5 comments about Changeling: the Lost.

1. DISCLAIMER: First off, this is MY PERSONAL OPINION and I know many people will not agree. It's important to remember however that we're all entitled to our opinions and we all have different preferences. My negative review doesn't mean I think the book should be pulled from the shelf or that people should not be permitted to play it, but rather that *I* personally did not find it enjoyable or pleasant. If you do, fantastic! It's just not MY cup of tea.
   
   Onto the review. I'm a long time fan of this book's predecessor, Changeling: The Dreaming. (Henceforth "C:tD") I collected all the books and I greatly enjoyed the theme, setting and style of the books. I never read any of the other lines (Vampire, Mage, etc.) but I did really enjoy what was created with C:tD. There was a brightness to C:tD; a sense of hope and promise. That despite things being bleak, Spring would always still return. Set in a darker version of our real, modern world, it was ultimately a game about hope, promise and Beauty. I appreciated that since far too often we only celebrate ugliness in our society.
   
   So when White Wolf ended the original World of Darkness for their New World of Darkness ("nWod"), I wasn't originally terribly interested. As I said, I never read any of the other lines so it didn't matter to me that they'd relaunched them in different forms. Until, that is, when I heard there was going to be a new Changeling edition.
   
   When I finally got it and started to read, I realized it was VASTLY different from the old C:tD. Gone was the sense of lightness, whimsy and beauty and in it's place was something MUCH darker, ugly and sinister. Changeling: The Lost ("C:tL") isn't so much a revised version of C:tD as it is an entirely different concept all together. Which is perhaps part of why I disliked it so much. I expected more of the same C:tD. What I found wasn't the same at all.
   
   In C:tL you play a human who was abused by the True Fae that has now escaped back into the mortal world. The book makes it VERY clear that every single person was tortured, abused, raped, hurt, beaten and/or any other combination of unimaginably cruel events. That the True Fae are utterly without hearts, morals or understanding and that they put your character through Hell - physically, emotionally, mentally, sexually and more. That you had to fight to get back, tearing yourself further into shreds only to find that when you returned, you were changed. You're now more like they are. Worse, your human life is utterly unreachable to you. You fought through all of it to find either you're now believed dead, too much time has past, or you've been replaced by an impostor who now IS you. All that and there's nothing waiting for you upon your return. Your family is lost to you. Your life is lost to you. Your spouse/partner is lost to you. Your job/career is lost to you. Everything you were before is gone.
   
   Pretty bleak, hu?
   
   Changeling: The Dreaming was, at it's core, about hope. That though things now weren't great, they were going to get better. Changeling: The Lost has no hope. All hope was ripped away from you prior to the game's beginning. You're now left broken utterly to fend for yourself. Oh yeah, and to live life looking over your shoulder to ensure you're not recaptured by the True Fae you escaped from who may or may not be actively hunting for you.
   
   This just isn't my cup of tea. You're forced to play a victim. And, you're constantly reminded how awful things were and how terrible your past was. I feel that the world is already too dark and too bleak and I rather not spend my free time encouraging MORE of that attitude.
   
   Now, I want to be clear that if you like it, more power to you. I make NO judgment calls on anyone who plays the game in ANY way. I'm just saying it's not for me. And I think for many people who may have been the victim of abuse, it may not be for you either. I can greatly see this book and this concept being triggering to people.
   
   So in summary...
   
   If you do not like horror situations, or dark settings, or concepts of abuse, kidnapping, torture and related are troubling to you, do yourself a favor and avoid this line. C:tL is NOT like C:tD at all. If you're expecting something airy and light like the original, you'll be sorely disappointed. When they say it has mature themes, they mean it for these reasons.



2. Changeling the lost is a game of coming home to a world that you no longer belong to. Taken from home by the dark fey (something straight out of grimms)an imposter left in your place. The man returns home months or years later to find he no longer has a home, a family a life. This game is wonderful. The dark tones the nod to classic conceptions of fey creatures this is no disney cartoon or happily ever after this is darkness and urban legends in all its glory. Of all the WOD supplements i find this one to be the most complete. It is a well thought out system of pacts and promises as well as containing insight into all you'll need to play a character it also gives the story teller almost all he needs (except for what is in the WOD book) it even contains a full account of a setting in miami and the main players there. overall i love the setting and the tones set by this book i read it from cover to cover over the course of a week and enjoyed every minute. If you love world of darkness or even just the darker aspects of happily ever after i reccomend this game to you.



3. I was a huge fan of the old WoD line, with the exception of this book's predecessor, Changeling the dreaming. it wasn't horrible, it just seemed to make you play a game with less substance than any of the other lines.
   so, when this limited run line was released for the new WoD line, it took alot of self convincing for me to actually purchase. and every time i open the book, i realize it was worth every penny. when the nWoD first came out, i jumped head first into VtR, and although fun, certain elements of the core book were simply underwhelming. that is simply not the case with changeling the lost. character creation allows so much creative freedom its almost hard to decide on a clear direction. almost. there is just so much detail in this book, i pick up something new every time i open it. and as though it weren't enough by itself, it seems somewhat easier to shoehorn into a crossover game than most other lines, due to the diversity of characters and things they have in common with the other supernaturals in the nwod. and to top it all off, C:tL seems to have become extremely popular when even compared to the non-limited run games in the nwod. if you're on the fence about this game and are a fan of any nwod games, or any Gothic or horror rpgs that allow for loads of creativity, give it a try, even without playing, it's a good read.



4. The second in White Wolf's limited run RPGs for their World of Darkness gameline, Changeling takes you into the world of the fae. Not your white-washed Victorian fairy tales for children, but the darker stories of trolls that lurk under bridges looking for mortal flesh, goblins who kidnap children, and dark things hiding under beds; creatures born of nightmare and madness. Like I said before kids, its the World of DARKNESS. It's all about Gothic horror!
   
   Whereas in it's predecessor, of sorts, 'Changeling: the Dreaming' you took on the role of a human with a fairy soul, Changeling: the Lost goes back to the original folklore. This time around, you take on the role of a human who was kidnapped and abused by the Lords of the Fae, warped by the very nature of Arcadia, yet somehow, through sheer force of will, escaped and made your way back through the Hedge to find your old life gone. Changeling is a very intense game, but thats part of what makes it so appealing. If thats not up your alley, though, you might want to consider looking for a different game. I've found that theres not necessarily any correlation between fans of Changeling: the Lost and Changeling: the Dreaming. Some fans of C:tD absolutely LOVE Changeling: the Lost, others hate it with a passion. For that matter, some people who hated the old C:tD love the new C:tL. Go figure.
   
   This book is the core of the gameline. Although it contains everything you need to run a Changeling, you still need the 'World of Darkness' corebook in order to play the game (for the basic rules). This book expands upon the life and society of the Changelings - it gives full details on the different Seemings and Kiths, the four Seasonal Courts of the Changelings, the basic Contracts (Changeling's 'magic'), rules for Oneiromancy, information on the Fae, Hobgoblins, Arcadia and the Hedge, sample Tokens and Pledges, systems for Wyrd and Clarity and even a number of sample Entitlements for more advanced characters. Of all the gamelines in the new World of Darknes, Changeling is perhaps the most rich, evocative and inspired. Almost every part of the book will give both Storytellers and Players new ideas. In addition to giving all the details necessary to run a Changeling game, it also includes the sample Freehold of Miami (Changeling's signature city) and several NPCs. This is great for ST's planning on running a game set in or around Miami.
   
   If you are a fan of White Wolf's World of Darkness, then you have to check out this gameline. Its a perfect fit for anyone who wants to incorporate the darker side of fairy tales into their games, or just add trolls, bogeymen, goblins and other creatures from folklore and nightmares. And the book has several supplements available as well: Autumn Nightmares (which expands on the True Fae), Winter Masques (a book for customizing Seeming and Kith to fit your favorite myths), Rites of Spring (all about Changeling magic) and Lords of Summer (covering the politics of Freehold, Court and Entitlements), all of which are brilliant, as well as the forthcoming Equinox Road. However, you can run Changeling with just this and the corebook. Either way, you'll definitely want to pick this book up.



5. This is the first White Wolf product to actually entice me into the World of Darkness. Accomplishing that was done by making the setting truer to the myths of changelings.
   
   If you're like me, and like to get a basic understanding of the whole book before you attempt to run or play, be warned: it's long, and it's heavy; armchair reading it ain't. Knowing that it was part of limited run series, I understand White Wolf had to cram a lot of information into only a few books.
   
   Although I understand why role playing books do it, I don't like seeing things I already understood re-explained ad infinitum. The largest problem with this book is that certain words are missing from sentences, and in one case, the whole first part of a paragraph is missing. Sure, I can tell what is intended, but it's more distracting than simple typos.
   
   Overall, a good buy, maybe they just need a better editor?

No comments about Fallout 3 Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide.

5 comments about Heroes of Horror (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.5 Fantasy Roleplaying Supplement).

1. This book has some useful ideas but nothing really great in my opinion. I do have better Ravenloft material concerning horror campaigns.



2. I found this supplement to be one of the best released for D&D in the new millenium. Despite the fact that it's somewhat short, it's worth every penny. All the new base and prestige classes are excellent, but I instantly fell in love with the Dread Necromancer. A necromancer as a base class was long overdo, and the undead transformation is a very cool aspect of the class. If you love D&D and horror or thriller stories, this is a definite buy.



3. I happened to see this book at a local book store and as a DM/player I thought I would check it out. I am a huge fan of horror and other creepy-crawly things, so this book really helped out my campaigns. The sections that I enjoy the most are the storytelling elements and taint/corruption. I do not like mostly hack'n'slash campaigns, so to do side quests that require thought instead of an axe means I have to come up with new ideas. There are pages of scary situations to put characters in (i.e. your character wakes up for breakfast but is no longer hungry. There is a taste of blood in his mouth.) Taint and corruption are acquired when characters enter a particularly evil area. When a certain number of points of taint/corruption is reached, symptoms appear, such as boils, bleeding, deafness, etc.
   
   The PC classes are a nice touch, as the Necromancer is long overdue and the Archivist is a nice alternative to the cleric. Prestige classes, new spells, feats, and a couple of monsters round out the book. (I particularly like the Angel of Decay)
   
   Is it short compared to other titles? Yes. But as many reviewers point out, much of the new Wizards material is filler. Heroes of Horror is lean and mean and gets the job done. Enough of me. Go buy it. Now.



4. I added some of the ideas in this book to our campain, and the players love it.



5. I've been running various horror themed tabletop RPGs for over a decade. This book is decent, but lacked a lot of depth about the nature of horror and fear that would benefit people who have never played or written a horror campaign. If you want to learn how to write good horror adventures for a tabletop RPG - go read through the rulebooks for Call of Cthulhu, then read a couple of H.P. Lovecraft's short stories.
   This book gets 3 stars because it is above average quality for a D20 supplement book, and provides a base level of info for someone new to horror - just to get a basic idea. However, any long time veterans of horror rpgs will really only find value in the "specific to D&D" material (new classes, spells, items). To properly WRITE a horror adventure study Call of Cthulhu rulebook (virtually a how-to for writing horror adventures including a lot of the what's and why's) Think of Call of Cthulhu the "phonetics" of horror, while this supplement is more of a simple vocab lesson that becomes much more relevant when you understand WHY its scary, and WHAT can make it scarier - yet still be fun.
   Those new to horror will probably like it since writing for a horror campaign is rather different than the usual D&D style - so this supplement will seem quite informative, fresh, and often inspirational. Once you delve into Lovecraft's writings you will then see a bigger picture, and realise the limited scope of this book. It's really a matter of how good and intense you want your adventures to be.

No comments about Too Human (Prima Official Game Guide).

5 comments about Picking Winners: A Horseplayer's Guide.

1. I've never bet on a horse race. I've actually only been to a track once in my life (we don't have a lot of it in this part of the country), and yet I still found this book tremendously useful. Why? Well, it was recommended to me as a guide to "Picking Winners," not just in the horse racing world but in the stock market as well. And, having now read the book I can say that it has proven a more effective lesson in choosing stocks than most of the investment books I've read.
   
   Some of the areas Beyer explores which I think apply to the stock market as well (or to any investment situation as far as I can tell) are:
   -the effect different track conditions can have on a horse's performance.
   -considering the effects of trainers on a horse's ability to win, lose, progress, or decline in performance.
   -spotting potential cases of insider information.
   -When to bet on a consistent performer over an unproven newcomer and vice versa.
   -detecting signs of physical malady or deterioration early before you lose money because of them.
   -How to detect and hopefully stop a losing streak once one begins.
   
   In short this book provides an incredible amount of insight into the ways of selecting the merits of one horse (ie stock) over another without discounting the influence of other factors (the trainer, ie management, for example) on the outcome. I highly recommend this book as a source of investing knowledge and insight and, were I to take up speed handicapping, would absolutely start here.



2. Andrew Beyer has been a godsend to horseplayers. He has made it easy to understand and gave us an edge when making selections. Understanding horse race betting and the past performances of horses has opened doors to novice and expert handicappers alike!



3. It was hard for me to give three stars for this book, because the author revolutionized handicapping. But I didn't think any of the information in the book was useful to me. However, I did enjoy the book as there were a lot of funny stories that I could relate too.



4. Nothing against Beyer or any other handicapping writer, but devoting significant time to the study of handicapping is a fool's errand. The mathematics of beating the game are so prohibitively against the bettor that anyone with the ability to even approach break-even would be better served dedicating his/her time to more lucrative pursuits. Regardless of the race, the only thing that is certain is that the track will take about 20% for straight bets and 25% or more for so-called "exotic" wagers. In order to just break-even, you need the ability to identify errors made by the betting public of at least 20%. For any reasonable series of races in which the market is "efficient" (i.e. the betting populace has done a reasonable job of setting pay-outs) you have zero possibilty of making a profit. Studies have consistently shown that the betting public does a remarkable job in setting an efficient price. Obviously, in order to overcome the 20% "tax", you need superior information to that which is available to the general public. Given that "Beyer" speed figures are now common currency, the advantage clearly doesn't lie here. The racing form and video of previous races are common currency as well. You could take a walk down to the paddock and try to infer something there, good luck! Unless you have the ability to somehow communicate with the horse, this isn't going to really be that fruitful. Some horses look like garbage before a race and spring to life when the gate opens. Others look like Secretariat in the paddock and like a candidate for the glue factory once they hook up at full speed w/ other nags. Another point to consider is that your betting competition includes owners, trainers, stable boys, etc. who are around the horse all the time and certainly have superior information about the horses physical and mental state. Additionally, you can only speculate as to what the owner and trainer are intending from a given race. I'm not talking "fix" here, but it's not always the case that the horse's connections have entered this race with the main objective of actually winning it. Beyer is one of the leading thoroughbred writers in America and revolutionized handicapping with his speed figures, but the difficulty in beating this game should be clearly understood before you find yourself on the proverbial boulevard of broken dreams.



5. I've never been a huge fan, but I LOVED the anecdotes. I've always had the opinion that Mr. Andrew Beyer is a very stereotypical Harvard Grad. Pompous, arrogant, and most of all very Howard Cossell-esque in his vernacular. I also believe that a lot of what he writes is pure "fluff". I'm much more direct and to the point in my writing style. In my first two public offerings (The Ultimate Guide To Handicapping The Horses:From and Horseman and a Gambler and in "The Tuttle Way" on sale here @ Amazon.com), I let my feelings be known for my utter disdain for how "subjective" I believe the "Beyer Speed Figures" to be, toward the horse racing community and to the general betting public. But, I did give this 33 yr-old relic (this book has a copywrite date of 1975) 3-stars on the basis of the anecdotes, alone!
   
   Signed,
   Joseph J Tuttle
   Signed

5 comments about Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying, Forgotten Realms Setting).

1. just recently had a chance to use the forgotten realms campaign setting, i love this book it was so helpful with forgotten realms lore, and not to mention npcs to use thanks amazon for carrying so many fine products like this,



2. I was very unsettled when the old parent company TSR went under in 1997. I loved the lavish boxed set filled with maps and cards. The novels was what it was about for myself. I loved the Dragonlance Chronicles in the mid 1980s. Then I happened upon the old gray box called the Forgotten Realms. I thought it revolutionary as an open-ended adventure setting. I didnt have many friends interested in playing the game at the time, so I began reading and collecting the novels.
   
   The stories are not classical liturature, however, they are a lot of fun! I collected all that was published until 1997. It seemed all was lost for old TSR. I decided to stop reading these stories as well. I honestly liked the Birthright setting more, but its lifespan was short indeed, a year or so. It only spawned a few novels.
   
   In the short time of TSR's hiatus, the Forgotten Realms was uncovering its hidden past-Netheril, Cormanthyr, and others that seemed very enticing to me. I began playing the game itself upon my PC. Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale were very familiar to me. The action became real for once.
   
   The books gathered dust as did the endless supplements besieging my bookshelf. Yet, for sentimental reasons, I could not part with them. Lord of the Rings became a major revival for the genre. It is widely accepted that D&D is a tribute to Middle Earth. I feel it goes much deeper than this, as the architypes can be found all over popular culture. Harry Potter to Star Wars is a little of the magic of old TSR.
   
   That brings us to the present and my rediscovery of the fabulous Forgotten Realms. I approached it with much caution. What had they done to my baby? Absolutely the greatest honor. The entire world is here, with all the vivid details I remembered. It was a little expensive and short on maps but worth it! I have every map 10 time over on my fantasy shelf. Now, I would like to see Kara-Tur, Maztica and Zhakara updated in this format. It is very tidy and easier to carry around in a single book. Now back to the novels, there are about 20 I have to catch up on. Its that old cliche-so many books, so little time.
   
   Thank you, to all that have kept the dream alive! For it is fully developed and ready for the next generation of dreamers! Elminster, if you read this, thank you for your magical input.



3. First, it is a beautiful book. The art and overall presentation is superb. The level of detail that some reviewers find lacking is not necessary for a book that is supposed to be a platform to work from. The only annoying thing, as with everything else in D&D, is that if you are a purist, there is always something else you "should" have, like the Monsters Compendium, besides all the rules books, etc; in other words, a huge wallet. But But the book is more than absolutely usable, with plenty of material to play a lifetime, good maps and sideline pointers and helpful tables. Very satisfied....



4. I think this book is helpful and adds many new features into the game of Dungeons and Dragons. It adds in Gem specifics and Dracoliches and more



5. I must admit, I've only recently began getting back into D&D. I've always enjoyed playing it, but never really played (let alone ran) Forgotten Realms. Most people would tell me it's crap, or it's too much work to do. Needless to say, I'm finding it quite useful. The modifications for the general races are one twist to making new characters for players. New magics and specializations for classes give characters a little bit more of a reason to try new things. Plus, any free maps are very cool.
   
   My only dislike (although quite necessary to game in Faerun) is the background on the world (literally takes up 2/3 of the book).
   
   If you want to game in this world, this is the book you'll definitely want. But it can be useful for running different campaigns as well.

5 comments about Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Signature Series Guide (Bradygames Signature Series).

1. I thought that this was a really great guide to beat the game and uncover literally every secret in the game. The maps were detailed and very helpful and the character descriptions were very helpful. DESPITE all the good that it did-for some reason, my copy had the worst binding of any book I have ever bought. I didn't trash the book at all, just through normal wear, it lost its binding and is now broken up into 5 sections in between the covers. Way to go Brady for writing a great book but whoever put that together for you was a moron.



2. This guide is required reading for any gaming fan of Marvel Ultimate Alliance who wishes to find everything but does not wish to invest significant time.



3. The cinematics in this game are fantastic.
   However the characters in the game are to small.
   The camera angles are disapointing. The same way with some of the sports games. Camera angles are important in any game! Camera angles need to be on the ground level with the characters.



4. This is, as always from Bradygames, an excellent strategy guide. From trivia questions to cheat codes, this one has them all. The only thing not included? Which X-Man to kill at the end of Mephisto's Realm (and yes it does matter.) Hint: Don't kill the one who's known to come back from death.



5. This is an excellent game guide book with everything you would need to 100% complete the game. I am disappointed that the pages began pulling away from the binding within a few days of light use. Now, whole sections of pages are falling out as if the binding dried out. I guess I am stuck with it!!

4 comments about The Legend of Zelda - Twilight Princess (Wii Version) (Prima Authorized Game Guide).

1. With all the success gamers have craved for with The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess on the Wii, and the upcoming edition for the Nintendo Gamecube, many are eagerly looking for the right strategy guide as well. Prima Games definitely feels as if they can bring it out well for Wii owners in their strategy guide. Unfortunately, this strategy guide misses out in displaying maps, and stratefies within each level. If you are already own the game for the Wii, or have pre-ordered the upcoming issue for the Nintendo Gamecube, you're definitely better off buying Nintendo's strategy guide instead. It has much more detailed reflections of each level, and better maps. This third-party guide is better off being in the dust.
   
   Price: C
   
   Maps: C+
   
   Convince: C-
   
   Overall: C



2. I liked all the pictures in the book, i tend to use those mostly and they gave lots of little hidden secrets (for those of you who like to play the game and then later go back for all the goodies). However the layout wasn't very easy for me to understand. Page by page i was never sure if i was looking reading left to right, and which of the "hidden secrets" i actually needed to do for the game and which ones i didn't. I'm just more of a gamer who likes things seperate. Main game play and then the extra bits.
   
   
   Overall i liked it though, it was very helpful for some parts and i liked to just compare what i planned on doing with what the book said.



3. I don't have Twilight Princess, but you gotta prepare, ya know? Anyway,
   this is a great guide. It will tell you EVERYTHING about the game. There is not a section specifically devoted to finding the extras, like golden bugs, but it comes with a giant map that shows you where everything is.
   Besides, all you have to do is flip do the section you want to know where the stuff is, and it tells you where to find it somewhere in that section.
   Some have complained it is too big, but the official Nintendo guide isn't much smaller. This is a huge game, after all. Great guide.



4. This review is particularly long. If you want, you can look down at the bottom where I've listed the pros and cons.
   
   When you pick up a guide and its 432 pages the first thing that instantly comes to mind is that this is a huge guide therefore it must have all the information. The thing that usually escapes our mind is where all the information is. This is a really good guide, and there's a ton of information there, but like many incredibly thick guides, the information is all over the place. However, with this guide, the information isn't all over the place in a highly disorganized fashion.
   
   The guide begins with several of the game basics. If there's anything about the gameplay you don't understand this guide can help. After that we get into all the weapons and equipment you'll be using, the characters you'll meet and the enemies you'll encounter. For the enemies they've got what's called a "threat meter" to tell you just how hard the enemy is, and they've also got tactics on taking them down. Very useful stuff.
   
   Afterwards we get into the walkthrough, and this is where the guide hits a high point as well as a low point. The walkthrough is huge. Over 300 pages of this guide are from the walkthrough alone. Is it good? You better believe its good. There's a ton of detail here. Each chapter begins with an overview of the area you're in and displays a map that looks like it was taken straight from the game. It also list the items to obtain, as well as showing you what your character should have when you get to a certain point. Along the bottom the guide details the tasks you should be doing, similar to some of BradyGames RPG guide books, only this one seems to be done a little better.
   
   How the task objectives work in this guide is simple. At the beginning of each section if you look at the bottom of the page you'll see a set of eight tasks. Usually no more and no less. For task one it might say, "Enter Ordan Villiage." Now in the main text of the walkthrough itself you'll want to find the section that says, "Enter Ordan Village." That explains the task in better detail. It's easy to use. The walkthrough also has character bios for new characters as you meet them.
   
   There's more to the walkthrough. Each section of the walkthrough has what's called "missing links" which detail optional things you can do in an area.
   
   The guide also calls out new enemies as you encounter them and there's a threat meter displayed for you as well. Also, each time you come across an item, be it for the first time or tenth, they have a description of it. Every time you get your first small key in a dungeon, the guide gives you the same explanation the game does. In addition there are call outs to new weapons, abilities, etc. It's all here.
   
   The maps look as though they're pulled straight from the game, and are only displayed at the beginning of each chapter. This is one of the guides few low points. When reading in sections it might tell you to go back to chamber five or something like that. Well, if you're a little lost, you'll have to flip all the way back to the map at the beginning of each section in order to figure out just what they're talking about when it comes to Chamber 5. This wouldn't be so bad if some of the sections for each dungeon weren't 40-50 pages. However, the good news is, the maps do indeed have a legend each and every time you come across it. The legend tells you all the rooms, all the items in the dungeon and where you'll encounter the characters.
   
   Boss strategies are pretty helpful. They tell you how to down your foes, but they also give you some handy tips for dodging some of their attacks.
   
   The walkthrough also points out the location of heart pieces as you go through the game. Up in the corner of each page is a heart meter that shows you how many hearts you're suppoed to have by the time you get to a certain point in the game. So you'll know if you missed any pieces of heart. By the time you get to the Goron Mines, for example you should have five hearts. If you don't, you know you obviously missed something.
   
   The location of the golden bugs is also revealed, as well as the Poe Souls. They each have their own specific call outs.
   
   Is there more to the walkthrough? Well, there are indeed, spoilers. If spoilers bother you, this guide has a few. Also, throughout the walkthrough there are author notes that don't really serve any purpose other than to describe the turmoil the authors went through on some of the puzzles. Some are funny, but many of them are a complete and utter waste of time. The walkthrough is definitely one you need to use as you play through the game. If you put it down for a while and go about the tasks on your own and then suddenly need it, it's a hassle to find just where you are. Especially if you do some of the tasks out of the order described. Again, these sections are LONG, so you'll be doing a bit more reading than playing. This is the huge downside to the guide. There's so much of it that it's sometimes overwhelming. If you miss something (say a heart piece or golden bug) then you'll spend of a lot of time flipping and reading through the walkthrough to find it.
   
   The walkthrough may be well done, but it's extremely exhaustive, slow going and long. A lot of the information doesn't have to be there. It probably would've been better had they organized it the way Nintendo Power organized their guide. The Nintendo Power guide is much more user friendly... but Nintendo Power is designed for the Wii version, not the Gamecube. All the information is there, but like many guides that are incredibly thick, it's all over the place. The difference here is that Prima did a much better job organizing it. It doesn't separate from the fact that there's a lot of page flipping, however. I'm not one to be bothered by page flipping, but in this guide it actually did become annoying.
   
   The legendary checklist at the back didn't detail the location of Poe Souls or Golden Bugs, which could've helped in many cases. The heart checlist is pretty good, though, telling you where to find them. The checklist also details on finding equipment and items. So it's not so bad.
   
   This is a very well done guide for Twilight Princess, it's just very big with a lot of infomration to swallow, and a lot of page flipping. It's a good guide, and helpful to anyone, but there's so much to swallow, and you'll spend of lot of time doing it.
   
   Pros
   
   +Incredibly detailed walkthrough! Tons of information to be found within these pages. Heart pieces, golden bugs, poe souls, items, puzzles solutions... it's all here!
   +Helpful boss strategies
   +Useful maps
   +Great strategies for taking down enemies
   
   Cons
   
   -While all the infomration is in the walkthrough its all over the place. Organized, but it still calls for a lot of page flipping to find everything. You'll more than likely be spending far more time reading the walkthrough than playing the game. There are also some spoilers found within the guide

3 comments about Nonplussed!: Mathematical Proof of Implausible Ideas.

1. The book of Julian Havil is certainly not easy reading. Perhaps I am a dummy, but at several pages I had to read over a paragraph several times before understanding its real meaning, but the result was always worth the trouble. The calculations itself are explained thoroughly and his way of highlighting different sidesteps are often eye-openers.
   People loving Martin Gardner's articles in Scientific American, will certainly appreciate this book.



2. This book is a valuable addition to a math-puzzler's library, but contains some flaws on real-world data.
   
   For example, Havil shows, with impeccable mathematics, that if a given player has over 91.9643...% probability of winning any given point on his or her serve, that he or she has a higher likelihood of winning at the start of the game than when the score is 30-15 or 40-30. He uses this fact to back up a claim that "a high quality tennis player serving at 40-30 or 30-15 to an equal opponent has less chance of winning the game than at its start." Again, this is predicated on that 92% or better percentage of winning any given point. But in real life, high quality tennis players, even when serving, against an equal opponent does not have this high a percentage of the points gained. Take 92% as the percentage. That would mean that over 70% of the time, the non-server would not even get one point (score of 15) during a given game. If anyone watches Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, one sees that such occurrences are rare, not common. As even Havil points out, it also implies that the server will win at least 99.9% of the games. But in high-level play, set scores of 6-3, 6-4, etc. are common. With 99.9% of the games being won by the server, 99.4% of sets would go into tie-break. That's clearly not the case in the real world. But this discrepancy is needed in order to make the "paradox" that creates the "nonplussed" reaction.
   
   In the chapter on the calendar, Havil explains why the Christian feast commemorating Jesus' ascension into Heaven never falls on a Sunday by claiming that that feast is also called Holy Thursday. It's not. It's Ascension Thursday. Holy Thursday, 42 days (six weeks) before Ascension Thursday, is the day before Good Friday, and commemorates the Last Supper.



3. This book will delight readers who like to get their hands into their math. Havil sticks to mostly elementary concepts, avoiding highly abstract fields that would lose most readers. When a subject could go too far afield, Havil warns about it and presents only the part the reader needs to know, citing original source references for the interested reader. He gives complete, understandable proofs of some startling statements--proofs that leave you understanding exactly how you got there. The great thing is that you can choose to work through these problems for yourself, verifying each step, or you can just follow along with his proofs and take on faith any simple algebraic rearrangements that he may have skipped over. Compared to Havil's earlier classic on Euler's Gamma Function, this one's a bit easier to read, with numerous short sections on a variety of topics.
   
   One minor complaint is that I found some typesetting errors. One, ironically, occurs on page 49 where he uses the notation "!n" (the number of derangements of n objects) when actually he meant "n!" (the number of permutations of n objects). It's ironic because only two paragraphs later Havil warns that !n can be easily confused with n!, whereupon he adopts a new notation for !n. In the delightfully bizarre but challenging chapter on John Conway's Fractran, there are a few typos that might confuse that minority of readers who will actually try to go line-by-line through the explanation of the Fractran machine (p. 172), but if you're one of those people, discovering the errors will anyway prove your mastery.

5 comments about The Complete Serger Handbook.

1. This handbook has great color photos, and much helpful advice. I am, however, frustrated by a sentence concerning the handling of knits that begins at the bottom of page 108 yet has no end at the top of 109.



2. If you are new to serging, this book is an excellent introduction to the topic. It covers all the basics very clearly and is well illustrated. Beginners can't go wrong here; experienced serger users will want something more advanced.



3. Although I've sewn since I was a teenager, I'm new to serging. This is the ideal starter book. Its explanations are clear, as are its trouble-shooting tips, & it's logically organized. It will be sitting next to my serger for some time to come.



4. I already own a copy of this book so I purchased this for a friend who is new to the sergers. This is a great book for anyone who wants to learn how to use a serger. I have read it three times and each time I learn something new. Sergers are a very different animal than a sewing machine, so regardless to what brand you have this book will help you master how to use it and troubleshoot it when necessary.



5. I own four serger books and this is by far the most useful. It is a great resource for those new to serging, especially if the instruction manual that came with your serger is inadequate. The book covers all of the basics needed for serging without previous experience - serger parts, threading, tension, basic operations, serging knit fabrics, rolled hems, troubleshooting, etc. The author is obviously quite experienced in pointing out common serger pitfalls to the beginner.