Global Inc.: An Atlas of the Multinational Corporation

Book Description

"In the future there will be two kinds of corporations; those that go global, and those that go bankrupt."—C. Michael Armstrong, CEO, AT&T

Of the 100 largest economies in the world, 53 are corporations. A handful of corporate giants control most of the world's energy, technology, food, banks, industry, and media. Yet despite the ubiquity of enormous multinationals and their tremendous economic, social, political, and environmental presence in the world, the history and character of corporate entities remains largely unknown, daunting, and inaccessible to the general public.

Global, Inc. is an atlas that charts this new, multinational geography. It features an extraordinary series of specially commissioned full-color maps that make clear the tremendous and surprising reach of individual corporations such as General Motors, Toyota, IBM, AT&T, Microsoft, British Petroleum, and AOL Time Warner, as they have spread out across the globe. Colorful explanatory charts and graphs help illustrate, among other phenomena, the meteoric rise of today's MNCs: from the opening up of ancient trade routes and the early colonization companies of the 17th through 19th centuries, to the international trade flows and cross-border mergers and acquisitions of today's modern multinationals.

The product of several years of collaborative research by leading historians and geographers, Global, Inc. is the first book to examine multinational corporations from a truly global perspective and in atlas format. Impartial, accessible, and endlessly engrossing, Global, Inc. offers a penetrating look at one of the most powerful phenomena on the planet in the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews:

First Rate Visualization, Can Be Applied to Everything.......2007-02-21

I was trained in the 1970's, and did my undergraduate thesis on "Multinational Corporations: Home and Country Issues." I could have used this stellar book back then. It does for multinational corporations what "Global Reach" by Richard Barnett did, in the 1970's, but with a powerful method adapted from "State of the World" atlases.

This book could easily be converted into an online interactive serious game for change useful not only to students, but to governments. The book not only charts where and how much the multinationals are doing, but it goes into direct impacts (both benefits and external diseconomies), concluding with an absolutely brilliant section on effects of both governments and multinational corporations across the economic, health, environment, technology, culture, education, and law sectors.

The graphics are in a class by themselves, the notes are effective and to the point (if you're over 50 as I am, you may need granny glasses for some of the fine print), the overall layout is very well done, and the sources as well as the index are top-notch.

One of the principal authors of this book, Medard Gabel, was associated with Buckminster Fuller when they conceptualized the World Game, which today is still an analog gtame with cards, token, and hard-copy maps. The author has moved on to found BigPictureSmallWorld, producing serious games on hunger and other topics, and he points with great respect to Real Lives, by his friend and colleague Bob Runyan, which can be downloaded such that your teen-ager can experience the real life of a Bangladeshi girl or an Iraqi teen-ager before the US invasion.

Not only is this book tremendous on substance, I believe it is, along with State of the World Atlas and other similar books that I have reviewed in the past, the first view of what a real-time live online Earth Game will look like, where individuals can "game" and learn and act at the zip code level, the state/province level, the national level, and the global levels, first setting their social values, then interacting with the ten high level threats, the twelve policies, and the eight major players other than the EU and the US. From such a game will come informed engaged citizens who will demand moral capitalism and honest democracy.

I don't want to over-sell this book, so take the following with a grain of salf: this book is to serious games as the printing press was to the democratization of knowledge. The next big leap for mankind is going to be the use of serious games for change to help individuals at every socio-economic level and in every ideo-cultural milieu, "make sense" of all information in all languages all the time. We are now ready for the Earth Game that will allow the people to complete with elites in publicly solving global problems, and it is my view, and I believe also the view of at least one of the authors of this book, that the people working within an open global game will soundly defeat the elites who have relied for too long on very expensive secret intelligence and the deception and manipulation of public opinion, while restricting public knowledge. That era is OVER, and this book is one of the building blocks for the new world of public intelligence in the public service.

Huh?.......2005-07-30

Um, sure....if your students are up to reading 500-1000 page UN reports (and I think you mean UNCTAD.ORG), then by all means, send them straight to the source.

If, on the other hand, you need a reasonable distillation of a fairly massive amount of data for use in, say, an undergrad level business or social science course, then this book is first-rate.

Mentally and technically sloppy writing.......2004-07-12

Don't let the name of the great business thinker, Alfred Chandler, an advisor on this book, mislead you about this book. The book is mentally and technically sloppy. Mentally, the comparison of GNP to total corporate receipts is nonsense - ideological pap. The GNP of Israel is less than the corporate receipts for Ford. What does that tell you? Ford has automotive competitors, shareholders and no army --- the comparison is ideologically motivated anti-business nonsense.

Technically, among the numerous errors I found, the worst was the statement that Wal-Mart had 60% of the U.S. retail market. Wal-Mart actually has 6% of the U.S. retail market.

It's about time..........2004-01-11

It's about time someone came up with a book like this. After reading George Melloan's column in the Wall St. Journal I picked up the book that he cited; one Global Inc. This modest gem of a book packs a real wallop, distilling and dividing thousands of otherwise arcane facts and figures into a tangible(and worrisome) source that pretty much confirms one's worst fears when it comes to globalization. A must have for both my high school and college econ. students.

Book Description

Since the publication of Burrell and Morgan 's Sociological Paradigms and Organization Theory in 1979, organization studies has been the site of lively debate, centered on significant 'paradigm differences' between theorists who take divergent positions on a range of important research issues. In this volume, major figures in the field articulate these opposing arguments in an innovative 'point' and 'counterpoint' structure. Leading exponents of different theories, including Bill McKelvey, Karl E. Weick, Barbara Czarniawska, Roderick M. Kramer and Lex Donaldson, present their case in counterpoint to their adversaries, challenging readers to engage in the dialogue. The arguments are signposted in an introduction by the editors, who are acclaimed academics in their own right.The volume as a whole serves as an original and timely introduction to the central tensions and debates in organization studies, while its multifaceted approach celebrates the productive heterogeneity of the field.

Book Description

This is the third volume of a handbook which covers the whole field of soil mechanics, discussing deterministic and stochastic theories and methods, and showing how they can be used in conjunction with one another. The first volume discusses soil physics, while the second deals with the determination of physical characteristics of the soil. Australian Mining wrote of the Handbook ``a valuable addition to the extensive literature on the topic and will be found to be more useful than most.''

The main objective of the third volume is to present solutions to the problems of engineering practice. It deals with the most important theoretical and practical problems of soil mechanics, discussing the following in detail: stability of earthworks, load-bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations, design of pile foundations, soil mechanics in road construction, improving the physical properties of soils, the characteristics of soil dynamics, foundations for machines and soil behaviour as affected by earthquakes. The book not only presents up-to-date deterministic methods, but also discusses solutions of probability theory in the fields of design and safety.

The book is divided into six chapters covering the stability of slopes, landslides, load-bearing capacity and settlement of shallow foundations and pile foundations, soil mechanics in road construction, and the improvement of the physical characteristics of soil with special emphasis on machine foundations and earthquakes, giving detailed treatment of each subject. For example, the first chapter deals not only with the stability of slopes, but also discusses the natural and artificial effects, slope protection, filter design, stresses in embankments, and the time factor. In this way, the book gives a clear and comprehensive picture of the special fields of soil mechanics and its subjects. It is therefore emminently suitable for postgraduate engineers, and engineers working in the fields of geotechnics, earthworks, foundations, road construction, engineering geology and statistics, and the design of structures.

Book Description

In this masterful rebuttal to the prevailing neuroscientific arguments that seek to explain away consciousness, Merlin Donald presents "a sophisticated conception of a multilayered consciousness drawing much of its power from its cultural matrix" (Booklist). Donald makes "a persuasive case...for consciousness as the central player in the drama of mind" (Peter Dodwell), as he details the forces, both cultural and neuronal, that power our distinctively human modes of awareness. He proposes that the human mind is a hybrid product, interweaving a super-complex form of matter (the brain) with an invisible symbolic web (culture) to form a "distributed" cognitive network. This hybrid mind, he argues, is our main evolutionary advantage, for it allowed humanity as a species to break free of the limitations of the mammalian brain.

Customer Reviews:

Damage control for constructivists, connectoplasm.......2007-01-05

This is a strange book, and I couldn't figure out why until about page 225. Donald starts out even on page one lumping a collection of psychologists into a group, and then stereotyping and belittling them. This went on until about page 50. The problem: many of them actually disagreed with each other about the nature of the mind. It was clear that his attacks were unfair. But why?

Then he grandly claims to have a new, improved theory of consciousness. Here is where the book becomes strangely split. One the one hand, he proposes some structures of the mind that may be novel, but which look somewhat like the work of some of the researchers that he had just belittled. He describes structures of the brain and proposes a function he calls episodic awareness. This is the part of the book that I like. But then he insists on welding this new structure to a hypothesis that I find highly speculative (read wrong). He claims that the human brain is a hybird, partly built by biology and partly built by culture. Nothing in his brain / mind science requires that this odd connection be made. Because of this claim, he takes a number of odd positions, such as that novelists are better psychologists that psychologists are, and that language is a cultural skill rather than an instinct. He makes the whopper of a claim that the associative learning of neural nets is responsible for consciousness.

Finally, past page 200, he comes out of the closet. He is actually a connectivist, one of the tradition that was cut to pieces by Steven Pinker in "How the Mind Works." So the better part of his book is his contribution to mind science, which is not incompatible with evolutionary/modular psychology. However, the book's opening attacks and odd hypothesis of humans as cultural cyborgs comes from his desire to reject the modular theory of the mind for the higher faculties of the human thought. In this book, he tries to allow some of the modular brain organization--and here he may actually be making a contribution to mind science--without relinquishing most of the human mind's unique abilities from the connectivist programme. For more details, see my review on WorldCat.

apples and oranges.......2005-12-05

first: I haven't finished reading the book and am not sure I will
second: Donald readily acknowledges that there are multiple meanings to the word consciousness, he then takes one meaning "the creative engine itself, [...] the center of human genius". He even acknowledges that "this book proposes a theory of consciousness that [...] does not try to 'explain' how awareness could have emerged from a material thing such as a brain". But then he starts to slash against anyone (like e.g. Dennett) who tries to develop such explanations. He is so consumed in fighting against the 'hardliners' that his own theory is invisible and often rests on his (ours) intuition that there must be "somebody home". He even compares the telling of such theories with telling someone that his parents are "Jack the Ripper and Elsa, She-Wolf of the SS" (p. 45). Strong picture but weak argument.

I think his further arguments about complex interactions like an evening long conversation about a film has its merits, showing that there is something more about culture and consciousness, memory and inter-subject communication, than what someone like Dennett (or Pinker) is trying to explain. But that is the point: they are trying to explain a different meaning of the word consciousness: "How does it work on a basic level, how could consciousness 'become' and not how it evolved from there. So Donald in his attacks is comparing apples to oranges and that makes his book a pain to read.

A turning point that deserves to become a classic........2005-07-11

This book is so good and so important, rich in ideas as solid in all its construction one just cannot believe that nobody nominated it to a book award or something of the sort; meanwhile all the attention seems to be directed to a bunch of rambling, pedantic and even dangerous literature on the subject of mind and consciousness. This is the kind of work and reflection that puts an order in the landscape at the same time it delivers a wonderful experience to the reader. Merlin Donald is a psychologist with an important experimental background nevertheless he achieves magnificent philosophical work reaching a level of concretion and clarity related with Wittgenstein's best insights on the true grounds that support meaning and language at the time he achieves as well -I think without realizing about it- the aim of the German thinker Ernst Cassirer in outlining a view of the unity of the multilayered human nature. Yes, that's the guy and he reaches the peak-the summit of what others only envisioned- with humility, maybe without having philosophical concerns as his prime issues. One of the Merlin's Donald great contributions is that he realizes that to defend the very idea of consciousness against the oracles of the mind that sustains it is not much more than a computational device (those who dismiss consciousness as a mere "folk psychology") it is not necessary to adopt a dualist stance on the mind-body problem (In this he converges with John Searle but with a more powerful arsenal of resources). On the contrary on a materialistic approach it is possible to grasp the centrality role of consciousness in the human mind as the only way that it can connect and make transactions with a network of other minds in that environment known as society or culture. Thus Merlin Donald postulates a Biocultural approach, contrasting with the Sociobiology/ Evolutionary-Psychology approach (Pinker) allies (Churchlands) and propagandists (Denett) whom share the problem that they can not grasp the key role of consciousness on the functioning of the mind because they cannot understand the role of enculturation as the decisive turning point in the evolution of our species. At the end their conception of the human mind is for them a solipsistic modular device, with everything already packed in it in order to work. Contrasting with that Merlin Donald shows that a community of minds (culture) scaffolds the level of awareness of each of its nodes(individual minds)by changing their architecture and states, demanding for one and each of them consciousness process in order to follow the coordinates and cues of that artificial environment that overlaps the natural environment. Once this is established he develops its fascinating implications in the domains of human world and action.

Don't waste your time on other overprized books on the subject. This one is crucial. The fact that it seldom features in "listmanias" on mind and consciousness it is either because they are dated or just reflect uncritically the prevalent fashion on the field.

A Game of Words.......2004-01-30

Donald's A MIND SO RARE was an enjoyable read. It is probably the only book that I enjoyed reading, while disagreeing with almost all the conclusions that the author has reached.
I think the attack on hardliners is a game of words. Donald disagrees with how Dennett, for instance, defines consciousness. I think the hardliners might refer to the phenomenological aspects of consciousness as epiphenomenal, however, they view the functional aspects (online represtation of the world) as a crucial to survival.
I found the distinction of different levels of awareness that Donald overviews very helpful. I might disagree however, that all aspects of the intermediate term/long term awareness are conscious. I think that they are reducible to short term memories bound in time by unconscious processes.
The case that Donald makes for enculturation as key for making of the human consciousness is fascinating. I think the book would have been much better if he got straight into that point. It is confusing to try to connect his arguments in the begging of the book to those at the end. However, I give this book 4 stars for being such a great source of information.

Consciousness from genetic thru cultural evolution.......2002-08-07

As a concerned reader I will explain, briefly, what I took from the book, and not critique the negatives. One strength seems to be a multidisciplinary approach. Merlin Donald is a research psychologist and makes an effort to draw from Psychological, Cognative, Neurological, and Evolutionary sciences; as well as literature.

Points: the shift of evolutionary importance from genetic to cultural in the hominid line; recognition of a fourth layer in human mental evolution, that of cultural memory (which he calls "external" memory in his fourth or Theoretic layer); and consideration of the whole of human consciousness.

Donald has expanded on his "Origins of the Human Mind" ('93) with exploring how culture has outstripped genetics in co-evolution with supporting the emergence of Homo Erectus, and then structuring the extended consciousness and symbol manipulation of Homo Sapiens Sapiens.

He postulated a fourth Theoretic layer (after Episotic, Mimetic, and Mythic layers) as an "external symbolic universe", or recorded symbols, or "external memory". But before recorded symbols, the past was only recovered by recall, by both speaker and, often, the listener. Recall must be distinguished from memory (as recorded symbols), for recall of past events or thoughts or moods must be incomplete and personal, whereas using recorded symbols is about interpretation, which is as complete as the writer and reader choose to make it, and is social. If people insist in using 'memory' for 'recall', then recorded symbols should be called 'cultural memory', but it is critically different.

Donald attempts an evolutionary analysis of the integrated, whole of consciousness. Since I am more interested in the human emotional (value) systems than in consciousness, I have one critical comment. Donald ignores the role of emotions in consciousness, which is to leave out feelings (which are the conscious perception of emotions), and the role of emotions in guiding consciousness. Emotions (or values) on several layers interact with most cognative functions.

Average customer rating:
A Mind So Rare: The Evolution of Human Consciousness
Merlin Donald
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MC4H3M

Book Description

Citation Details

Distributed by ProQuest Information and Learning

Cell behaviour: Shape, adhesion and motility : the second Abercrombie Conference : proceedings of the British Society for Cell Biology-The Company of Biologists ... Oxford, April 1987 (Journal of cell science)

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Cell behaviour: Shape, adhesion and motility : the second Abercrombie Conference : proceedings of the British Society for Cell Biology-The Company of Biologists ... Oxford, April 1987 (Journal of cell science)

Manufacturer: Company of Biologists
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Natural History | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0948601124

Peptide/biomaterial hybrids as substrates for endothelial cell adhesion, spreadin motility, and proliferation

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Peptide/biomaterial hybrids as substrates for endothelial cell adhesion, spreadin motility, and proliferation
Joseph Charles Huebsch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006PG7K6

Schwann Cell Adhesion: A sticky situation

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Schwann Cell Adhesion: A sticky situation
Jeffrey Davis Pardun
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006P3J3E

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Very good and easy Read

Attitude IS Everything!

Personal experience

Easy to Read, Fascinating Behavioral Observations

A Great read!

Golf: How Good Do You Want to Be?
Bill Kroen
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Golf | Coaching | Sports | Subjects | Books
Psychology | Golf | Coaching | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Golf | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0740741934

Book Description

Golf's popularity has gone through the roof in the last five years. It is now a $26 billion industry, with approximately 26 million golfers. A stream of golf picture books and mediocre how-to books followed this surge. But, finally, here's an easy to read and understand instructional book to help adult players sharpen their skills. Most golfers never improve once they reach adulthood. Author Bill Kroen wants to help those golfers get past that and take their game to a new level. Readers will learn how to learn the game, not just how to swing; they'll gain a greater sense of awareness of the total golf experience, and they will finally learn how to take their practice game to the golf course.Drawing on his background in psychology, Kroen directs his readers to envision the results they want. Then they can put what they read into practice without the confusion caused by most instructional books. Golf: How Good Do You Want to Be' offers a blueprint for resourceful practice and practical application with chapters including "The Mental Connection," "The Art of Practice," "Thinking Your Way Around the Course," and "Scoring Well." Bill Kroen is the author of Andrews McMeel's Golf Tip-a-Day Calendar, which has sold more than one million copies since its first year of publication

Customer Reviews:

Very good and easy Read.......2004-11-02

Bill makes reading fun and very informative in this book. The personal stories and reflections make this a book hard to put down except for the fact you want to go out and try his suggestions.

Golf can be very frustrating at times but Bill's book has taken a lot of the frustration out of the game for me. Thanks

Attitude IS Everything!.......2004-04-25

Just finished reading Bill's new book, "Golf: How Good Do You Want to Be?".

I'm impressed. I gotta level with ya, not very many instructional golf books that I buy end up getting read all the way through. Somewhere in the midst of planes, angles, and differing philosophies, I tend to drastically lose interest. And most all of them fail to address what most of us agree to be the most important area in golf -- the mental aspects of the game. Well, Bill has done a wonderful job of not only providing the reader with an excellent mental foundation to build upon, but also touching on the basic fundamentals and principles of the swing and 'golf wellness.'

I've experienced some quality golf the past few rounds, and it's not just a coincidence that this came after reading some of Bill's insight to something that has been a nagging nuisance in my own game the past few years -- maintaining a mental edge for the entire 18 holes. While some of the consistency may have been lacking in my game, I was able to exercise some of the principles he outlined to keep focused. What normally would be average rounds turned out to be better than average results. Monday saw the resurgance of what used to be a very tidy short game. I had one of the best putting rounds in over a year, and actually tied my 9 hole personal best with only 12 putts on the back nine. Then today, I set a new personal best with only 11 putts on the back, 26 putts total for the round.

And it just hasn't been with the putting.... I'm not known to be a long baller. If I can get 230-240, I'm more than content most days. Monday was undoubtedly the best tee game I've had in years, and hit some of the longest, straightest balls off the tee that I've hit in years. I would estimate that my driving averages the past three rounds have increased in both fairways hit and total driving distance. All of a sudden those 400+ yard par4's aren't that long.

The information that Bill has translated through this book has been digested and applied. I didn't change my swing, just changed my way of thinking, planning, and preparing. Whether you're a twice a month or twice a week player, beginner or seasoned, I would higly recommend you check it out if you're serious about improving in the game.

Thanks, Bill!
Scott

Personal experience.......2004-04-17

Bill and I have played golf over the last winter down in the Treasure Coast of Florida. I was one of those people hung up on mechanics - striving to regain my lost distance and capability as a former 9 handicap. After meeting Bill - and having him look at my swing during one practice session, Bill focused not on what I thought was wrong - but on what he saw. He gave me a drill to use to insure that I made a turn but kept balanced - and lo and behold my handicap started dropping - and now is approaching my former levels. ( I am now 65)

Bill's book reads like the man I know who so easily helped me. Read it and you may get to be as good as you want to be.

Dave Friedman

Easy to Read, Fascinating Behavioral Observations.......2004-04-08

I recommend this book for golfers at all levels. Unlike some other "how to" books I've read, it is well written. It makes you think about why you play golf and suggests that improving your mental approach is as important as improving your mechanical skills. I loved the descriptions of behaviors observed at the driving range. I look forward to better scores and to Mr. Kroen's next book.

A Great read!.......2004-04-03

This book is a must for learning how to take your game to the next level. Easy to read and loaded with great stories and ways to become a really good player without mumbo jumbo. This is the real thing for learning to play great golf!

Average customer rating:

Test review

My buddy recommeded it to me

Hard to find; worth the effort

Best Study Guide for the Public Speaking Dante Test

DSST Principles of Public Speaking (Dantes Series) (Dantes Series : No. 59)
Jack Rudman
Manufacturer: National Learning Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb

General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Education | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Test Prep Central | Reference | Subjects | Books
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DSST Technical Writing (DANTES series) (Dantes Series : No. 43)

ASIN: 0837366593

Customer Reviews:

Test review.......2007-09-14

The book is mostly all tests, but it did help me study and helped me understand what to expect.

My buddy recommeded it to me.......2005-09-03

My buddy recommended this DANTES study book, and it is definitely worth picking up if you are looking for a good way to pick up credits.

Hard to find; worth the effort.......2001-06-16

This book is hard to come by, but well worth all the searching if you are planning to take the DANTES principles of Public Speaking Exam for college credit. Jack Rudman's guides have been useful to me in taking (and passing) five different DANTES exams. For anyone who doesn't know, DANTES are like CLEP but originally started by the military. Official info can be found at getcollegecredit.com on the program.

This guides is comprehensive. It provides copies of all the official preparation materials provided by the Chauncey Group (who administers the test), along with many practice tests taken from old exams, examples of figures of speech and other important parts of public speaking, articles and excerpts from books and magazine about public speaking, as well as a glossary of public speaking basics. If you find yourself getting stuck on any of the practice tests in certain areas, look in the glossary to help review that subject. For this exam you will have to give a speech on tape on a topic chosen by the Chauncey Group. You must pass both the written and oral sections to earn credit.

Best Study Guide for the Public Speaking Dante Test.......2000-10-03

I highly reccomend this book to anyone who is wanting to take the Public Speaking Dante Exam. This book provided all teh informtion in order to blow away the test. I was really suprised that it was helpful as it was. I wish I would have found this book before my countless hours of searching book stores for a good stdy guide.

This book is a must to you Dantes Collection..

Book Description

At last, Claidi and her beloved Argul are free to get married. But before they can start their life together, Claidi must face her past. They return to her birthplace, the House, to rescue the other slaves—and find that there has been a revolution, sparked by Claidi's escape. Then the two are urgently summoned by Ironel Novendot of the Wolf Tower, who tells them that Ustareth is alive. Ustareth, the mother of Argul and Venn, the science-sorceress, who has perhaps manipulated each of them for their entire lives. Now she wants them all to visit her—but to what end?

Customer Reviews:

A great fantasy read!.......2006-06-21

This is the last in the series but certainly not the least entertaining. Witty and funny it keeps you on you toes the entire time. It is great to see Claidi finally accept who she is and settle down (finally) with Argul. I recommend that you read this book last and start with Wolf Tower, otherwise you will be completely lost. Have fun reading this book, it is great.

A bad ending to a series with a great start.......2006-06-01

The first book of this series was definitely the best, in my opinion. As the series continues, the plot twists get infinitely more confusing, and you find yourself lost in the happenings. This last book was such a disappointment - the reasons for everything were almost too complicated to understand, and I had to cross reference all the other books in order to remember what exactly was going on and what had happened.

If you're looking for a great read, read the first book. If you want to continue into a series that you will eventually extremely dislike, keep reading.

5th book please!.......2005-02-06

This along with the first 3 books was an excellent read. I couldn't put it down. I felt like I was Claidi, experiencing her frustration and grief. Although there probably won't be, I hope that there will be a 5th book, even though this one is said to be the final installment, but it said that in the back of my second book for the third one.

"I've Had the Courage to Call my Sons Back to Me...".......2004-12-07

"Wolf Wing" is the forth and final book in the Claidi journals, a quartet of books that narrated the young heroine's journey from slavery to freedom, and her untangling of the many mysteries and conspiracies around her, all in diary form. After many adventures in the first three books, Claidi is finally reunited with her beloved Argul, and together they plan their marriage and the return to Claidi's previous home, the House, in order to release the slaves.

But once again, nothing is what it seems. On returning to the House Claidi and her new husband find that the slaves do not need their help - on the night of Claidi's escape, the slaves overthrew their former masters and now live in relative peace and harmony. The spoilt Jade Leaf, who once threatened Claidi with a vicious whipping, is now servant to those she once bullied mercilessly. But the Old Lady Jizania Tiger, who instigated the whole thing seems to have something more up her sleeve: calling Claidi, Argul and another slave Dengwei (who led the revolt) to her, she reveals that the famous Ironel - matriarch of the Wolf Tower - has summoned them to her home, promising to reveal more information concerning the enigmas surrounding them.

Once there, readers are treated to a reunion, as major characters from all the previous books turn up: Nemian, Winter Raven, Venn and Ngarbo arrive in order to hear Ironel's news. And the news she reveals is shocking: Venn and Argul's mother, the famous sorceress Ustareth that has meddled in these characters lives from beyond the grave with her plans and charms...is in fact alive. Astonished by such a fact, these characters (with the exception of Nemian) decide to travel in Yinyay (the moving tower) to her land in order to confront her...

For the final book in the series, it's a satisfactory conclusion - giving us wrap-ups to all the main characters, and finally letting us meet the figure that's been behind all their confusion and grief. Tanith Lee continues to create vivid, interesting and beautiful settings as well as intrigue in the form of the (quite spooky) moving statues and the way in which all six characters separately approach Ustareth's citadel. The diary entries are once more realistic, thoughtful and poignant and you can tell Claidi herself has grown as a character when compared to her writing in "Wolf Tower" - the changes were never obvious, but are definitely there.

Throughout the entire series I was often frustrated with the lack of coherence and grandeur in the plots concerning Claidi and those around her: rather than any dark and deep meaning to them, the `bad-guys' do what they do out of pettiness, personal gain and family issues. My grievances that these plots weren't clearly drawn out or explained remain, but my feelings on the fact that the reasons behind the ongoing `mystery' were somewhat shallow have changed. Tanith Lee is a wonderful author, and I have to admire the originality in creating a fantasy series that wasn't about good or evil, world domination, tragic romances or myriads of fantasy races. This was simply about a young girl who was caught up in the selfish designs of others. Once you understand this, I think you'll be able to appreciate these books better.

Which is not to say these four books are completely without their flaws - they can get quite confusing at times and it's tricky keeping track of all the clues and mysteries that Lee gives us, and some of the revelations (concerning Ustareth's decisions and Claidi's powers) at the end didn't seem to make much sense. I also dislike the way they are divided into separate volumes - it makes it immensely difficult to track down all the books in order to get the complete story (and rest assured, you cannot read them out of order). The Claidi quartet does not have my highest recommendation - if you have too much trouble understanding or even finding these books, then don't get too worked up. However if you want a light, but interesting read, then you could do worse than "Wolf Tower", "Wolf Star", "Wolf Queen" and "Wolf Wing."

Not to be missed.......2004-10-16

the conclusion to this series was very good, although shorter than expected. It ties up all the loose ends and provides us with a satisfactory ending.
Storyline: learning that the infamous sorceress parent of her husband is NOT after all dead, Claidi and he set out to find her, resulting in a rather interesting family & character reunion.
All sorts of interesting new gizmos and concepts are introduced and I felt could have been more thoroughly explored. It is possible there will be a spinoff to the series, based on the figure of the second "Claidi". I wouldn't be complaining.
This set of four is probably one of the most enjoyable about, so I would definately urge them upon you.
If you havent read them already. If you have, I am sure you wouldn't even consider mising the final!

Raven Wing (A Lone Wolf Clan Book, Vol. II)

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Raven Wing (A Lone Wolf Clan Book, Vol. II)

Manufacturer: First Impression, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1928800017

Winging It - Recipes From Around the World by American Airlines Flight Attendants

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Winging It - Recipes From Around the World by American Airlines Flight Attendants
Inc. Wings Foundation
Manufacturer: Wings Foundation, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: B000T8PD46

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8th Tactical Fighter Wing ....Wolf Pack
Col Onel Everett H. Pratt(commander
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JJK6HO

Development of a quiet supersonic wind tunnel with a cryogenic adaptive nozzle final report (SuDoc NAS 1.26:199511)

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Development of a quiet supersonic wind tunnel with a cryogenic adaptive nozzle final report (SuDoc NAS 1.26:199511)
Stephen W. D. Wolf
Manufacturer: MCAT Institute National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Technical Information Service, distributor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00010QLDE

Wolf Star, Wolf Queen, Wolf Wing~3 Book Set~ (Claidi Journals, 2, 3, 4)

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Wolf Star, Wolf Queen, Wolf Wing~3 Book Set~ (Claidi Journals, 2, 3, 4)
Tanith Lee
Manufacturer: Puffin Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VXMMUW

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Wolf Wing
Tanith Lee
Manufacturer: Hodder Children's
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K2T65S

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Wolf Wing (The Claidi Journals)
Tanith Lee
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJGLQ4

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