Damon WilsonCritiques

Die Vorgeschichte zum Computerspiel Divine Divinity nimmt einige Anleihen vom Herrn der Ringe. Die deutsche Übersetzung dieses Textes ist nicht besonders gut, das wurde beim Spiel besser erledigt.

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Die Liga der Sieben Rassen Rivellons kämpft gegen die Armee der Verdammten, die unter Führung des Herrn des Chaos mit seinem Erzmagier Ulthring steht, und trägt durch ein selbstloses Opfer ihrer Anführer mit übernatürlicher Hilfe den Sieg davon. Der Herr des Chaos wird zurück in die Hölle befördert und seine Armee flieht in die Berge.
Der Lehrling des Kriegszauberers Reuben Ferol, Adept Ralf, hatte Ulthring mit Hilfe eines Unsichtbarkeitszaubers im Kampf getötet und sein verfluchtes Schwert der Lügen erbeutet. Im gleichen Moment hat der Fluch des Schwertes, ein böser Geist, der ein Teil der Seele des Herrn des Chaos war, von ihm Besitz ergriffen und so verfiel Ralf nach und nach dem Wahnsinn. Bevor er vollständig vom bösen Geist besessen ist und den Verstand verliert, bringt er zusammen mit seinem Kindheitsfreund, dem frisch gekrönten Herzog Morreck Ferol, das Schwert zu einer magisch geschützten Geheimkammer tief in der Burg Eisenfaust. Als der Herr des Chaos dann vollständig von Ralf Besitz ergreift, sperrt der Herzog Ralfs besessenen Körper im letzten Moment in der Kammer ein, die sich unumkehrbar versiegelt und damit von nun an den Herrn des Chaos gefangen hält.
Die restliche Armee der Verdammten hatte sich also nach ihrer Niederlage über Generationen hinweg in den Bergen verborgen gehalten. Viele Jahre nach der Schlacht befiehlt ein uralter Überlebender, Zenfar Blutspron, der sich mit heilsamen Speisen, regelmäßigen Übungen und jährlichem Bad im Blut von Elfenjungfrauen gut gehalten hatte, ihren Nachkommen, nach Rache zu streben und Zwietracht und Elend in Rivellon zu verbreiten und das Schwert der Lügen zu finden um die Pforten der Hölle zu öffnen und die Rückkehr des Herrn des Chaos mit seiner dämonischen Legion der Verdammten zu ermöglichen.
Damit endet die Vorgeschichte und das Spiel steigt etwa zu dem Zeitpunkt ein, als die Nachkommen der Verdammten, der Schwarze Ring, Zenfar Blutsprons Befehl Folge leisten und beginnen, Unfrieden unter den nichtsahnenden Bewohnern Rivellons zu stiften.

This vast photographic record of the annals of crime features some of the 20th century's most infamous criminals and shocking crimes. Packed with more than 400 photographs, it covers everything from arson, cannibalism, con men and headless corpses, to mass murderers, sabotage, victims and vital clues. Researched in collaboration with the Hulton Getty Picture Library, The Mammoth Book of Illustrated Crime forms a compelling line-up from the criminal side of human history. Among the subjects featured are: Incriminating evidence, such as killer Dr Marcel Patiot's stash of his 47 victims' clothing; Moments of madness, including the bungled Dome diamond heist; Attempted murder, with agents diving to protect Reagan from the 1981 assassination attempt; The heavy hand of justice, as a body reels from the bullets of the French firing squad

Most of this book seems like trashy satire that you would read in a tabloid magazine instead of realistic facts. The authors do not spare you the gore however. This book was written in 1988 although I have the reprinted 2008 version. I think because of the time that it was written a lot of the information here is out of date. I guess you could use this as a quick reference for melee introductions to different serial killers but you would definitely want a different book for decent research.

There's a lot of editoralising in this (the edition I read lacks Rowan Wilson as a credited author); Colin Wilson was a dedicated investigator of the Paranormal and has a certain amount of belief in the supernatural. I had heard of some of the cults and fanatics listed in this book but they were interesting. People often want to believe and then there's a certain sunk cost in that belief when things start to look dodgy. As a group humans like certainty and often this has left them ripe for exploitation and often there's someone willing to lead them and exploit them and this catalogue of repetitive behaviour by humans shows how true this is.

Interesting read, not sure I'd read it again. While it lacks a bibliography there are scattered references throughout.½

I expected better from the Wilsons.

The formatting of the ebook was off--strange margins and headers cut off from their sections--and no amount of font or don't size tweaking helped. The book actually crashed several times while I was trying to read it, and lost my place numerous times as well. There are also many editorial errors, such as hyphenated words in the middle of a paragraph.
On top of this, the book has an amazing amount of factual errors. On one page, the victim was shot twice; on the following page, that same victim succumbed to seven shots. The worst error found was mislabeled photos: Angelo Buono's photograph was captioned as Kenneth Bianchi, and vice versa.

A good introduction to a number of cults and fanatics around the world. While I had already heard of many of these cults and individuals, there were some shadowy organisations and people that were new to me and made for interesting reading (I'm chasing up a book on the mysterious "Brother Twelve").

There are better books on cults and fanatics out there and sadly this book does not carry a bibliography (or index for that matter) but this could be a great entree into the weird world of cults and fanatics.½

incorrect isbn no

This book contains some fantastic photographs of criminals over the years, which is really useful in putting a face to name you might have heard of. Some brilliant photo's which really capture the grittiness and horror of crime. This book does exactly what it tells you it is going to, no more, no less.

This is a very well-researched and well-illustrated collection of case studies of "crimes of passion" -- usually a man killing his wife or lover. Not all of the cases included fit the criteria, though; for example, included was the case of Chester Gillette, who killed his pregnant girlfriend. Gillette at first said her death was an accident, then that it was a crime of passion, but it turned out he'd murdered her in cold blood because he didn't want to marry her or support their child.

If you want a good grounding in any of these cases but don't have a lot of time, this book would be a good place to start. It goes from the 1800s up to the present day; I only wish non-Western cases were included.

This was a very interesting way to present a True Crime compendium. The information wasn't very thorough, as can be expected in a volume of this size. However, it was good to be able to put faces to a few well-known names. This book would be a good jumping off point for those interested in true crime.

I thought this would be another run-of-the-mill serial killer book but it's not. Chapters are short so easy to read and full of new details about familiar subjects. I was very impressed with the research and originality of a literary over-exposed section of society.

Not a bad collection but I found it a bit repetitious after the first couple of stories.½

OK photography from the late 1800s to modern day. Weegee dominates, and even though there are a lot of imagery, most pictures aren't very well printed and I can think of more interesting imagery to swap a lot of the existing pictures for; still, at the low price I bought it for and for the value of having a few excellent, harrowing and haunting pictures - e.g. the one of Lesley Ann Downey's mother staring over the Saddleworth moor as the police searches for her daughter - it's definitely a worthwhile read and a good buy.

World Famous Cults & Fanatics is a small book but it is packed full of information. Reading about different cults from the past was ver interesting. I was particularly interested to learn the origin of the word 'thug'. Though I would have preferred more detail, this is a great book for the total beginner. If you know nothing about cults and fanatics, this book provides the basics, and lays the foundation for further research. Unfortunately, the Wilson's have not provided a bibliography to point us in the right direction, so any further research needs to start from scratch.

I think this is an excellent read for those interested in the paranormal. Very good.

Group D1

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