This is thick, though not necessarily physically so: very small type written in language that is very hard to read linearly. That said, this tome is absolutely FILLED with bits of gaming wisdom.

I've never actually been able to pick this up and read it from start to finish due to the dry, rambling language used. I've skimmed through it though more times than I can count, going over some sections more than others.

This combination of reading difficulty mixed with my only being able to skim the material has given the book an almost magical quality: I've found that I can pretty reliably pick the book up, open it to a section I'm interested in reading about, and be almost assured that I'll read something I haven't read before (or don't remember reading). Quite frequently this "new" section will have some pearl of wisdom embedded in it that I've never seen before. I'd swear Gygax somehow cast a spell on the book ("Book of Infinite Wisdom"?).

Also, the Appendices are a gold mine. TONS of tables mixed with information that any fan of these types of games would love (Appendix N, looking at you).

I easily rate this 5 stars as a book that I love and hold dear. But as a gaming reference I find this a bit harder to rate. I know I could bookmark the sections I need to know, but part of the charm of playing this version of D&D is in how loose it plays. Why bother then?

I've been meaning to read this for years now, having heard so many great things about it.

Ender's Game has been really hard for me to rate. I thought the story was good, a classic sci-fi war novel with a great moral. I liked the characters as they were very believable (for the most part). The science was interesting and I enjoyed that they left most to the imagination. The action was also portrayed well. All that said, nothing really stands out as being "exceptional" when I think back on it. Really good, yes, but not exceptional. Maybe I've been spoiled by more recent sci-fi/fantasy (Old Man's War, Hunger Games).

Overall a good sci-fi story and a fun ride. Liked it.

I finished this awhile ago but haven't had time to write a review.

I really liked this and wished I would have read it sooner (Kel is a fan and told me to read it years ago). A lot trippier than I thought it'd be, the story follows Morpheus, otherwise known as "Dream" or "The Sandman", as he's accidently imprisoned by a sorceror attempting to capture Death. With Dream imprisoned, humanity's sanity begins to suffer...

I thought the story got a lot better as it went on, with the last story being especially awesome (the story with Death). I was also very surprised that these stories take place in the same "universe" as both John Constantine and the Justice League (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, etc.).

I really like this world/character that Gaiman has created and am looking forward to reading more.

Went to the library with the girls and picked this up on a whim.

I had heard good things about this series and I wasn't dissapointed. This is a great fantasy story that can be read by kids and yet still has a very gritty feel to it that keeps the story very tense.

It is very obvious that the author has put considerable time thinking about the different aspects of a mouse's life in this world. This world, though no different from our own beyond anthropomorphic animals, is very dangerous for mice. The book does a fantastic job of conveying a sense that danger lurks around every corner.

Although the art does an excellent job in helping to give the world a gritty feeling, there were several times I found it really hard to distinguish between certain mice. That said, each mouse has a ton of character making me both grow attached to each and causing the story to become that much more tense as they're constantly threatened.

The author has crafted an incredible little world for these mice to live in. Great book.

In my last review of this series I said I was going to step away from it for awhile. I decided to read "one more" issue (#18?) and a few things happened that hinted that there was something hugely bigger going on with the story that I wasn't really grasping before. This REALLY hooked me in. Spent the next week reading the whole rest of the series. Extremely glad I made it through.

To be honest there are a ton of points in the middle of the series that, at the time, seemed drawn out with little to no purpose. Then the end hits. Like a sledgehammer to the temple. It was a good thing Kel was already asleep when I finished because I was a bawling idiot for a few minutes after finishing. This story will stick with me for a LONG time and I think I'm probably going to have to read the series again (if not several times). Mostly just to go back through those moments where I was thinking the story was moving too slowly, and enjoy them.

Note for those that don't know this series' author: he was one of the writers for LOST, and there are a lot of themes that played through this series that were also very prevalent in LOST. There is A LOT more to the story than finding answers to questions. The questions might keep you going, but sometimes it's just about enjoying the time you have with those you love.

Great story for fans of the X-Men, and very "Joss Whedon". I loved that the first few pages gave a history of the main points in the X-Men timeline so far, even though there were still a lot of things that came up in the story that suggested previous knowledge was needed to fully understand what was going on (who the hell is Agent Brand?!?).

And I think this is why I tend to steer away from the main Marvel and DC universe comics: there is just too much to keep track of, stuff that could have happened dozens of issues ago in a completely different series. I know some people love all the intertwining stories in these comics, but sometimes it can be a bit too much for me.

That said, taken on it's own I liked this book. This isn't the X-Men that I grew up loving as Kurt and Ororo are missing, but I liked the dynamic of the new team. I did have a few qualms with the story as a few elements seemed to dissappear without warning, but I probably should have expected that to happen being part of a continuing series.

Still really like this series even though they constantly kill off my favorite characters. Damnit.

I'm sure the twist in this volume is going to be screwing with Frank for a long time... ALL the characters suddenly got A LOT harder, possibly crossing a lines they can't "uncross". I have a feeling things are going to get... bizarre soon.

Think I'm going to step away from this series for awhile. I really like the story but I don't find myself invested in the characters that much.

Then again, the series is "complete" (only 60 issues / 10 volumes total)... we'll see.

Incredible. Probably the best piece of "sequential art" I've ever read. The story follows the experience of a husband/father leaving his family behind as he immigrates to a foreign land. Although there is no dialogue, only pictures, it blows my mind how much empathy is captured on each page. The feelings of heartache, loneliness, and foreign "otherness" are portrayed so well. But it's not all sad; there is a lot of humor in figuring out this new world.

I absolutely loved this and can't recommend it highly enough.

Written by the son of Stephen King, I wasn't really expecting much from Joe Hill (pseudonym). After about a third of the way into it, I was really confused as to why this series was so popular as so much of the plot seems to be old hat when it comes to horror. I just about gave up on the book.

Then something funny happened: I lent the book to my grandmother. She's a big fan of horror and after seeing the cover and asking what it was, was interested in a book by Stephen King's son. A few hours after having lent it to her, she handed it back to me saying "This was REALLY good, where can I get the rest?"

Reading the rest of the book, a few things started happening that really intrigued me. Those plot points that seemed so tired before started to get screwed up. It also really helped that the Locke family is both believable and likeable (so far at least) and that you don't want anything bad to happen to them.

Although I'm not hugely impressed (yet), I liked it and will continue to read it as I have a feeling things are going to get a lot more interesting.

I really like this series so far and the direction the story is going. I can't imagine reading this when it first came out and having to wait till the next book was published to find out how the end is resolved: yeah, the book has a non-ending that would have been extremely frustrating.

Recommended for fans of urban fantasy, detective stories, and cheesy dialogue.

These volumes are really quick (and fun!) reads. This one had a lot more dialogue than previous volumes, but this only made the volume thicker as there is still a ton of action. I really like the characters and how they're each evolving and the story is great. So far this is a really wonderful adventure.

It makes me so happy to see either of our two readers paging through this as the story and characters are so good. I'm thinking we may need to own the series (we get most of the books we read from the library) as I think I've seen the oldest go through each at least twice.

I really like the Mignola "Hellboy: ... and Others" collections and this one was no different. These trade paperbacks collect some of the short stories that are interjected throughout the main Hellboy timeline. Most focus on some weird amalgamation of fables, legends, and fairy tales that Mignola has given a little twist to. They also usually have a page or so write-up before each where Mike explains some of his background in creating the story: where the idea came from and how it evolved over time.

My favorite in this collection was the Blackbeard story, especially with the appearance of Abe Sapien. Legend has it that the headless ghost of Blackbeard still wanders up and down the eastern seaboard looking for its head. As bad-luck would have it, some boardwalk psychic stumbles across Blackbeard's skull in an antique shop, realizes what it is, and determines to reunite the ghost with its head (for a price, of course). Hellboy and company don't think this is such a great idea and try to intervene...

I didn't really like the main Crooked Man story at first as I'm not a huge fan of what I thought was going to turn out to be the typical "scary Appalachians" theme. Mignola did an excellent job though of mixing Appalachian culture and really creepy folk tales together just right to produce a story that ended up being both unsettling and genuinely scary. The end, though a bit anticlimactic, was hilarious and very "Hellboy".