Learning Bedford Integrated Accounting an Applications Workbook
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    Learning Bedford Integrated Accounting an Applications Workbook
    D. Mills
    Manufacturer: Addison-Wesley Pub (Sd)
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    GeneralGeneral | Accounting | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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    ASIN: 0201199009

    The Leadership Challenge Planner: An Action Guide to Achieving Your Personal Best
    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    • Guidelines for the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership
    The Leadership Challenge Planner: An Action Guide to Achieving Your Personal Best
    James M. Kouzes , Barry Z. Posner , and Richard Sheppard
    Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
    Human Resources & Personnel ManagementHuman Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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    2. The Leadership Challenge Workbook The Leadership Challenge Workbook
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    4. The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership (The Leadership Practices Inventory) The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership (The Leadership Practices Inventory)
    5. The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI): Self Participant's Workbook with Self Insert (Package), One 120 page Participant's Workbook plus a 4 page Self Insert (The Leadership Practices Inventory) The Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI): Self Participant's Workbook with Self Insert (Package), One 120 page Participant's Workbook plus a 4 page Self Insert (The Leadership Practices Inventory)

    ASIN: 0787945684

    Amazon.com

    After collaborating on several well-regarded leadership books, James M. Kouzes (chairman of the Tom Peters Group/Learning Systems) and Barry Z. Posner (dean of the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University) created The Leadership Challenge Planner to help managers, team leaders, and even community volunteers adopt their primary principles. "Every new project you take on is an opportunity for greatness--for attaining a personal best that defines your own standard of excellence," they write in its introduction. "Your next major project is your chance not only to create extraordinary results for your organization but also to develop your leadership capabilities." To that end, they've designed the book to be used with a specific project; readers are guided through various stages, from assessing the project's "requirements and challenges" through planning to "lead others to successfully complete" it. The authors concentrate on the five key leadership practices they identified in their bestselling Leadership Challenge--"challenging the process," "inspiring a shared vision," "enabling others to act," "modeling the way," and "encouraging the heart"--and support them with extensive worksheets that help single out definitive objectives and the precise actions necessary to attain them. --Howard Rothman

    Book Description

    From the legAndary authors of The Leadership Challenge comes this practical implementation tool you'll use to plan your next major project!

    Over one million professionals have used Kouzes and Posner's resources to improve their leadership ability. Again and again, users have asked for more follow-up materials, enabling them to make practical use of the tenets of the famous five practices of exemplary leadership. The Leadership Challenge Planner is your answer.

    Even if you haven't previously used Kouzes and Posner's five-practices model, you'll find The Leadership Challenge Planner vital to preparing, implementing, and evaluating your next project. This tool helps you to achieve what the authors refer to as a "personal best"--that is, a leadership accomplishment with extraordinary results.

    You get easy-to-use worksheets that make efficient planning simple and practical. After completing the worksheets for the five practices of exemplary leadership, you'll assemble a blueprint and a weekly planner for implementing your ideas.

    You'll appreciate Kouzes and Posner's celebrated insight, as well as their proven, systematic approach to exemplary leadership. There's never been a project management resource like this one. Purchase multiple planners so you'll have the means to achieve personal bests in all of your upcoming projects!

    Praise for other Kouzes and Posner resources:"I found myself constantly nodding and saying to myself, 'That's right! That's how it's done! That's what it feels like!' [Kouzes and Posner] capture the essence of what I've found is at the heart of transforming leadership."

    --Robert D. Haas, chairman and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co.

    "Kouzes and Posner are two of the best people in my field."

    --Ken Blanchard, author, Gung Ho! and The One Minute Manager series

    "The Leadership Challenge is a masterpiece!"

    --Herb Kelleher, president and CEO, Southwest Airlines

    Customer Reviews:

    5 out of 5 stars Guidelines for the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.......2001-12-25

    "The Leadership Challenge Planner is a one-hop-at-a-time workbook for leaders. It's designed to help you reflect and act on your need (or organization's) for change...When we began our research, we decided to find out what practices characterize exemplary leaders: people who get extraordinary things done in organizations. Our research began with analyzing what behaviors people demonstrated when they were leading a project that they considered a 'personal best': one that set an individual standard of excellence for them. We collected thousands of stories of leaders performing at their peak, and we looked at what actions seemed to be consistent in all the stories. Several years-and several thousand quantitative and qualitative analyses-later, we found that five practices define exemplary leadership: 1.Challenging the process 2.Inspiring a shared vision 3.Enabling others to act 4.Modeling the way 5.Encouraging the heart...The purpose of this planner is to assist people, managers and nonmanagers alike, in furthering their ability to lead others and get extraordinary things done...We hope that his planner convinces you that leadership is everyone's business...By accepting the challenge to lead, you come to realize that the only limits are those you place on yourself" (from the Introduction).

    In this context, throughout the five chapters (3 through 7), James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner list and explain guidelines for these five practices.

    1. Guidelines for Challenging the Process- Try these strategies to change, grow, innovate, and improve: *treat every job as an adventure *send people shopping for ideas *put 'idea gathering' on your own agenda *go out and find something that needs fixing *take a class; learn a new skill *experiment, experiment, experiment *make it safe for others to experiment *work with ideas that may sound strange initially *debrief every failure as well as every success *model risk taking.

    2. Guidelines for Inspiring a Shared Vision- Try hese strategies to envision an uplifting future and enlist others in the vision: *determine what you want *act on your intuition *test your assumptions *become a futurist *develop your interpersonal competence *breathe life into your vision *speak positively *speak from the heart *make the intangible tangible *listen, listen, listen.

    3. Guidelines for Enabling Others to Act- Try these strategies to build trust and strengthen others: *always say we *increase interactions *focus on gains, not losses *from planning and problem-solving partnership *go first *enlarge people's sphere of influence *make sure delegated tasks are relevant *make connections *make heroes of other people *educate, educate, educate.

    4. Guidelines for Modeling the Way- Try these strategies to set the example and achieve small wins: *open a dialoque about personal and shared values *audit your actions *be dramatic *tell stories about teacheble moments *take personal interest in everything *make a plan *create a model *break it up, and break it down *ask for volunteers *sell the benefits, benefits, benefits.

    5. Guidelines for Encouraging the Heart- Try these strategies to recognize individual contributions and celebrate team accomplishments: *seek out people who are doing things right *personalize and publicize each recognition *link the recognition to a clear set of standards *celebrate individual recognition in a group *be creative about rewards and recognition *give recognition and rewards *tell the story of someone who exemplifies the standards you set *design the reward-and-recognition system participatively *provide feedback en route *schedule celebrations *be a cheer leader, in your own preferred way *stay in love with what you do *have fun, laugh, enjoy.

    Highly recommended.

    Beautiful Skin of Color: A Comprehensive Guide to Asian, Olive, and Dark Skin
    Average customer rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    • garbage
    • Beautiful Skin Color
    • Excellent Reference For Ethnic Skin
    • Skin Deep
    Beautiful Skin of Color: A Comprehensive Guide to Asian, Olive, and Dark Skin
    Jeanine Downie , Fran Cook-bolden , and Barbara Nevins Taylor
    Manufacturer: Collins
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Paperback

    GeneralGeneral | Beauty & Fashion | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
    Skin CareSkin Care | Beauty & Fashion | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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    Accessories:
    1. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer

    ASIN: 0060521554
    Release Date: 2005-06-14

    Book Description

    It's a fact of DNA: If you can trace your roots back to Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, India, Latin America, the Mediterranean, the Middle East, the South Pacific, or any group of Native Americans, your genes react similarly to genes in the darkest skin. And chances are, you may have received confusing advice -- or no advice at all -- about how to care for your skin. Although nearly half the population of the United States shares the hallmarks of skin of color, many dermatologists and beauty consultants routinely prescribe remedies created for Caucasian skin without understanding how sensitive and easily damaged skin of color is. It's no wonder, then, that many women and men of color continually battle skin problems, and it takes a terrible toll on their self-esteem.

    Finally, Beautiful Skin of Color unlocks the particular secrets of your skin and provides the answers you've been searching for. Dr. Fran Cook-Bolden and Dr. Jeanine Downie, internationally recognized dermatologists and women of color, and Barbara Nevins Taylor, an award-winning reporter on skin and hair issues, offer clear, specific advice to help you achieve and maintain a healthy, gorgeous complexion.

    In a quick-reference, A-to-Z format, using examples drawn from personal and professional experience, Dr. Cook-Bolden and Dr. Downie explain why problems occur, and then prescribe reliable remedies and groundbreaking new procedures specifically created for skin of color.

    Throughout this comprehensive guide, the doctors show you how to work with your skin and hair -- and your dermatologist -- to create your own unique skin-management program. A long-overdue and much-needed resource, Beautiful Skin of Color is certain to help you look and feel your best.

    Customer Reviews:

    1 out of 5 stars garbage.......2007-08-12

    Total garbage. Doesn't tell you anything you can't find on the net. Don't even waste your money.

    5 out of 5 stars Beautiful Skin Color.......2007-01-17

    I enjoy reading books to help improve my skills as an up and coming makeup artist. This book came highly recommended at a recent event and I had the opportunity to meet the author. Great book for those interested in improving their daily regimen of cleaning their skin and covering skin flaws.

    5 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference For Ethnic Skin.......2006-03-16

    This is an excellent resource for learning about skin of color. It provides detailed information for almost any skin condition i.e. causes of skin disorders, remedies, length of expected results, product names for over-the-counter and prescription medicine, average cost of cosmetic procedures and side effects. As an African-American, I was amazed to learn facts about the specifics of my skin, like, laser skin resurfacing treatment is not recommended for keloid-proned skin and microdermabrasion is a gentler and safer treatment because layers of the skin are not rubbed off and no anesthetic is needed. Because the skin is gently "blasted" with particles during microdermabrasion, it can help fade dark marks with the use of hydroquinone products because this agent can seep deeper into the skin after dead skin has been removed. Included in this book is basic information that we all should know, especially about drinking plenty of water to hydrate the skin and using a humidifier to add moisture to the air. However, after reading this book, I was better informed about various skin conditions and how to treat my skin. The book contains information regarding acne, dry skin, botox, chemical peels, wrinkle fillers, cysts, dark circles, facial hair, sun protection (which is highly suggested throughout the book), stretch marks, hair loss, moles, laser treatments and tons of other skin conditions. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone searching for facts regarding delicate skin of color.

    5 out of 5 stars Skin Deep.......2004-10-09

    BEAUTIFUL SKIN OF COLOR is a very informative, well written book, essentially geared toward individuals with darker hued complexions, ranging from olive to very dark skin. Written in clear understandable language, this book is crammed with obviously well researched information, targeting a wide range of skin and hair related issues such as acne, eczema, hair loss, facial hairs, and vitiligo.

    The book gives the warning signs of the different skin problems, the authors' theoretical reasoning behind the problem, and gives detailed descriptions of various traditional home and over the counter remedies. It also describes aggressive medical interventions available, as warranted by the severity of the problem.

    BEAUTIFUL SKIN OF COLOR is a comprehensive guide to daily skin care, which pretty much explores every conceivable product, procedure and new technology available in the dermatological industry for beautifying skin of color.
    It is the perfect resource for everyone concerned with having healthy, beautiful looking skin and is a perfect addition to any reader's library.

    Reviewed by Autumn
    of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers
    Also noted.(books)(Brief article)(Book review): An article from: Ebony
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      Also noted.(books)(Brief article)(Book review): An article from: Ebony

      Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
      ProductGroup: Book
      Binding: Digital
      ASIN: B000FNVS94
      Release Date: 2006-05-10

      Book Description

      This digital document is an article from Ebony, published by Thomson Gale on May 1, 2006. The length of the article is 788 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

      Citation Details
      Title: Also noted.(books)(Brief article)(Book review)
      Publication: Ebony (Magazine/Journal)
      Date: May 1, 2006
      Publisher: Thomson Gale
      Volume: 61 Issue: 7 Page: 30(2)

      Article Type: Book review, Brief article

      Distributed by Thomson Gale
      BEAUTIFUL SKIN OF COLOR: A Comprehensive Guide To Asian, Olive & Dark Skin
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        BEAUTIFUL SKIN OF COLOR: A Comprehensive Guide To Asian, Olive & Dark Skin
        Jeanine et al. Downie
        Manufacturer: Regan Books
        ProductGroup: Book
        Binding: Paperback
        ASIN: B000OELPGA
        Beautiful Skin of Color: A Comprehensive Guide to Asian, Olive, and Dark Skin
        Average customer rating: Not rated
          Beautiful Skin of Color: A Comprehensive Guide to Asian, Olive, and Dark Skin
          Jeanine; Cook-Bolden, Fran; Taylor, Barbara Nevins Downie
          Manufacturer: Regan Books
          ProductGroup: Book
          Binding: Paperback
          ASIN: B000OELPAG

          The cambridge Astronomy Guide: A Practical Introduction to Astronomy.
          Average customer rating: Not rated
            The cambridge Astronomy Guide: A Practical Introduction to Astronomy.
            Bill / Mayer, Ben Liller
            Manufacturer: New York Cambridge 1985.
            ProductGroup: Book
            Binding: Hardcover
            ASIN: B000N162PS

            Raymond U. Lemieux: Explorations with Sugar: How Sweet It Was (Profiles, Pathways, and Dreams)
            Average customer rating: Not rated
              Raymond U. Lemieux: Explorations with Sugar: How Sweet It Was (Profiles, Pathways, and Dreams)
              Raymond U. Lemieux
              Manufacturer: An American Chemical Society Publication
              ProductGroup: Book
              Binding: Hardcover

              GeneralGeneral | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
              ScientistsScientists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
              CanadianCanadian | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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              ASIN: 0841217777

              Book Description

              World-famous carbohydrate chemist Raymond Lemieux was the first to synthesize sucrose. He also developed the concept of the anomeric effect and has recently worked on antigens. His book is a collection of carbohydrate research history, plus an interesting and engaging insight into the man as scientist and family man.

              Continuous culture 6: Applications and new fields
              Average customer rating: Not rated
                Continuous culture 6: Applications and new fields

                Manufacturer: Published for the Society of Chemical Industry, London by Ellis Horwood
                ProductGroup: Book
                Binding: Paperback

                GeneralGeneral | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books
                MicrobiologyMicrobiology | Biology | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
                MicrobiologyMicrobiology | Basic Science | Medicine | Subjects | Books
                GeneralGeneral | Evolution | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
                ASIN: 047098984X

                Picosecond Phenomena: The Second International Conference on Picosecond Phenomena (Springer Series in Chemical Physics)
                Average customer rating: Not rated
                  Picosecond Phenomena: The Second International Conference on Picosecond Phenomena (Springer Series in Chemical Physics)
                  Mass International Conference on Picosecond Phenomena 1980 Falmouth , R. M. Hochstrasser , W. Kaiser , and C. V. Shank
                  Manufacturer: Springer
                  ProductGroup: Book
                  Binding: Hardcover

                  LasersLasers | Optics | Electrical & Electronics | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
                  Physical & TheoreticalPhysical & Theoretical | Chemistry | Professional Science | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
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                  GeneralGeneral | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
                  LasersLasers | Light | Physics | Science | Subjects | Books
                  GeneralGeneral | Physical & Theoretical | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
                  PhotochemistryPhotochemistry | Chemistry | Science | Subjects | Books
                  ASIN: 0387104038
                  Picosecond Phenomena II: Proceedings of the Second International Conference Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, June 18-20, 1980
                  Average customer rating: Not rated
                    Picosecond Phenomena II: Proceedings of the Second International Conference Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, June 18-20, 1980

                    Manufacturer: Springer-Verlag Berlin and Heidelberg GmbH & Co. KG
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Hardcover
                    ASIN: 3540104038

                    Singularity Sky
                    Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
                    • Lovely thing this Eschaton!
                    • It stinks
                    • Not Free SF Reader
                    • Lemonade for the Brain. Tart!
                    • Grinding
                    Singularity Sky
                    Charles Stross
                    Manufacturer: Ace
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Paperback

                    GeneralGeneral | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
                    Space OperaSpace Opera | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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                    ASIN: 0441011799
                    Release Date: 2004-06-29

                    Book Description

                    Four hundred years in the future, time travel has been perfected and groundbreaking developments in Artificial Intelligence have been made. But is this a great step forward for humanity--or its ultimate downfall?

                    Download Description

                    "This much-anticipated debut novel is set 400 years in the future-and in the wake of perfected time travel, the ultimate advancements in technology and information, and the groundbreaking development of Artificial Intelligence. Is this all a great step for humanity? Or will it be our ultimate downfall? Singularity Sky is a truly visionary novel of the future, and already its author, Charles Stross, has become the most talked-about new voice in science fiction... "

                    Customer Reviews:

                    3 out of 5 stars Lovely thing this Eschaton!.......2007-09-28

                    I enjoyed the Eschaton thing. Sentences like "I am not your god," followed by behaviour that indicates that it might very well be for all practical purposes - is just hilarious.
                    And there is plenty of good Space Opera in this book.
                    That said I were a bit bored from time to time, I am afraid to say. Therefore it can't be more than 3 stars.

                    -Simon

                    1 out of 5 stars It stinks.......2007-09-27

                    I got through about a third of this book before I just gave up and took it back to the library. Dull, dull, dull!!!!!

                    4 out of 5 stars Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

                    A close to omniscient AI oversees a large sector of space, to prevent any causality or other events it sees as technology violations.

                    A group of strange aliens travel around, looking for information and fun, to them. If this is found, they basically give the population replicators to do with as they will.

                    In a repressive, militaristic society on a planet with an almost Victorian feel this will cause a lot of grief, as their grip on control slips.

                    As a response, they decide to see if they can sneakily blow some things up and get around the Eschaton's control.

                    In the middle of this are an interplanetary Inspector (read secret agent), and a hapless engineer she recruits.

                    Highly entertaining, overall.


                    5 out of 5 stars Lemonade for the Brain. Tart!.......2007-08-05

                    Ok, so reading this is a little like going to an MIT rave where everyone is wearing mirrored clothing and chanting various laws of physics to the tune of "I don't feel like dancing", or maybe "Tainted Love". It's very, very weird, fast-paced, and a lot of fun. The characters are nicely drawn, even if it takes forever into the book to really get to know them; everything moves so quickly! The ideology is a little thick at times, although his wonderful writing makes it all very palatable - it can be sort of like one of those old "Carry On..." movies dosed with some cheesy old communist propaganda and a big helping of nanotechnology. There's a great sense of the ridiculous, though, which keeps it from getting heavy - it's a wicked funny book, as well as wicked smart.

                    Um, what's it about? That would be telling... no, seriously, it's sort of an essay on information distribution and the impact it has on human society disguised as a love/spy story taking place inside a lopsided war based on the inability of a dictatorial & controlling socialist regime to adjust to a sudden influx of technology on a colony world. And it all takes place way way in the future with a big helping of quantum physics and nanotech and space travel, while sometimes referencing the many-angled ones from Lovecraftian horror fame... It's good, ok? I loved it. But I can really, really see why some people would have a hard time with it. It's very....densely packed, at times. It can be a little exhausting after a bit... like a hyperactive super-genius toddler.

                    2 out of 5 stars Grinding.......2007-07-16

                    Charles Stross is not a bad author, as such. He is, however, one of the most overrated authors on two continents. The critical community went bananas over his first novel, Singularity Sky - apparently without any consideration of its stylistic merits (there aren't many, by the way). The novel begins with a fascinating premise, but quickly degenerates into an elaborate grandstand upon which the author can pontificate about politics and philosophy. Now, I have no particular aversion to liberal science-fiction writing (indeed, it seems the standard in the medium), but rather than justify his political assertions, Stross begins with the smug assumption that his views are correct. Alright, very well, but I'd like to see him defend himself intelligently rather than endlessly point his fingers at the political right. In addition, the novel is so enamored with its own subtlety that it never makes clear exactly what it is supporting. There are several abstruse references to famous political doctrines, but out of context, they mean nothing to the reader. Descriptions of technology have the same problem: as a regular reader of the genre, I'm used to having to decipher technological terminology, but the scientific exposition in Singularity Sky rolls along ad infinitum with all the clarity of a spinning kaleidoscope. Surely the author knows that his readers haven't the faintest idea what he's talking about; why, then, is it necessary to bombard them with all this extraneous technobabble about light cones? I congratulate Mr. Stross for developing such an intricate technological scene for his future society, but a single paragraph in layman's terms would suffice. Really. But let's speak of the writing: Stross's prose is generally taut, and he inserts vivid glimmers of detail in order to help the setting coalesce in the reader's mind. Aside from those positives, the prose is drab and stultifying; the density of information and the blandness of its conveyance make finishing a single paragraph analogous to slogging uphill through deep mud. This morass is blessedly (if intermittently) relieved by bouts of witty humor - but even that is so dry that it's difficult to determine when Stross is joking. Therein lies the ultimate problem with the entire novel: the author is so anxious to appear literate and artsy that he writes with a dull ambiguity, like the shy kid who's afraid to raise his voice from the back of the choir and so whispers his way through entire stanzas. Singularity Sky is obviously supposed to have some sort of sweeping theme, some Important Didactic Message...but Stross never quite gets the point across. He also repeats himself unnecessarily, which fails to help: repetition of something that didn't make sense in the first place merely makes the reader feel like a patronized idiot. Stross's characters, well, are characters. Sort of. They're actually well-drawn, but the tedious quality of the writing prevents the reader from developing any interest in them. There's more information than there is emotion. Again, Stross does employ small details to his advantage (he includes offhand comments about the characters' preferences and pet peeves, which lends them depth and humanity), but the protagonists would be more interesting if the large details of personality were colored in first. Many secondary players are featured erratically and serve only as convenient straw men for the ongoing one-sided political debate. On the bright side, the extraterrestrials are entertainingly surreal, equal parts macabre and Seussian. Worldbuilding may be limited and uninteresting, but the eye-popping, quasi-alien mutants briefly shock the reader out of his stupor (come on, who doesn't love sadistic mimes wielding lethal pies?). Nevertheless, the sheer, unabashed weirdness of the aliens contrasts rather awkwardly with the serious tone of the majority of the novel. Make no mistake: I like the sheer, unabashed weirdness and wish Stross had kept it at the expense of the arid political wrangling. The two are simply mutually exclusive, although their incongruous juxtaposition is occasionally amusing. Eventually (by which I mean, after six chapters), the mixed-up plot becomes so interminable, so self-indulgent, that the reader awaits its end with groaning eagerness. Oh, wait - the ending is bad, too. There is no climax, merely a continuation of the uninspired, meandering plot stretched putty-like to unbearable lengths. Characters who went unfeatured for hundreds of pages are thrust into pivotal roles while reader struggles to remember who, exactly these people are. The epilogue and incoherent denouement putter out like a deflated balloon. And, at long, sweet last, your aching eyes can relax. On the whole, Charles Stross is a writer of fair but undistinguished technical ability and little talent. Unless you're willing to wait on him for weeks with no payoff, avoid Singularity Sky.
                    Timelike Diplomacy: Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise
                    Average customer rating: 5 out of 5 stars
                    • Singularity Big Time
                    • Combined edition of _Singularity Sky_ and _Iron Sunrise_
                    Timelike Diplomacy: Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise

                    Manufacturer: Science Fiction Book Club
                    ProductGroup: Book
                    Binding: Hardcover
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                    ASIN: 0739445642

                    Product Description

                    An exclusive two-in-one novel from the Science Fiction Book Club, set in Charles Stross Eschaton Universe: Singularity Sky and Iron Sunrise. Singularity Sky: Spaceship engineer Martin Springfield and U.N. diplomat Rachel Mansour hail from an Earth that has gone through the Singularity, an accelerated technological and social evolution far beyond anything we can imagine. The Singularity was triggered by the Eschaton, a super-powerful being descended from humanity that can travel in time and that essentially rules the universe. Springfield and Mansour meet on the home world of the New Republic, a repressive, backwater society that has outlawed virtually all advanced technology other than that necessary for interstellar warfare. When one of the New Republic's colonial worlds is besieged by the Festival, an enigmatic alien intelligence, the Republic counterattacks, using time travel in an attempt to put its warships in position to catch the Festival by surprise. Springfield and Mansour, working for different masters, have both been assigned the task of either diffusing the crisis or sabotaging the New Republic's warfleet, no matter what the cost. Iron Sunrise: In the 24th century, a McWorld ("bland, comfortable, tolerant... boring") called New Moscow apparently has been destroyed by trade rival New Dresdenbut not before New Moscow launched its own Slower-Than-Light (STL) counterstrike: a massive ship accelerated to 80% the speed of light. The U.N., now central Earth government, knows New Dresden was set up. They need the STL's recall code, now known only to a handful of New Moscow's ambassadorsbut someone has been systematically assassinating them. U.N. special operative Rachel Mansour and her husband, engineer Martin Springfield, must protect the last living ambassador and find out who's really responsible for the whole mess.

                    Customer Reviews:

                    5 out of 5 stars Singularity Big Time.......2006-10-08

                    This is a double publication - SINGULARITY SKY & IRON SUNRISE. The pairing is not accidental - the stories could be considered Singularity Part I & II. The name, TIMELIKE DIPLOMACY, is a perfect description of the themes of both novels - namely the machinations of humanity when faster-than-light travel is developed (thus time travel) and the super-intelligent Eschaton (the name given to the Singularity) must battle those who would return to the past and take steps to prevent its emergence. (A conundrum though - if someone had returned to the past and prevented the emergence of the Singularity how could it be worried about someone going to the past to prevent the emergence.... someone could go crazy thinking of all the causal possibilities).

                    We are introduced to Martin and Rachel, espionage operatives working for different bosses (Martin for the Eschaton, Rachel for the U.N.) and follow their travails in preventing the destruction of a civilization for attempting to violate the laws of causality. In the second book (IRON SKY) we are introduced to the teenager, Wednesday / Victoria and the newspaper writer, Frank and their fast-paced struggles both to escape those who would do them harm and learn who their pursuers are. Of course all four characters come together in the midst of a frantic action and the story has a good ending. I eagerly await yet another sequeal.

                    Stross has opened to the reader the world on nanotechnology, smart matter, genetic modification beyond our wildest dream. Indeed, the everyday actions appear to us almost as magic, much as the technological wonders of our civilization would appear magical to someone from the early 20th century. Yielding to readers's pleas, Stross has penned ACCELERANDO, the story of the emergence of the Singularity in the near future. (It does not feature the same characters.)

                    5 out of 5 stars Combined edition of _Singularity Sky_ and _Iron Sunrise_.......2004-11-09

                    According to a posting by Stross in the Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine forum, this is an combined edition of the two books mentioned in the subject line.

                    That said, both books are excellent. _singularity Sky_, in particular, is one of the better science fiction novels of the past few years, combining hard science, Vinge-style speculation, and a strong prose style.
                    Cielo De Singularidad/ Singularity Sky (Solaris Ficcion)
                    Average customer rating: Not rated
                      Cielo De Singularidad/ Singularity Sky (Solaris Ficcion)
                      Charles Stross
                      ProductGroup: Book
                      Binding: Paperback

                      GeneralGeneral | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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                      ASIN: 8495024128

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