Travel Books

The book was so small it wasn't worth the time it took to open it.

I just can't get enough of Karen's books. She does a wonderful job. The only problem with this book is that I wish it would have been longer. :-)

This is a novella from the Karen Moning books that feature characters from the MacKeltar storyline. All I can say is...READ THIS BOOK! It is a great mixture of magic, highlands, passion & humor. The characters are well developed and get you itching to read the rest of the MacKeltar books (#1 "Kiss of the Highlander" - (Drustans story),#2 "Dark Highlander" (drustans twin), #3 "Immortal Highlander" (Adam Black - side character interacting w/ MacKeltars), #4 "Spell of the Highlander" (part of MacKeltar clan), #5 "Highlander's Touch" (seperate story linked w/ Adam Black), #6 "Into the Dreaming" - a novella that features the fairy queen mentioned in the other books. NOTE: This is my suggestion for the order to read them in. There is not real official order in which to read them. All I know is once you finish this book, you will be itching to read the rest. ENJOY!!!

Those of you unfamiliar with Karen Marie Moning may be disappointed and pout when you realize that this book is a bit of a novella. Personally, I am always sad when her books end because I have to wait for the next one. I don't feel that this book is a disappointment at all. It is a gentle transition into the Fae series and without this little installment, how will you understand where the Seelie Queen is being held prisoner??? Read it and consider it a sneak peek or a bridge between those delicious McKeltars in Scotland and Mac in Ireland.

Wow...an excellent read with Jane Sillee & Aedan MacKinnon, a union of soul mates with her given only thirty days to make him remember their inseparable tie or lose him forever to Unseelie King as Vengeance. Sometimes a short, humorous, cleaver story of the best romance is all we have time for in this busy world. I, for one, inquired as to how any pages to expect when I purchased it...no surprise there. This is a well written story of a fantastic time and place. I highly recommend this and all Karen Marie Moning. I will, no doubt, read this one a dozen more times.

In taking us from the comfort of observing yet one more upscale redo of a home and the ensuing 'perfect' life of the future occupants into the change of course Katrina forced upon every resident of New Orleans, Julia Reed exposes many of the shocking still kept secrets behind of the veil that has been dropped by the current administration over our collective memories about the horrific disaster and the even more appalling mismanagment of relief as perpetuated at every level of government in this country. The way people have found to survive, thrive, revive, and celebrate post-Apocalyptic New Orleans is touching, memorable, and a call to action. Julia's book is call to not forget Katrina, to not forget the underserved people in our land. Julia show us that they can be the poorest folks who are lost and also lost everything or the poor national guard who are doing their duty, living on the edge seeing horrific things daily, eating horrible rations, until Julia brings some real food and the touch of our common humanity to them, in their service to protect and help restore this iconic part of our country. Y'all read this inspiring book and then go forward to help lest we forget. It won't hurt if you commune to eat/cook/serve some good New Orleans food in the process! This is going to everyone on my gift list along with an invitation join me in action in New Orleans and in the myriad pockets of despair in this country. It is so nice and easy to take out your checkbook and to help folks far away, so very much harder to see and deal every day with what is right in front of you. So, mirror the grace and good humor of Juila Reed in her courageous coverage and restorative love: it won't hurt and it may be just what we need to save our wonderful country.

(Note: Cyber stalkers roam with freedom on Amazon to distort vote totals)

"The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story" by Julia Reed is an enjoyable book--for the wonderful characterizations, for the bon vivant attitude of the writer and her crew, for the generosity of spirit during a catastrophe, for the genuine difficulties and joys in restoring an old house, and not least for incomparable settings in the incomparable city, New Orleans. This is definitely a book that merits a second reading.

Reed's "New Orleans story" happens to be unusual. As a journalist and editor for Vogue and Newsweek, she had the opportunities of meeting and interviewing famous people like Walker Percy and Ann Rice. But her stories were not just stories, but connections. Growing up in a well-off family allowed Julia more opportunities than most. She became part of the group of people in her family and family friends who went to New Orleans to visit--quite often. However, as an adult, she settled in New York for a writing career as a journalist.

She relates early her family's connection with the Percys, not to boast, but to make connections. It is a Percy house that she and her husband buy on First Street when they decide to settle in New Orleans. But that is a long way in the future.

There is a long affair with A in her adult visits to New Orleans. Julia is quite frank about her hedonistic life style until she is in her early forties, meets John and decides finally to settle down. She wants this settling. But first there is the apartment on Bourbon Street in one of the hidden gardens with banana trees and other tropical plants that a city below sea level with its thick humidity is known for. Even though the kitchen is tiny, Julia entertains. She is one of those people who collect the odd assortment of people who can do extraordinary things. I so envied her cooking and entertaining and dining and drinking as extravagantly as she did.

When she and John decide to marry and find a house, it takes them a year to find exactly the right one on First Street (a house owned by a Percy brother) in the exclusive Garden District, but, oh, what work is necessary to modernize it, and oh, what problems that restoration causes.

Julia hires friends or friends of friends or people who knew people who--well, you get the idea. And she sticks with them even when they create expensive problems. That is one aspect of Julia's nature that defies understanding--her misplaced loyalty. Then again, her telling of this story of mishaps is part of the charm of her story.

The second half of the memoir begins one month after she and John move in: Hurricane Katrina strikes. As a native Louisianian who lives in the northwest area, I know the Katrina story, but not from the inside. The most interesting part of this memoir was reading about the slow but steady rebuilding of various parts of New Orleans, particularly the restaurants. I was proud.

Once New Orleansians could return, she and John begin the long process of restoring parts of the house that had already been restored. They were lucky in the minimal damage done to their house. However, and this was my second favorite part, what Julia did for the National Guard out of Oklahoma and other rescue groups was the epitome of generosity. She and John bought tons of New Orleans types of food to replace military MREs: gumbo, sausage, rice and beans, ducks, hams, turkeys, which various restaurant friends cooked up for the soldiers, who, I am sure, will never forget their stay in New Orleans or its hospitality!

One tidbit to share: The residents of Audubon Place, a gated street, hired Israeli commandos to protect their property from looters. Another tidbit: Julia was assigned to write a story for Newsweek about New Orleans in the aftermath. The photographer assigned to her team was the very one who shot the famous photo of the Afghani woman which appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1985.

"The House on First Street" is definitely worth reading for those interested in various views of Americana: the restoration process of a house built in a by-gone era, an insider's look at the most catastrophic hurricane to hit the United States, and food, oh man, Julia's description of the food for which New Orleans is so famous! However, the really best reason is to read the painstakingly gradual restoration of a great city that almost died.

In contrast to many other reviewers, I found "The House on First Street" a very enjoyable, warm, entertaining and highly educational read. I know that these adjectives, for some people, should not apply to the book describing New Orleans before, during, and in the aftermath of Katrina, and therefore they do not approve of the style this book was written in. For me, however, each event, however tragic, results in an explosion of creativity in many very different moods, which is always a good thing, because any work of art immortalizes the subject and makes it history (there are many comedies about World War II and Communism, for example, and they are appreciated even by the survivors - or maybe especially by them).

Julia Reed's memoir about her life in New Orleans, written in a brisk, magazine-style prose characteristic for a journalist, is a charming tribute to the Southern way of life. The epicurean (some would say hedonistic) descriptions of festive meals (I think it is remarkable, how she remembered or wrote down all the menus throughout the years), drinking in copious bars and pubs, parties, Mardi Gras parades, krewes, Carnival, unreasonable spending sprees, make the book a life-affirming proof of human nature. Even in the times so difficult as the post-Katrina year when life in New Orleans was as far from normal as could be, the city's inhabitants found a way to get back in style.

At the center of the story is Reed's house in the Garden District, and she concentrates on its purchase, history, renovation and visions of her future life there, meanwhile introducing many colorful characters and the portrait of the city. For me, whose knowledge of New Orleans and Louisiana history has been close to null, this book was a great introduction, especially that it provides a lot of references and (I hope) renders the spirit of the city and society in an easily approachable manner. The subject of tragic events caused by Katrina is introduced with a great dose of humor but solemn enough to give a grasp of their gravity, at the same time giving hope for New Orleans' future.

It is true that Reed's narrative can be perceived as infinitely snobbish (intended, I assume) and it took me a while to get used to her way of telling the story, also I was sometimes annoyed by her overuse of certain phrases (like "a tad"), but I read her book with pleasure and can recommend it as a good summer read for those who want something light, but more informative and serious than romance novels or detective stories.

I lived in New Orleans for several years, luckily I managed to move far away a couple of years before Katrina, so I missed all of that. So when I learned about this book I thought it would be fascinating to read about someone else's experiences living there and dealing with contractors and construction (like I did) and going through all the horror of Katrina. In the end, the book was not fascinating, it was a bit tedious, sometimes infuriating, and occasionally interesting and maybe even a little entertaining.

I don't want readers out there to think, based on the author's experiences, that all the locals hang out at Galatoire's drinking vodka all day because no one expects you to come back to the office after lunch. I worked for a living, I owned a tour company and later I had office jobs. I assure you if I spent all day drinking my lunch at a super expensive landmark restaurant someone would definitely care and I would dearly pay for it. In fact, I never knew any locals who ever even went to Galatoire's, no one I knew could afford it, and Galatoire's is considered to be mostly for tourists anyway.

Julia Reed is obviously pretty wealthy, so it was hard to identify with her or commiserate with her when her fabulous 6,000 square foot Garden District millionaire's mansion had a leak in the sunroom. It's hard to care when she gets a checking account from daddy with $5000 in it after she evacuates from the storm when so many other people didn't have anything. It's hard to give a damn when sometimes it seemed like all she really cared about was getting her servants back after the storm. My New Orleans friends and I never had servants, my house was nowhere near the Garden District, I lived in the 9th ward, I owned my own business and worked hard as hell so I could eat at places like Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, Angeli, and Coop's Place---none of which are expensive or owned by John Besh and other star chefs/friends of Reed's. And that's not to say that she should be criticized for being wealthy and having a far cushier life in New Orleans than I did, it's just hard to care about her and her story when she has so much and when I was there I watched most people all around me suffer daily under crushing poverty and extreme crime.

What I found rather repugnant was her attitude towards the people who came from all over the country to rescue the stranded and starving pets. She seems to find great sport in making fun of them and belittling their efforts. When she sees an aviary rescue van she wonders what's the big deal about rescuing people's pet birds while New Orleans has some wild parakeets that fly around the city. Well, maybe because these pet birds are not wild and they're not flying around the city, they're trapped in cages unfed and unwatered alone and dying in hot or flooded houses crawling with mold, maybe that's why there were people out there trying to rescue them. I found her comments ridiculous and unfeeling, she was more worried about getting her house finished, her servants back, and her expensive restaurant hang outs reopened so she could hurry up and get back to her normal leisurely life.

On top of everything, the author's obsession with alcohol throughout the entire book, mentioning it in some way just about every 2 pages or so, gets very tedious. Very few people I knew living in New Orleans were this obsessed with drinking, and the ones that were desperately needed rehab. Tourists, of course, go to New Orleans in droves specifically to drink and stagger around the garbage piled streets of the French Quarter, but honestly, all the locals I knew and did business with and were friends with all around the city were far too busy to sit around drinking and obsessing about fine wines and expensive liquors all the time. Julia Reed's New Orleans is nothing like my New Orleans, and that's a shame because the New Orleans I experienced was a lot more realistic and gritty, as well as fascinating and entertaining.

I am utterly flabbergasted by the content and tone of Ms. Reed's book. I found it utterly distasteful, not the least bit charming, boring and shallow. She puts Marie Antoinette to shame. I expected to enjoy and love this memoir about New Orleans and Katrina, instead I felt throughout that it should more aptly have been named, "How I Managed to Eat Lavishly, Still Drink My Favorite Champagne and Decorate My New Mansion, as Katrina Wrecked Thousands of Lives Around Me." Ms. Reed's book, replete with recounts of all her grand, costly Katrina gestures (such as buying dinner for 700 National Guardsmen without bothering to ask what the bill would be), and after having her jewelry stolen, remarking that the good thing about having your "serious" jewelry stolen is that "inevitably", its been photographed at parties, so it makes it easier to trace and find it, is a primer for insensitivity, smug self-indulgence and not only bad writing, but bad taste. Even as the dead, bloated bodies floated by her, we are subjected in pitiless detail to her merry non-stop drinking tales and her utter relief at finding sensational restaurants open so that she can eat great meals. HELLO? Perhaps she experienced some other, different Katrina as she is surely not talking about the one we all know about now. Today, as Hurricane Gustav makes its way--possibly--to New Orleans, perhaps it's yet another excuse for Ms. Reed to pop open a cork on some champagne?

I really loved this book in the series. I was disappointed with Fiery Cross and was hoping that this one would redeem. It did! It was a treat to read it! Can't wait for the next one!!!

I'm finally done! Whew! I read the whole series and I thought the last, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, was just as good as the others. I do wish that it wasn't as quickly tied up at the end, jumping around, without the final word on what happened to Claire and Jamie, but on the whole I really enjoyed every word.
I suggest you start from the beginning of the series and make sure you have lots of time to devour all 6. I stayed up way to late for a month or so :-)

After reading the first five Voyager series books, I was thrilled with this book. It tied up so many loose ends from the other books and gave an even more intimate look at the characters. This is one of the better books in an excellent series of books. Diana Gabaldon's books are entertaining, engrossing and even educational. I find them hard to put down once I start reading.

Loved this one! I am a big fan of revolution-era fiction, and I just love Claire and Jamie!

Gabaldon paints her books with thick color. Her characters are so well-developed that I feel I know them all very well. A Breath of Snow and Ashes closes some questions left from earlier volumes, and rounds out some character detail. I don't want to give anything away here, but it was a thoroughly satisfying read. Happily, it also leaves an opening for further Jamie/Clair volumes.
After reading this 6th book in the series, I started with Outlander and am re-reading them all. They're giving me as much pleasure the second time around.

This is a great book for my upcoming trip to Egypt and Jordan. It has a lot of information and is loaded with plenty of color photographs. I only wish there was a book for Jordan too. The book also shows views of streets and locations of museums and all the sites not to miss in Egypt.

Great guide! Well organized with wonderful photos, illustrations, & maps. Took it to Egypt with me. Still use it as a reference now that I'm home.

I received my order, prompt and packaging was very nice.
Great book and Thank you again.
eloy gomez

While this book has a lot of pretty pictures, and quite a bit of information, I found the lonely planet guide to have about twice as much information on any given area, and cover more of the obscure places in Egypt.

These guides are the very best in the business. If I'm thinking of going on a trip, I think again if there isn't an Eyewitness guide in print.

EGYPT is the same high calibre as all the others I've bought over the years.

I purchased this book for my first trip overseas. The information was accurate, easy to read and has become a great resource even after my trip for labelling my pictures etc. Rick's recommendations and advice for places to eat, sleep and visit were all without fault. I read the book from cover to cover before I left home and even on a couple of unplanned walks I was able to say "hang on a minute, these's something we need to see near here, I've read about it in the book". Sure enough we were one block away from about 4 sights and we saw them all.

Rick's museum tours were made so much easier with photos of works of art worth seeing and the descriptions were perfect for my previous lack of art appreciation. I would recommended the book to anyone planning a trip to London. The information was so reliable that I wouldn't hesitate to buy the current edition on a return trip to London so I knew I had up-to-date info at my fingertips.

Rick Steves gives excellent advice on what are the best sites to see, which are not worth your money, and secrets to make your tour of the city enjoyable. His advice on places to stay are very accurate too. If you are going to London and want a heads-up on the city then I highly recommend you get this book.

I am in London right now delighted with how helpful this book is. Many guide books try to give too much information and end up more like phone books. This book is perfect in that it gives you the most important information about what is worth seeing. His tips on saving time and money are right on. This is the best book you will find for a visit to London.

I loved this book. I used it to help plan my trip beforehand and it helped me re-evaluate the plan when I couldn't cover all the stops I wanted.
The information was very accurate with great tips.

My wife and I went to London for a week and this book was excellent for time management to see what we could actually pack in and what was worth checking out. Additionally, Rick's writing style is great and we often found ourselves laughing at his commentary that was right on the mark.

The Places In BetweenThis book was a fascinating and provided an insight into everyday life of the Afghanistan people in the villages including excellent and insightful references to historical events significant to the area. It also showed the impact of 25+ year war yet somehow came across with a sense of humanity. The book includes small maps of the area which were helpful, but I got out the Atlas to learn more. I plan to reread the book with a more detailed map of Afghanistan.

If you've been reading up on the politics and issues of Afghanistan, this is a welcome step back and shows the human side of that country.

Rory is a journalist/historian who knows Muslim customs and speaks local dialects somewhat and who is hiking through Afghanistan in 2002. It's not clear exactly what he is doing there, and it doesn't seem all that clear to him. But he relates his story of walking, one day at a time through an extremely poor country that has endured 30+ years of war. Whatever his Afghans protagonists are up to, and they are often up to little good, I don't know that people in any Western country could honestly expect to behave much better, were they to live in such a failed state. His recollections of villages often include a count of how many villagers were executed at what time and by which faction(s).

At one point, Rory says that he is generally not as well treated by Afghans as has been his experience as a guest in other Muslim countries. Some pages later, he seems to reconsider and expresses amazement at how he did get fed by people who had next to nothing. The book is also enlightening by what is _not_ in it, for example, the near total absence of female interlocutors.

Despite being mostly apolitical in his writing, Rory doesn't have much good to say about the Taliban. Nor does he think much of globe trotting UN personnel who never bother to learn about the country they are supposed to help. As he puts it, even old style colonial envoys, for all the faults of the systems they were upholding, were held accountable and had to truly understand the countries they operated in. His criticism is clearly limited to development experts, btw, not to the courageous folks operating to provide humanitarian relief throughout the countryside.

Wow!!! I don't have a great attention span but this book kept me glued to its pages. While Rory's adventure to walk from Herat to Kabul in the footsteps of the Emperor Babur is an audacious one, he provides excellent insights into the cultural diversity that Afghanistan is, and the rich heritage that the country has. His walk, following those in India, Nepal and Iran is made difficult by the route he chooses to follow in the height of winter, through the central highlands of the province of Ghor which all conquering armies for the last 2,000 years have chosen to avoid. Yet, this land once became the seat of power in Afghanistan with its capital at the Turquoise Mountain. He provides an excellent account of the changing political landscape of the country by vividly providing accounts of the various people he met and dealt with, from feudal lords to mujahideen to servants and to ex-Russian allies.

This is a curious book. It's a pretty good travelogue,covering the road from Herat to Kabul, which sheds a lot of light on a piece of our planet rarely travelled by westerners. And there are some fascinating interactions betwen the author and local mukety-mucks who seem to eschew killing him because they think he's a wacko. But the book lacks real excitement. Like other reviewers, I can't figure out exactly why this guy is making this walk. He may be an adventurer, but he's not much of a writer. The book comes precariously close to being just a diary, devoid of much color, excitement or intrigue. You get a good feel for how Afghanistanis in this remote area think -- which is enlightening. But all in all, this meritorious book lacks the punch that it could have had.

A tough slog through a primitive place by an intrepid Englishman. I don't require too much more from a book!

You'll learn a few reasons we're having so much trouble in this part of the world. Definitely recommended. Also buy with his "Prince of the Marshes." Even more relevent to Bush's failed war policies.

As always, the book contains a wealth of practical information. I've used lonelyplanet guides to plan my travels to New-Zealand, South-Africa and Kenya in the past.

Lots of information. The websites are in general up to date. There is a lot to see in Thailand so this book covers a lot of the popular areas.

I have bought many guidebooks over the years and would say that lonely planet has the best. No, it is not one of those guidebooks filled with pretty, glossy photos but a clear, concise guidebook with pertinent information designed for all travelers whether you are a budget traveler or a jetsetter. Very user friendly, always updated. If you are only going to use one travel guide, cut to the chase and pick up lonely planet.

Basically, my main complaint is that they took out the good stuff from the old edition and replace them with irrelevant stuff.

One example would be in the last edition, they had a section with color pictures of different types of food served in Thailand, something I find interesting to note when traveling to a foreign country. They replaced this section with a section with picture of people riding on elephants and scenery that don't really tell you much.

The reason why I did not give them too bad of a rating is that the information is pretty much the same between the two editions. In this edition, there is less information on border crossings, but that is due to increase safety concerns (so I can understand why they did that). I would still recommend the last edition. Besides being cheaper, you actually learn a little bit more.

This is the worst guidebook I've had the misfortune to buy; if I had the time, I would have returned it. Unless you have perfect vision the entire book is printed in a tiny font on very thin paper, making it hard on the eyes. The reviews are incredibly biased, totally slanted towards travelers who want to eat street food, stay in backpacker or budget accommodations... It does not take disabilities, age or food allergies into consideration & assumes, in a rather mean-spirited manner, that if you don't want to stay in a low budget place or eat, very spicy street food, that something is wrong with you. Being a disabled traveler who is unable to stay in low budget accommodations because they aren't accessible, I was stunned by the lack of information on moderately priced hotels (let alone pricey ones). If you want to try the haute cuisine of Bangkok, stay in moderate or upscale hotels, instead of backpacking, buy Fodor's guide, as there's no information here, just judgments on your inability to 'slum it'. TERRIBLE.

Great travel book that underscores the need to travel light, both in terms of physical and mental baggage, in order to truly explore the world. The author shares lots of anectdotes that illustrate the value in straying from the beaten path, while explaining how to do so safely. I can't wait to put the lessons learned from this book into practice!

and as an inverterate traveller and writer myself Rolf Potts gives lots of both common sense and inspiring tips. I quote him in the chapter on how to follow your intuition and have an amazing journey (and life) in my book Travelling Magically: How to Turn Your Journey into a Life-Changing Experience.

This is an excellent short read that every aspiring adventure seeker should add to their collection. Potts' puts the overwhelming concept of World travel into a perspective that nearly anyone with a level head can grasp. The book is not a step-by-step guide but will inspire you to travel on your own terms. Potts will make you want to get up explore the nooks and crannies of the Earth. I have passed this book onto two close friends already and they can agree. The bottom line is that if you are not the type of person that wants to spend years sitting in the same cube day in and day out and want to get out and experience other cultures, read this book, you will not regret it!

As a "wannabe" vagabonder, I found this book helpful and informative. I took it with me on a recent trip out of the states and found it both kept my attention as well as gave helpful tips and case studies.
My next goal is to make long term travel a more permanent part of my life.

After travelling through South America for seven weeks I was inspired to plan a larger-scale open ended world trip. I read this book a couple of years ago as I was working to save up the necessary travel funds and I have read many other travel books like it. Now a month away from starting my journey I must say that this was the best of all those travel books.

There is the practical advice which is common and overlapping with most other travel books, but the main things that cause this book to stand out are Potts' excellent writing style which helps one to glide through the pages with enjoyment and a yearning to return to the open road. Also, Potts has a prevailing wisdom obviously aquired from his years of travel and this is exhibited in various insightful commentaries that elevate this to a philosophical read on life as well as travel.

For those planning to "vagabond" I would recommend reading as many of the travel books you have the time for as each one will surely offer something new for the reader to take away (other great books are "The World Awaits" by Paul Otteson, "World Stompers" by Brad Olsen, and "Escape from the Happy Cannibal" by Ron Miller). This book should be at the top of that list.

These are the kind of experiences I seek on every vacation. But I only have a week in Paris so thank you so much for doing the "leg work" for me.

To say that this is a little dull is an understatement . the quiet corners are DEAD .

A charming book that will lead you to places known to seasoned and local Parisians. Not the run of the mill tourist spots. You will become part of "secret Paris".

I have been to Paris many times so I have seen the major sights and want to some lesser sights for my next trip. This book recommends many of these type of sights with good descriptions. I will take and use the guide on my next trip

A friend gave us this book before we left for a month's visit to Paris. We had been there, done that three times before, so we welcomed a guide to the kinds of places we had overlooked on previous visits. This book accomplished that. We visited more than half of the places and enjoyed almost all of them immensely.

Wells' tale of the future of mankind is both highly entertaining, and a valid critique of the rigid social class system associated with capitalism. Wells was so far ahead of his time, that this tale is actually not the least bit dated. Despite being written over a century ago, Wells' scientific theories are still as believable and sound as they were in 1895. If you have even the slightest interest in Science Fiction pick this one up, its a concise, highly captivating read

H G Wells has awakened the world with his art of tale through the travel of time. He is the inspiration of every time travel writer in existence today, with no exception, myself included. Along with great classics like Twenty-thousand Leagues Under the Sea, I remember the first time reading these classics. I was in awe. Though time travel, a genre given life by H G Wells is the ultimate epic sci-fi adventure. The very idea of time travel has opened the eyes of every imagination in my soul. The ramifications are endless. H G Well's Time Machine is my favorite, all time story. Even when you think of how the future looked as grim as it did thousands of years from the story line's origination, one only needs to remember that this tale is merely one possiblity of billions that could be changed with a simple act of maybe a push of a button or even less. I believe THAT was the message Wells was revealing to us all. This is a very well written story that I highly recommend to anyone of any age or time. This very book was my biggest inspiration since I was first able to read.

I enjoyed this book. It's about a man that we only know as the "Time Traveler" who obviously invents a time machine and he goes into the future and ends up meeting up with the friendly Eloi, and befriends Weena, an Eloi. While he is with the Eloi his time machine goes missing. He finds the Morlocks, which Wells describes as ghostly apes. They are the reason that everything works so well for the Eloi, but they only prove as food for the Eloi.

In the end he gets his time machine back and hurries back to his own time to tell all of the other scientists about his journey. This is how this book is written, in first person, the point of view of the time traveler.

If you liked War of the Worlds than this is a must read.

Wells, H.G. Time Machine, The
December 1992, Tom Doherty Associates,LLC.

As I stated in my other reviews, I normally don't enjoy science fiction novels; this book I had to read for school. As I read what I expected to be a boring and unentertaining novel, my opinion changed, and I became more open to enjoying the story. I found that it was an enchanting novel that no one should pass up. H. G. Wells made the story come alive and he made the setting, set in the future, somewhere you feel could possibly exist as his descriptions are so vivid and his wording fanominal. Read this story and your beliefs on time travel and the way earth will turn out in the future will change. H.G. Wells gives you somthing to ponder while you enjoy the sentences that flow together like the river he describes. H.G. Wells makes an unknown world seem familiar and is an expert in his proffesion. I guaranty this book will send powerful astonishment and awe up and through your mind.

I am sure that you have seen the movies that have been made from this book, there are quite a few and most of them are very entertaining. Unfortunately none of the movies that I have seen have captured the social meaning behind this book. Certainly they have the adventure part down pat, but the rest of it is changed, for the times I'm sure. I would advise those of you who love Sci-fi to read this book, and to those of you, like myself who have a hard time getting into that genera, look at this as a classic and read it anyway.

The unnamed inventor of a time machine, known only as the traveler, leaves his home to travel forward through time. Seeing drastic changes in the world he finally settles on a distant future to get out and explore. He quickly meets tiny humans which he refers to as the Eloi. They are fair to look at, complete ADD cases with little to no true knowledge or skills. The Traveler attempts to communicate with them and has some difficulty. He spends a great deal of time in this futuristic world and discovers that the Eloi are not alone in this new world, and that their counterparts are far more sinister.

One of the biggest changes made in the movies is the cause of the split between the Eloi and the Morlocks. It is very interesting to read Well's actual reasoning, which is the separation and elitism between the social classes. This becomes more defined and is the actual basis of the entire novel. Rather than being a true Sci-Fi book, this really is about Victorian Society and what it would look like if left unchanged for 800,000 years. Because this book only vaguely touches on the science involved, it is likely to never be outdated. Though this is not a fast read by any means, it is a fun and meaningful one. I don't know that I would hand it to a 10 year old because odds are they would be bored before he even leaves for the trip. However if you can take a deep breath and leave our societies mindset behind (the theory that everything needs to be exploding and that we all need instantaneous gratification at all times) this is a brilliant piece of fiction that spans several genres and is in fact as timeless as the Traveler.