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Forgotten Realms Player's Guide: A 4th Edition D&D Supplement (Forgotten Realms Supplement)

Wizards RPG Team

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 14 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

Somehow this manages to add nothing. 1 out of 5 stars.
6 of 14 people found this review helpful.

This feels a little like flogging a dead horse because I already expressed my disappointment, nay, disgust at the blasé manner in which Which 20+ years of material had been cast aside with the 4th ed Campaign Setting. This book does nothing to improve my opinion, in fact it somehow manages to worsen it by not adding any depth whatsoever to a "new" Realms already devoid of soul. Pathfinder and the existing Forgotten Realms books is where my future lie with this dead shell of a world, at least I have the option of ignoring 4th ed and sticking with a system that will continue to use, improve and support 3.5.

Editorial Review:

The complete guide for building Forgotten Realms characters!

Welcome to Faerûn, a land of amazing magic, terrifying monsters, ancient ruins, and hidden wonders. The world has changed since the Spellplague, and from this arcane crucible have emerged shining kingdoms, tyrannical empires, mighty heroes, and monster-infested dungeons.

The Forgotten Realms Player's Guide presents this changed world from the point of view of the adventurers exploring it. This product includes everything a player needs to create his character for a D&D campaign in the Forgotten Realms setting, including new feats, new character powers, new paragon paths and epic destinies, and even a brand-new character class never before seen in D&D: the swordmage!

Batman: The Killing Joke

Alan Moore, Brian Bolland

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 173 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

This one really did nothing for me 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Batman makes yet another visit to Arkham Asylum, this time he simply wants to talk with the Joker, and see if they cannot somehow come to an understanding. But, the joke's on Batman when he finds that the Joker has escaped again. It seems that while Batman would like to end their long-running feud, Joker wants to take it to a whole new level. Grabbing Commissioner Gordon, he sets out to teach him, and Batman, a lesson in madness.

I am a huge comic book/graphic novel fan, but this one really did nothing for me. The author set out to give the story a "morally ambiguous theme," but that is not all he left ambiguous. Batman acts strangely out of character, less a dark knight, and more...well, nothing really, he's just less Batman. The Joker is well done, truly the crown prince of evil, but why add yet another Joker origin story? It seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the story. The ending is totally non-existent - I suppose that the author wanted an ambiguous ending, so he just left his board and went out for a Whopper and Coca-Cola. "Move along please, there's nothing to see here."

I thought that this was a terribly weak addition to the genre - filled with potential, but none of it totally realized. I highly recommend AGAINST this book. [If you want to read a good Batman story, with a similar theme, then read Batman: Jekyll & Hyde by Paul Jenkins.]

Editorial Review:

The Killing Joke, one of my favorite Batman stories ever, stirred a bit of controversy because the story involves the Joker brutally, pointlessly shooting Commissioner Gordon's daughter in the spine. This is a no-holds-barred take on a truly insane criminal mind, masterfully written by British comics writer Alan Moore. The art by Brian Bolland is so appealing that his depiction of the Joker became a standard and was imitated by many artists to follow.

The Gypsy Morph (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 3)

Terry Brooks

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 39 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Terry Brooks won instant acclaim with his phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Sword of Shannara. Its sequels earned Brooks legendary status. Then his darkly enthralling The Word and the Void trilogy revealed new depths and vistas to his mastery of epic fantasy. Armageddon’s Children and The Elves of Cintra took Brooks’s remarkable mythos to a breathtaking new level by delving deep into the history of Shannara. And now, The Gypsy Morph rounds out–with an adventure of unforgettably imaginative scope–the first phase of a new chapter in this classic series.

Eighty years into the future, the United States is a no-man’s-land: its landscape blighted by chemical warfare, pollution, and plague; its government collapsed; its citizens adrift, desperate, fighting to stay alive. In fortified compounds, survivors hold the line against wandering predators, rogue militias, and hideous mutations spawned from the toxic environment, while against them all stands an enemy neither mortal nor merciful: demons and their minions bent on slaughtering and subjugating the last of humankind.

But from around the country, allies of good unite to challenge the rampaging evil. Logan Tom, wielding the magic staff of a Knight of the Word, has a promise to keep–protecting the world’s only hope of salvation–and a score to settle with the demon that massacred his family. Angel Perez, Logan’s fellow Knight, has risked her life to aid the elvish race, whose peaceful, hidden realm is marked for extermination by the forces of the Void. Kirisin Belloruus, a young elf entrusted with an ancient magic, must deliver his entire civilization from a monstrous army. And Hawk, the rootless boy who is nothing less than destiny’s instrument, must lead the last of humanity to a latter-day promised land before the final darkness falls.

The Gypsy Morph is an epic saga of a world in flux as the mortal realm yields to a magical one; as the champions of the Word and the Void clash for the last time to decide what will be and what must cease; and as, from the remnants of a doomed age, something altogether extraordinary rises.

The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle

Jim Butcher, Ardian Syaf

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Editorial Review:

When the supernatural world spins out of control, when the police can’t handle what goes bump in the night, when monsters come screaming out of nightmares and into the mean streets, there’s just one man to call: Harry Dresden, the only professional wizard in the Chicago phone book. A police consultant and private investigator, Dresden has to walk the dangerous line between the world of night and the light of day.

Now Harry Dresden is investigating a brutal mauling at the Lincoln Park Zoo that has left a security guard dead and many questions unanswered. As an investigator of the supernatural, he senses that there’s more to this case than a simple animal attack, and as Dresden searches for clues to figure out who is really behind the crime, he finds himself next on the victim list, and being hunted by creatures that won’t leave much more than a stain if they catch him.

Written exclusively for comics by Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle is a brand-new story that’s sure to enchant readers with a blend of gripping mystery and fantastic adventure.

Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury

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Total reviews: 1267 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury's classic, frightening vision of the future, firemen don't put out fires--they start them in order to burn books. Bradbury's vividly painted society holds up the appearance of happiness as the highest goal--a place where trivial information is good, and knowledge and ideas are bad. Fire Captain Beatty explains it this way, "Give the people contests they win by remembering the words to more popular songs.... Don't give them slippery stuff like philosophy or sociology to tie things up with. That way lies melancholy."

Guy Montag is a book-burning fireman undergoing a crisis of faith. His wife spends all day with her television "family," imploring Montag to work harder so that they can afford a fourth TV wall. Their dull, empty life sharply contrasts with that of his next-door neighbor Clarisse, a young girl thrilled by the ideas in books, and more interested in what she can see in the world around her than in the mindless chatter of the tube. When Clarisse disappears mysteriously, Montag is moved to make some changes, and starts hiding books in his home. Eventually, his wife turns him in, and he must answer the call to burn his secret cache of books. After fleeing to avoid arrest, Montag winds up joining an outlaw band of scholars who keep the contents of books in their heads, waiting for the time society will once again need the wisdom of literature.

Bradbury--the author of more than 500 short stories, novels, plays, and poems, including The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man--is the winner of many awards, including the Grand Master Award from the Science Fiction Writers of America. Readers ages 13 to 93 will be swept up in the harrowing suspense of Fahrenheit 451, and no doubt will join the hordes of Bradbury fans worldwide. --Neil Roseman

Paul of Dune

Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson

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Total reviews: 42 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Frank Herbert's Dune ended with Paul Muad’Dib in control of the planet Dune. Herbert’s next Dune book, Dune Messiah, picked up the story several years later after Paul’s armies had conquered the galaxy. But what happened between Dune and Dune Messiah? How did Paul create his empire and become the Messiah? Following in the footsteps of Frank Herbert, New York Times bestselling authors Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson are answering these questions in Paul of Dune.

The Muad’Dib’s jihad is in full swing. His warrior legions march from victory to victory. But beneath the joy of victory there are dangerous undercurrents. Paul, like nearly every great conqueror, has enemies--those who would betray him to steal the awesome power he commands. . . .

And Paul himself begins to have doubts: Is the jihad getting out of his control? Has he created anarchy? Has he been betrayed by those he loves and trusts the most? And most of all, he wonders: Am I going mad?

Paul of Dune is a novel everyone will want to read and no one will be able to forget.

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West (Harper Fiction)

Gregory Maguire

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1510 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

My new favorite 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

I love, love, LOVED this book. It was so much more dark and twisty than I had expected, as I'm familiar with the musical version (nothing alike) and I was so pleasantly surprised. I had anticipated this book to be somewhat juvenile, but it really surpassed my expectations -- it was incredibly adult (I know I felt myself blushing a few times on the subway, shielding it from my fellow passengers!) By the end of the book I felt very familiar with the world of Oz, as though I was right there with them. Maguires descriptions made me feel so much like I was a part of the action, and really got me involved in the story. I will admit that this story is not for everyone, KNOW what you're getting yourself into, it is not a Frank Baum tale!

Editorial Review:

When Dorothy triumphed over the Wicked Witch of the West in L. Frank Baum's classic tale, we heard only her side of the story. But what about her arch-nemesis, the mysterious witch? Where did she come from? How did she become so wicked? And what is the true nature of evil?

Gregory Maguire creates a fantasy world so rich and vivid that we will never look at Oz the same way again. Wicked is about a land where animals talk and strive to be treated like first-class citizens, Munchkinlanders seek the comfort of middle-class stability and the Tin Man becomes a victim of domestic violence. And then there is the little green-skinned girl named Elphaba, who will grow up to be the infamous Wicked Witch of the West, a smart, prickly and misunderstood creature who challenges all our preconceived notions about the nature of good and evil.

Atlas Shrugged

Ayn Rand

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1541 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

drivel 3 out of 5 stars.
0 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Atlas Shrugged works as a Fantasy Mystery or Detective Story. Ms.Rand succeeds at projecting the Russian Revolution of her homeland onto America, then reacting to it. To do this she had to drastically misunderstand American history.
The book does have some redeeming qualities. None of the protagonists have degrees in finance or economics. The Protagonists seem mostly to be mechanics, skilled hacks, and engineers. Rand developed the prototypes of many soundbytes used by coldwarriors and ideologues like Reagan and Greenspan.

The gospel of Ayn Rand's Objectivism is best discovered by analyzing her design of the Galt's Gulch civilization. What does it take for a civilization to exist to Ayn Rand's standards of freedom and capitalism? It has to have strict control over who is allowed to enter. The citizens must refuse to trade or commit commerce with all civilizations and individuals who do not live up to their standards of freedom. A hard currency of gold is used, yet somehow banking must also be possible. There must be engines that output more energy than is put into them(the laws of physics will rearrange themselves for you if you are "rational" enough). Objectivist Privateers must have better artillery and ships than national militaries. People who design air planes have tall lean physiques. Less than a days wages can pay for lectures from the top intellectuals and professionals. You can rent your friends car for a solid gold nickel, without having to sign release forms and provide proof of insurance.

Atlas Shrugged can serve as an inspiration for Iraqi Insurgents wishing to sabotage Iraqi civilization just to get rid of the people who don't live up to their standards of freedom and morality.

Editorial Review:

At last, Ayn Rand's masterpiece is available to her millions of loyal readers in trade paperback.

With this acclaimed work and its immortal query, "Who is John Galt?", Ayn Rand found the perfect artistic form to express her vision of existence. Atlas Shrugged made Rand not only one of the most popular novelists of the century, but one of its most influential thinkers.

Atlas Shrugged is the astounding story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world--and did. Tremendous in scope, breathtaking in its suspense, Atlas Shrugged stretches the boundaries further than any book you have ever read. It is a mystery, not about the murder of a man's body, but about the murder--and rebirth--of man's spirit.

* Atlas Shrugged is the "second most influential book for Americans today" after the Bible, according to a joint survey conducted by the Library of Congress and the Book of the Month Club

Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega, Book 1)

Patricia Briggs

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 88 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Couldn't get through first chapter, disappointed 1 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I have to say I was really excited at first, I was browsing the shelves at the book store as usual and found this book "Cry Wolf" that looked very interesting. The lady at the check out even said she really enjoyed this book which made me feel even better about my purchase at the time.

I get home and start reading. I get to the first chapter where its talking about Anna. I started to sense something was wrong. The book kept talking about the past in such a way that is similar to when you have a series of books. Where each book rehashes what happened in the previous book to catch the reader up.

I had to stop reading after the point where a cell phone rings and Anna is listening to the conversation. I thought to myself somethings missing, why am I hearing this all second hand? I want to read the actual action of these events for myself! There has to be a book before this one and I missed it as I looked around at the book store.

I go online and start looking on amazon.com only to find out there was indeed a story before this book and it was a short story part of an anthology. I go read up on the anthology and find out 3 of the stories of the 4 aren't worth my time. So I'd have to spend another 7.99 to find out the pre-story to "Cry Wolf"

I read on to find that the short story had originally been meant to stand alone. But once it was realized a continuation of the story would be made they should have either A) put that short story at the beginning of "Cry Wolf" to avoid all this horrible confusion. B) say that you can find the short story on the website of the author (which I dont think it is but I haven't looked yet). or C) At the very least on the cover put a note saying the continued story of Anna and Charles see anthology for more information.

I feel a little cheated and while I hope to someday enjoy the rest of this book with its beautiful cover, I can't bring myself to do that until I have read the short story. And I can't bring myself to purchase an anthology for 1 story that I will like out of four (i already can tell i wont care much for the other 3 stories because of the reviews)

So until the day I can happily read this book I will at least enjoy the pretty artistic cover on the front. Very beautiful.

Editorial Review:

Now Briggs begins an extraordinary new series set in Mercy Thompson’s world—but with rules of its own.

INTRODUCING THE ALPHA AND OMEGA NOVELS...

Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack…and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country will recognize her value as a pack member—and as his mate.

The Time Traveler's Wife

Audrey Niffenegger

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1666 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

One of my favorites. 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.

This is the type of book that makes images of cold windy days, the color of fall leaves, and big cups of coffee pop into your brain.

It's just beautiful. It's hard to put into words how lovely it truly is.
I actually couldn't really process it once I finished, and I know that opinions are very different in regards to this book. One of my friends even told me not to waste my time with it. Still, I think it was completely gorgeous, lush, breathtaking, and...just wonderful. I know I'm going on and on but it's that type of book that just hits you in the face and makes you feel like running out and finding a man/woman to experience a life changing romance with.

Editorial Review:

A dazzling novel in the most untraditional fashion, this is the remarkable story of Henry DeTamble, a dashing, adventuresome librarian who travels involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire, an artist whose life takes a natural sequential course. Henry and Clare's passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap, and it is Audrey Niffenegger's cinematic storytelling that makes the novel's unconventional chronology so vibrantly triumphant.

An enchanting debut and a spellbinding tale of fate and belief in the bonds of love, The Time Traveler's Wife is destined to captivate readers for years to come.