The beauty of this humorous fantasy by J K Bangs is that he manages to make all his 'Associated Shades' stay in character and yet interact to form an entertaining story. The writing is classic Victorian American at its best, and Bangs enjoyed a successful literary career in humour with several of the great American magazines including Life, Harpers and Puck.

As one might expect, the story follows the adventures and debates of the cast of historic personae sparking off each other on the eponymous houseboat, and there is even a hook at the end to make us hope for more exciting episodes, soon to follow in 1897 as The Pursuit of the Houseboat, and then in 1899 as The Enchanted Typewriter and finishing in 1901 with Mr Munchausen. The great skill in the satire lies in how each participant cannot help himself but conform to his habits, and yet this feature is used to comic advantage as contemporary (at the time) social commentary.

Be warned, this particular edition is based on the 1902 Harper and Brothers edition and does NOT have any of the illustrations to be found in that or the original 1895 edition. Fortunately, the font is new and clear and I have not noticed any typos or OCR transcription errors, unlike with several other versions. For a scanned version of the 1902 illustrated see this edition.

I was first drawn to this book because it could have been the inspiration for Philip Jose Farmer's superb Riverworld sequence, five main books plus additions by other authors. The first two by Farmer are combined in this volume.

If you are looking for a vast 'sword and sandal epic', one on a scale so great that it required several authors in collaboration to create it, then this is for you. The team of writers seem to have relished laying on the detailed colour and characterisation and action, and confusing us with a plethora of names. Fortunately, there is a reasonable fabric of interwoven story underlying it all.

However, having read the previous two books I found this one became too much of the same old trudge, and eventually it was boring. It has taken me ages to finish it - always a bad sign when other things are tending to distract me away from the book in hand. To help keep up my interest in it I even had some fun trying to work out who had produced which individual bits and which were joint efforts.

Perhaps the writing was becoming too self-indulgent, maybe there was an imperative to tie-off the loose ends created in the first two books, or maybe it was getting out of hand and someone decided to haul on the reins to bring it back in check. Am I being too critical? But looking back on it, I think it could possibly have stood on its own better without the earlier books already having given us so much about the many background threads in the tapestry.

If it is the kind of fare you are keen on then there is plenty in it to satisfy the hunger, but if you are not an enthusiast for the genre I would suggest giving it a miss.

There are also some short 'SideQuests' such as Sinner, but for a full appreciation of the sequence enthusiasts should first read;
The Mongoliad: Book One
The Mongoliad: Book Two

This small volume attempts to cover two hundred years of military aviation from balloons to supersonic jets in only 250 pages, so it is really a wide-ranging overview, more of an introduction and summary than full of fine detail. It was published in 1976, so is very dated now, but the pictures are superb, and most of the facts are accurate. It is the sort of book an enthusiast can sit down and read through from the beginning to the end, or we might just dip into here and there and enjoy the super pictures. The three authors were experts in their field, and the depth of their experience shows through.

My problem with it is that the presentation of the information lacks structure and frequently I found myself wondering when something happened or what the relevance of a photo might be. Having read it once, familiarity means that the book is clearer to understand on the second read, but this is not how to communicate such a wealth of detail. There is a comprehensive index, but you have to know what you are looking for in order to be able to find it. For example; what is a B36? It's a long-range bomber, but one can only find it if one also knows that it was made by Convair.

I found the book as a bargain in a jumble sale recently. It is a must-have for an aviation enthusiast's archive, but maybe not so interesting for others.

I was hoping this would be a good old-fashioned SF shoot-em-up, perhaps like Timothy Zahn's 'Cobra', or Gordon R Dickson's 'Dorsai'. Certainly the premise behind the story is a good one; an anti-war moral tale about mercenaries fighting in a corporate conflict, who are then abandoned to fend for themselves on a distant and hostile planet.

But, alas no, right from the beginning it gets bogged down in boring minutiae. The characters are unsympathetic, the plot meanders, the writing is sloppy and boring, the 'science' does not convince, even the updated WW1-style planes are not self consistent. What a shame, because buried in there are the bones of a cracking good story.

I did manage to finish it reasonably quickly, even with the excessive length, and the message might be considered a good one, so this rescues it a star above being the pits. However, I would not have bought it if Vine had not given me this review copy.

This simple little bit of plastic correctly fits the 18-55mm DA-L kit lens supplied with my Pentax F-30.

The hood can be fitted either way round, ie stored facing back or in use jutting forward, as well as with the trap-door for the lever on a polariser filter at top or at bottom.

It helps to keep the sun and other unwanted stuff off the lens, but does not intrude into the picture.

The Pentax K30 is effectively the cost-reduced version of the K5. They share the same excellent 16Mpixel sensor and automatic picture taking system, but the K30 has fewer controls and with the DA-L 18-55mm kit lens is significantly lighter than the K5 with the optically identical DA-WR 18-55mm kit lens. The Amazon blurb above is correct when the camera is used with the DA-L lens options offered.

The pictures are very, very good on both, sufficiently so that having used the K5 intensively in a wide range of conditions for a year and a half, and the K30 for almost a month I still cannot really tell the difference between the end results. At first I thought the brand new K30 was better, but after cleaning some hints of dirt off the front of the K5 lens and then shooting some A-B tests on a range of subjects it was obvious that there was no significant performance difference.

Ergonomics
. It is just a fraction small for my hands, but SWMBO found the lighter K30 nestles nicely and all the right controls just fell under her finger tips. She was delighted with how easy it was to use.
. The `Green' function is sufficient for the vast majority of point-and-shoot photography that one is likely to attempt, ideal for a novice DSLR user, and makes amazingly good pictures from a wide range of conditions.
. The default auto-finding Auto-Focus is a bit of a pain - it prefers to focus on nearest objects and not my subject, but I simply selected centre zone on the menu and that works a treat, same as with the K5.
. Pressing the Review button to look at pictures taken also allows one to have the full ability to examine the picture in minute detail, with as much as 16x digital magnification (32x on the K5), and I still could not see a pixel structure from the sensor. Press it again, and immediately go back to shooting mode. Nice.
. Flash is a pop-up feature, and it is something I tend not to use unless absolutely necessary for controlled lighting, and I've only experimented with the flash enough to prove it works. With the sensitivity of this camera, even hand-held night-shoots come up trumps, which I find quite astonishing, and delightful.
. The shake-reduction is seamless in operation, and while I've not been aware of any side-effects from it, I have certainly noticed how sharp the hand-held images are.
. Reflex viewfinder. Ohh, it is so good to be able to see a proper real picture with the correct dioptre adjustment for my eyes, one that can be used in any light level, just like on my 35mm cameras. And it has all the relevant status info you could ever wish for, but I've not much used any of that info apart from the electronic-levelling meter to help me to keep verticals properly upright.
. LCD viewfinder. I've used this to review the shots, or for monitoring the video while using the tripod, or for silent shooting with no mirror flip, or the menu system when setting up the many options on the camera.
. Battery life (without flash) is good. The manual suggests between 300 and 400 pictures. The 7.8 Watt-Hour D-Li109 K30 battery is smaller than the 14 Watt-Hour D-Li90 K5 battery (both 7.2V) and the pin-out means it requires its own different charger, so I will not be able to swap spare batteries between the cameras.

The Body
. This is a fraction smaller than the K5 (but only by a few millimetres), definitely lighter and seems to be a very good fit for more delicate hands than mine. SWMBO has decided that it is perfect for her to use...
. It has extensive sealing to improve weather resistance, much the same as the K5. Some of the rubber covers are very difficult to re-fit, such as that for the cable release terminal socket. Other covers feel a bit insubstantial, such as those for the two compartments housing battery and the SDHC chip.
. The battery compartment is strange as it is shaped to also accommodate a carrier (an optional extra) for AA cells. I would have preferred it to merely take the larger D-Li90 battery pack.
. No HDMI connector, this is the only major drop off, as I use the one on the K5 for video playback and slide-shows on a big screen.
. No microphone socket. No big deal however, as I always use a separate sound recorder and only regard the camera sound as a guide track.
. No external DC power socket, not really necessary if you don't plan to use much video, except I do use the one on the K5 sometimes when shooting video and often when playing back the video.

The Lens
.The DA-L 18-55mm is very nice, and having a plastic body is lighter than the metal bodied DA-WR 18-55mm even though they share the same optics with eleven elements in eight groups. L = Light, WR = Weather Resistant. The L is NOT weather resistant, even though the K30 body claims to be.
. The zoom range of 3 to 1 seems to be not really enough, and I would have preferred more, perhaps the 7.5 to 1 DA-WR 18-135mm. But here with 16Mpixels it just does not matter, since one can simply crop out the unwanted picture and use the small part of real interest. It will still have useful detail.
. There is no manually focussed Macro facility, but it will auto-focus in Macro mode as close as 80mm at both ends of the zoom range.
. As usual, the lens-cap is a fiddly pain, even though the finger-tip grip is deeper than with the WR lens, and I expect to drop it and lose it real soon now, and be forced to fit a sacrificial UV filter instead. But I would very much prefer to keep it as standard.
. There is no lens hood supplied with this particular K30 with 18-55mm DA-L kit. The PH-RBA 52mm is available as an extra.
. The focus ring gear is always engaged to the motor when the L lens is fitted to the camera body, so manual focusing always has the resistance of also turning the motor. The WR lens disengages the focus motor except for during the shot if the autofocus is allowed to take over.
. It has a standard thread for 52mm filters.
. The equivalent focal length for a full sized 35mm image would be 27-82.5mm

Picture Quality
In a word; outstanding.
. The dynamic range is incredible, from moonlight to pointing at the sun. I've not been cruel (or stupid) enough to force it to look at the sun on any manual settings. It copes with ease on Auto, and gives very good pictures, usually selecting the best options to suit the scene.
. For the photo enthusiast who wants to go the extra mile, the top mode-selector switch and then the menu options for custom modes are very comprehensive, and one could spend months experimenting with them all.
. There are also menu options including fine adjustment of autofocus to compensate for different lenses, adding colour filters, auto correction of lens aberrations and geometry.
. The image sensor at 23.7 x 15.7mm is not quite a full 35mm frame (36 x 24mm), but at about 2/3 the linear size is a decent portion, so most of the standard lenses will give reasonable results (if they can be adapted to fit the body).
. Best quality Video is the full HD 1920x1080x25 (or x30) using the H.264 consumer standard. File size without breaks is limited to 4GB, for about 25minutes of full HD, but much longer for the lesser quality options.
. A 32GB SDHC class 10 chip allows almost 3000 stills (16Mpixels, 4928x3264) of the best quality. Depending on the amount of fine detail, the JPEG file sizes are typically between 8Mbytes and 11Mbytes.
. The optional RAW files are significantly bigger than the normal JPEGs but have the advantage of preserving the original sensor image and the meta-data listing the chosen image modifier options (eg aberration corrections, filters, auto-horizon, etc).

Accessories needed
I have added a camera pouch and a lens hood.
I use the same stock of 32GB SDHC class 10 memory chips as on all my other cameras.

Verdict
A fantastic entry level DSLR. A keen novice can start taking pictures without doing anything much more than fitting the lens, inserting a charged battery, adding a memory chip, taking off the lens cap, and switching it on. If the novice reads the comprehensive manual, then there is encouragement for his development, and the camera has the capabilities of anything from full auto to full manual operation for a very wide range of applications to match his growing ambition.

This Fellowes Starlet 2 Manual Comb Binder does exactly that, and very well, and if I had not previously become accustomed to using the far more ergonomic original Fellowes Starlet Manual Comb Binder and their big brother Fellowes Star Manual Comb Binder at work I would have been very happy with this Vine offering.

It punches the 21 slots on A4 sheets of paper and film very cleanly and easily with one movement of the main lever, provided care is taken to make sure all sheets are fully seated in the slot. As with all these type of machines, the comb inserting requires a lot of care as well to make sure all the plastic comb fingers go all the way through the whole stack. It does not cater for wire comb bindings.

The differences are in the ergonomics and the capacity of the machines.

The main advantage of the Starlet2 over the original Starlet is that it has double the punching capacity (actually the same as the Star); 10 pages of 80gsm vs 5 pages, and a longer lever to reduce the effort involved. This allows for faster punching and therefore quicker production of booklets.

The disadvantages now show;
1. the Starlet 2 needs to be arranged lengthwise away from the operator with the cut paper lying on the waiting plastic comb to the left, both levers operated by the right hand, whereas the other machines are arranged across in front facing the operator, with punch lever on the right (or above for the Star) and comb lever on the left, and the cut sheets are stored on the comb directly between the machine and operator.
2. when punching with the Starlet 2 the bottom sheets tend to drift out slightly (because of being held in the hand they are unlikely to lie flat), also when dry and sticky with static from the copier they tend to disturb the previously cut sheets lying on the comb (aaarrrggghhh!); whereas with the other machines they lie vertically in the slot supported by the cover, well clear of the stack, and always line up correctly (if the slot is clean of scraps), and can then be dropped on to the waiting stack.
3. as well as the swarf drawer, the other machines have a second drawer to store a few spare binders as well as having the size guides; the Starlet 2 requires us to open the single drawer (always full of swarf) to be able check for the required binding size, but perhaps this is a good thing as it soon encourages one to empty the confetti chips from it before they migrate around the office.
4. the metal spikes that hold the comb back are always exposed on the Starlet 2, it does not have a protective cover; the cover on the others is a great feature and allows safe storage.
5. the others being flatter can be stored easily on end along with the box files; the Starlet 2 being much taller from the table is awkward and takes up too much space and rattles around in a drawer of its own, along with any remaining spare binders.
6. No handle for easy carrying; both the other machines are easier to move about.

Summary
It is strong, well made, and does the job excellently despite the poor ergonomics, so easily merits three stars. However, given the choice for a light duty machine I would buy the original Starlet, or for a heavier duty manual machine go for the Star.

The Amazon blurb is correct. The power strip is well made and feels substantial enough to survive normal life on the floor under a desk being clattered by feet and cases and everything else. As a welcome bonus it incorporates surge protection and a resettable circuit breaker to prevent overloads.

I use mine to allow the desktop PC to control the power for its monitor and audio amplifier, which saves about thirty watts of standby (because we never remember to turn them off with the PC), and meaning that the strip will pay for itself in about a year. The permanently on sockets power the phone base station and Ethernet hub. Of course it will not save the 'shut down' power the PC itself consumes - less than one watt for mine so no big deal. Remember that one watt left on 24/7 for a year will cost us about a pound on an average tariff.

An additional nugget of info contained in the tiny user manual says that it automatically adapts the threshold of the control power on/off switching point to suit the controlling device. This is done by plugging the switched-off control device into the master socket before connecting the power strip to the mains. Then power on the mains, wait a few moments then switch on the controlling device, wait a short while then switch off the controlling device. The power levels will then be remembered for future reference.

This is a device well worth having.

The Amazon blurb is fair and accurate. This is a reasonably well written Detective story with the complication that there is a Time Travel machine involved. The academic context is almost believable, and the story manages to justify it without raising too many doubts. Even the time travel paradox constraints are ingeniously and consistently handled for most of the book, which makes a very welcome change from so many of this genre.

I felt initially that there was a weakness in that too much of the beginning of the book rambled on and was too concerned with the minutiae of academic life. But I should have known there was a good reason for this, because several of the clues for discovering Whodunnit are buried in there, and that actually, as with all the best Detective novels, we could have worked it out ourselves if only we had realised what was going on.

It is obviously intended as the first book of a sequence, but fortunately it can stand alone as a complete story with a proper ending, and it does not leave the reader feeling cheated by having to wait for the 'next exciting episode'.

There is a nice interaction between the characters that bodes well for future development if there are more stories in the sequence (at least I hope there will be more). Other details that I enjoyed include the hidden jokes; some are literary, some are linguistic puns, and some I only twigged because I still retain some schoolboy Latin. But you'll have to find them for yourself.

However, in my opinion, it still loses a star for a couple of reasons: the narrative does tend to wander, shedding our interest in the story; and most of the characters need better detail and a sharper focus to fully bring them to life. With a tighter rein, it might well have been one of those 'I could not put it down' books, but it was rather too easy to set aside for meals, TV and sleep!

I bought this pouch to go with a Pentax K-30 (18-55mm lens), and the camera and its strap have plenty of room without rattling about. I've also tried the pouch with the K-30's slightly bigger brother, the Pentax K-5 (18-55mm lens), again fine.

I usually keep half a clean dish-cloth with the camera in case it needs a quick wipe down after being used in poor weather, and this pouch has slightly more room for the dry cloth than the Jessops pouch I bought in 2011 for the K-5.

I like the rubber foot at the bottom of the pouch as this allows it to stand up on a flat surface. The insides are well padded and with the tough fabric outer skin it is all reasonably stiff, enough to offer good protection to the contents without getting in the way of using it.

The adjustable strap clips on to loops on the sides of the pouch. The clip are secure and swivel so the strap does not get tangled. I have added a load spreader pad from another strap because this one felt too narrow and tended to cut into my shoulder if I was not wearing a jacket.

The pocket on the front has a small net for holding spare SDHC chips in their wrappers, but I tend to use a 32GB chip which gives me 3000+ pics on the K-30 or 2500+ on the K-5, and the batteries tend to last for ever, so the pocket just holds the appropriate USB lead.

The two zips are not exactly waterproof, but most sprinkles of light rain seem not to penetrate to the insides.

Good pouch; protects camera. What more do we need?