From: "W.Pasquill" 
Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997 23:10:50 -0500

Aye,
	Well after reading thru most of your page its time for one of my long
winded e-mails that might end up being to damn short.

About the Discworld series, I'd recomend reading alt.fan. oh wait a
minute, no i aint sending you to that looney bin known as
alt.fan.pratchet, no one here in the states understnad anything they
talk about as far as I can tell, actually I don't think anyone outside
of england gets it, and when I say england I mean england Not Great
Britain (the island) or the Untied Kingdom (Britain and Nortthern
Ireland) I mean england england and even if you live there if you can;t
find the right pub your screwed. I'd try alt.books.pratchett or maybe
its rec.books pratchett, ask them about the better 5 then wait a couple
of years and go back they may have decided (if yoy try AFP ask a
descendant to checj ina few millenia by then they will have gotten close
to the top 5 if they are still talking about the top 5 books in that
subjext and not about something else entirely). Personnaly I recommend
Reaper Man which is about what happens when Death (the Grim reaper) gets
fired and the ensuing Chaos and Guards, Guards which is about a dragon
attacking the city of Ankh Morpork (which I presume you became aqcuanted
wioth in your previous reading) the follow ups to Guards, Guards (Men at
Arms and Feet of Clay respectively) are good aswell.

	No about this 'covenant" series. Until reading your page I'd never
heard of it, but I do intend to go find it. I'm also thankful that you
turned me on to Steakly's work in Armor and Vampire$ which look like my
sort of SF (oddly the new Starship Troopers movie looks more like your
desxription of Armor then it is of Starship troopers, or atleast thats
what 'net folks have been meaning when they call it Blasphemy).

	Next on Rosenberg, I love this mans work, its the first fantasy I read.
And oddly enought the first one was copyrighted when I was born. But
anyway, you are right when you talk about the role player connection,
the Guardians books do appeal greatly to roleplayers, but I think Joel
is just a great writer and another good thing about his books is that
most of us understand the characters more then we do in other fantasy
novels.But I don't agree with you about the last 2 not being that great,
these books were wondeful, but at this point in the series Joel is
writing for long time fans and himself, he does presume that you know
what is going on and just realy love the characters and therefore he is
just telling whatever stories come to mind instead of pushing a vilain,
we all know that sooner or later the Slavers will get back to fighting
the heroes (as you may remember the heads of the guild won't let them as
of yet do to so many defeats) and Jason will have to fight the sone of
the guy Karl killed in the first one, but no body is in a rush to get
there, it will just happen so while we are waiting we might aswell enjoy
whate Walter is thinking and his ongoing nightmare.

Lastly I'd like to suggest Joels new series to you The first book is
available in paperback and is called the Fire Duke (I's give you the
series name, but a friend of mine currently has it) I haven't read the
secon book and can;t remember the title but I'm sure it will be damn
good when I get it.
I'd also like to suggest Headcrash by Bruce Bethke which is a hillarious
(IMNHO) cyberpunkish story that is hard to explain but was said on the
cover as being what would happen if Monty Python wrote Neuromancer.
And
Greg Costykians Cups and Sorcery series which is also very humorous
however wating for the third patrt is becoming a nuisance.

Well thats it,
Bill

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From: Sean Dustman 
Date: Tue, 07 Oct 1997 20:32:11 -0700

 Dear Doug

    Hello my name is Sean Dustman am a corpsman in the U.S. Navy.  I was =
surfing the web and saw your page.  I have a really bad habit of eating =
books and saw your page and really liked it.  I totally agree with you =
with both Ender's Game and both the Thomas Covenant series but you got =
to read Robert Jordan, I know I should have done what you did and wait =
till all the paperbacks came out first but I didn't and  I'M RIPPING OUT =
MY HAIR WAITING FOR THE NEXT BOOK(S) TO COME OUT.  Every word ties in =
somewhere else, it might be five books away or the next page, everyone =
in these books seem to come to life.  If someone were to picture another =
world and have every detail in place this would be it.  Terry Goodkind =
is also a very good read but I won't know till tomarrow weather the =
series is compleat yet.  Since I can't convence you to read Robert =
Jordan (I hope your younger then 50 cause you might not be around for =
the last book) I really liked Dave Duncan's Man of His Word series and =
Clive Barker's "Cabal" and "The Great and Secret Show".  Well big Test =
great page you have there.

Sean

ps you didn't wait for all of Tom's book to come out in paperback so =
what's the excuse for Robert? =20

#  Tom Clancy (like Steven Brust and a few others) was grandfathered in.

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From: Ren'ee 
Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997 11:09:30 +0000

Hi Doug
Like your list. You might want to try an other author Harold Coyle. I
love the starwars and star treck stuff and find coyle great.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Spence 
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 1997 16:52:26 -0400
Subject: Heinlein

 Just browsing through your site, and I would ask that you reread your =
Heinlein.  It seems that you have skipped the text, and looked at the =
pictures.  This is not meant to offend, however, Friday, for instance is =
about a man who dies and has a brain transplant into the body of a =
nubile young female.  I agree that it was not one of Heinlein's best, =
however it has nothing to do with agents.

Another item is Starship Troopers, without a doubt one of the best works =
ever written in the genre of military fiction.  The whole work is an =
essay on political philosophy, (while being entertaining).  Skip the =
adventure and read the sections on History and Moral Philosophy, then =
reread the whole thing, you will find it much more exciting, and much =
more thought provoking.

I have a Masters in Philosophy, so, of course I am a Police Officer... =
;)  But, Heinlein explores human interaction more than Science fiction =
in most of his works, it could be that his style is not your type but do =
not judge his works by a strict Sci-Fi interpretaion, it is not space =
opera, it is space philosophy...

Try it again, you might change your mind.

                 A. Spencer Wilcox

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From: Robert and Julie 
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 19:36:53 -0500
Subject: Jerry Pournelle

Fellow Horned Frog,
    There I was, surfing the net for information on this fellow, and I
find a Horned Frog. Well!
    Anyway, I am hunting for information on an article Dr. Pournelle
wrote in the late '70's discussing an idea he termed "Project THOR". The
article appeared in Galaxy, a monthly SF magazine. He wrote a piece
every month on science fact he called "A Step Further Out" or
"...Beyond" or whatever.
    THOR was his idea for a space based weapons system that had the
virtue of being both simple and cheap, provided that one had cheap
access to low Earth orbit. That price has not lowered too much since
1977. The concept was to put up a satellite of fairly low mass, filled
with steel rods. The rods would have an ablative shield tip and a
controlled burn rocket on the other end. If bad old Country X is acting
up, why risk pilot's lives or possible cruise missile failure when you
can literally call down fire from the heavans with pinpoint accuracy. I
saw that you were in the physics department; work out what the kinetic
energy output of, say, a six pound crowbar impacting at orbital-plus
speeds. Or maybe ten in a one square mile area. Ouch!
    The reason for all this is in tha latest issue of Proceedings, in
which an engineer for Lockheed is proposing a similar system, but with
all kinds of very pricey bells and whistles. I have a hankering to give
credit where credit is due in this case.

Thanks!
Robert Wood '87

# Can't help ya there.

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From: "Mark Bernstein, Eastgate Systems, Inc." 
Date: Fri, 31 Oct 1997 15:07:12 -0500

I enjoyed your Doug's Library!  It seems an exciting and helpful project,
and I hope you're finding it rewarding. (My own short list is at

	http://www.eastgate.com/books/Bernstein.html

We publish hypertext -- fiction and non-fiction -- for serious readers.
We've been doing this since the late 80's, and I hope you might enjoy some
of our titles.  (Among our most recent titles, I think you might enjoy
Edward Falco's A DREAM WITH DEMONS, but our entire catalog is at
http://www.eastgate.com/ )

If you'd like to read and review a title for your site, I expect we could
find a review copy for you.  Let me know if you're interested....

---------------------------------------------------------------
Mark Bernstein                          Bernstein@eastgate.com

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From: Timothy Byrd 
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 01:05:56 -0800

 Hi Doug,

I was surfing and stumbled onto your review pages.  I like the reviews and
capsules.  Thought I'd drop you a few quick comments...

Glen Cook's "Bleak Seasons" is out.  It's billed as the first book of
Glittering Stone.  It's pretty good, he's thrown in an interesting twist
with the new annalist.  I really like his work, but I believe (at least in
the Black Company books) that he has a tendency to take major characters and
kill them off stage in a trivial way.  (How does Raven finally die?)   About
Cook's detective series:  I read a few - they were okay but fairly
interchangeable.

About David Brin's "The Postman":  I can see why they are making a movie of
it.  I thought the beginning was incredible  (Up through the point where the
main character gets to the second or third village.)  Something about it
just resonated with me.  I thought the second half was weird and
disappointing, though.  Overall. I'd rated about what you did, or perhaps a
little lower.

About CJ Cherryh: Try the "Faded Sun" trilogy, before giving up on this
author.  Hard to find, perhaps, but I thought they were excellent.  Basic
theme is that humanity has just won an interstellar war against an alien
race called the Regul.  The Regul are not warriors themselves, instead
employing a third race, the mercenary Mri.  Fearing to lose the services of
the Mri to the humans, the Regul destroy them, but two survive.

Poul Anderson: Have you checked out "Three Hearts and Three Lions"?  One of
the classics...  (Remember to take the year it was written into account.)

Harry Harrison: I started with the Deathworld Trilogy,  A gambler (with a
slight psychic talent) gets involved with a colony fighting to stay alive on
a deadly planet. I like this series a bit more than the Rat novels.  On the
other hand the "Homeworld", etc. trilogy left me cold.

I noticed that other than a slighting reference to Conan, there was no
Robert E. Howard.  You might want to check out one of *his* Conan stories.
Much more direct and dark than the pastiches.

Here are a few more suggestions for your reading list (At least they were
books that I enjoyed...):
    Richard Adams - Watership Down (rabbits!)
    Barry Hughart - The Bridge of Birds (someone else recommended this, and
I'm echoing)
    Michael Sharra - The Killer Angels (about the battle of Gettysburg - won
a Pulitzer)

Take care,

-- Timothy Byrd
tbyrd@telis.org

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Matthew Proctor 
Date: Tue, 04 Nov 1997 16:03:05 +0000
Subject: ramblings of a diseased keyboard

Hi,
I just came across your page while searching for Deathgate Cycle pages
and then managed to spend about an hour or so trying to find all the
people I had read here :) You must have a _very_ full bookshelf!
I am going to have to reread the Donaldson books based on your
review...although I found his trek through the desert a bit wearing the
first time.
I agree totally with your not reading Jordan until the whole series is
out, although you may have a long wait. I got shafted by that one - I
don't recall exactly why I bought the first one, but it hooked me and I
got to the end of the seventh and found myself staring at an 18mth wait!
I managed to do the same again with Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy
(although the final one is _supposed_ to be out by now I think). The
books so far have been enjoyable, although I get the feeling that she
has left a lot of loose ends to tie up in one book.
I agreed with your 'long mind candy' view of Belgarion/Mallorean -
although I thought the similarities were explained in the books as
being  a necessary condition for each meeting of the child of dark and
good? Not that that is a good excuse for avoiding using some
imagination.
Have you reviewed Julian May's further books now? I thoroughly enjoyed
them, especially the Pliocene ones.
I have remembered why I went for the Jordan series now - and it reminds
me, have you read the Recluce Saga (L.E. Modesitt Jr)? I got into this
because it reminded me of a MUD I had recently been unable to continue
playing where the protagonists were Chaos and Order. To be honest he
writes the books in a slightly odd order, he seems to slap a bunch of
prequels into the middle of the series which didn't help me much (I keep
getting names mixed up - I had a hell of a time with Saruman and Sauron
for some reason!).
The Jordan book that caught my eye was 'Lord of Chaos' although by the
time I got that far through the series I was reading it for its own
merits.
Well I just wanted to say I enjoyed reading the reviews, and I certainly
agreed with lot of the stuff you said...enough to take your
recommendation and give Brust a try when I finish Weis/Hickman. I've
bookmarked your site and will keep an eye on it!
Matt Proctor
matthew.proctor@sbil.co.uk

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Cary Whelan 
Date: Thu, 06 Nov 1997 23:55:49 -0500
Subject: Sphere

Doug,

    I am appalled at how you rated Michael Crichton's BEST book Sphere.
I would hardly call it a "check-your-brain-at-the-door" novel.  It is
truly his best book.  I have read it two or three times and each time I
am surprised at what I pick up as new and interesting.  I would never
see it a a horror film.  It's science fiction at its best!  I believe I
am one of Crichton's biggest fans and Sphere is undoubtedly his best!

                                                        Kia Whwlan
cwhela@po-box.mcgill.ca

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: 97835714@mmu.ac.uk
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 1997 18:00:23 GMT0BST

Hi

I have just read your Library pages, and enjoyed the reviews on some 
of my favourite authors.

I was surprised however, to find no reviews on DAVID GEMMELL.

He is after all a British Bestseller.

Try him (I would recommend all of his books, but particular 
favourites would be:

LEGEND
WAYLANDER
KNIGHTS OF DARK RENOWN
MORNINGSTAR
LEGEND OF DEATHWALKER

I also have a soft spot for Lawrence Watt Evans.  Although in England 
some of his books have been a tad difficult to locate.

Where are you based by the way?

I am also a huge fan of the Star Wars Novels (ZAHN maybe even 
eclipsed the Lucas Trilogy for me)

I look forward to hearing from you

REGARDS

BRIAN HANN (MANCHESTER)

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Kevin Curtis 
Date: Fri, 14 Nov 1997 22:10:46 -0800

Hi,

Came upon your page quite by accident and was blown away with the amount of
time and effort you've invested along with the number of books reviewed,( I
always hated doing book reviews). Anyway, a series to consider might be
David Wingrove's "Chung Quo", a supposedly seven book series and the seventh
just been released. I could go on about it, but the first book would be
enough to hook you if it appeals to you. Good reading,( whatever it may be). 
Kevin Curtis

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Elizabeth Oldfather 
Date: Sat, 15 Nov 1997 18:28:19 -0500

I find it interesting to read people's book ratings, and I liked yours and
often agree with them.  As per the Shannara books, for example, I am
totally in agreement.  However you did say that you hadn't read the newer
series (heritage of shannara) and I think you're making a mistake there.
It is in my opinion far superior to the earlier works, especially the
second book.  You should give it a try.
sorry, just had to stick in my two cents recommendation!
-lizzie

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Jake Maynard 
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 1997 02:46:01 -0600
Subject: Terry Goodkind

Just stumbled across your page. Very interesting stuff, we have a lot of
authors in common. One I didn't
see was Terry Goodkind. I read the note concerning Robert Jordan, and
thought that I would simply say
that I think that is an author worth taking a closer look at. It is also
a book that someone else "recommended" to me, and as you pointed out,
those are the books you are almost certain to dislike.
But this one actually turned out quite good. I also noticed that a
couple of the things that got you
in some of the horror-type books are the horrific torture scenes, such
as the one at the ranch in The Hollow Man.  I also find such scenes
interesting, not out of any weirdness, but basically that the author can

so effectively communicate the absolute horror of being in such a
situation. I really don't know if this is
making any sense at all, but I thought I'd try. :) At any rate, there
are a few scenes written by this guy
that make every other painful situation or torture incident I've ever
read seem like a happy day at Captain
Kangaroo's.
    Anyway, just thought I'd pass on my small recommendation, if you get
the chance, check Goodkind out.
I was impressed, and more importantly, entertained as hell.

      Thanks for your time.
     -Jake Maynard

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Milena 
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 16:56:52 +0100

Hey Doug! This site is brilliant!
I share your opinion about some of the books ("The Hobbit", for example). I
also like Guy Gavriel Kay VERY much, I've been through the whole Amber
series by Zelazny and I LOVE the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (For me
Adams is the greatest philosopher of the 20th century.)
What I can recommend is Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover series (if you are
not frightened by a series as huge as twenty-something novels and several
short-story anthologies!) One last thing: Have you seen the movie Dune? If
not, do it!!!!!!!!
CU
Milena

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: tennisEnigma@webtv.net (jan messina)
Date: Mon, 17 Nov 1997 16:28:16 -0800

We seem to enjoy alot of the same books
in the SF/Fantasy genre so I thought you
might enjoy the "Last of the Renshai" series
by Mickey Zucker Reichert...the second series
look promising too (two of three books out).

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: John Simpson 
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 22:40:44 -0600

Dear Doug,

I have enjoyed reading parts of your electronic library.  Below are two 
comments concerning your review of Zelazny's _Lord of Light_.

The first chapter of _Lord of Light_ actually falls, 
chronologically-speaking, between the second to last and last chapters. 
This, no doubt, causes some confusion, but the epigrams and other hints 
serve to orient an alert reader, but it is helpful knowing the true 
chronological order before reading.

The god-like powers and attributes of the "First" are presented to the 
reader with compressed description employing words associated with magic 
such as "wand."  These divine powers are thoroughly explained in 
surprising detail, however, as mutant mental abilities enhanced by 
technology.

Randell Simpson

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From: "S. Pharand" 
Date: Sun, 23 Nov 1997 23:23:28 -0800

Hi great page. But I just want to tell you that the book The Mummy by
Anne Rice isn't part of the Vampire Chronicles. It is a book on its own.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Petar Barisic 
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997 08:30:16 +0000 (GMT)

Say, abut P.K.Dick, you should find his book "Ubik" for starters and 
then all them other books...

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Naomi Kalmusl 
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 1997 15:31:01 -0700
Subject: THe lions of Al-Rassan

I was put off by your note at the end of the review that you could put any
persecuted group in the story and it would be the same.  That's just not
true if one knows the history of this era. Jews were highly valued members
of the Moorish courts and often served in the roles of physicians,
philosphers and key advisers.  When the Catholics reconquered Spain, they
undertook the Inquisition, one of the most vicious persecutions of Jews
until the Holocaust.  To this day their are "secret Jews" whose family hid
their identity and became Christians in order to save themeselves.

As you may guessed, I'm Jewish.  I ususally enjoy your reviews, but was
insulted by the offhanded way you said it could have been anyone.

Naomi Kalmus
nkalmus@cadence.com

# My reply:
# 
# Well, I'm sorry you felt that way.  No offense was intended by the
# "offhand" reference.  If it helps, G. Kay has since written and told
# me that he thought my comment was actually quite appropriate.  The
# text of his message is reproduced below from my mail bag.
# 
# Regards,
# Doug Ingram
# 
# # From: Guy Kay 
# # Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 13:44:19 -0400
# # Subject: A thank you
# # 
# # Doug,
# # 
# # Thanks for your kind words about LIONS. I was initially amused to note
# # your 'gypsies' idea about the Kindath, but your last comment is
# # absolutely right ... it doesn't matter. Part of the point of doing it as
# # a fantasy (it is ... for many reasons, not least of which is that the
# # Reconquista took 400 years and narrative energy to tell the -essence- of
# # the tale requires the telescoping fantasy allows) is to get people
# # detached from their prejudices and assumptions about Catholic Spain,
# # Moorish Al-Andalus, the Jews of the middle ages ... so you are
# # ultimately right: I did intend certain parallels, but the underlying
# # idea was to get AWAY from a direct association with the three religions
# # and their beliefs.
# # 
# # I seldom drop a line to reviewers or readers, but you did give me a
# # moment's pause and wanted to relay thoughts and a thank you.
# # 
# # Best wishes,
# # GGK

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
From: Theresa E Wurth 
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 1997 10:49:53 -0600

Doug
I am writing to you because this is the first time I got the idea to =
search on a subject that I have always been interested in...but was =
frustrated because I want more and can't find it....so...I searched on =
Thomas Covenant.  I am a fan of Donaldson's...and I see you are an even =
bigger one!    I think I have read every thing he has written....The =
Covenant books over and over again.    I have waited for the Chronicles =
of Linden Avery to come out...but to no avail.  Have you heard that he =
is planning on writing anything else?  Do you know where I can write =
him?  I want to encourage him to write more.  It is so hard these days =
to find good writing.  
Although, have you read any Clive Barker works....besides the Hellraiser =
stuff.  He has done some very interesting fantasy work.
Anyway...like your page, keep up the good work...and you don't need to =
publish this...doesn't make a difference to me...I have already had my =
15 minutes on the stage...LOL
Take care.
Theresa

# From what I've heard about SRD, the more people pester him to write
# more about the Land, the less likely he is to do it, so my advice is
# not to bother him!  :)

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Date: Sun, 30 Nov 1997 15:37:15 -0600
Subject: Katherine Kurtz's HEIRS OF SAINT CAMBER

Suggestion.  You said you had never got around to buying 
the last series of Katherine Kurtz.  I definitely recommend 
you buy and read at least the first two.  I think Katherine 
Kurtz wrote much better books when she was forced to by the 
plot.  They are stories about Cinhil's children as kings.  
She is forced to have write a much better story, where 
characters can die, simply because she's already established 
that the main characters lose in the end and die.  And she 
has to include a lot of politics, because she's already 
introduced the power hungry regents.  But if you don't have 
time don't bother reading the last one, THE BASTARD PRINCE.  
It ends too happily.

	Sincerely rtharris@midway.uchicago.edu