Who knew the end of the world could be so much fun? Apparently even the end of the world isn't quite the foregone conclusion one might expect, the way things turn out in Good Omens.

Ok, so if you're already a Terry Pratchett fan you already expect to have a lot of fun reading any book he's involved with. Some things are simply obvious, after all.

But what are all the powers of Heaven and Hell to do when the infant Antichrist is misplaced, but no one notices until a week before the end of the world? We're talking major trouble here.

Folks, this one is just plain hilarious and I don't want to give too much away. It wouldn't spoil the book, but I'm a little worried that Agnes Nutter might disapprove. She foresaw the whole thing, after all, in her book "The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter," and even she didn't give away the ending.

Crowley, a fallen angel, and Aziraphale, one of your standard Heavenly angels, have been working on Earth since the world began. They're pretty good friends by now and aren't always sure whether they should be representing their particular sides or if they should be opposing each other. 

Oh, and don't trust too much to Agnes' prophecies. She's pretty hard to understand and really doesn't always understand what she saw before she wrote it down.

You also have to love how the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been spending time while waiting for the Apocalypse to actually happen. Everyone needs a job, right?

If you need a laugh, just get this book. Every here and there I find out someone didn't enjoy their book, and what can I say? You definitely have to appreciate the British sense of humor too. 

A Flame in Hali finishes off the story of King Carolin, Varzil the Good and Eduin Deslucido. The kingdom is still something of a mess from the depredations of Rakhal's rule, but Carolin and Varzil are working toward making their Compact a reality.

Eduin is now all but mad. He drinks to keep his father's commands at bay as they rage inside him. But as he sobers up, his hatred of Varzil is unending and he still wishes for revenge on Varzil. He is helped by a mad laranzu, who can heal with song, but believes he serves Naotalba, the bride of the dark god Zandru. Now with a clear head but his father's demands pounding in his head, Eduin renews his insistence on killing Varzil, who has successfully protected Carolin from him for so long. Killing them both is the only way Eduin sees to free himself from his father.

There is one person in the world who Eduin loves, however, and that is Dyannis, Varzil's sister. Varzil is convinced that women can become Keepers, and she is strong enough that he convinces her to undertake the ardous training.

This story is very interesting, and those who have read Two to Conquer will recognize references to events in that story as well. It is a time when Darkover is undergoing great change... the Domains of the later books are becoming more powerful, women training as Keepers, and of course the Compact is changing how wars will be waged.

Here's one for the hard science fiction lovers. Imagine a world created by making a ring of material around a sun. Gravity comes from the rotation of the ring, and night from platforms in a tighter orbit around the sun. Think of having three million times the space of Earth. That's the Ringworld.

Two humans, a Kzin and a Pierson's Puppeteer are sent to explore the mysterious Ringworld, which the Puppeteers have discovered, but as a determinedly cowardly race refuse to explore on their own. The Puppeteer with them, in fact, is considered insane by others of his own race.

Teela, the human female, can be a somewhat absurd character. She is exceptionally lucky, and it is for that which she was chosen for the mission. But this also makes her incredibly stupid about danger. Of course, for her it all works out in the end so it doesn't matter so much that she doesn't really understand danger, pain (either emotional or physical), and so forth.

Honestly, in this case I enjoyed the concepts of the book much more than the characters. I really didn't sympathize with any of them, although Nessus, the Puppeteer, was often interesting. Not only is the Ringworld well imagined, but so is protecting it from damage, what happens when it is damaged and how the Ringworld would appear to its inhabitants. 

What if psychic powers were real, and there was a scientific way to prove someone had them? That's the basic idea behind To Ride Pegasus, a collection of four short stories about how Talented people learned to prove the existence of their abilities and to protect themselves legally. 

Now, let's face it. If the average person suddenly developed psychic abilities, they'd want to have an awful lot of fun with it. So there is a great deal of concern by average, "normal" people about how these Talents could abuse their positions, as well as sheer disbelief despite proof. There's also a lot of legal wrangling to get the Talents protection for when they are using their gifts legitimately. 

The first section focuses on Henry Darrow, a real psychic, but because he forgets one of his own predictions he is in a near-fatal accident that lands him in the hospital, where a "Goosegg's" EEG chart of his brainwaves proves something is happening when he does a forecast. He founds the Parapsychic Center as a place for others with verified Talents, not only psychics, but telepaths, kinetics and teleempaths.

The next sections focus on the legal challenges the Talented face through the early years. Getting legal protection is incredibily challenging, and keeping it isn't easy either. Protection is finally granted for those using their Talents legitimately for the Parapsychic Center. There are wild Talents out there, however, who discover their abilities out of the blue, more or less, and make unacceptable use of them, endangering the rights of more honest Talents.

All in all, I find this a fun read and a good background for the Rowan series. A bit dated, certainly, but nonetheless a good set of stories. 

Ok, so I haven't actually bought anything from Acme Klein Bottles yet, but I really, really want to get a Klein Stein.

This store's online setup looks like it may just be a hobby for someone - I've seen much more professional designs, but the product has a very strong appeal to my geeky side. I love the thought of having a Klein bottle, or, better yet, the Klein Stein just because they are so intriguing.

 These aren't cheap. The Klein Stein is currently $80, which is why I don't have one yet. Give me time. But there are lots of other, more affordable items in there. Various sizes of Klein bottles, wool Klein hats and more make up the inventory.

The bottles are made from clear borosilicate glass, and the sales text is quite... appropriately humorous. It's a fun site to read even if you aren't ready to buy.

Anyone who has read much of the Darkover series knows who Varzil the Good is. Zandru's Forge tells the story of how he came to the Towers and worked on creating the Compact that would someday stop the use of laran in war.

Varzil wishes to work in the Towers, but his father sees him as weak and good for nothing, and refuses. Varzil appeals to the tower, but because his family, the Ridenow, are not popular with many of the other Domains, the Tower feels they cannot risk angering his father. Only Carolin Hastur, then a student at Arilinn Tower, feels that Varzil must return. When word comes from Varzil's home that his brother in in trouble, Carolin loans Varzil and his father an aircar to get home quickly.

Varzil rescues his brother with his laran, and his brother takes his side in his request to work in the Tower. So begins Varzil's life in the Towers, with Carolin as a good friend.

Not all is well. Carolin has a friend, Eduin, who appears jealous of any attempts Varzil makes to be Carolin's friend. Eduin is the son of Rumail Deslucido (although no one in the Tower knows this), and is sworn to kill Carolin. He finds the job difficult because he truly likes Carolin.

Some of the scenes in this book come from Hawkmistress , and this book explains how Carolin came to be the exiled King in that book. 

Carolin is not Eduin's only target. He also seeks the daughter of Queen Taniquel from the previous book in this trilogy. His life is ruled by plots of revenge for his father, uncle and cousin, taking precidence over his own feelings. He is little more than a tool for his father's frustration.

As luck would have it, Felicia Darriel has also come to Arilinn Tower, and she and Varzil fall in love. However, she leaves to train as the first woman Keeper at Hestral Tower, as Arilinn is too bound by tradition to allow her to use her gifts to the fullest. It is there that Eduid plots against her.

This book is a fascinating chance to learn more about Varzil and how the Compact came to be. It is a time of near constant wars between various small kingdoms, and horrific weapons are used freely.