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About Posting: Only Registered users can post new topics and replies in this forum Username: Password: I forgot my password! Message: Click Here to review the topic. [quote] On 2011-10-18 09:34, boxjumper wrote: I completely agree with Peo. WOW! There is such a variety of great magic in this book it’s hard to know where to begin. I intend on posting a more detailed review once I’ve thoroughly read and digested this large book. The quality of the production of this book is the first thing you notice. Beautiful colored dust jacket, gold engraved cover, high quality glossy paper, and colored end sheets. Each chapter describes the effect, skills needed, any props needed, and any setup, explanation and script, and then a discussion at the end. Here are some thoughts about a few chapters I’ve read: Perusing the table of contents you’ll see a number of intriguing titles. The first one that caught my eye was actually the last trick in the book, a place where authors usually place their filler material. Not so here. The trick is called Buried Treasure of Triangle Island. It uses a flat triangle shaped prop that you can make out of cardboard. The spectator places a random mark on the triangle and measures with a ruler how far from the “shore” the treasure is. Based on that number of centimeters, the spectator counts cards from a shuffled deck and the card counted to turns out to be a special treasure card and it’s the only one in the deck. Then suddenly as the spectator is holding triangle island in his hand, something magical happens which is the second climax to the trick. The treasure appears in his hand. The effect is nearly self-working thanks to a math principle that’s never been used in magic as far as I know. Theatrical Debut is an amazing card routine. It is also performed and taught on the DVD. I watched it first and then read the chapter. Larry has taken a little known trick from Aldo Colombini and made it into a mesmerizing routine. This one is done in verse but could easily be paraphrased in narrative patter. A Curious Type of Arithmetic is also performed and taught on the DVD. The details of the routine are taught extremely well in the book with sharp photos. I also like that Larry puts annotations and arrows on the photos to be more precise. This is a routine I intend to perform. It’s a balls in that hat routine with two separate climaxes. I can imagine this being a great effect to perform on the street busking or for a kid’s show. The Cups and Balls routine is so smooth. The photos are extremely helpful in learning this. This one is also performed and taught on the DVD but the details in the book go into the moves step by step and those extra written descriptions and fine touches are something a video can’t always provide. The first trick in the book is Look to the Cards. You start with a unopened deck (no gaff) and mix the cards up so many ways that there should be no way to control them. Two cards are freely selected. Each time you mix, a card is turned over which tells you how many piles to make etc. This is done a few times. At the end the reds and blacks are separated except for the two selected cards which lie within the opposite colored cards. The Enchanted Rings chapter is a fantastic linking ring routine. I have many books on the rings (including Richard Ross and Vernon), but this chapter goes into more detail on how to do the rings than any book I’ve seen. This is also on the DVD as performance and explanation. The routine flows well and their are some original moves that Larry developed. One thing I really like about this book (and Kingdom of the Red) is in the discussion section after the effect is explained, he offers simpler methods to accomplish the trick for those who may not feel comfortable with a pass or a faro for example. Overall, I am very impressed with The Book of Destiny. There is such a variety of high quality material that I think any magician would find many routines suitable for them. BJ [/quote] [HTML is Off] [BBcode is On] Options: Disable BBcode on this Post Disable Smilies on this Post

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