and I suggest you buy this book. Full of action, imagery and solid description, you'll feel like you are there in this wizarding universe with Arianna and her friends. The sequel, Arianna Kelt and the Renegades of Time (Deluxe Edition, Wizards of Skyhall Book 2) (Wizards of Skyhall), is equally as good if not better.

A gifted young author, and I'm amazed at how much fun it was to read! Arianna Kelt and the Wizards of Skyhall is the first book in a planned trilogy. I enjoyed this book so much the first time I read it, I couldn't wait for the sequel. This is one of those rare books that works with adults as well as it does for young people. This young author has a truly unique voice and true talent as a writer.

I loved that the author isn't afraid to poke fun at himself and his creation. The People's Court, the dung beatles, stinky old Digorence, I loved it all. The sharp wit and humor throughout is refreshing, and the book itself is on par with anything written by adults in the genre. I highly recommend the sequel: Arianna Kelt and the Renegades of Time (Deluxe Edition, Wizards of Skyhall Book 2) (Wizards of Skyhall). I can't wait to get the third book.

I am in absolute awe of the talent of this young author and completely agree with the many, many reviewers who have said Arianna Kelt and the Wizards of Skyhall is better than most other books in this category. Although more for young adults than adults, I truly enjoyed every moment. This young author has truly achieved something great.

The story is about a young girl named Arianna who is a troubled teen, living in an orphanage. At the start of the story, she plots and schemes, dreaming up ways to leave her life in the orphanage behind. By night she is a thief and a pretty good one. She is saving the money from her ill deeds to get her through life when she becomes an adult.

Arianna's life down the wrong path changes when she sees something that she's not supposed to see. She sees a wizard performing magic. This ability of hers to see magical beings gets her in big trouble and she soon finds herself on trial in the People Court in Skyhall. Skyhall is place where magical beings live separate from humans. To learn what happens next, you'll have to read the story.

A wonderful story, full of humor, action and adventure. I highly recommend this book for teen readers and also highly recommend the sequel, Arianna Kelt and the Renegades of Time (Deluxe Edition, Wizards of Skyhall Book 2) (Wizards of Skyhall).

J R King's novel, Arianna Kelt and the Wizards of Skyhall is written with depth and intelligence across 200 pages. If you enjoy reading books like Artemis Fowl and Harry Potter, you're sure to relish the plot of this novel. King's approach to the story is like no other. He elegantly expresses the thoughts and feelings of the main character Arianna, but still manages to keep a simple manner intact in the fantasy-like atmosphere of Skyhall.

The novel takes place in a dangerous time as young Arianna slowly inhales the reality of her importance to the world. Shee reluctantly begins her training as a wizard, entering a new life where she meets new friends and discovers nothing is what is seems.

Fate wields a nasty path for her as trial after trial beats her down. She holds onto the bonds of trust she has with her new friends, and the slim hope of surviving in the changing universe as evil forces she never dreamed of become real.

I am positive it will inspire the minds of everyone who also reads it. The conclusion will leave you breathless. I couldn't wait for the second book, Arianna Kelt and the Renegades of Time (Deluxe Edition, Wizards of Skyhall Book 2) (Wizards of Skyhall).

"Arianna Kelt and the Wizards of Skyhall" is the debut novel of teen author J R King. As an adult reader, I enjoyed every moment of the story and was amazed at the raw talent of this gifted author. King's writing is several times better than Colfer's or Paolini's. It deserves to be read by all.

This book is a constant companion on my physical desktop....if you deal with Linux in anyway at all this book is a necessity.

If you've been in the tech field for any length of time you own at least one Nutshell book. If you like them, you own several; if you don't, you probably stopped at one.

This book consists of one large section that is mostly distilled man pages, along with more specialized chapters later on. Emacs, vi, bash, sed and gawk are all covered in detail. This book is my main reference for bash, vi, sed and gawk, as I am an Emacs and Z Shell user. Despite the material in the "Commands" chapter being redundant with the online documentation of any GNU/Linux system, I like having a printed book to view. This is usually the first thing I go for when I'm using `find'.

I recommend getting a used copy or a previous edition, because the sections of real value in this book will still be valuable, even if they are three or four years old.

Getting a bit long in tooth, but Linux hasn't changed that much since this was published in 2005. Much of it is a reprint of what you'll find in the MAN pages, with better tyography and formatting. Not particularly helpful for the rank beginner, unless used as a secondary source.

As a handy reference to Linux - truly Linux in a nutshell - it still has no equal in terms of comprehensiveness and ease of use.

Jerry

This book is as it promises, lots of information in a very (relatively) small space. The chapters are organized on topics that the newbie (read: me!) needs to know about and the explanations are thorough and well-written. While the old hand will understand the material covered easily and without much review, the newbie will have to read and re-read to get it all. Chapter 3 lists the most common LINUX commands and details arguments that go with them. The index and the fact that the commands lists are alphabetical make it very easy to look up a specific command or function and find out what you need to know to make it work on the spot. The chapters on Shells and on the VIM Editor are very informative and make two tough topics easy to understand. Reading through the VIM editor chapter as I did a lab practical made the process almost fun. For me, the best part was that I could understand the book, and my way experienced friend also finds it a useful reference for his more advanced work. So, I'll be able to use it while I grow into it as a LINUX user.

Might be confusing for some who don't realize that various flavours of UNINX and Linux abound but so what! This book is not supposed to teach that kind of thing anyway.

I was looking for a small form linux for dummies. This manual was too technical for me. It may be of use for me down the road.

I'm relatively new to linux and this is a great book to have handy. Very small and tightly packed with easy to find commands and examples. Great tool and good price.

A pocket sized guide to the essential commands of Linux. While specific to an older version of Fedora, this is still a very handy reference. All the essential commands are covered and explained.

This is a small book with a limited purpose and it acheives its goals. More or less indispensable for the Linux user.

Jerry

While this may be an excellent reference for experienced Linux users, it will be of very limited use for beginners or those who use Linux through a graphical interface. It is also specifically directed towards Fedora. It would be helpful if your descriptive blurb on the book revealed these two facts.