Greetings all,

I received the new Nick Trost book today and thought I would share my initial impressions.

The book itself is bound very well with a simple elegant cover and nice quality pages. The illustrations by Tony Dunn are as usual excellent.

There is a ton of material in this book, and while I have only had time to skim it VERY briefly, I will tell you this: It is SO good that I want volume 2 NOW! For those of you who never purchased The Card Magic of Nick Trost do NOT miss out on this!

Trost takes on some of classic and newer plots in card magic as well as a huge number of his own effects. Considering this is projected to be a multi-volume set I think we are in for a real treat with each succeeding volume.

Let's see, a few highlights to whet your appetites:

Trost's Open Prediction: A VERY nice solution to the Curry classic
Fifteen Card Mystery: Nice transposition and vanish and recovery of a selected card
Mexican Monte: Ummm, it's a Monte effect ... and a very good one
Climax Prediction: Nice double punch prediction effect ... VERY nice

There are a TON of other effects and since I just randomly skimmed around, the list above is just a random sample. I hope to have the time later this weekend to dive into this book and try some of these effects.

The book is a nice mix of impromptu, set up, special deck, and ESP card effects. As with all of Nick Trost's work, there are no knucklebusters but there is some sleight of hand. As was done in The Card Magic of Nick Trost, all of the sleights used are explained very nicely in the back of the book. While many will know most if not all of these sleights it is nice to have them here nonetheless in case a refresher is needed. This is also very helpful to beginners and those who may not have a larger number of resources at hand.

So who is this book for? Everyone who wants some STRONG magic. For beginners it is a great book as well. I wish there was something like this when I started 20 years ago. However, I must offer this advice to beginners: PLEASE do not rush through these effects thinking that because they are relatively "easy" that they do not deserve the same attention as more sleight heavy effects. The magic contained within this book demands to be studied and performed WELL. While of course this is true for ALL magic, there is a tendency among some newer magicians to give short shrift to effects that do not require three consecutive Cover Passes, Two Greek Deals, four Zarrows, five perfect out Faros, and a Side Steal. Hmmm, bad example since I do not know of too many magicians at ALL who could do all of these. My point for beginners is that an effect need not have a zillion sleights - or even one - to be a powerful piece of magic.

Kudos to Richard Hatch and H&R Books for a magnificent volume!!

Best,
Vlad

The boys do good work, don't they? It's great that we have a whole group of people who treat this whole field with integrity, honesty and high quality. It's nice to be able to rely 100% on some people's work.

Hoping mine comes today.....

I've been chomping at the bit for some reviews of this book, compared to "Card Magic." For someone who doesn't own that one, the hefty price tag it commands is a little tough to swallow.

It sounds like this one may be an acceptable substitute to get some introduction to Trost's works, which seem to be held in very high regard by many around here.

I recived an e-mail yesterday from H&R Books that the book had been shipped.
I estimate it will arrive here in sweden about the middle of next week.
To say I'm exited is to put it midly.
Im also curious about how this one is in compared to CMoNT, one of my favourite card books.
Please let us hear your thoughts about NTSCC, and let us see a full review soon.

Oh, and I also have heard various comments about how many volumes this serie of books will be. Anyone knows for sure?

I'm getting mine from Jeff Pierce. Got the message it's on it's way as of Tuesday. Can't wait. Any day now.

I've heard 7 volumes, Peo, but I'm not sure where I heard it. I think it may have been Richard Hatch on another thread here, but I wouldn't put money on it. I'm just not that sure.

I am so excited to get this. Ordered it from Jeff Pierce and was informed it shipped yesterday. Should have it tomorrow or the next day!

Vlad, thanks, wish I could take credit for this one, but I am just the bookseller half of H & R, Charlie Randall (the "R" in "H & R") handles all aspects of our publishing business and put together the team that designed, proofread and illustrated this volume (Tony Dunn did the illustrations). Frankly, I was caught off guard by the demand. More than half of the initial print run has already been distributed and the book, which we just got from the printer this week, will surpass in a few days the cumulative website sales of our MAGIC OF PAUL POTASSY book which was published about two years ago (and is less than a dozen copies away from being officially out of print). I had no idea that Nick Trost's work had such a following! I'm looking forward to reading it myself!

Richard,

Then additional thanks to Charlie and Tony!! I did mention Tony's as usual EXCELLENT work. It is gratifying to see that you have a tiger by the tail!! The book's contents are of course excellent, but the book itself - binding, etc. - is wonderful. I can tell that much love went into writing, proofreading, illustrating, and publishing this first in a series of fine magic from a truly fine magician and gentleman. Your work is a credit to the Art!

Best,
Vlad



Cristo,

Trust me on this, you will be VERY satisfied!!

Best,
Vlad

Did anyone else find the simularities between Balducci's Cut Deeper Force and Hamman's Flip Flop Force interesting? Loved the idea of using it as a control.

Richard, I hope that once this run of books is sold, that you will move onto volume two and not reprint volume one. I'd like to see it remain sold out. LOL!

Jeff Pierce

If I was was smart I'd buy a 2nd copy and sit on it for a while.

I just picked up two of these from Penguin.

I second that!!

Nick Trost in my opinion is the BEST with card books.I have numerous magic books and The Card Magic of Nick Trost is my absolute favorite. I also received an e-mail from Richard stating the new book was in the mail. Cannot wait..I would really like to know where Nick Trost keeps coming up with these gems. My only complaint about him, is he is very reclusive. I can only dream of attending a Nick Trost lecture someday.
Rennie
P.S. Kudos to H&R Magic Books

Great review, Vlad.

Robert

I most certainly agree with the initial reactions to Nick Trost’s new book. I’ve been through it, and believe “Subtle Card Creations” is equal to (and maybe surpasses) the excellence of “The Card Magic of Nick Trost.”

If you are new to card magic, you might wonder why all the “buzz” about this new book. You’ve got some wonderful time of discovery before you! I’ll bet you’ll quickly become a fan of Nick Trost. The tricks are easy enough for you to concentrate on the presentation and not worry about difficult sleights and tedious procedures. Trost devises straight-forward, uncomplicated handlings to achieve some really terrific effects. Beginners will appreciate the well-written section explaining some of the basic sleights and subtleties which all card enthusiasts should know.

Old-timers and professionals will not be disappointed. If you are a Trost fan at all, you’ll find material and ideas which you will add to your performing repertoire. I’ll not list the tricks which really caught my attention. You’ll have fun discovering treasures for yourself!

If you are into card magic at all, you simply can not go wrong by purchasing this book. Richard, Charlie and the rest of the folks at H&R Books get applause from me for a great production job with this top quality book. Congratulations H&R Books! You have a winner!

Regards,
Gerald

BTW: Roy Walton’s classic “Oil and Queens” has been a favorite of mine for many moons. I can’t resist recommending that you have a look at Trost’s twist on it beginning on page ten.

Does anyone know how many of these were printed?

The book arrived today and just looking at the table of contents I am completely satisfied. Not only that,there is a picture of the man himself. Last picture I saw of Nick Trost he had a full head of black hair, not anymore.
I am not really concerned with his hair though, becuse the man is a genius.
Rennie

I agree. Mine arrived today and I am totally impressed. I can't wait until volume 2 comes out, but until then, I've got a TON of things to work on out of this one.

Thanks Nick and H&R. Great job!

Mark.

It would be a shame if people started hoarding this book because of what happened with "The Card Magic of Nick Trost" since it went out of print.

Does anyone know if there's a schedule for the subsequent releases in the series?