5 comments about Classic Carving Patterns.

1. I have been attempting to learn carving & engraving techniques for sometime. I had reached a point where I had exhausted my resourses. I was out of ideas, and lacking enough experence to develop my own style. I believe I can do that now. This is a very well prepaired manuel. My Thanks, William Talley



2. I have to admit, I should have taken the title more literally. This book has some beautiful patterns for those who are lacking the artistic inspiration (myself included in that list). What the book is lacking is the transformation process from drawing board to the actual works rendered in wood. The line drawings are truly beautiful, but some appear to be almost impossible to complete as outlined in the pattern. I would have appreciated more input from the author as to the techniques she prefers to achieve some of the artisitc effect of her drawings. The photos are too few and incomplete, and there is no reference to the rendering process for these lovely patterns. I was fooled by the cover photo depicting a woodworker's bench with a roll of carving tools and a partially carved project. I will keep the book for a reference should I ever become stuck for ideas on a particular project. I don't think it will become one of my most frequently used books.



3. Lora Irish is one of my favorite designers as her patterns are easy to follow and are very detailed. This book is one you will never want to part with. There are many different useful designs in this book well worth its cost. Now make some wood chips!



4. This books contains only patterns for people who has no chance to draw their own (including myself). Patterns are nice but I rated a book in four stars, because, first of all, I did expect little bit more different kinds of patterns and secondly, I did expect some descriptions or recommendations.
   But it's really worthly bbok for those who needs only patterns.



5. This book is just what the title says - "Classic Carving Patterns". It is not a "How to Carve" book. If you don't already know how to carve, don't buy this book.
   
   Once you know the basics, most people want more challenging projects but don't have the experience to draw their own designs. This book picks up right at the spot. It contains patterns of intermediate complexity which will challenge journeymen carvers to improve their skills.
   
   There aren't many books like this available - books with lots of patterns that are intended to be carved. If you're a developing or experienced carver looking for new challenges, or even ideas to incorporate in your own designs, this is the book for you.

3 comments about Shadows of the Last War (Dungeon & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Adventure).

1. While I have not yet run Shadows of the Last war with my PCs, I have looked over the adventure and found much of it to my likeing. The story line is continued relatively smoothly from the previous modual (Forgotten Forge), and a new group of foes for the adventurers are introduced, making for an exiting and well developed adventure. The adventure's primary merrit is, however, the sense of Eberon it imparts. With its technology like magics and cinamatic battle scenes, Shadows gives a DM wishing to learn a bit more about Eberon before writting his(or her) own adventures just the sort of model and set of possible adventure hooks one needs. In adition to this, I found the adventure easily modifiable, enabling me to edit out parts I did not particularly like and replace them with some of my own, with minimum difficulties. My one gripe concerning Shadows is the fact that the principle villians are not those implicated at the end of the Forgotten forge. While this is merely a matter of opinion, and I know that I said that the adition of the new enemies is an overal good touch, if I where a player, I would likely be somewhat dumfounded to discover that the oposition I faced in the last adventure is present only in the start of the modual (albeit in an exelently talored encounter). Over all, the Shadows is a great adventure for an Eberon campagn, and I recomend it to DMs in search of inspiration, bearing in mind that much of it may need to be tweeked in order to make it run best with your party.



2. If your new to Eberron as i was trust me theres no better way to meet this great new world than with this adventure!!!
   Your supose to go from 1st to like 4th level but we got to 5th so the next carry on adventure might be a little bit easy for us but in saying that there was only 3-4 of us playing most of the time.
   A few fights were probley a bit frigen harder than they have should have been but what do you exspect when you walk down the main road into a busted ass town thats the bad guys main base and start a fight!!!!!
   3rd level and had a CR8! But over all i had a great time roleplaying in this world and am looking forward to next week when we start the next Adventure!!!!



3. Definately a different kind of D&D Avdenture.
   
   Eberron is a breath of fresh air to the typical "Midevial Europe" D&D and give technology and such a twist.
   
   The adventure here was really good, up until the last part, part 5 where the charecters seemed to get railroaded a bit.
   
   But all-in-all a great adventure!

5 comments about Fire Emblem (Wii): Prima Official Game Guide (Prima Official Game Guides).

1. it helped
   
   the end
   
   
   
   GOOD GAME!!!



2. I strongly discourage the purchase of this guide. Prima demonstrates in this guide that, yet again, if you can't play the game their way, you can't play it at all. The guide is set up in a step-by-step format, telling you specifically what characters to be used, and when they are to be used, turn-by-turn. Because of Fire Emblem's chanciness, the advice offered by this guide is just short of absolutely useless. Utter garbage. Its sole saving grace is the art featured throughout the book.



3. The stategies offer is so-so.
   Too little artworks.
   Flaws and inaccuracy in the data section.



4. This book is a great help for beginners and helps you reveal secret items around every corner within the game. But if you're planning not to spoil yourself like I myself. My words to you would be, not to buy it and experience all the action without the unnecessary spoilers for upcoming battles.



5. When people buy strategy guides there are looking for a collection of facts that will allow them to develop a better strategy. This "guide" is little more than the author's turn-by-turn diary of the way he played the game. The enemy locations and stats are often wrong and only offered for Normal Mode, so if you're playing easy of hard mode you're on your own. The maps are often too dark or too small to get a good idea of how to approach the chapter (especially the one with the bridge). There is hardly any artwork, just screen shots of the game Dan Birlew (author) played. Its almost as if Prima new this guide sucked when they released it with the name premiere edition, certainly suggesting it wouldn't be the only edition. I really wish Nintendo Power would make their own (instead of teaming up with Prima) because their efforts on previous fire emblem game guides were far superior.

3 comments about Entertain Your Brain: More than 850 Puzzles!.

1. This is a great book of puzzles and that is fully illustrated and that adds a good deal to the quality of this fine book. The major contributor to the book is puzzle author Terry Stickels, famous for his FrameGames and Stickelers and his national and inter-national syndicated puzzle columns. Amazon has incorrectly shown the authors to be other than those who actually wrote the puzzles. The two authors mentioned are the editors. Most people who buy books of puzzles are quite interested in whose puzzles they are and could often care less about the editors. This book is a case in point. It is hoped that Amazon will update their listing to show the true scope of this book and especially to mention the major author.



2. The cover of this book tells one NOTHING about who wrote it. I happened onto it through a puzzler friend who knows I am a fan of Terry Stickels. It is a great compilation of some of the best and most interesting puzzles around, and people who have favorite puzzle writers will never find this book. I agree with the other review I saw--why would you put the EDITORS names on the front, and not the authors???



3. I travel a lot for work, so I need to keep myself occupied on flights, etc. What better way than to stimulate my thirst for knowledge? It made the time fly by.

4 comments about Floorcloth Magic: How to Paint Canvas Rugs for Decorative Home Use.

1. Clearly and concisely written, no confusion or contradictions like some other books on the same subject. Excellent section on contributing artists showing a wide diversity of styles.



2. The artist does a good job covering all the needed supplies and methods to create such beautiful floor cloths. There is a lot covered in these pages, although I could have skipped the color theory part given its really trial and error and personal design ultimately. There are lots of beautiful floor cloths to admire by this artist and others. Wish there were some substantial patterns to apply in addition to the very basic stripes included. This book helps motivate one to begin and do it right, and the rest is really up to one's imagination which the author gives a good springboard to leap from.



3. This is the second of 2 books I ordered because I wanted to paint and design a floor cloth.
   Easy instructions and some beautiful designs for anyone who does not want to design their own.



4. It was good to get more of the technical details about this type of artwork. Until now I only had the info I received from a one-day workshop and that wasn't as in depth as I really would have liked. I also appreciate the author's talent. There are some fine examples which provide inspiration.

No comments about Pathfinder Chronicles: Gazetteer (Pathfinder Chronicles).

5 comments about Sudoku - Orange (Sudoku).

1. I LOVE THE SPIRAL - I have been looking all over for it, much easier to open while in bed or in the bath (ha). I don't care for the paperbacks, I'm always having to tear out the pages and sometimes they don't tear clean.
   
   I haven't bought this yet, can't figure out which is the most difficult. So I guess I'll take a chance and buy the one I think would be hard to solve.



2. do the puzzles in this series have MORE THAN ONE solution? So far, most of the puzzles I've completed are slightly different from the supplied solution in the back. I've never had this problem with the puzzles in the Will Shortz series, though I have to say the spiral and size of these books are nice.



3. Although I loved the spiral bound format, and the size was great for the bus ride, over two-thirds of the puzzles had multiple solutions. That is unacceptable.



4. I like the rings and size of the book (pocket-size).I take it everywhere,especially waiting for appointments. The only drawback is, the puzzles don't seem to get anymore difficult as you progress in the book.



5. more than one solution to the puzzles
   and are too easy
   less than 5 minutes

5 comments about Incredible 3D Stereograms Eye Tricks.

1. 
   I don't know how long these stereograms have been around ,but their complexity and fascination has really taken off with the application of computers to this art form. As a kid,I was fascinated with the device that sat on a small table at my Grandmothers, which was used to view double picture photograph cards,which appeared in 3-D when looked at through the viewer.It was probably manufactured sometime around 1900 and maybe even earlier. There were photos of WWI and lots of other things that you saw from that time sold as postcards.Later, after WWII, we saw much the same thing sold in huge numbers and found in virtually very home,namely "ViewMaster". Then, in the 50's stereograph technology was employed in motion pictures ,where the audience watched a blurry screen which came to 3D reality by wearing "special" red&Green cardboard glasses. I remember some wild action films where the whole audience was petrified by spears coming straight at them.Then there were birds and other objects that seemed to come right out of the screen and fly over your head.
   For the last 20 years we have seen stereographs in books like this;and getting better all the time.
   I have written reviews on several others;but this is the largest one so far,with 200 state- of the-art sterograms.The big advance in recent years is that we can view them without the aid of special devices or viewers...just your own eyes.
   I suppose there are a number of categories these images can fall into;but mainly they are the type where the object is quite obvious in 2-dimension and then turns into a 3-Dimensional image. Then there is the other thing where the whole picture is just undiscernable colors and/or patterns,but no obvious imgge. Then ,while staring at the picture an object comes into view almost as a ghost. Some stereographs do both of these things at the same time.
   As I went through this collection ,I attempted to pick a favorite;but in the end I wasn't really able to.
   The one on pg. 24 ,a simple 2-D transformation is simply in clarity in both dimensions;as the Chicago skyline on pg.167. As for hidden or ghost images;I really liked the Shamrocks on pg 11 and 79.
   Then for one which gives no hint whatsoever of any hidden object,I like the Star of David on pg.81 and the Point Burst in pg.26,which is utterly and completely hidden.Then how about the pyramids on pg.103,a little difficult to "get" ,but when you do,well worth the effort.
   Then there was the Glad Plaid on pg.25 which I couldn't "get" at all.Then I turned it 180 Degrees,still no luck.Then I turned it 90 Degrees--Bingo!!!
   Then I found that many could be seen turning the pages 180 Degrees.Another thing to do is;once you see the 3-D image,and while keeping it in focus,slowly rotate the page and see it disappear.
   Overall,the book is loaded with some great images;but I can't but suspect we are still in for some exciting treats in this "electronic"art form in the future.



2. I got this book for our family for Christmas. The pictures that pop out are usually the same as the picture that made it,if that makes sense. There is a picture made up of shamrocks...the picture inside is a shamrock. There is no surprise in the picture, which to me isn't as fun. I dodn't appreciate the topless mermaid picture on the title page and last page of the book, I don't think that perticular picture is kid friendly. Otherwise the book is what I expected.



3. If you like Magic Eye images, this book will blow you away. When I look at some of my other 3-D book images, I'll think, "I get it - it's a shark." When I look at these images, I'll say out loud, "Woah." My wife will think I spilt hot coffee on my foot. But I didn't. I don't even drink coffee. And it's not a small book - there are 200 full-page images in it.



4. I recently discovered these so-called 3-D stereograms. I think they are SO cool! Somehow I missed out on their popularity phase during the 1990's. (However, I do remember one Seinfeld episode where Elaine's boss, Mr. Pitt, was trying to find the 3-D image in a painting, but I didn't realize just how neat the whole thing really was.) I have looked through several books now. I feel this book is probably the best. There are over 200 designs to view and discover the hidden 3-D images. And the price is quite reasonable, considering the hours of entertainment it will give you. Highly recommend it.



5. I really love these books. I am fascinated by the technique used to get the 3-d affect. I have everyone out.

5 comments about The Science of Pocket Billiards.

1. Sometimes people feel that explaining wonderful things makes them somehow less magical, as if a bit of knowledge could rub the awe off of us. I'm inclined to disagree and fortunately for me, there's a whole genre of books devoted to the related jobs of explaining the wonderful and unravelling the mysteries behind ordinary stuff.
   
   This book stands out in that world and also in the world of books about pool. The author has taken the ordinary, sometimes despised game of pocket billiards and subjected its truths to rigorous experimentation. He built apparatus for standardizing speed and direction of balls and developed a simple device for recording where balls struck a cushion.
   
   Koehler's attention to details is pretty wonderful in itself. Consider this: "Theoretically, the center of the tip doesn't need chalk because it makes contact with the cue ball only when it's struck dead-center. When the cue ball is struck dead-center, there's no chance of the tip slipping off and thus, no need for chalk." A tiny matter? sure. Admire the mind behind it? you bet.
   
   The same thorough approach can be seen in chapters like
   
   1. Equipment
   2. Shooting stance and technique
   3. Pocketing the object ball
   4. Shot selection
   5. Cue-ball deflection path
   6. English
   7. Positioning the cue ball
   8. Rail shot
   9. Combination shots
   10.Bank shots
   
   If you love the game or if you simply marvel at a job well done, this is a book for you. Any pool player will find his or her appeite for practice increased and game improved
   
   
   
   Lynn Hoffman, author of The New Short Course in Wine from Prentice-Hall and bang-BANG, a novel from Kunati to be published in 2007



2. First of all, please excuse my English - it is not my native.
   I've bought this book and really happy with this purchase, even Byrne's books were not even close to improve my skills in pool. The were commercially composed so that I had to buy more and more books, but fortunately I've found "Science of pocket billiards". Beleive me, its amazing, right now with a small practice after reading this book I beat my friends.
   The best one.



3. The book is very comprehensive going into a lot of detail and at times is very technical. There are lots of tables and statistics. However, it does a great job of explaining how the various aspects of the game impact the outcome of each shot. Things like cue ball and object ball movement, best cue stick positions for type of shot, how english and top and bottom spin impact cue ball placement, and much more. If you focus on the less technical aspects taught in this book you will come out with a much better understanding of how to shoot better pool. I'm still reading it but have learned alot and I consider myself a better than average pool player already. It is at times tough reading but you can get into it as deeply as you desire and several readings over time will glean more information.



4. This technical guide is full of tables and statistics, along with lots of tips to make you shoot a better game of pool.



5. I purchased this book as a total beginner to pool and it has really jumpstarted my learning process. Normally I'd have learned by trial and error and would eventually develop a 'feel' for it. This book explains scientifically, geometrically and physically what is taking place on the table so that I understand what it is I'm attempting to make happen. Feel will always be necessary, that's much of the fun, but understanding the logic behind each shot is a great guide and really helps me get back online when I lose that elusive feel.
   
   Koehler's book starts with the basics of equipment and terminology and proceeds through technique, strategy, psychology and more. One thing that I really like is that the book offers many alternatives so that I can choose the ones that suit me best, or have options when my usual approach isn't available. The author offers some opinions on which might be a better choice but provides enough information on each to allow an informed decision.
   
   Though I'm still a beginner I am confident that this book would benefit players of all levels. I've got a pool buddy (also a beginner) that lives a few hours away. I sent him a copy of this book so that I won't have an unfair advantage next time we get together!

5 comments about 1001 Sudoku: A Huge Collection of the 21st Century's Hottest Puzzle.

1. I saved the first 500 or so puzzles for my grown daughter, who is just getting into Sudoku, but have spent weeks working through the other 500 puzzles and still have a couple hundred to go. Lots of puzzles for the money.



2. This kept me going for hours. It is very good and has a lot of interesting and unique activities. I liked it.



3. A book that is large enough for even the best couch potatoes! Large print, big enough boxes for notes. Love it!



4. I am hooked on Sudoku and it takes my spare time even if only a couple of minutes. Which is why I rely on the categories, I usually expect Easy to only take me a couple of minutes; even with medium I don't need to take notes. Unfortunately that is not the case with this set of puzzles. In fact, the very first one in the Easy category wasn't that 'easy'. But then some of the hard ones are actually easy.
   
   There are a lot to do and it will be fun. If not for the poor editing I would have rated it 5 stars.



5. I've ordered this book three times - you can keep doing the same puzzles over and over because you'll never remember the solutions!