I was fortunate enoughto get hold of a copy of "USER FRIENDLY the comic strip". As a computer geek myself, I found many in-jokes and opportunities for a good old larf.

Charles Schultz (Peanuts) was a master of characterization. Bill Watterson (Calvin & Hobbes) is a genius at representing theology, Scott Addams (Dilbert) at corporate culture. With User Friendly, Iliad has captured the geek ethic and programmer culture. He sees as a computer professional sees, plays Quake as they play Quake and eats sugar-rich foods as they do. In this anthology you'll expect to see Quake jokes, Microsoft jibes, corporate takeovers and accents that change more quickly than the bug list>for Windows 2000.

The only criticism I can raise is that having been spoilt by Gary Larson's "Prehistory of the Far Side", I would have liked to see some of the nuts & bolts behind the scenes, like a "Techniques" section or a "Ideas rejected by the editor" section.

Other than that, I sat and read it cover to cover. Every time I'd go to put it down, I'd hit another storyline and I wanted to see how it would end. The Star Wars storyline was my favourite. Yeah, Sith Lords *do* get the coolest lightsabers!