5 comments about Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough Products Through Collaborative Play.

1. The process of eliciting requirements suffers from some of the same problems as the process of collecting information for expert systems. A person does not really know how much he or she knows about a subject. Each of us knows something so well, that much of what we know is not part of our conscious awareness. It is hard to bring that information to the conscious mind to share with another person.
   
   What this tells me is when I am in the role of eliciting requirements from another person, I need many different ways of getting information, because different means will achieve different results. I can take an analytical approach (tell me about...), a physical approach (show me ...), and a creative approach (let's play a game ...). The more approaches I use, the more information I will get.
   
   What I love about Innovation Games is that games use a part of the brain that we tend to ignore when "at work", bypassing the analytical parts and tapping into the fun, creative areas. This is a great way to find new information about the requirements of a product or service. I think it works especially well because most people I interview are expecting an analytical approach, and using games brings a fresh perspective.
   
   Luke Hohmann has really captured a great set of games. He explains the games very clearly, and gives detailed instructions for how to organize an Innovation Games session so that everyone can make effective use of his techniques.
   
   Thanks so much Luke for bringing us another great book.



2. Most of the content of this book belongs in sales brochure not a book. A large proportion of this book is a long, overblown ad for the author's services.
   
   Some of the ideas, while creative, are just repackaging of many well-known and established techniques.
   
   In addition, there is one reality the author ignores. The exercises are not going to work well with "average," everyday people. They require a degree of creativity and acumen that quite honestly, most people (including very well-educated ones) just do not possess. I work in this industry everyday and if there is one thing I've learned it is most individuals are much better reacting to ideas than creating them.



3. Luke Hohmann's Innovation Games bring an extension to the complex areas of software requirements. The games bring out the essence of requirement gathering, namely the importance of the users' feedback to the requirement gatherers and close relationship between the user and the requirements gatherers. Two thumb up for this book!



4. Luke Hohmann's Innovation Games makes current paradigm obsolete.
   What if the decay in the learning rate from kindergarten to high school is not only related to wrong educational policies and practices?
   What if adolescent are treated "seriously", when being serious is a barrier to learning?
   Hohmann's exported the "learning by playing" environment from kindergarten to market research and other fields.
   The panoply of games he proposed support an ample variety of opportunities.
   I'm glad I dedicated the time to read Innovation Games, and organized to use them.
   Let life be fun!



5. We had been using Innovation Games to find the real market of hundred of ideas that companies in our program are developing. It is amazing, how a simple game can be a powerful tool to develop marketing strategies. Our companies had learned the magic of seating with their customers and play games, and then new products are developed. The cost of doing this learning is very low and the results are so big that reading this book has the highest ROI that you can image. Never less, playing the games are very valuable when you read from the book, the real learning experience is when you play them several times or you are able to bring an expert consultant that gave you the insights of the experience.
   
   Reading the book is half of the story, you must play several of these games to take the best experience. I highly suggest trying it.

4 comments about The Forge of War (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying, Eberron Setting).

1. I love the Eberron setting but this book was not only boring but nearly useless. It gives lots of background but not much for actual play dynamics.



2. If You want to run a campaign set during the great war this book is great. It does contain information on how to run flashback games, and time travel games for players in an ongoing Eberron Campaign. This book is good Fluff for people interested in the great war, or having your characters actually tied into the great war sometime in their past. So, for what it's worth I liked it. It won't do me much good in the game I'm running currently, but if I ever start a new Eberron Campaign I'll probably use the info provided here to help players get a better background for their characters.



3. The reading is a good story, gives a lot of great depth of the 5 Nations.
   It doesn't give tactical maps, or advetures. I was hopeing for a Hack&tactics game to come from this book, but no maps. Still a good read, and an entire history on the national relations of the 5 nations.
   The opening artwork is worth it alone, a vast Karrnath Zombie army in full charge against a Brelish Warforged army. Too cool.
   Unless you are going back in time, or really, really deep in international relations, its not neccisary to run Eberron.



4. I recently got into Eberron, and have snapped up quite a few of its (generally very high-quality) sourcebooks. I'm the type that takes Amazon reviews into consideration, though, so "The Forge of War" wasn't one of my purchases, because of its very low rating.
   
   Recently, though, someone in my gaming group picked it up so that they could add a little more flavor to their war veteran character. "A quick glance" quickly turned into borrowing it for the next week, because I found this book really interesting.
   
   The Forge of War is divided into only four chapters, but what they do, they do very well.
   
   Chapter 1 is called "The Course of the War". It reads almost like a history book on the Last War, detailing important events. Jarot's death and Karrnath's plague are obvious examples, but specific battles, such as what really happened at Shadukar, are also here.
   
   There is no "crunch" here, no statistics of any kind, but knowing what level fighter General Horacht was really is besides the point. (There are some nicely done maps illustrating the changing borders, though.) This is about the "course of the war" quite literally, about the battles that were fought and the motivations behind them, the ups and downs that shaped the conflict, and kept it going for a hundred years.
   
   If this kind of information is at all interesting to you, then you'll really enjoy this chapter.
   
   Chapter 2 is called "A Guide to the Last War". If Chapter 1 details the stage on which the war played out, then Chapter 2 is about its various players. There are over thirty entries here, and there is plenty of crunch sprinkled amongst them. For example, the "Armies of Cyre" section goes into Cyre's overall military structure, general tactics, a specific elite company, and both a hero and a traitor that emerged from it.
   
   In contrast, the House Jorasco part is more about "fluff" and less about specifics, explaining the House's involvement in the War, from the whispers of its beginning, to their place in the very middle of it, to their current standing, now that it has ended. The entries have very different information in them, but both convey what they're meant to- the role their specific faction filled in the Last War, large or small, good or bad.
   
   Overall, it can all be useful knowledge, but some entries are definitely more interesting and/or detailed then others.
   
   Chapter 3 is called "Heroes of the Last War". In my opinion, this chapter would have made more sense laid out in two shorter ones, one for background information and one for tools (spells, gear, etc.). I understand why they did it this way, since more then any other chapter, this is for the PCs to read, but it's still a little jarring to go from, "Here are some of the physical or mental scars a soldier might have" to "New spells, cool!"
   
   I love the first half. Chapters 1 and 2 are a wealth of information, but a wonderful stage and fascinating supporting characters are still just backgrounds for a campaign in which the PCs star.
   
   It seems like an obvious question to ask, "How did the Last War shape YOU?", but there's a really detailed answer to be found here. This (first half) is 100% fluff. It's about giving your character an Eberron-specific (which is to say, a Last War-influenced) feel, whether that's a Deserter, an Officer, or a Refugee. These backgrounds have different personalities, motivations, behaviors, and even languages, and they are outlined here. It's also about the "Scars of War", such as flashbacks, mood swings, or missing limbs.
   
   Whether it's a PC or even an important NPC, there are a wealth of interesting ideas on how to roleplay a character affected by war, whether that's in Eberron, Forgotten Realms, or your own homebrew world.
   
   The second half of the chapter is all crunch. It details new spells (for artificers, assassins, bards, clerics, druids, duskblades, hexblades, paladins, rangers, and last but not least, sorcerers/wizards), new armor and shield properties, new clothing, new warforged components, and a goodly amount of powerful new artifacts.
   
   An interesting new concept is of "Heraldic Crests", shield-only effects gained when the shield portrays, and the shield-user is dedicated to, a specific Lord, Order, religion, etc. I also liked "Standards" (flags), which benefit allies within 30 ft of the standard-bearer, as it really seems like a magic item that would've developed in response to field battles.
   
   Finally, there are also several pages on something called "Teamwork Benefits". They're not feats, but through a combination of roleplay ("The team has to train together to gain these") and crunchy bits (requirements for all team members plus the team leader to have skills ranks or feats), they're a way to put a concept like "teamwork" or training into D&D terms, and it works pretty well.
   
   Lastly, Chapter 4 is called "The Last War Campaign". It ties all the information in the book together nicely, applying everything from the last three chapters; the war, the soldiers, and the player characters, into a game and a campaign.
   
   There is information here on the different directions a DM can take in using the material, such as a game set during the Last War, a "flashback" style game, or even a time travel game, in which the PCs have the opportunity to change history.
   
   Besides detailed advice on how to run these types of games, there are also specific "Campaign Arcs", which are basically mini-campaign summaries, such as you'd find at the start of an adventure, but without the actual adventure afterwards. They're nice for illustrating the concepts brought up in the book, and there are some decent ideas that could even fit into an existing campaign, for a little Last War flavor.
   
   I wrote this review because after looking at the book, I had to buy it for myself, and I didn't really feel that the reviews currently here give a good idea of what it's about. This is definitely a roleplay/background/ideas book more then a stats/rules/crunch book, so if you're looking for the latter, you could very well be disappointed. As for me, I give it 5/5 stars, and feel that it does everything it sets out to do nearly perfectly.

5 comments about Gargantuan Black Dragon (Dungeons & Dragons Icons).

1. This is a great mini for any collector or actual D&D player! The black dragon is very well done and the painting of the mini is spot on. If you got a Great Wyrm Black Dragon waiting to ambush players, I suggest you get this mini and show them what the dragon's fear aura can really do!



2. This ones models mold lines are probably the most noticeable and most defined. All the D&D minis have bad mold lines but this one has them right on the wings and because of its pose they are shown off.
   
   Overall its still worth a buy if you can get it for a good price, the paint job and detail on it are amazing! The scales and especially the highlights give it a very 3d feel like its come at you.



3. The detail and design of this Icon of Dungeons and Dragons is an amazing addition to any one's collection. Although not as expensive as the Colossal Red Dragon, the Black is still a bit pricey if its only intended use is for use in your game either as a miniature or as an encounter in your table top game. But if you are buying it for gaming AND as a display item, it is undeniably a must have. I own all of the currently available 'Icons' and I am looking forward to more in the series.



4. Simpply put, this is a very nice dragon mini. It is in direct scale with the rest of the D/D minis and adds a nice touch when you use it either for the mini game or your tabletop game. Good quality, coloration and detail, typical of the larger D/D minis. A good buy, even if just for a collection.



5. I bought the dragon for my daughter because she loves them. When she got it she thought it was really cool. Once she got it out of the box, she wouldn't put it down. I have to say that I was really impressed with it as well. We don't play the miniatures game, but we both thought the dragon was fantastic anyway!

No comments about Shadowrun: Street Magic (FPR26004) (Shadowrun).

5 comments about Promethean The Created (Promethean).

1. For this new release, White Wolf again shows his incredible sense of personal introspection in a dark and insane world. The new race of monsters for the World of Darkness is a new look to the humanity, in the terms of those who seek her as a utopia; not the minds of those who preys on it (vampires), the ones who live in their society but belongs to their primal rage (werewolves) or the awakened ones (Mages).This solid effort is based more on the paradigm of the knowledge of humans making monsters, that wants to be humans.
   
   The art is not as good as Mage or Vampire, but it makes his work. Also, the tales and the first chronicle gives you the opportunity to refresh your ideas for new campaigns in your version of WoD. Their difficulty of playing (due to the Disquiet, a natural condition of the Prometheans) can push the player to make alliances, or to make strategies to keep your condition from the eye of hunters or other creatures, at the time that you search for your goals.
   
   After reading the book, the sensation is very similar to the one that you may feel after reading the masterpiece of Mary Shelley. Is the life an accident? is somebody authorized to play as God? Romantic, terrorific and human: this is the Promethean Mood. a Must-Have for the lovers of the good terror rpgs.



2. Promethean The Created is a new hardcover book for use with White Wolf's mega-popular World of Darkness RPG, and represents a broad new canvas for fans of the game. Promethean offers a new type of character to build and play...soulless corpses, reanimated with life and representing pure Greek Tragedy in their scope, or pure gothic horror...or maybe even both to players. The book bases its background on the myths of things such as the Frankenstein monster, golems, and other such constructs. First, the book does a fantastic job of providing background on these creatures as well as source books and films, giving payers a wide array of options. These created need not be pieced-together bodies of corpses. As pointed out, even creatures such as DC Comics' The Swamp Thing are considered a created being.
   
   Chapter One is vital and provides the player and GM with the setting and background for Prometheans. This is very key as the background of these characters is perhaps more important than any other type of WOD character. All manner of sample Prometheans and methods of creation are included...from alchemical to electricity to primordial beings. You'll find yourself mesmerized for hours by the depth of research done by the game designers. I'm not sure how much of this will ever be used, but it makes for interesting reading nonetheless.
   
   After you've read about these various types of constructs, chapter two will not get you into the character creation phase. Let's just say there's a heck of a lot more to do here than rolling a few dice. Select the character's attributes, skills, specialties, features, and various advantages. There are some excellent examples provided to get players moving in the right direction in creating their Prometheans. There's a boatload of skills and powers with which to equip your character. These include various uses of fire and electricity, but also subtler mental powers as well. This is one of the very best sections in the book and one of the best such sections I've ever read for any RPG system. The amount of detail that the eclectic nature of the promethean abilities is stunning, and even a bit intimidating.
   
   Succeeding chapters deal with Promethean antagonists and storytelling, as well as the Promethean condition and how they affect those around them. The book is capped off with a lengthy appendix. There is so much in this 280 plus book that it's impossible to cover it all in this review. Suffice to say this is one of the most richly detailed RPG supplements I've seen in quite some time. The book is accompanied by the usual outstanding art that you've come to expect from White Wolf.
   
   This is a grand new book in the World of Darkness mythos that opens up a whole new landscape for its fans.
   
   Reviewed by Tim Janson



3. It was very quick to arrive, however it arrived in a overly big box for the book, but it arrived in the condition of which they told me that it would be in. And I was very pleased. But next time maybe a smaller box would be better for the book so it wouldn't flop around during transport.



4. Now THIS is a game for the new World of Darkness
   
   Yeah vamps are OK and so cliche in movies, wolfies are crying for been Forsaken, mages take time and a lot of experience to learn their stuff, meh... PROMETHEANS are REALLY looking to become human!
   
   How many settings talk about been human? About wanting to get a soul? About to learn how to be something they were and that the animals, people and even Earth scorns for been a blasphemy against natural life?
   
   Yes you also have powers and can become a deadly machine, but in the end the Pilgrimage takes you through Milestones so your Pyros can get purified with the Azoth that lives in you and you can create the Lapis Phillosophorum: a Soul. All this means that you travel to learn what you need to become human. A true human not an animated corpse.



5. I enjoy the WOD and most of it's associated products on the whole i find the production values higher then wizards of the coast. I have purchased all the other supplements for wod and while i still value changeling as the best I very much enjoyed promethean. The idea of the golem and frankenstien appeals very much especially since a great many of us feel misunderstood at some time or another. the book is well layed out and a joy to read I especially like the opening piece as i believe it really captures the feel of the game. This book will appeal to those who value a strong story line set in a world like our own but whose darkness is personified in various supernatural species. But be forwarned the tone of this game is all about isolation and loneliness in an attempt to garner enough good karma to become human and while we can relate many gamers might not like the idea of playing a character who is reviled by everything and everyone. overall high production value, well thought out and an entertaining system of tranmutations. this tome can be mixed with the others but on the whole promethean don't really play well with others even their own so the story teller might have to make some modifications to make this one work.

2 comments about Players: Con Men, Hustlers, Gamblers, and Scam Artists.

1. This baroque , shady and very entertaining book is an epic tour of the gilded and subterrean world of con men, hustlers and gamblers. What surprised me about this book is despite the narcissism and aggression of many of the characters portrayed here, they (and the book) have a artistic and poetic pedigree too. A lot of great writers are in this book --Borges, Baudelaire, Dostoevsky, Luc Sante, Runyon, Brecht, Saul Bellow, Nick Pilegg,i. Hunter Thompson, David Mamet, Nick Tosches and Martin Amis. BUt for my money, the gem or the jewel in the crown is John Molyneux's mini-memoir of gambling in London in the sixties, which, apparently, is a piece written especially for the book.



2. There's a lot to love in this sumptous serving of conartistry and viliany. Lovers of "Gangs of New York" and "Catch Me if You Can" will find pieces by Herbert Asbury (author of Gangs) and Frank Abaganale (author of Catch me); lovers of 19th century lit will find the Russian and French masters; and lovers of the down and dirty will dig the pieces by David mamet, Nick Ppileggi. JOhn Ridley and Nick Tosches. Mr Geno Zanetti does it again!

5 comments about AI Game Programming Wisdom (with CD-ROM) (Game Development Series).

1. Published by the same folks who brought you Game Programming Gems (and edited by one of the more prolific AI authors in that series), AI Game Programming Wisdom provides a wealth of real knowledge by actual game programming professionals, not professional authors. As a game programming professional, the number of game programming books that sit on my shelf is fairly small. Most have nothing interesting or meaningful to offer beyond rudimentary descriptions and concepts.

   AI Wisdom is definitely a cut above the rest. The topic selection is intelligent and relevant, and the articles are all of a consistent quality and polish. I've already referenced articles several times when writing production code, and several co-workers have borrowed it when they had a particularly tricky problem to solve. This is simply a must-have resource for any professional AI programmer, period. Or, if you're an amateur or hobbyist looking to see the tricks and techniques professionals use, then this is a book you absolutely can't afford to miss.




2. Being in the game development business, I am always on the lookout for new and different tricks, techniques and strategies. When most programmers go to the lectures, panels and roundtables at the Game Developers Conference, we are looking to pick up this same sort of material... we share ideas and approaches - but rarely get the chance to get down to the code details to make it easy for us to implement those ideas into our own work. This book makes that possible.

   Along the lines of the other "Gems" series of books, this collection is filled with ACTUAL techniques and code chunks that are used by some of the top professionals in the industry. Just flipping through the list of the contributors to the book is like going around the room at one of the AI roundtables at the GDC... in fact, Steve Woodcock and Neil Kirby are 2 of the "3 AI guys" that RUN those roundtables! (The 3rd being Eric Dybsand who has contributed to the "Gems" series but not this title.)

   Many books on game development are informative. This one is actually USEFULL. I have personally adopted Steve Rabin's source code from the section "Implementing a State Machine Language" into my own game and it has saved me many hours of development and improved the readability and understandability of my code for the rest of the team. Just that section alone has netted at least a 1000:1 return on the cost of this book. Other sections have given me a different approach on how to handle the economic strategy layer that I could have come upon myself... but was able to implement a lot quicker than if I had done it myself. It was definately worth the price.

   Are any of these sections worth the purchase price for YOU? I suppose that depends on how much you value you your time. Once you equate the cost of the book to the man hours you save, it's a no brainer!




3. This is the best book in my library.
   Write by professionals, with usefull techniques and well explained details of almost every cool aspects of AI in the game programming world.



4. It's hard to find good information about game programming and design. The trouble is that people working in the industry have an incentive to keep their techniques secret -- they don't want their competitors to learn them. The people who aren't in the industry can write about games but don't have the experience to back it up.

   Game AI Programming Wisdom gives us wisdom from people who have worked on real games. Each section is a short explanation of a particular problem (like pathfinding, tactical reasoning, or pattern recognition). Since they're short and independent, you can pick the section that applies to the problem you're trying to solve and read that without having to read everything in order. However, each section is written by a different person, so if you try to read the book straight through you will be distracted by the change in writing styles and level of detail.

   I'm quite glad to see this book. It's actually the first game programming/design book that I purchased. (I'm quite picky when it comes to books. I'm sure Amazon doesn't like that.) Most of the game books I see go into low level programming details. This book teaches you the principles and techniques that will be useful for more than the specific problems they cover.




5. Confused about AI? Get this book! This is a nicely bound reference library with a large variety of techniques and algorithms.

   You'll get to read articles written by some of the industries' brightest talent. I keep it next to my desk at all times.

5 comments about Racing My Father: Growing Up With a Riding Legend.

1. A fine memoir of a life in and around horse racing, especially steeplechasing. Well-written and moving.



2. One of the rare books that I savored so I could read one enthralling chapter a night before bed. In anecdote after incident Paddy Smithwick emerges as such an extraordinary person that one is left convinced that what made him a sporting legend with the unique stature he is still accorded was a character as exceptional as his riding skills. The text is carefully crafted so that almost every aspect of riding, and specifically, steeplechase riding, is touched upon, and what was interesting to this dressage-oriented reader was how many of the truths, objectives, and techniques are commonly shared by the two branches of the sport. Also thought-provoking to those familiar with the contemporary horse show world's emphasis on winning, often even over riding well and sportsmanship, was the era the author evokes when a competitive drive could still accommodate true horsemanship and sportsmanship. And in the generosity of spirit with which the author relates tales of events and people that probably, in actuality, had less flattering aspects, it is clear that the legacy of Paddy Smithwick lives on.



3. Knowing some of the real-life characters peripherally, living in the area, and having been an avid Dick Francis reader, I thought I knew what to expect- a testosterone heavy, adrenaline rush, winning at all costs type of sports-hero book, set in a familiar location. I found, instead, an honest, open, gentle, yet exciting and riveting story of a boy's relationship with his famous father, and how his father's career, successes, injury, and death affected his son and the extended family. The writing was understated and unaffected, and the subject completely compelling and spellbinding. I look forward to more from Mr. Smithwick in the future- fiction or nonfiction.



4. "Racing My Father" so very elegantly captures the blood bond between the steeplechase titan and his son. Not incidentally, it's the poignant coming-of-age story of a gifted young man who struggles, often recklessly, to find his way. The story is so gripping that I blew through it as I would a thriller novel, eagerly turning page after page. Patrick Smithwick has done a wonderful job bringing to life the steeplechase world of 40 years ago. Since Patrick's uncle Mikey Smithwick died just last spring, after the book was published, it's a timely tribute to him as well. There were so many delightful sub-stories. For instance, I laughed aloud at the description of riding Limbo, the monstrous 18.1-hand Thoroughbred. I hadn't heard that name in decades. My only regret is that my late dad, who chronicled and celebrated the Maryland breeding/racing scene for 40 years, was not here to read this gem. I can hear him right now summing up Paddy Smithwick: "Helluva good guy, and dead game." No higher compliment possible.



5. I have never ridden a horse or seen a steeplechase race. But, I thoroughly enjoyed Patrick Smithwick's Racing My Father. It is several poignant stories well told. It is about a boy coming of age, a father-son relationship, the world of steeplechase racing and character as well as characters.
   
   The book is written with a subtle beauty. Smithwick shares his memories with readers in a vivid, vibrant and engaging style. A couple times early in the book I had to stop and check to make sure I was reading about something that happened more than 40 years ago. It seemed as if it was yesterday. I assume Smithwick relied on journals and some of his earlier creative writings. And, of course, he's a masterful writer.
   
   I felt like I was right in the saddle with Smithwick. It was exhilarating, scary, dramatic and euphoric. He, however, writes as skillfully about his relationships, particularly with his famous father Paddy, and the other parts of his life as he does the races. Racing My Father is an impressive winner.

5 comments about How To Play Card Combinations (Devyn Press Bridge Library).

1. On first reading Mike Lawrence's book on card combinations, I was disappointed. In fact, the book only deals with how to play seven particular suit combinations (one chapter on each). The obvious disappointment is that, even after having fully mastered the book, one will ostensibly only have mastered seven suit combinations!

   Yet, on further consideration, any disappointment was mitigated by two realisations:
   1) At least one will have mastered seven suit combinations; that is, be able to play them perfectly in any of a number of situations - no trumps contracts, suit contracts, contracts where entries to dummy are at issue etc.
   2) One expects that the logical discussion employed to analyse these particular hands can be gradually applied to other suit combinations.

   The title "humbling concept" applies here, as Mr. Lawrence's book makes it clear how difficult a task it is to become a master of bridge. Let us say there are 200 suit combinations which actually are of interest. Then one would need to read almost 30 books of this size (227 pages) to master the topic thoroughly.

   In conclusion, I suspect that if it were possible to discuss all (or even most) suit combinations thoroughly in one book, Mr. Lawrence might have written such a book. Instead, one should respect his decision to concentrate on seven suit combinations, and we can perhaps hope for other books to follow.




2. The title of this book misleads. One gets the idea that this book will attempt to show players the best a priori plays of the dozens (hundreds?) of key card combinations in bridge. Instead, we receive an in-depth analysis of 7 specific situations. Admittedly, most of these combinations will arise frequently, and Lawrence analyzes them effectively and thoroughly in various contexts. However, I was hoping to see a method to analyze generic combinations at the table quickly, one that would have use in more than only a few specific situations.
   
   Great analysis by Lawrence, a la "Play Bridge with Mike Lawrence", but not what I was looking for in a book with this title.



3. This is *NOT* a book on how to play a single suit in isolation.
   Its a book on how to play a bunch of common combinations, based on what you know about the entire hand.
   Its filled with gathering clues and applying Logic to figure out whether to lead to the K or J in KJx in dummy.
   
   For a book ONLY about suit combinations, try Klingers Card Play Made Easy.
   
   
   I think the reviewer who only rated the book a 3 is way off the mark. Its a great book, and he is basing his lower rating on the fact that the book was on a somewhat different topic than he expected.
   Thats like me saying Kit Woolseys "MatchPoints" isn't so good becaus eit covers things other than MP, like hand evaluation, etc.
   
   This is a great book. Sout of like the sequel to "How to Read Your Opponents Cards"



4. Start with Mike Lawrences "How to Read Your Opponents Cards". Get comfortable with the concepts he presents. Then try this. The book presents a set of chapters each featuring a common combination, such as KJx.
   
   The reader will need to place cards based on the defenders bidding (or lack of it), and whats been played (and wahts not been played).
   
   The book really is about deduction and counting, not how to play a suit to maximize the number of tricks. Don't let that stop you from buying and reading it, its well worth the time and money.



5. All about placing unseen cards, and what Terence Reese called 2nd degree assumptions. If you liked How to Read your opponenets cards, you will like this. More of the same, just a step more advanced.

2 comments about Juggling: From Start to Star.

1. I FOUND JUGGLING FROM START TO STAR TO BE VERY EASY TO FOLLOW AND IT HELPED ME QUITE A BIT WITH ALL MY JUGGLING. IT IS A BOOK I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMEND TO ANYONE INTERESTED IN JUGGLING.



2. .
   
   Have you ever seen a juggler in the park and wonder "How'd they do that?" Well, it ain't that hard, and this book makes it down right simple.
   
   When you learn to juggle with your kids, you give them and yourself a serious boost of self-confidence and increases manual dexterity rather remarkably.
   
   But most importantly, juggling teaches you time management.
   
   Right know you are probably thinking "HUH!"
   
   Bear with me.
   
   When you juggle you are working with three or more objects (hereafter: balls), you always have one ball in each hand and one ball in the air. All you need to do with the ball in each hand is gain control (catch) and change direction (toss). But, you must do it quickly because you have a ball in the air that will need attention very soon.
   
   NONE OF THE BALLS NEED CONSTANT ATTENTION.
   
   Back at the office: you have several projects at ay give time. As a project manager, you need to insure that each project gets all the attention it needs at just the right time, and move on to the next project.
   
   See, over simplified.