From denino@arcadia.cs.rmit.EDU.AU Tue Apr  2 22:37:06 1996
Subject: hyperion Part III

On the net address
  http://www.bdd.com/athwk/bddathwk.cgi/12-15-95/newbook
is a small and tantalizing taste of simmons latest - 
a continuation of the hyperion story, allmost.

I enjoyed going through your libary and found a number of my
favorite authors, but was dissapointed to find that THE author
was not included.  IAIN BANKS - or IAIN M. BANKS is simply the
best thing to happen to modern liturature and SF EVER.  If your
unfamiliar with his increadible work, two good books of his
for an introduction are

	SF - The use of weapons
and 
	The bridge

His first book The Wasp factory is a brillient book as much as
it is disturbing. Definetely not for the faint at heart. You have
been warned.

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From mhhs33@mail.albany.net Thu Apr  4 05:57:06 1996
Subject: "The Postman" by Brin

I have to dissagree about you're review about that book.  I found it to be 
one of the most enjoyable post-apoc books I've ever read.  I'm rather glad 
that it's being made into a movie.  Any information on that would be 
greatly appreciated.  Thanks.
                                           -Tim VanDeWal,
                                     Maple Hill High School, Catleton, NY

## Hmmm...I write "a little depressing (how could it not be?) but some good
## ideas and believeable characters", and that comes off as a BAD review??

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From humming@microweb.com Thu Apr  4 20:04:06 1996
Subject: Request for review in 'Doug's Library'

Hello Doug Ingram, I enjoy your library page a lot.

We are an extremely small press specializing in feminist/women's mysteries
and we have a new mystery out titled "Time Will Tell" by Jamina Marcus, a
new writer. May I send you a copy for your review?  It's set in the San
Francisco Bay Area (Berkeley) featuring the detective talents of a
struggling martial artist and single mom. It's definitely not a
conventional mystery - it's quirky, at times tongue-in-cheek & at times
hard-edged - a feminist mystery that explores the psychic impact of
violence.

If you think you might be interested in reviewing it just send your mailing
address to: humming@microweb.com - and I'll post it to you.

Pam Satterwhite
humming@microweb.com

## The offer is certainly nice, but this letter seems to miss the point
## of why I created this page.  I read books that are recommended to me
## (usually by readers of my page) for fun, then I review them.  I suppose
## if someone PAID me to review a book, I'd do it, and, in a sense, providing
## me with a free copy is payment, but I don't want to encourage this.

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From CHCBOOKS@aol.com Fri Apr  5 12:21:06 1996
Subject: Banished Dreams

Searching for a FIRST printing of Banished Dreams, Dan Simmons, Roadkill
Press, 1990.
If you have or know someone with a copy then I would dearly love to know.

Many thanks,
Chris    
chcbooks@aol.com

## Unfortunately, in the last few months, a lot of people have written to
## me requesting knowledge about finding old, used books.  The simple
## answer:  You probably know more about finding them that I do, since
## my only method is to just scour used bookstores.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From kcd@ece.uc.edu Sat Apr  6 09:52:35 1996
Subject: cool web pages

I just found your web pages - I was hunting for book reviews of Katherine
Kurtz's Deryni books.  I just wanted to commend you on a nice job, and let
you know that the last cycle is worth reading (The Bishop's Heir, King
Javan's Year, and The Bastard Prince.)  Our reading taste overlaps a little,
but I have strong biases for O.S.Card, William Gibson, and Katherine Kurtz,
so you might take my recommendation with a grain of salt.  I also didn't
like Donaldson (a little too vocabulary intensive for me, and I the rape
scene in the first Thomas Covenant book really turned me off.)  Although
I now know what "crenelated" means, and I'll never forget it! :)

Good luck on your job search.  Academic jobs are pretty precious right now.

Karen Davis
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From gscott@wchat.on.ca Sun Apr  7 07:03:22 1996

Hello.  I was just looking around your site when I stumbled onto the 
Terry Brooks section, and well, I see that you have put that his books, 
(The Shannara Collection), are a rip off of the J.R.R Tolkien series, 
(Lord of the Rings, The Hobit), well, I have read these two series, (all 
Shanara except for The Sword of Shanara), and I found that they have 
nothing the same, you can't even compare the two series because they just 
seem totally different to me.  Well, that was my comment, and well, I am 
not causing a fight, I just wanted to put in my opinion.  And I also 
wanted to say that is looks like you have a great site, and that I also 
wish you a Happy Easter.  Well, thank you for your time.  

Signed,
=-)

## I responded that while I try to give "enjoyment" a lot more weight than
## some more nebulous concept like "literary merit", there comes a time that
## "merit" must drag down a book, and Brooks is a fine example.  I couldn't
## really enjoy the book that much because I was so often struck by how
## many plot lines and other ideas were very, very similar to Tolkien.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From gscott@wchat.on.ca Sun Apr  7 12:52:50 1996

Hello.  Thank you for returning my email.  I am sorry about that little 
opinion earlier.  I'm sure they are alike in many ways.  But in my view, I 
look at them as totally different.  Now, if you don't mind, there was 
something I wanted to ask you.  I know we haven't met, but this is not a 
personal question.  Anyway, what I wanted to ask is, Do you like to write?  
And if so, do you submit it anywhere, and if so to that too, where do you 
submit it?  I would love to submit some of my writing, and I do, but most of 
the time, they never get back to me.  Well, thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Kevin..

## No need to apologize!  My opinion is no more valid than anyone else's!

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From nskinsella@shsl.com Mon Apr  8 13:05:06 1996
Subject: Covenant/Comics

     Doug, I just found your page on the web and am reading your Covenant 
     review--I have long been a fan of Donaldson.  I am trying to get 
     through the Gap now.  I am a patent lawyer here in PHiladelphia, and 
     am 30 years old, married, etc.  I don't do too much sci-fi/fantasy 
     reading any more, and don't have much time for comics anymore, which I 
     used to read.  I just picked up a couple of recent issues of Spiderman 
     and Thor and Captain America, and am lost, not having read them in a a 
     few years.  I wonder if I could ask you a few questions, in case you 
     know the answer and don't mind emailing me back.
     
     First, I would love to find summaries of comic book issues or plot 
     lines, to catch up and keep up.  Or at least someone who is very into 
     these that I could email with a few questions occasionally, like how 
     did Spiderman get cloned etc.  Do you know of any source, person on 
     email, web site, etc., that I might take a look at for this?
     
     Also, I would love more commentary on Covenant, as well as other 
     writers I like (like Zelazny).  Anythin you could piont me to would be 
     appreciated (but then I have not looked at your web page too much 
     other than your review, perhaps there is some info on there).
     
     Finally, I have read the first 3 Gap books; but I got so lost in the 
     3rd that I didn't even try the 4th yet; I plan to wait till the 5th 
     one comes out then read them all in a row.  Unfortunatley there is no 
     summary at the beggining of the 2d, 3d, 4th books that summarizes what 
     has gone before, as Covenant did.  Do you know where I could find such 
     a thing, or if there is somone I could ask a few question to clarify 
     things; or find reviews of Gap series etc.?
     
     Any info along these lines would be appreciated.  Thanks, Stephan
     
     N. Stephan Kinsella

## All of these are questions for which I have no answers.  Of course, I
## WILL READ the Gap series...when [all together now] it is all out in paperback.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From nskinsella@shsl.com Tue Apr  9 10:01:36 1996
Subject: Re[2]: Covenant/Comics

     Thanks--
     
     BTW I just browsed your home page.  Let me recommend to you some of my 
     favorites--  other than Amber, Zelazny's Creatures of Light & 
     Darkness; and Lords of Light; Isle of the Dead (no, it's not horror); 
     and others are wonderful.  My favorite short story of all time is his 
     "For a Breath I Tarry," and I think it's in his collection The Last 
     Defenders of Camelot.
     
     BTW my favorite authors are Donaldson; C.S. Lewis; and Zelazny, among 
     others.
     
     You might also try one of my newest favorites, Nelson DeMille--if you 
     like anything by Clancy you'll love this guy, he is one of the best 
     modern writers I've read--try his The Gold Coast first.
     
     Also, there is a neat fantasy trilogy by Patricia McKillip (Harpist in 
     the Wind, The Riddle-Master of Hed, etc.).  All Covenant fans must 
     read it.  Note this:  it is similar in a way to the second Chronicles 
     of Thomas Covenant, in the "sense" the character has for the 
     "land"--similar to Linden Avery's connection with the Land.  Also, 
     interestingly, one of the books by McKillip is dedicated to Donaldson; 
     and if you note one of the Covenant books (one of the Second 
     Chronicles, the One Tree, I think) is dedicated to "Pat", who I think 
     must be Patricia McKillip.  Interesting...
     
     Finally, Ayn Rand--you should read her books Atlas Shrugged and The 
     Fountainhead if you never have.  Totally awesome...
     
     Stephan

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From rodpenn@sage.net Wed Apr 10 20:26:35 1996
Subject: Ingram genealogy

Doug, great homepage!  I've recently done two things, rekindled my interest 
in SF (after a layoff of many years) and obtained full internet access at 
home.  So, I've scoured the net for reviews, hoping to find books that would 
get me up to date on SF since I quit reading it 10 or more years ago. I've 
really enjoyed your reviews and my reading list and yours overlap 
substantially.  And, you given me at least one suggested read (others you 
recommend were already on my list).  (genealogy comment at the end)

Recent reads:
Enders Game (O. S. Card): Pretty slow (ie, dull) at first, but with one of 
the most powerful wrap-ups I've ever read.  I see why it is a classic.

Speaker for the Dead: More "hard Sci Fi" than Enders Game, which I like, but 
not nearly as powerfull as Enders Game.  Based on your reviews, I need to 
read Xenocide.

Beggars and Choosers (Nancy Kress): First book by female SF writer I've ever 
read.  Her technological characterizations (including quite a bit of biochem 
which I have a PhD in) were very convincing.  Deals heavily with genetic 
engineering and "nanotechnology".  The nanotech was fascinating.  Fairly 
realistic picture of what US could be like 100+ years from now.

Hyperion (Dan Simmons): Reading it right now.  25% through it is obvious that 
I will end up considering this one of the best SF epics ever written.  I love 
the epics and I was deeply impressed by your appreciation of books such as 
James Blish's "Cities in Flight".

Now, I've got a major recommendation for you.  You need to read "Timescape" 
by Gregory Benford.  The most convincing treatment of a time travel theme I 
have ever read (in this case, a message sent into the past -1963- via tachyon 
transmissions by scientists in the year 1998, their purpose being to pass 
along enough info to avert an inexorable ecological catastrophe in the 
future).  The description of the physics prof and his PhD student dealing 
with bizzare messages (static in their NMR readings with the static coming 
through in obvious, straight forward morris code) is utterly convincing.  As 
a former (or current?) PhD student yourself, you'll no doubt appreciate eat 
it up.

Now-GENEALOGY: One of my gr.gr. grandmothers was an Ingram, a descendant of a 
huge Ingram line originating in Johnston Co., NC.  Any idea where your 
Ingrams come from??

Regards,

Rod Pennington  (PhD Biochemistry, Oklahoma State University, 1991)
Temple, TX

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From rodpenn@sage.net Wed Apr 10 21:22:44 1996
Subject: Re: Ingram genealogy

>Thanks for all the comments and the recommendations.  I imagine I'll go
>looking for the Kress and Benford books you mentioned. 

The Benford Book I especially recommend.  Another recent (ie, post-1990)
book I read recently, but forgot to mention, was Greg Eggan's (Egan's?)
"Quarantine" which delves deeply into quantum mechanics and some of the
implications thereof (ie, the observer-dependent nature of reality,
collapsing alternative realities into "eigenstates", etc.  Schroedinger's
cat-type speculations, on a huge scale).  Pretty interesting book, but in no
way a future classic.

I also read the "Guns of the South".  It is an extremely enjoyable book,
particularly so to me since I've been a Civil War buff for some time.  It's
hard for me to think of a flaw in it.  The best Civil War history ever
written, IMHO, is Shelby Footes "The Civil War-A Narrative".  I have these
three huge tomes in hard back and they are among my most treasured
possessions.  These volumes brought tears to my eyes in many places.  He
tilts towards the South (he's from Mississippi), but his obvious admiration
for Lincoln is extremely touching.  

>As for my family
>tree, I can only trace it back as for as my grandfather, who lived in
>Kingfisher and Oklahoma City all his life.  I never knew any of his
>relatives (other than my own dad, of course).  James Ingram was his name.

Well, if you ever get a few names farther back (and are curious about it),
feel free to drop me an email, and I'll check out my data base for you
and/or post a query to Roots-L (a genealogy discussion list which I have
found most interesting).

Kingfisher, OK.  I remember making a Sunday drive down there about 4 years
ago to visit the Governor Seay Museum.  Oklahoma is sort of bleak, but I
like the wide open country side.  I grew up in Tulsa.

Again, really enjoyed your page (just added it to my bookmarks) and thanks a
million for all the effort I'm sure you put into it.  I'm working on a
homepage now for our research unit (I work at the Grassland, Soil and Water
Research Laboratory here in Temple.  It's a USDA-ARS facility) and I can see
it will take a bit of doing.

Regards,
Rod Pennington 

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From sunnym@aladdin.co.il Thu Apr 11 08:50:13 1996
Subject: Heinlein

If you haven't read it yet, read 
"The moon is a harse mistress"

it's arguably the best SF book _ever_
[ won the "Super Hugos" ]
----------------
Sunny Marueli             

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From orvillel@psln.com Fri Apr 12 15:41:25 1996
Subject: other books

have you read any of barbara hambly's other books ther quite 
good you all most live right ther with the peaple in the book.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From rvalle@NMH.ORG Sat Apr 13 09:57:19 1996
Subject: books....

Hello there,

I just read your review on Stephen R. Donaldson's Thomas Covenant books and 
found
myself agreeing with what you say. The funny thing is, I am just finishing 
re-reading
the books (I just ended *The One Tree not 20 min. ago) AND I have 
recommended the
first book to a friend. I don*t think she is going to take to the books 
since she is
having a hard time slogging through the first part of book one. I have tried 
to
convince her that the book does get better.
I sent along some of your comments on the serirs hoping that will help 
things along.
Anything to get another convert!

I just wanted to say that in your review you were able to put into words 
things that
I had vague thoughts about. When I gave my friend the book, I never said it 
was a
good book or that I though she would like it. I said it was a dark and 
powerful story
and I wanted to know what she though of it.

I have added your home page to my bookmarks. I read far too many books than 
I have
time for and I am always looking for another good one.

Thanks

Richard
     Valle

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From rvalle@NMH.ORG Sat Apr 13 11:09:43 1996
Subject: Re: books....

Hmmm... we seem to have a lot of the same taste in books. I have read and 
enjoyed all of your '10's with the exception of Disclosure.

## When I first gave that a "10", there was a lot of hesitancy on my
## part, but this is one case where I decided "to hell with merit...I
## could NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN."  YMMV, I suppose.

A couple of questions if I may:

Have you read the sequel to 'Legacy of Herot'? I think it is called 
'Children of Beowulf'.  Well, actually you are probable waiting for it to 
come out in paper back like me.

Have you read the Vividoss Cycle series by Harry Turtledove? Or the spin off 
series to the Rift War 'Daughter of the Empire'? I found both of these to be 
good.

Do you tend to get a lot of e-mail to slog though? To tell the truth, now 
that I finished by book I am sitting here at work letting time pass. It 
seems to me if someone puts out a web page they would enjoy getting email 
about it. But, it also seems that after a while that email could get 
annoying.

## No way!  The mail bag is the whole reason I keep this page going!

Enjoy your weekend
rv

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From rvalle@NMH.ORG Sat Apr 13 11:50:00 1996
Subject: Re: books....

About 'Daughter of the Empire':

One of the things that is nice about the series is that it is different. For 
one, it is a collaboration with Feist and.... someone else who's name 
escapes me.

It takes place on the 'other' world from the Rift War books and there is 
very little cross over between the series. You see some of the big events 
from the first books take place here, like Pugs destruction of the games.

The story is about one lady's (Mara) fight to keep her family/clan alive. 
The first book starts with her finding out that both her father and brother 
have been killed in the war, leaving her in charge. Their deaths were caused 
by a rival family giving the story the bad guys.

The story is told from Mara's point of view. It is full of political 
manipulations, intrigue, and battles. From what I remember I found the first 
book to be very good, the second to be ok, and the third to be very good 
again.

I am looking forward to see what you think of the 'roman' books. I have a 
hunch you will like them.

rv

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From Bshrimp@together.net Sat Apr 13 20:18:56 1996

..I noticed.. that in your on review you mentioned.. Red Dwarf.. You might be 
intrested to know there are three books written for Red Dwarf  (the first two 
are written by grant naylor and the third is written by either Rob Grant or 
Douglas Naylor.. who did it I forget...)   The first book is called 
Red Dwarf:Infinity welcomes careful drivers.. the next is Red Dwarf:Better 
than Life.. the next I think is called Red Dwarf :The Last human....

Well.. those are my suggested books that you read...

## I'm usually VERY reluctant to read adaptations of TV shows I've seen.
## I mean, I LOVE "Red Dwarf", but I'm not sure I want to spoil the experience
## by reading a mediocre book or two that tries to live up to the TV show.

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From mannd@zemu.candw.com.ai Sun Apr 14 17:41:22 1996
Subject: Glen Cook

Greetings Doug,

Some time ago a friend of mine sent me a review you had written on "The
Black Company" by Glen Cook.  I have seince read it and loved the book.
Everything you said in your review reflects my reading, and I certainly
appreciate you taking the time to write about the Trilogy.

I now have heard via a friend on ham radio that there are several more Black
Company books in print and in preparation and I am hoping Mr. Cook leads the
characters into yet more interesting tours of duty.

Many thanks again for your review.

Most Sincerely,

Dave Mann
Little Harbour
Anguilla, BWI

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From myron@map.com Sun Apr 14 17:55:09 1996
Subject: Enya

Doug,

Yahoo had you cross-referenced with Enya.
Yet I found no sign of Enya on your page.
I trust you still enjoy her music.

Myron

## In the dust of ancient history (on the Web, that's 20 months ago), I first
## put up this site with links to Enya music I had recorded off CD.  A few
## months later, at the advice of some of the people who have been writing
## me, I decided to take them off the page to avoid copyright troubles.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From rmoyer@premier1.net Sun Apr 14 19:21:37 1996
Subject: Feedback and Recommendations

Doug,
  Just want to drop you a note and let you know I enjoyed your page and 
reviews greatly.  Mostly because of the few I've read, you agreed with 
me.  :)  The Thomas Covenent series is one of my favorites (to me it 
explore belief systems, how if you believe something, you close your 
mind), Dan Simmons is pretty good, and I didn't like Doomsday Book at all 
(the author made the same points over and over).  Plus, I read the first 
Robert Jordon book and didn't like it.  I've heard they get better, but 
why not read something I'm sure I'll like.  Like Tad Williams.  The Green 
Tower trilogy was very good.

Now, two recommendations for you.  "Wizards First Rule", by Terry 
Goodkind.  Some reviewers thought the characters were wooden and the plot 
predictable.  I didn't, and enjoyed it a lot.  The next is "Assassin's 
Apprentice", by Robin Hobb.  This is excellent!  A kings-and-castles type 
of fantasy with characters that are really interesting.  The best fantasy 
I've read in years.  But I rarely see a review for it anywhere.  All I 
know is that I loved it, and the two people I could get to read it, also 
loved it.

Doug, I'll keep reading your reviews.   Thanks.
 
By the way, do you have any elves-and-forests type fantasy to recommend? 
They are few and far between, good ones at least.  Any help you can give 
will be greatly appreciated.
Rex Moyer

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From jeffr@bnr.ca Tue Apr 16 14:12:13 1996
Subject:  Comments on Niven 

Hi:

Found your WWW page while looking for references to the Dream Park
novels.

It seems your exposure to Niven is solely through his collaborations.
You ought to read some of his solo work.  The classic novel is
Ringworld.  (I'm amazed you don't list it...)

Also, the Man-Kzin War series of books are *editted* by Niven, not
written by him.  The stories are set in "Known Space", the setting
of many of his best works, including (loosely) Ringworld.  You
appear not to have read any of them, which is a pity.  Most are
short stories.  Try to find the collection "Tales of Known Space".

Anyway, for MKW, Niven admitts no real interest in writting war
stories -- mostly because he doesn't know enough about war/combat
to be convincing.  (That's why he teams up with Barnes.)  But
since fans were curious, he opened this particular corner of KS
up to other authors.

My point: If you don't like the MKW books, don't blame Niven.
At least not entirely.  Try reading his short story of "Man Meets
Kzin" (called "The Weapon" IIRC) to judge his treatment of the
subject more fairly.

Cheers,
Jeffrey Robertson                    |  jeffr@bnr.ca  |      BNR, Ottawa

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From mars@diku.dk Wed Apr 17 05:37:22 1996
Subject: Book-review

Hi there...

I believe you would like Tim Powers' "The Anubis Gates". With your nice
web-pages, maybe, the book would get it's deserved attention.

thanx for some great reviews...

					Martin Schalck (mars@diku.dk)

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From biancaj@cais.com Wed Apr 17 11:13:53 1996
Subject: Multi-cultural Sci-Fi books

-- I enjoyed seeing your Web Site.  What authors write Science Fiction 
book with African-American characters protrayed in a positive light???

Thanks

## Good question.  None come to mind off-hand.  At least, no books come to
## mind where a character's minority status was really central to the story
## or explored in depth.  "Bio of a Space Tyrant" by Piers Anthony (of all
## people) is about a minority (hispanic, I believe) and his rise to power.
## Turtledove's "Guns of the South" explores the Civil War and has several
## minor African-American characters portrayed in a positive light.  Brust's
## "Vlad Taltos" series is about a human who is a member of the underclass
## race in a society ruled by humanoids twice his size, so he certainly
## explores the "repressed minority" character to some extent (see esp.
## "Teckla" for an example, though that's more about class conflict than
## race conflict).  Hope this helps.  It's just a few ideas off the top
## of my head.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From 95154906@vax1.dcu.ie Thu Apr 18 07:57:15 1996
Subject: Books recommendations

   I suggest you to try Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman's
trilogy "Rose of the Prophet". I don't remember quite well the
name in English of each of the three books (I read the Spanish
translation, you know), but I think the first one is called
"Will of the Wanderer", and the third one something like 
"Akhran's Prophet"; sorry for not being more precise. 
   I think the three books are already available in paperback, 
since I read them in hardback some years ago. I like them in
particular because they do not present the typical plot in
fantasy books and because are very well developed. The action
takes place in some sort of imaginary Arabian-style place, and
is about the struggles of the Gods and their djinns (immortal
servants) for obtaining power. But it is better if you read
them yourself. Regards,

   Jonas Ramirez

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From chaser@beast.Trenton.EDU Thu Apr 18 12:53:52 1996
Subject: Susan Faludi

Hello, 
	I am a junior at Trenton State College, and I happened upon your 
"library" on the World Wide Web.
	This is not meant as an attach of any sort, but I read you 
critique of Susan Faludi's Backlash:  The Undeclared War against American 
Women.  You said you disagreed with a substantial portion of it.  Could 
you please explain your opinion.  I am doing a research project and using 
that as my key book.  I am interested to know you opinion.
	Thank you, 
	   Becky Chase

## Well, you'd probably do better by posting to a newsgroup like
## rec.arts.books if you want to find a lot of opinions opposing
## Faludi's.  I, for one, agreed with most of her conclusions, but
## I didn't like some of her journalistic practices.  For example,
## I was really troubled by her portrayal of Randall Terry (the
## adamant Right-to-Lifer) and his wife.  I got the feeling she
## was REALLY painting her impressions on what was really going on
## in that household.  I say that not because I disagree with her
## but rather because her portrayals rang "too true".
## 
## There were a few other things that I felt troubled by when I read
## it, which is why I felt safe saying that I disagreed with a
## "substantial portion of it" (substantial here does not imply
## majority but rather more like 20-25% if I'm forced to put a 
## number on it).  To be honest, though, two years passed between
## the time I read the book and the time I created my page, and another
## 18 months have passed since then, so it is hardly fresh in my mind.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From spitfire@ix.netcom.com Thu Apr 18 13:04:21 1996
Subject: Suggestion

Hello,
As a reader of fantasy I was suprised when your homepage gave no 
mention of Mercedes Lackey. She is one of my favorite authors and 
defintely worth reading. I really liked the valdemar series which can 
be read in any order as you read the first book of a trilogy. I 
particularly recommend the Last Herald mage Trilogy, the frist book in 
it is Magic's Pawn.
                                 John Barraco
                                 (Fantasy Reader)

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From MaNaa7@aol.com Thu Apr 18 19:40:37 1996
Subject: Andrew M. Greeley

My wife has been trying to locate several of Greeley's  books withouy
success.Can you offer any ideas as to how to obtain these? It seems they may
be out of print.
Just found your page tonight and found it to be interesting and very
informative.
Thanks for any help you can offer. 

## Yikes.  Don't know how to find books better than anyone else, and
## I'm fairly certain I wouldn't WANT to look for anything else by Greeley.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From biancaj@cais.com Fri Apr 19 05:40:24 1996
 
Doug:
Thank you so much for your quick response to my question. What did you 
mean about Piers Anthony???   It is too bad that these books don't have 
 more multi-cultural characters.  Sometimes it is difficult for me to 
find interesting books to read because my world is not monochrome and it 
is boring to read books that don't include the diversity of this world.

I really enjoyed the Tolkien's books, the Hobbit ect... Do you know of 
any books like his??

Thanks again 
MZ

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From wileyace@sun.tir.com Fri Apr 19 18:29:31 1996
Subject: Robert Jordan

Couldn't resist after reading your RJ page: my husband feels exactly as 
you do about starting a series before it's completed. I have no such 
willpower and began the new Willow "trilogy" from Lucas/Clairmont. Now 
I'm left panting for more. When it came to the Wheel of Time series, he 
got stuck waiting for the next one, too. At least he has a friend who 
buys them all in hardcover. Nice stuff, keep up the good work. Sue

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From jmers1sc@sprynet.com Sat Apr 20 18:28:16 1996
Subject: book recommendation...

Hi,

I was reading through your lists and decided to write you.  
Someone i know has just completed a new soft, horror novel, and it is published 
and just coming out into the bookstores.

He's a young novelist (23) this is his first book, and was actually 
published on first submission w/o editing (except for typos or things like 
that).  I don't know if you would be interested in 
reading it, however, I read it and liked it, and I don't read too many books.  
I'm just a 
friend of his, and he didn't put me up to this.

Thanx for listening in any case,
James

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From jbschroeder@micron.com Mon Apr 22 13:39:30 1996
Subject: FWD: Glen Cook "The Black Company"

Doug:

I have read your review and praise on the "Black Company" series, and it is nice
to know that someone has taken the time to give these books the credit they 
deserve.  

I read the first three books in hardback about 10 years ago (is that possible?).
and in the years since I have read them about 4 times. I have tried to get my 
friends to read them too.  We are all interested in fantasy (roleplaying, MTG, 
Middle Earth, etc.) but none seemed to appreciate the works as I have.  

Keep up the good reviews.  I look forward to seeing whats new on your page.

                                        James Schroeder 
                                        Facilities Engineer, Micron Tech.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From sliburd@soleil.acomp.usf.edu Tue Apr 23 12:49:07 1996
Subject: Full length book reviews

Hi Doug, I was just browrsing your home page looking for a full length review 
on two books:          1. Two Nations   by  Andrew Hacker                    
                              revised edition Feb.1995
                            Ballantine books  New York


                       2. Globalization, Communications and Caribbean        
                                        Identity
                                           by                    
                                      Hopeton S. Dunn
                                St. Martin's Press New York

If you have any information on these books I would be more than greatful to 
receive it.

Thanking you in advance.
SELWYN

## What you see is what you get!  :)   [I've always been a Mac fan.  Sue me.]

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From jdcurley@ix.netcom.com Wed Apr 24 15:14:39 1996
Subject: Nemesis

Hey brother, 

I enjoyed your site a lot, but I would like to clarify something.  "Nemesis" was a book 
written by Robert Silvererg, based on a short story by Asimov.  I agree the book wasn't 
that good, but s.s. was groundbreaking.  

[He later wrote back and noted that he was wrong here, thinking about "Nightfall".]

I also wanted to recommend the "Known Space" novels and stories written by Larry Niven. 
 They are some of Niven's most creative works and they can be engrossing. 

Final Note.  A sequel to "The Legacy of Herot" is now out, "Beowolf's Children", and I 
recommend it.  It's not as good as the first, but it is nice to see the characters 
again.

john

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From Professor@intele.net Thu Apr 25 13:18:31 1996
Subject: Re: Robin Cook vs. Michael Crichton

I quite agree that Michael Crichton beats Robin Cook when it comes to 
Medical or Scientific novels.  However they have each dabbled in another 
genre: Historical.  Apparently you didn't review Sphinx by Cook or Eaters 
of the Dead by Crichton.  (Egypt/Norse respectively).  Cook wins hands 
down.  Give Sphinx a try.  Its fun.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From WMCKAY@ACC.ROANOKE.EDU Sun Apr 28 12:40:29 1996
Subject: author index

Dear Doug Ingram,

    I greatly enjoyed the author index; I was pleased to see that erudition
still had a home, even in science fiction. You asked for suggestions (sort of),
and I would like to go ahead and make four. Brian Aldiss and Stanislaw Lem
deserve a look; Aldiss is thought-provoking and enjoyable (primarily a sci-fi
author and critic, his hilarious WWII memoir of service in India and Burma, "A 
Soldier Erect", is one of my favorite books), and Lem is hilarious, profound, 
and often bitter (one critic took up the position that Lem thought human beings
were a plague). Harry Turtledove is DEFINITELY worth a look; I read most of his
stuff before "Guns of the South" came out (which, of course, I bought 
immediately). He has a great series vaguely along the medieval culture warp 
lines of Katherine Kurtz (who I love and whose fourth series actually wasn't 
that bad; I can understand your disappointment, though; the technical magic 
jargon gets a little annoying), except that, instead of focusing on the British
Isles and Celtic culture, he specializes in the Byzantine Empire. Some 
historical events are easily identifiable as real life Earth occurrences 
(overrunning of Persia and Mesopotamia by the Seljuk Turks, the Battle of 
Manzikert in 1071, Basil I's accesssion to the throne in 867), but the element 
of magic is still in play, as wielded by the priestly class. The first series
has a Roman legion from Caesar's conquest of Gaul magically transported along
with an enemy Gallic chieftain and the legion's Greek surgeon (the latter two
make a great comic pair in the third and fourth books) into this semi-Byzantine
world and trying to survive there. It's well-written, frequently funny, and 
rather mature (I don't know if you've ever read any Robert Adams, but 
Turtledove's stuff is on the opposite end of the maturity spectrum) and I 
recommend it strongly, along with all of Turtledove's other stuff.
    Well, hope I didn't get too annoying. Just thought I'd offer some
suggestions in between studying for exams.

                                                     Pleasant evening, 
                                                        Wendell McKay
                                                        Roanoke College
                                                        Salem, Virginia

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From curlp@hampton.bmd.saic.com Tue Apr 30 13:49:31 1996
Subject: Steven Brust

Doug,
 I just stumbled on your home page while avoiding work, and had to drop   
you a quick line.  Your tastes in books agree with mine (I don't remember   
what my personality type is, so if I run across it I'll see if I can   
confirm your theory), and I have hardcover Donaldsons from the second   
series as well, and remember the waiting vividly.
 I'm also a huge Brust fan, and he probably passes Donaldson on my list   
(unlike you, I went ahead and read the first "Gap" book, found it   
intolerable, and haven't read any more of them).  You didn't mention one   
of Brust's books in your summary, and if you haven't read The Sun, the   
Moon and the Stars, you need to--it's arguably my favorite of his novels.   
 I think it was the first of an experimental set of fairy tails by   
popular authors, which didn't get off the ground, or something.  Anyway,   
I highly recommend it--as always, there are great characters, skillful   
writing, and a real twist on perspective.
      Enjoy!
      Phil Curl

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From kathy@rapidramp.com Tue Apr 30 19:39:04 1996
Subject: Comments on your list

Hi, interesting list.
I agree with you totally about waiting until the books are out in 
paperback.  Hardcovers are far too inconvenient.  They weigh too much to 
read comfortably while on line at the bank or at a red light and they're 
expensive and you need many more bookshelves.  One of the comic book 
stores I own has a SF/F department.  I won't even order hardcovers for 
the store.  Now they're sticking a trade size between the hardcover and 
mass market editions so it can take well over two years to get the next 
volume in any given series.
I'm more into fantasy than SF.  Although I haven't looked at Donaldson 
(probably because someone recommended him to me as a must read), I'm 
reconsidering on the basis of your pages' and mail bag suggestions.  I'm 
apparently an ENTJ which was news to me until I found your page, but it 
certainly has me pegged.
I agree with your assessment of Willis' Doomsday.  A nice book, but 
meriting top awards???  I wasn't impressed.
One of my absolute favorites is Patricia McKillip's Quest of the 
Riddlemaster trilogy: Riddlemaster of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and, 
Harpist in the Wind.  It's wonderful.  Also, her Forgotten Beasts of Eld 
is good although I think it's out of print.
Last week, I happened to reread the Belgariad and the Malloreon.  I think 
Eddings is an exceptional storyteller and I love his characters.  I 
prefer everyone to be neatly married off and all the ends wrapped up.  
I'm living reality--in fantasy I want happy endings.
Although you didn't follow-up the books after the Riftwar Saga, Raymond 
Feist and Janny Wurts created a much more complex and interesting story 
in the Empire trilogy: Daughter of Empire, Servant of Empire, Mistress of 
Empire.  The trilogy is set in the "other world" in a very structured and 
political pseudo-oriental society.
Another good series, about a nomadic culture on an interdicted planet, is 
the Novels of the Jaran by Kate Elliott.  The first book, Jaran, is a 
stand-alone.  The next two are Books 1 & 2 in His Conquering Sword.
William Gear's Spider Trilogy: Warriors of the Spider, Way of Spider and 
Web of Spider are about a lost colony getting dragged into the wars of 
the empire.  It's great!
I found Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game to be phenomenal.
I prefer Snow Crash to Neuromancer.
On a lighter note, I recommend Anne McCaffrey's Crystal Singer trilogy: 
Crystal Singer, Killashandra, and Crystal Line, as well as all the 
collaborations that follow The Ship Who Sang.  For those who can't get 
enough Pern, there's a trilogy on Menolly's early life: Dragonsinger, 
Dragonsong, Dragondrums.  It is in print but usually hard to find at the 
chain bookstores.  Barbara Hambly's Sun-Wolf trilogy is as good as the 
Darwath trilogy, and Mercedes Lackey's various series, particularly 
Heralds of Valdemar are good stories also.
I usually recommend Mary Stewart's Merlin novels, beginning with The 
Crystal Cave, to people looking for more Arthur, although I haven't 
reread them in years.
Barry Hughart's Bridge of Birds is great fun!
There's more I'd recommend but these are certainly enough for now.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From kathy@rapidramp.com Tue Apr 30 20:21:19 1996
Subject: postscript to my previous recommendations

I could not get into Hyperion.
You must, must, must, read earlier works of the big name SF authors.  
What about Larry Niven's Ringworld or Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream 
Electric Sheep (Bladerunner), or any Bradbury, or Hogan's Giants novels.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From liclim@alapaap.upm.edu.ph Thu May  2 02:04:02 1996
Subject: You stupid ignorant slob!

    I can't believe you'd just dismiss such great works as
Fritz Leiber's Fafhrd and Mouser series and the books of William
Gibson. I didn't stick around long to see how you probably 
blasted everyone else as well, like Asimov and Heinlein. If 
you're so critical, why don't you try writing books and see
if you can do it, asshole? It's obvious you don't have the
brains to appreciate these books, all you do is flip, flip,
flip, and say, "Nah." Get a life, geek!

## Not that I really need to defend myself against the likes of this creature,
## but I will say that my review of Leiber and Gibson contain comments such as
## "They're not bad, but they're not exceptionally good either" and "Pretty
## good story and characters".  Why are people so hypersensitive?  It's just
## an opinion, fer cryin' out loud!  Of course, he also wrote from a fake
## address, typical of people who abuse others through email.  

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From kji5@leicester.ac.uk Thu May  2 03:32:23 1996
Subject: recommendations

I've browsed your pages several times, and thought I'd send in a few
recommendations of my own.   Julian May has to be one of my all-time
favourites, alongside G.G. Kay, Stephen Donaldson and David Brin (and Robert
Jordan if the Wheel of Time finishes as well as it started). Her books are all
well worth reading, although "The Many Coloured Land" isn't the easiest book to
get into.
	I was scanning through the letters you'd received, and noticed a
recommendation for Louise Cooper's Indigo Saga.  I liked it, even if it did
seem a little 2-d in places. The series definately improves as you go along,
unlike some of her earlier books, which I wouldn't recommend.   
	The Indigo saga in order is: Nemesis
				     Inferno
				     Infanta
				     Nocturne
				     Troika	
				     Avatar
				     Revenant
     				     Aisling.
	Another author who appears to be missing from your list is Janny Wurts. She
collaborated with R. E. Feist on the "Empire" Series, and has written several
good books of her own.   The Cycle of Fire (Stormwarden, Keeper of the Keys,
Shadowfane) is fairly good.  At the moment, she's working on a new series
called "The Wars of Light and Shadow".  As you can probably guess from the
title, it's an epic that may end up going the way of Jordan's WoT regarding
length.   The first three books are now out in paperback and I loved them! They
are: Curse of the Mistwraith
     The Ships of Merior
     Warhost of Vastmark
	I know and agree with your opinion about not buying a book until the whole
series is in paperback. I've no idea how many more books there are going to be
in this series, but when they're all out I strongly recommend reading them.
	Another recommendation is "The Lions of Al-Rassan" by Guy Gavriel Kay. I
bought it second hand in hardback a month ago, and it's equally as good as
"Tigana", and probably better than "A Song for Arbonne" in my opinion.
	I agree with you about the personality types. It's an interesting theory
you've got there.  I'm borderline between INTJ and INFJ.
	Anyway, thanks for your time.
		Happy reading!
			Katherine Inskip

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From peaty@pennet.net Sat May  4 21:23:16 1996
Subject: Book recommendation

Doug,

If you enjoyed "The Guns of the South" by HT you may like the other two 
that he did called "In the Balance" and the sequal "Tilting the 
Balance".  It has more SF than "Guns of ..." and I really enjoyed them.

Just a thought
-- 
Peaty,

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From clubkern@new-ls.lightspeed.net Sat May  4 23:34:44 1996
Subject: Congratulations and Recommendations

Thoroughly enjoyed your book selection.  I intend to check out many of =
your recomendations.  May I be so presumptuous as to offer a couple of =
personal favorites I did not see on your list:

		Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follet
			If any one had told me that a book about architects=20
			and monks in 12th century England would be one of=20
			the most exciting epics I have ever read, I would have
			surely dismissed the notion.

		Hawksbill Station - Jerry Pournelle
			Short story/Novella?  You've probably read it.  I=20
			thought it worthy of mention.
	=09
		Millenium - John Varley
			Simple-minded, but a good little piece of work.

		The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand
			An anthem for my life.

		The Bourne Identity - Robert Ludlum
			I was surprised not to see this on your list.  It is the=20
			best of his formula writing, Imho, since it was the=20
			first of the series.=09

		Salem's Lot, Christine - Stephen King
			If you're going to talk King, these are worthy.  Ditto=20
			the Bachman books.

		Savages - Author name escapes me=09
			My wife read it about ten years ago.  When I asked
			her what it was about she told me it was about a=20
			bunch women and their interactions.  Convinced I was
			wasting my time, I nonetheless picked it up.  It turned=20
			out to be a rivetting action read.

Thank you again for your contributions to my bookquest.  I intend to =
expand my SF/F horizons with many of your recommended selections.  Since =
you and I share a favorite author in Dan Simmons, I am sure I am in for =
some pleasant new reading experiences.

				Ray

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From turbote@aol.com Tue May  7 12:54:43 1996
Subject: books

Here are two books that you must read: The Way Things Ought 
to Be and See, I Told You So both by Rush Limbaugh.  Read 
them!  You my be enlightened and may realize just how much 
your democratic ideals have failed within the past 40 
years. Also, the Robert Jordan books are top notch.  You 
may die tommorrow!  Why not read good books today.  Hey, 
you could do with some talk radio!
GO RUSH AND MIKE REAGAN AND BOB DOLE!!!

-Nkululeko Osayande

## Hmmm...I think I'm over my quota of idiots/week now.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From ttownes@epix.net Thu May  9 19:14:50 1996
Subject: crichton reviews

I have just read all of you reviews of most of Crichton's novels.  I 
noticed that some of his novels, such as THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY and 
EATER'S OF THE DEAD, are missing.  I would highly recommend THE GREAT 
TRAIN ROBBERY, as it gave great detail of the Victorian Age, and kept 
your intrest with a exciting plot.  If you have ever read BEOWULF then I 
would recommend EATERS OF THE DEAD.  He takes actual manuscripts of some 
mid-eastern and combines them with the story of Beowulf, which in my 
opinion makes for a much better story.  If you have any questions or ever 
decide to read them please write back, I would like to know what you 
think, especially after your critic on Travels.
			
MST

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From jstu@engin.umich.edu Fri May 10 23:36:52 1996
Subject: Crichton

You wrote this:
> Congo
> One of Crichton's less exciting books, this one involves a team of 
> archaeologists exploring the deep jungles of Africa and finding an 
> intelligent tribe of *nasty* primates. Has its moments, and there was a 
> halfway decent movie version. I'd put this down on my list fairly 
> deep. If you like Crichton's other stuff, this is definitely readable. 

I guess alot of things are subjective...

I think Congo is probably Michael Crichton's second best book, possibly 
#1, and I thought the movie was pretty pathetic. 

I remember it being very exciting and interesting. 

For Disclosure... I had pretty much the same reaction. I bought it, but 
didn't feel compelled to read it, but when I did, I couldn't put it down.

jls

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From "sculwell@flash.net"@flash.net Sat May 11 09:59:53 1996
Subject: Book recomendations

"The Crystal Cave" by Mary Stewart is EXCELLENT!!  It's about Merlin and 
how he grew up.  I've read it twice.  Write me back if you received this 
message and agree.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From fdowning@rouge.net Sat May 11 15:44:39 1996
Subject: Julian May: Galactic Milieu

After reviewing your authors list I noticed that Julian May is 
missing.  Since the list included most of my favorite authors with only 
a few of their works not being mentioned, I thought that I might make 
mention of her.  
     She has published three series following a central theme.  The
first, "Intervention", is comprised of two books "Surveillance" and 
"Metaconcert".  The second, "The Galactic Milieu", expands on the first
with "Jack the Bodiless", "Diamond Mask" and the just published 
"Magnificat".  The third, "Saga of Pliocene Exile", takes the series in 
a totally new direction and also details a great deal of the aftermath
of "Magnificat".  "Saga of Pliocene Exile" is comprised of four books
"The Many Colored Land", "The Golden Torc", "The Nonborn King" and 
"The Adversary".  
        The series were not published in the sequence I've presented 
them so the order that I've placed them in is not necessarily the 
"right" order.  However, I believe that this is the most enjoyable 
sequence in which they can be read.
        Her stories are what I call "light" science fiction in that they 
are not as firmly based in current scientific theory as say, Greg Bear's 
"Anvil of Stars".  Instead, she concentrates on the telling of the story
and the development of the characters.
	In addition to the omission of Julian May, I also noticed that 
Anne McCaffrey's "Crystal Singer" trilogy was not mentioned.  Though I 
enjoyed the "Pern" series, I was much more impressed with the "Crystal
Singer" series and believe that it has been overlooked by many readers
due to the popularity of the "Pern" series.  Also, if you find that you 
enjoyed Julian May's books, you may find McCaffrey's "Rowan" series 
interesting. 
	I hope that you'll give some of these works a try if you haven't 
already done so, and thanks for a splendidly done page.  I applaud
you in refraining from incorporating a morass of bandwith hogging 
graphics.  As they say, "More is often less."

## Boy, lotsa Julian May fans in the past few months!  Well, you'll be
## happy to know that I want out and got a few of her books and intend
## to read them within the next few months.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From aellis@gippstafe.vic.edu.au Sun May 12 05:42:20 1996
Subject: Reviews and reading suggestions

Doug

I've been browsing through your reviews and find myself agreeing with 
most of them, however I feel that you have been too hard on some of the 
series by stopping immediately you find one that's not quite up to 
scratch.

I would suggest that you persevere with Terry Pratchett's Discworld 
series.  Some of the later  ones like "Guards, Guards", or "Men at Arms" 
are among the better ones, as is "Moving Pictures" (Hollywood comes to 
Ankh-Morpork!).

You were a little hard on Larry Niven's "Man-Kzin Wars".  This is not 
relly a Niven book, but does tie in to his "Known Space" series which 
includes the Ringworld novels - try and read the Known Space novels in 
as close to chronological order as you can.  If you can't, read 
"Protector" and "Neutron Star" before Ringworld.  The sequel "Ringworld 
Engineers" is OK but not quite up to its predecessor - he has the same 
characters acting in a quite out of character fashion for some of the 
book.

The titles I've given are the ones they were released by in Australia - 
sometimes they can be different.  The sequel to "The Mote in God's Eye", 
released over there as "The Gripping Hand" was released here as "The 
Moat Around Murcheson's Star" for some reason known only to the 
publishers.

If you like alternate history series, Harry Turtledove's "World War II" 
series is good if a little lengthy.  The basic plot concerns an alien 
invasion just as WWII is at its height.  By and large, good (if 
sometimes predictable) and, as always for Turtledove, nice history.

Anyway, hope these are of interest to you...

Tony Ellis

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From VickiHF@aol.com Tue May 14 09:57:20 1996
Subject: Patricia Keneally-Morrison

Try her Keltiad series,it is well-written and gorgeously readable!

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From tmnw@compumedia.com Wed May 15 17:19:05 1996
Subject: Robert Silverberg

Hi there.
I've read some of your reviews, and while I don't always agree, I like 
what you're doing. Silverberg happens to be probably number one on my 
short list of always-reads (along with CJ Cherryhn, Sheri Tepper, Gene 
Wolfe, and a few others).
I've started a set of pages devoted to Silverberg's work, if you're 
interested either in visiting or linking. I'm starting with a base of a 
list of his work (novels, shorter stuff, non-fiction), and I'm filling 
in publishing info and reviews as I can.
Your review of the Majipoor books struck me as a little odd because I 
never thought of them as fantasy but pretty much far-future SF. There's 
a lot of high-tech stuff in the books, though in typical Silverberg 
fashion, it's not emphasized much.
Keep up your reading!
Jon Davis
jon@compumedia.com

My pages are at:
http://www.compumedia.com/~jon/silvhome.htm

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From chrisrap@ix.netcom.com Thu May 16 20:37:52 1996
Subject: Greg Egan

Doug,

From your reviews, I share many of your opinions.

I enjoyed Greg Egan's books, "Permutations City" & "Quarantine".  In the 
cyberpunk style.  Also strong recomendation for "Queen City Jazz" by 
Kathelln Ann Goonan, excellent nanotech approach with chracter 
development.

In a different style is Nicole Griffin.  Great stories.

To great reading.....				Chris

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From allenfam@infocom.com Sat May 18 11:04:02 1996

I like your page!! I recommend Mercedes Lackey's Herald Mage books and 
Andre Norton's Witch World books (classic work) I do wish you had more 
info on Terry Brooks though. Thanks,

Ann
Vanylashke@aol.com
Allenfam@infocom.com

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From kkierans@tnrdlib.bc.ca Tue May 21 21:57:55 1996
Subject: Reader's Robot

The Reader's Robot is an automated reader's advisor.
You select your favorites from 10 groups of award winning
novels and, based on your selections,  the computer recommends 
other novels you might enjoy.

You are also asked to contribute novels you've enjoyed.
That way, the Robot's database grows and your recommendations 
are passed on to other readers.

The robot now only deals with Mystery and Science Fiction
novels, but other genres are planned (Horror, Popular Science).  
The database is presently quite small, but it is
growing.  You can help it grow!

Check out the site at http://www.tnrdlib.bc.ca/rr.html

Send comments and suggestions to me at
kkierans@tnrdlib.bc.ca  (my skin is thick, constructive
criticism is welcomed!)

Kevin Kierans
Manager of Library and Support Services
Thompson-Nicola Regional District Library System
Kamloops, B.C. Canada
kkierans@tnrdlib.bc.ca

## My only problem with offers like this is that I'm really reluctant
## to invest a whole lot of my time creating content over which I have
## no control of how (or whether) it will be used.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From kcottle@hopi.dtcc.edu Thu May 23 13:05:59 1996
Subject: books

Hi!

	I am an infj, too, interestingly enough.  I wanted to see if you 
had ever read any Charles DeLint.  If you haven't, I highly recommend 
him--he's one of the best fantasy writers I have read in a long time.  
The two best to start with would be "the little country" or "moonheart."
	Enjoy!

Kate

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From PTiet51494@aol.com Thu May 23 13:40:53 1996
Subject: Harry Turtledove

If you liked "Guns of the South" try his alternative history of WWII which is
going along "normally" until an alien invasion occurs in about 1943.  The
books are called World at War Tilting the Balance, Shifting the Balance etc.
 Three of four are out although I've only read the first two.  It is
interesting to see how the Nazi, Soviets, Jewish partisans, Japanese, British
and Americans all respond to an invasion of earth from outer space.

I was interested in youre review of Viedeoss Cycle as that is the next series
of his I want to try.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From shihan@comteck.com Thu May 23 22:13:27 1996
Subject: bOOKS AND TYPE

HI, FOUND YOUR PAGE BROWSING, JUST CAME ONLINE TODAY
I'VE READ AND RE-READ JORDAN, THE BOOKS ARE WELL WORTH
WAITING FOR THE WHOLE TALE AT ONCE.  HAVE YOU READ ANY 
L.E.MODESITT, JR.? THE NOVELS OF RECLUSE MAKE A GOOD
READ AND ARE IN PAPERBACK.  ALSO, MAGGIE FUREY, THE SAGA 
OF AURIAN.  ANGUS WELLS HAS A COUPLE OF VERY GOOD 
SERIES, AND MELANIE RAWN WROTE 6 "SUN RUNNER" NOVELS
WHICH HAVE GOOD CHARACTER AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT.
ALL IN PAPERBACK.
IF YOU READ ABOUT TYPE MUCH I WOULD RECOMMEND "OWNING 
YOUR OWN SHADOW", BY ROBERT A JOHNSON. FASCINATING
READING ABOUT THE "INFERIOR"ASPECTS OF THE PERSONALITY.
HOW DO YOU MANAGE GRAD SCHOOL AND ALL THIS TOO?

JAN NORDTVEDT-CHAMBERS, INTP

## Modesitt frightens me.  Why?  Well, I'm suspicious of any author whose
## publisher feels can only be sold by having covers that look VERY
## suspiciously like those of Jordan's Wheel of Time series.  I'll read
## Jordan first (eventually) and then try Modesitt if I like Jordan.

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From Pangea1013@aol.com Sat May 25 04:17:58 1996
Subject: Author: O.P. Williams

Doug
Long ago I read a SF series, about seven books, from O.P. Williams that delt
with life in the USA  ... post world war III.  Do you know if this author is
still alive and writting? I look for his books (new) at the stores ... but
never asked anyone.  They were injoyable.  I gave my collection away to
someone interested in them.
Like your page.
H.Mike  

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From kodiac@destin.gulfnet.com Sat May 25 09:42:44 1996
Subject: Stephen R. Donaldson's the Gap Series

Howdy,

	I stumbled across your page while looking for info on Donaldson. 
I read your reviews, and all I can say is wait until you get your hands 
on all of the Gap Series.  Once again Donaldson continues his 
exploration and refinement of the antihero but this time in the scifi 
genre.  His evolution as a writer has been incredible.  The Gap Series 
is even darker than the Thomas Covenant series but a hundred times more 
intense and incredibly well written by comparison.  After Mordant's 
Need, I did not have the self control to wait for the series to be 
completed.  I have sweated blood waiting for the final installment which 
is a current scifi book club book of the month.  I should have my hands 
on the last installment in a couple of days.  I can hardly wait.  I hope 
you enjoy the series as much as I.  I just hope that with future 
endevors, he can pick up the pace a little.  Waiting on average a year 
and a half between volumes is unbearable.  Just thought I would pass on 
my own little review.

Troy

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From gcox@oneworld.owt.com Mon May 27 14:44:03 1996
Subject: Book Review Resource

Doug,

Your "Doug's Library" has been included in my index "The
Internet Book Review Resource List" which can be found at:

http://www.owt.com/users/gcox/bookrvws.htm

Along with your name and the name of your site are two ratings and a selection
of icons that represent the type of books reviewed at your site.  I invite you
to examine your listing and to send me mail if you find something that you
disagree with.

"The Internet Book Review Resource List" is meant to be a service to the 
community.  There is no charge to be included on the list or to access it.

In closing, let me thank you on behalf of the larger community for making 
your material available on the 'net.

Sincerely,
Glen Engel-Cox
Glen Engel-Cox              write@oneworld.owt.com
Columnist,                  http://www.owt.com/users/gcox/

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From lathan@pixel.convex.com Tue May 28 11:47:36 1996
Subject: Recommendation : Joan D Vinge

Great page.  Lots of good books, but here are two I did not see:

Psion and Catspaw by Joan D Vinge.  They are futuristic books about
a reluctant telepath.

jeff

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From Professor@intele.net Wed May 29 09:20:44 1996

If you enjoy star trek novels, try the ones written by Peter David or 
Daffyd Ab Hugh

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From fmaddin@io.com Wed May 29 13:38:09 1996
Subject: Good Reviews

I think your reviews are quite excellent.  I'm tired of book reviews 
where you get the idea that the reviewer is trying to impress you with 
their insights.  They seem, well for lack of a better word, "snooty".

I seem to agree with most of your reviews of the books I've read, so 
that bodes well for ones I've yet to read.  Keep up the good work!

Frank Maddin
3D Realms