Book Description
When a bloody, pulverized body is found lying beneath the rustic timbers of an authentic torture device so vicious and complicated as to be blood-curdling, there's sufficient unrest in tiny Forbes Abbot to call in Chief Inspector Barnaby. Was Dennis Brinkley done in by crooked business partners, a teenage seductress, a couple of would-be publishers who've just inherited--and then lost--millions, or perhaps by tired, timid little Benny Fraye, who wouldn't hurt a fly--would she?
Barnaby will soon find out just who set in motion the gruesome machine that crushed the unfortunate victim. Caroline Graham's delightful cozy village mysteries, which inspired the continuing Midsommer Murders series starring Inspector Barnaby on A&E Television, have long been fan-favorites; A Ghost in the Machine is sure to cement her reputation as one of the best crime writers in the mystery business today.
Customer Reviews:
A novel about British country style life.......2007-08-19
This is an Inspector Barnaby's novel. Barnaby himself does not appear almost till the middle of it though. And the murder itself does not happend till the page 150.
I found the first introductory part "before the murder" a little too long and murder investigation too short to make this book a really good detective novel. And it is too naive to become a good social piece of literature.
Although Caroline Graham evidently has talent for discription, especially for discription of people and places. All characters in this story are vivid and alive. And it was interesting from the point of view of learning about British country style life. The scenes discribing people in the village gardenin, shopping, going about their businesses or just relaxing in their back yards are the most attractive.
But there are no unexpected twists, no really astonishing conclusion, no brilliant investigation. The murder story is rather predictable. There is only one really bad guy and he eventually became a murderer.
Fans of "Midsummer Murders" TV series will probably find this book interesting and amusing.
Village murder with a kick.......2007-07-14
I'm a big fan of both Caroline Graham's Inspector Barnaby mysteries, and the TV series that spun off--although the books and the show could not be more different. A Ghost in the Machine, the seventh (and last, to date) of the Barnaby novels, is the book that's most unlike the on-screen version, and my favorite.
After Carey Lawson dies and leaves a large sum of money to her nephew Mallory and his family, everything starts to change for the Lawsons; their arrival in the village sets off a chain of events that results in the death of their neighbor and financial advisor, Dennis Brinkley. Dennis' timid friend Benny tries to convince the Causton CID that the death was a murder, but there's no proof...until a medium of questionable talents and equally questionable morals gets involved.
Barnaby and Troy don't put in an appearance until halfway through the story and solve the crime relatively quickly, but the murders are a small part of the bigger picture (which includes embezzlement, fraud, more murders, and child abuse).
Graham's dry sense of humor and clear-eyed descriptions of English village life have never been better, but what sets A Ghost in the Machine apart is the complexity of the characters, and the creepy ending.
well developed characters, but a bit ponderous.......2007-03-09
I enjoy the tv program spun off of Ms. Grahams novels, so thought I'd read a few of her books. This is the first of two I recently purchased and I think my title expresses best what I thought of it.
Long and Boring.......2006-04-04
This book just dragged! I love Midsomer Murders and I thought this would be closely related, but the author just meandered through out, never pushing forward the plot - what there was of the plot.
The ending was ridiculous and tacked on - I cant believe I finsihed reading 500 pages for such a disappoinment!
A Good Read.......2005-12-04
Caroline Graham's novels are always character-driven and more in the vein of suspense than the mysteries they purport to be. Her latest, "A Ghost in the Machine," is typical of the fare and a good read.
I've always liked the cozy, though Graham has updated the genre to conform to more modern times and made it a bit more gritty than some of her predecessors.
As in the past, she has lain her story in a small English village flush with diverse and eccentric people.
A stressed out teacher inherits the property of his beloved aunt. This offers the opportunity to escape the city and follow his wife's long-cherished dream of becoming a publisher of literary novels. Their spoiled-rotten daughter remains in London to become involve in a matter which will later impact on them and their plans.
Their financial consultant, who seems to be well-liked by everyone in the village, has the odd habit of collecting ancient war machines. He is the first murder victim, though at first his death seems to be accidental. Other notable characters include Brinkley's friend, the former companion/housekeeper of the aunt; an assortment of odd neighbors, spiritualists and pathetic children.
It is sometime in this novel before the pragmatic Chief Inspector Barnaby and the all too human Sergeant Troy make their first appearance and even longer before they agree a murder has been committed. After that, the action picks up.
Some have compared Graham to Dickens because of her reliance on characters to carry her plots. I would not go so far as that since her style is as eccentric as some of her characters. Still, that is part of her charm. The reader (this reader, at least) is willing to forgive her variance from accepted style because it is just so entertaining.
Book Description
March 6, 2035. Motoko Aramaki is a hyper-advanced cyborg, a counter-terrorist net security expert heading the investigative department of the giant multi-national, Poseidon Industrial. Partly transcending the physical world and existing in a virtual world of networks, Motoko is a fusion of multiple entities and identities, deploying remotely controlled prosthetic humanoid surrogates around the globe to solve a series of bizarre crimes. Meanwhile, Tamaki Tamai, a psychic investigator from the Channeling Agency, has been commissioned to investigate strange changes in the temporal universe, brought about by two forces, one represented by the teachings of a professor named Rahampol, and the other by the complex, evolving Motoko entity. What unfolds will be all in a day's work...a day that will change everything, forever.
Customer Reviews:
Ditto.......2007-07-03
The art and graphics are wonderful but the story is difficult to stay into, if you like hot manga chicks with wild sci fi visuals get this but just expect the story to be very dense.
Pretty computer graphics, but really no story.......2007-02-07
The original "Ghost in the Shell" was a watershed graphic novel that defined the standard for the genre, but this sequel just doesn't hold a candle to the original. A huge disappointment.
The original explored cybernetics, cyborgs, the nature of consciousness in the body, and tossed in such political realities as government-sponsored wetwork, supersoldiers, and intragovernmental infighting.
In this wan and thin sequel, Motoko fights computer viruses and mentally joins with a new silicon-based life form.
Frankly, that COULD be an interesting story, but it's pretty slow, tedious going here. We get page after page of Motoko shouting anti-virus commands to her robot assistants while we gaze up her skirt.
Oh, and Motoko regularly shifts her consciousness between bodies. But don't worry, all of the bodies are Manga Barbie-dolls with pneumatic boobs and Shirow gives you an gynecological exam of each one.
Shirow uses a LOT of computer generated and enhanced graphics in this book, and also there's a greater percentage of colored pages than the original, but it doesn't help.
A lot of the images from the original book have glued themselves securely in my mind because of their outrageousness and verve, but after about forty up-the-skirt shots of Motoko's various android twats in this book, I'd had enough.
Shirow has unfortunately dumped this series right into the "Vampirella Reborn" genre.
The overall effect is like a swimsuit issue of a magazine. Nice to look at, but you'd feel pretty slimy going back for a second look.
this is GREAT.......2006-07-13
I don't care if the format of the pages is not in full comic book page size. I don't care if the story is unusefully intricated and totally ununderstandable (at least for a common human being with only one bachelor....) : Masamune Shirow is THE MASTER and his ART is GREAT. You look at the computer colored pages: they're GREAT. You look at the b&w pages: they're even BETTER! The details and the design is amazing! I hope soon a fully large format b&w pages will be edited!
Important and beautiful, but confusing - and too many crotch shots.......2006-04-17
A dense work that gets a little bogged down in techno-cyber talk and descriptions of the intricacies of computer virus defense software rather than story or character. The constant switching of the heroine's physical form is a neat plot element, but it does make it hard to identify with anyone in the story. There are just too few handholds to guide the reader through the stories. And, the endless sexy crotch-shot drawings of the heroine's various android bodies in mid-karate-kick actually became a little uncomfortable for me when my girlfriend was in the room.
Shirow's Best Philosophical Work Yet!.......2006-03-01
This story is centered around one of Motoko's "children" after merging with project 2501. The Main character is Motoko Aramaki, security officer for Posidon Industrial. Readers will see a glimps of older characters from the first GITS book. All in all this book is far more complicated that the first book, but it is worth it.
Customer Reviews:
Stick to It - Great Read.......2005-09-09
There is no doubt that Mr. Koestler explains his thoughts in immense detail and labor... This will affect you in a couple of possible ways:
- You'll love following the train of thought and appreciate even the train wrecks; or
- You'll start drifting off into visions of dancing monkeys and magical fireworks...
In all seriousness Mr. Koestler explains the reasoning and imagination behind all of his assertions and assumptions with exacting detail...
His theory is excellent and combines some mainstream stuff (from his time and relevant now) with some of the fringe ideas of various fields. The whole package is woven together with expert touch and Mr. Koestler has a rare gift of explaining things not in an "idiot-proof" fashion but down-to-earth enough to let you think about it.
The basic premise is the exploration of mankind's "darker" side -mentally speaking. The pathological human mind that 'builds splendid cathedrals and decorates them with gargoyles'; Mr. Koestler explains them as "two sides of the same medal coined in the evolutionary mint" - and indeed he makes that case with astounding persuasiveness... His concepts sound extremely plausible and seem to be well-founded on facts and ideas alike...
Stick to the heavier or rambling parts as he ties them into the overall idea eventually! You will walk away from this book having learned something...
Pride covetousness lust anger gluttony envy & selfishness?.......2004-02-25
ýA man coins not a new word without some peril; for if it happens to be received, the praise is but moderate; if refused, the scorn is assured.ý
So wrote Ben Jonson, and so quoted Arthur Koestler on page 48 of his The Ghost in the Machine (1967). Koestler inserted the quotation to express the uneasiness he felt at suggesting a neologism. The very useful word he coinedýýholonýýseems to have gone tragically underappreciated, while Koestler has, I suspect, not received much in the way of scorn for his impudence (at least in this respect). Jonson was wrong. A man coins not a new word without some peril, itýs true. But the nature of the peril is this: if it happens to be received, the praise is but moderate; if refused, the coiner gets not even scorn.
What is a holon? Coined from the Greek holos (whole) and the diminutive suffix -on (after the pattern of proton, electron, etc.), the term holon ýmay be applied to any stable biological or social sub-whole which displays rule-governed behavior.ý Koestler writes:
Parts and wholes in an absolute sense do not exist in the domain of life.... The organism is to be regarded as a multi-leveled hierarchy of semi-autonomous sub-wholes, branching into sub-wholes of a lower order, and so on. Sub-wholes on any level of the hierarchy are referred to as holons. Biological holons are self-regulating open systems which display both the autonomous properties of wholes and the dependent properties of parts. This dichotomy is present on every level of every type of hierarchic organization, and is referred to as the Janus Effect.... The concept of holon is intended to reconcile the atomistic and holistic approaches. (Appendix I.1; scrambled somewhat for conciseness.)
The first third of Koestlerýs book, the section titled ýOrder,ý is dedicated to the concept of the holon, and his introduction to open hierarchic system theory. The versatility and universality of the holon concept should have guaranteed its entry into the language. Its prevalence in all ordered, i.e. hierarchic, systems, and particularly biological organisms, Koestler illustrates through the parable of the two watchmakers, Mekhos and Bios. Their watches are of equal quality and of equal complexity (a thousand pieces each) but their methods of production differ. Bios builds durable sub-units of ten pieces each, ten of which can be joined together to create a secure sub-assembly of one-hundred piecesýand ten sub-assemblies, of course, make one complete watch. Mekhos, on the other hand, adds one piece at a time, seriatim; as such, any interruption requires him to start afresh. Biosýs method is clearly superior not just because an interruption will only set him back, at most, nine steps (versus Mekhosýs possible 999), but because Biosýs watches will tend to be much sturdier than Mekhosýs. ýIt is easy to show mathematically that if a watch consists of a thousand bits, and if some disturbance occurs at an average of once in every hundred assembling operationsýthen Mekhos will take four thousand times longer to assemble a watch than Bios. Instead of a single day, it will take him eleven years.ý Consequently, Biosýs business thrives, while Mekhos barely manages to scrape by.
Biological systems (Bios), in other words, are not just vortices of chance patterns constrained by deterministic mechanical laws (Mekhos); they are hierarchic systems made up of Janus-faced, quasi-independent holons. In ýBecoming,ý the second part of the book, Koestler discusses evolution in holarchic terms, citing organelles (e.g. mitochondria) and homologous organs (e.g. the human arm and the birdýs wing) as examples of evolutionary holonsýsub-units which appear, with striking similarity, across countless discrete species. Just as nearly every company has an IT department, every cell has chemical power plants which extract energy from food. And just as automobile designers do not overhaul but rather perform variations on basic components such as the engine, chassis, or suspension system, evolution progresses by making small changes to existing tried and true mechanismsýthe arm of the human, the wing of the bird, the leg of the dog, and the flipper of the seal, however different in appearance or function, are all made of bones, muscles, and blood vessels.
This tendency to recycle old parts has its risks as well as its obvious benefits, however. The legacy systems donýt always interact smoothly with the enhancements. This is essentially the thesis of the third part of the book, ýDisorderý: that it is not unreasonable to assume that, considering the ýexplosive rate of the brainýs development, which so widely overshot its mark, something may have gone wrong ... More precisely, that the lines of communication between the very old and the brand-new structures were not developed sufficiently to guarantee their harmonious interplay, the hierarchic co-ordination of instinct and intelligence.ý
In short, Koestler blames the dominance of instinct over intellectýthe latterýs subservience to the former as physiologically manifest in the neocortexýs subjection to the brainýs more reptilian limbic systemsýfor not only humanityýs spectacular social and moral cataclysms, but the halting, erratic progress of science as well. The ýpassionate neighing of affect-based beliefsý prevent us from listening to the voice of reason. This is why all moral exhortation, all efforts of persuasion by reasoned argument, are doomed to failure; they
rely on the implicit assumption that homo sapiens, though occasionally blinded by emotion, is a basically rational animal, aware of the motives of his own actions and beliefsýan assumption which is untenable in the light of both historical and neurological evidence. All such appeals fall on barren ground; they could take root only if the ground were prepared by a spontaneous change in human mentality all over the worldýthe equivalent of a major biological mutation.
The solution to our predicament is sketched out and advocated by Koestler in the final few pages of The Ghost in the Machine; it is, to put it succinctly, a pharmacological one. Readers will bristle at the contentious, and some might say contemptible, declaration that mankindýs only hope for long-term survival is through medication, but to me the answer seems logical enough. If we agree that something has gone awry in our phylogenetic development, and it seems an anodyne enough hypothesis, then nothing short of ýtampering with human natureý can rectify the pathology of our species, which has been so garishly demonstrated in holocaust after holocaust. And as Koestler is himself quick to point out, we tamper with our nature every day, and have done so ýever since the first hunter wrapped his shivering frame into the hide of a dead animal.ý It could be argued that part of our problem has been tampering: Pasteur et al. tampered on a microscopic level, and with colossal repercussions. No one would seriously propose a voluntary abjuration of antibiotics, however, in order to cull the herd a bit. We can only move forward.
Letýs be explicit: we are considering an overpopulated, irrational, imbalanced species equipped with the ability to manufacture weapons of genosuicidal magnitudeýan ability which will not evaporate:
As the devices of atomic and biological warfare become more potent and simpler to produce, their spreading to young and immature, as well as old and over-ripe, nations is inevitable. An invention, once made, cannot be dis-invented; the bomb has come to stay. Mankind has to live with it forever: not merely through the next crisis and the next one, but forever; not through the next twenty or two hundred or two thousand years, but forever. It has become part of the human condition.
ýThe Promethean myth,ý Koestler goes on, ýhas acquired an ugly twist: the giant reaching out to steal the lightning from the gods is insane.ý With this in mind, the advent of a suggestibility-curbing pillýýan artificially simulated, adaptive mutation to bridge the rift between the phylogenetically old and new brain, between instinct and intellect, emotion and reason,ý to ýcounteract misplaced devotion and that militant enthusiasm, both murderous and suicidal, which we see reflected in the pages of the daily newspaperýýseems relatively benign. We cannot ask people to be more rational, more thoughtful, less susceptible to blind passion, bigotry, murderous devotion.
I sympathize with Koestlerýs proposal, but I am pessimistic as to its practicality. And I think he might have overlooked the possibility that suggestibility and subservience to the affect-based beliefs might be the very epoxies holding society togetherýfor better or for worse.
Consider Heinrich Eichmann who, as Koestler observes, ýwas not a monster or a sadist, but a conscientious bureaucrat, who considered it his duty to carry out his orders and believed in obedience as the supreme virtue; far from being a sadist, he felt physically sick on the only occasion when he watched the Zircon gas at work.ý He was, in other words, the perfect cog, a smoothly functioning holon in something larger than himself. He was a good citizen in a bad society. Where exactly does his sin lie? Where his pathology?
ýWar is a ritual, a deadly ritual, not the result of aggressive self-assertion, but of self-transcending identification. Without loyalty to tribe, church, flag or ideal, there would be no wars; and loyalty is a noble thing.ý And Solzhenitsyn wrote:
Ideologyýthat is what gives evildoing its long-sought justification and gives the evildoer the necessary steadfastness and determination. That is the social theory which helps to make his acts seem good instead of bad in his own and othersý eyes, so that he wonýt hear reproaches and curses but will receive praise and honors.... Thanks to ideology, the twentieth century was fated to experience evildoing on a scale calculated in the millions. How, then, do we dare insist that evildoers do not exist? And who was it that destroyed these millions?
Perhaps hereýs a way of daring to insist that evildoers do not exist: by declaring, instead, that only bureaucrats exist. We could move up the hierarchy and blame everything on its head (Hitler in this case) but frequently the hierarchy has no headýperhaps there is only an amorphous board of directors; perhaps the hierarchy is open-endedýand of course no hierarchy operates in a vacuum, and no hierarchy can function without its sub-holons.
Eichmann, we feel compelled to say, was as culpable as anyoneýi.e., fully, or not at all. In him, perhaps, we are given a glimpse of the true nature of contemporary ýevilý: conscientious bureaucracy; obedience as the supreme virtue. The integrative tendency, the desire to transcend the self, the desire to belong, to fit in, to function as a part of some larger organization, to serve something larger than the petty egoýthis is what stymies intellectual progress and permits wars and pogroms. Death camps cannot be implemented without a stable hierarchic society to carry out the plan; humans cannot exterminate one another on such a cosmic scale without first getting along.
ýThe self-assertive behaviour of the group is based on the self-transcending behaviour of its members, which often entails sacrifice of personal interests and even of life in the interest of the group. To put it simply: the egotism of the group feeds on the altruism of its members.ý This is the most important revelation in Koestlerýs book: that the virtuous, self-denying, self-transcending, integrative urges are far more dangerous than the self-assertive ones.
And this urge to integrate, to belong, to blindly submit to the rules of the social holon you belong to, is the warp and the woof of the fabric of society. It may well be instinctualýit may well be written in our genesýbecause it is implicit, inescapable, a necessity in any hierarchic system. The human individual is truly Janus-faced because his or her self-assertive and integrative inclinations are at odds, true, but also mutually dependent. To do whatýs best for your group is in fact whatýs best for you; self-surrender is self-preservation. If the body dies, so do all of its cells.
What would we have had Eichmann do? We fancy that we can imagine a scenario in which his refusal to administrate the death camps (a pang of conscience prompted, in our thought experiment, by Koestlerýs Pill, perhaps) might have made some difference. ýHe could have conscientiously objected,ý we say from the smug safety of our armchair. And then what? He probably would have been exterminated, and someone with less compunctions, someone with a stronger desire to fit in, put in his place.
Hegel has said that ýWhat experience and history teach us is thisýthat people and governments have never learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.ý If this is true, it is probably unnecessary to pose this question: Have any of us learned anything from, for example, the Holocaust? How would we, as people or governments, prevent a repeat? We glibly take it for granted that nothing so horrific, and in so recent memory, can have failed to make us a little more jaded, a little less naïve, a little less susceptible to mass hysteria or national insanityýand we leave it at that. Hereýs all weýve really learned: Nazisýbad. Hitlerýreal bad. Case closed. But of course the next Nazis will not call themselves Nazis; the next Hitler wonýt have the mustache.
What we should have learned, perhaps, is that our suggestibility needs to be curbed; that each of us has an obligation to be extremely careful about which holons we allow ourselves to be subsumed by; that our integrative tendencies need to be reined and restrained. Before we resort to pharmacology, we should presumably attempt education. So maybe we should be indoctrinating our children with the belief that blindly accepting indoctrination can be disastrous. ýOh. You see the problem.
Koestlerýs Pill, or any equivalent thereof, might well dissolve society. If we were properly critical, properly rational, all the time, if we took nothing on faith, we would never learn. The paradox is that the march of science is founded on credulity. Specialization, which has become more or less prerequisite to progress in any field, is a hierarchic branching out and narrowing down of knowledge. If every generation of physicists had to rediscover the electron, no one would have ever got to the quark; if I paused to evaluate, to impugn, to prove every one of the ýstatements of factý Iýve received from parents and professors, television and textbooks, over the course of my lifetime I would probably never have graduated from high school. In fact I am critical of very little. How could I afford to be? We stand like Newton on the shoulders of giants but only because we trust the giants enough to get up on their shouldersýwhen of course they could dash us to the earth if they so desired. Jacob Empson has written (in Sleep and Dreaming):
Rather than modern Western beliefs being less mystic than those in antiquity, or in underdeveloped communities, they seem equally if not more so than some. It could be argued that the very incomprehensibility of the modern world has made us even more credulous. Many of the quite commonplace products of modern technology might as well be magic, for all that any normal person could be expected to understand how they work.
The human race is an unfathomably complex network of overlapping open-ended hierarchies; it is a juggernaut trundling forth, with no one at the helm.
And so too is each one of us. How can it be otherwise?
This is one of the best books I've read in a while. Koestler's erudition, humanity, and prose are nonpareil. Read it and make up your own mind -- it's your moral imperative.
Not true to his own theories.......2003-07-26
This book is one of the most thought-provoking books I've read in a long time. Koestler presents a fascinating theory that we are a flawed species and then -- out of thin air -- produces the "better living through chemistry" cure (we all need to be medicated because our reptilian brains are ill at ease with our advanced mammalian brains). However, earlier in a coherent part of the book, he presents a theory that genetic failures and designs which have become over-specialized (like his example of the marsupial) eventually are resolved by paedomorphosis (a kind of "backtracking" in which evolution goes back a level and tries another branch to a better solution - rather like the depth-first search) and "self-repair". Thus the true solution to man's problems, in Koestler's own framework (had he not just tossed off the chapter he did), would have to have been human genetic re-engineering, not pharmacology. But what a ride this book is!
A mind working overtime.......2002-04-15
What an enigma Arthur Koestler was! His books range from Zionism to telepathic powers, as well as novels about the Stalinist trials. The Ghost in the machine was my introduction to his writings and it is an astonishing approach to evolution -explained simply leading to frightening and telling conclusions about man and his capacity for war. It is the work of a mind that cannot keep still and keep taking one step further on. Read it and I hope that it opens this exciting and daunting author to you as well. I was never the same after reading it and it has coloured all my thinking ever since. Read it and understand the Taliban, World War One and the Ku Klux Klan. It is nothing less than an evolutionary argument for our collective insanity.
The Evil that Men do.......2001-02-10
When I first read this book I was stunned... and as one of the other reviewers said, baffled by why he produced that ending! (it's the ending which has "taken" one star off my rating). Always the polymath, Koestler starts by covering psychology, including Skinner's experiments with rats and subsequent theories on human nature which he pulls apart thoroughly. Koestler then comes out with the unfashionable theory that the human brain may have evolutionary flaws in it, since it was merely built on the older more primitive brains of its ancestors and the new and old parts do not always communicate well with one another. Partially because of this we have a lot of the problems of human life such as the urge to self-destruction and violence, which emanate from the older parts of the brain. He ties this in with history and if I remember, results of some shocking experiments. It has lost some of its immediacy since the end of the Cold War (nuclear bombs are still with us more than ever in Israel, Pakistan, India, China etc).
While I have simplified some of the book's ideas above, it is not always light reading, but it can be read by a layman. I think some of the subjects Koestler tackles are taboo (such as the idea humans overall are instrinsically "evil") rather than innately good, and he dismisses wishful thinking. Some people do take issue with his ideas... unfortunately some of the attacks are ad hominem... but where they aren't I suggest you examine very carefully both sides of the story. The message in this book is still pertinent enough, even if the proposed solution isn't.
(if you would like to read more on Koestler, read my review and others, about Cesarani's biography of him on this site)
Book Description
2030 Tokyo: While patrolling Tokyo's post-World War III refugee zones Togusa, the newest member of Section 9, discovers that one of the most powerful cyber-criminals his squad has ever faced has plans to kill their leader, Section 9 Chief Daisuke Aramaki, in one of three stories in this collection, and it will take all of the members of Section 9 to stop him. The action heats up in the stories "Double Targets," "First Love, Last Love" and "Revenge of the Cold Machines."
Customer Reviews:
Good short stories.......2007-01-11
This volume is a little smaller than the previous one, but it's fun to read nonetheless. If you enjoy Stand Alone Complex animated series, you will probably enjoy this book. I only wish the stories were a little longer.
false advertising.......2007-01-03
Book was sold as a 2nd novel...After several delays from the original publication date the book (now a collection of short stories) arrived...I had pre-ordered a third advertised novel but when the notice of it's delay arrived I cancelled the order.
Three stories in one book.......2006-10-03
Revenge Of The Cold Machines by Junichi Fujisaku are three stories set in the Ghost In The Shell universe, sometime around the first part second season or just before it. The refugee problem is in the background, just starting to boil, and the Laughing Man case is talked about in one of the stories. The first story is about an assassin being hired to take out a member of Section 9. The second story focuses on the interaction between a police officer and a Tachikoma told from the point of view of the tank itself. The third deals with military cyberbodies in the wrong hands.
Yet as you read page after page you start to see the same names and realize all the stories are linked together. Like some episodes from the series these stories are not Stand Alone but part of a Complex single story. There are even links to the television episodes, if you look hard enough.
Average customer rating:
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Map in the Mystery Machine (Scooby-Doo! Reader, 1)
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The Race Car Monster (Scooby Doo Readers #8; Level 2, Kindergarten - Grade 2)
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Disappearing Donuts (Scooby-Doo! Reader, 2)
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Scooby-doo Reader #07: Snack Snatcher (level 2) (Scooby-Doo, Reader)
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Dinosaur Dig (Scooby-Doo! Picture Clue Book with 24 Flash Cards, Level 1)
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Search for Scooby Snacks (Scooby-Doo! Picture Clue Book with 24 Flash Cards, Level 1)
ASIN: 0439161673 |
Book Description
The Scooby-Doo Readers are a level above the Picture Clue Books. The text is easy-to-read and the art is bold and full-bleed, making these an appealing Level 2 Reader. When Scooby finds an old map, the mystery begins. Ghosts, pizza pies and buried treasure? Scooby is sniffing out clues!
Average customer rating:
- It was Brad Wilczek who is killing people, or is it?
|
Ghost in the Machine: A Novel (X-Files (Juvenile))
Les Martin
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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E.b.e. (X-Files (Juvenile))
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X Files #01 X Marks the Spot (X Files Middle Grade)
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Fear (The X-Files , No 7)
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Humbug (X-Files (Juvenile))
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Darkness Falls (X-Files (Juvenile))
ASIN: 0064406784 |
Book Description
A computer-run building operations system goes awry'killing thecompany CEO and the FBI investigator assigned to the case. Mulderand Scully's preliminary investigation shows that only one person hasthe technical know-how to override the system: Brad Wilczek, thehigh-strung young computer whiz who created the program. But isWilczek the driving force behind the havoc? Or has the CentralOperating System developed a malevolent mind of its own . . ?
Customer Reviews:
It was Brad Wilczek who is killing people, or is it?.......1998-04-21
The CEO of a giant computer company died. A previous agent of Fox Mulder died. Connection? Both men died in Eurisko, a giant computer company that is programmed by a giant computer. Two people dead, one suspect: Brad Wilczek. Why is there a code five investigation (code five clearance) at Wilczek's house? No evidence that it was Wilczek, but he confesed. Is his confesion a lie? That's what Mulder suspects. What a book!
Customer Reviews:
Absolutely brilliant alternative to Platonism.......1999-09-13
Ever since the first explosion of mathematics in the West, some 2500 years ago, philosophers have wondered from whence does mathematics arise? For most of this time, and for most of these questioners, the answer has been some form of "platonism" - some variation on the view that numbers and other mathematical "objects" exist in a transcendent realm, a priori to, and independent from the material world. Throughout history, several attempts have been made to articulate a coherent alternative to this essentially religious view. At last Brian Rotman has succeeded in this task - and the view he offers is astonishing in its elegance and satisfaction. A truly brilliant and deeply important work, Ad Infinitum should be required reading for all those interested in the philosophy of mathematics.
Book Description
Inspired by TRON, Disney's groundbreaking science-fiction motion picture classic, TRON: GHOST IN THE MACHINE takes place in present day, over two decades after the events of the film. Jet Bradley, son of the original TRON programmer Alan Bradley, has recently escaped the computer world. But his experiences within cyberspace have left him emotionally scarred - vivid nightmares plague him, and he's become paranoid and unstable. He shuns technology wherever possible, leaving him effectively crippled in the modern world.
And now something within the computer world wants him back.
Exploring the fast-paced action from the hit film and video game, plus the impact of experiencing the cyberworld on the human psyche, TRON: GHOST IN THE MACHINE starts a thrilling new chapter in the TRON saga.
Customer Reviews:
Good concept, strong writing and art........2006-10-03
Expanding the Tron universe is a very cool concept. Especially when the authors include characters we are familiar with from the original disney movie. It really made me want to go back and review the classic film, solidifying the bizarre childhood memories of the movie my brain meats had formed.
My only question is: When will they make a second issue? I'd really like to read it! I hope Slave Labor keeps this project churning.
Average customer rating:
- Star Wars Galaxy of Fear
- A REAL page-turner!
- A Fascinating Ending
- nightmare machine
- AHHHHHHHHHH`
|
The Nightmare Machine (Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear, Book 4)
John Whitman
Manufacturer: Skylark
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Planet Plague (Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear, Book 3)
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Army of Terror (Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear, Book 6)
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City of the Dead (Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear, Book 2)
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Ghost of the Jedi (Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear, Book 5)
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Eaten Alive (Star Wars: Galaxy of Fear, Book 1)
ASIN: 0553484532
Release Date: 1997-05-12 |
Book Description
Hologram Fun World. It's a theme park visited by families from all across the galaxy. It's a place where Tash and Zak can safely hang out while Hoole continues his work. It's a place where daytime fun turns into nighttime terror.
One of the park's attractions is called the Nightmare Machine. It scans your brain, then shows you your worst fears in holographic form. Hairy, creepy-crawly insects. Cyborrean battle dogs thirsting for blood. But it's not real, so it's fun--right?
Wrong.
As Zak and Tash will soon find out, nightmares can come true.
Customer Reviews:
Star Wars Galaxy of Fear.......2006-01-19
In Star Wars Galaxy of Fear Nightmare Machine. Two kids from the destroyed planet Alderan has foiled three phases of Project
Starscream. This evil plot was made from evil scientist Bog.
When Tash and Zak go to Hologram Funworld. It is not so fun. It'scary. The people start disapearing. The Holograms are real.
Will Tash and Zak stop another plot of Project Starscream. Read
this book to find out. What I like most about the book is when
Zak spews tons of cards on Bog's face. I didn't like about this book is that it is comfusing. This book is good. You should really try to read it.
A REAL page-turner!.......2003-06-17
I love Star Wars. When I first got into the whole Galaxy of Fear book series, I wasn't sure whether or not I would like it. I ordered it(book 4), not knowing what it was even about! But when I finally DID get around to reading it(which was about a month ago) I had a hard time putting it down each time, because it was soooooo interesting! And as I put it in as my review title: The Nightmare Machine is a real page-turner!
A Fascinating Ending.......2001-10-19
The ending of this book was so great that it couldn't get any better. On the last 30 pages, I couldn't stop reading. It even started to scare me. The Galaxy of Fear series is a great series that mixes in suspense with the story. I encourage anyone to read this book. It has a great plot, and is easy to read.
nightmare machine.......2001-10-06
I think this book was a good book. It was exiting and funny. I give it five stars becaus. It was about two people that go to a place called fun world. There is a ride called the nightmare machine. It scans your brain for your worst fear and shows it to but they find a few bugs in it and your fear comes true! If you liked this book you will like the next book.
AHHHHHHHHHH`.......2000-09-05
Tashs uncle drops her and her brother off on hologram fun world where nothing is the same. GOG is back and taking fun world by storm Tash meets lando and toghether they are off on an adventure to THE NIGHTMARE MACHINE. RENT THIS BOOK TODAY.
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- Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children
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- Bone Volume 3: Eyes of the Storm
- Brian's Return
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