Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but don't expect any training tips.
Review: The account of the author's experience is fascinating. Unfortunately, there is very little information on the actual training methods used to reach this level, assuming all his accounts are true. The author claims that additional experience and investigation with these pheonomena would benefit many people, and that it is time to open them up to the world, but then discloses almost nothing about this supposedly beneficial practice. Nothing to do, nowhere to go, nobody to contact. Why? Makes no sense.
Rating: 
Summary: Intriguing but contradictory
Review: The book is an account of Mr. Danaos apprenticeship with the supposed supernaturally gifted sifu Chang. The stories used as examples of Mr. changs powers although very intriguing are often not quite enough to demonstrate to the average person just exactly what power Mr chang has or has'nt. we are often left with a narrative detailing how Mr. chang supposedly did this or that unbeleivable feat through a third persons narrative, however Mr. danaos is only present when Mr. chang does silly feats like holding seances with the spirits ala Mesdame blavatsky and uses ki energy to knock down empty cigarette packets? why? All in all the reader is left with good stories about past neikung masters battles in china, but little or nothing in terms of evidence to support any theories or lineages that mr. chang claims he descended from. In some parts it almost seems that Mr. changs recounting of events come directly from the Harry potter series of stories with these evil masters that send blasts of powerful enrgy that can turn mere mortals into jelly like lumps of flesh.. I will be willing to admit that I too hoped that all the claims made by Mr. danaos are true however, we are left with the biggest contradiction of all , he claims Mr. chang requested the book be written so that humanity would know what real chi was all about and yet he claims he can only demonstrate these powers to patients or students of his. And that his address must be protected otherwise other chinese masters like him would come to challenge him in a duel? surely the malaysian law prevents this from happening also whats he afraid of he claims he was a kungfu stretfighting champion so fighting is what he should be good at especially with such powers. We are also left bemused at Mr. changs apparent lack of knowledge in Taoist practices but the book claims he is a Taoist master, although he isn't a taoist per se? Taoist Masters teach about taoism to a deep degree, one has to become a devout follower of those principles in order to be taught from a master, so somewhere in Mr. changs story something is very wrong. Mr Danaos himself is ready to put the word into print however we find out that he has only really at the beginning of his apprenticeship and has'nt really been thru the years of training to verify any more than seeing cigarette packs being knocked over by chi and other small illusionist type feats. In fact we are left to wonder why at all a supposed master of such abilities even bothers with such public shows like the above and always in the presence of the foreign apprentice. Who is there to reassure that it could'nt have been a trick at all. In fact any magician could reproduce the same illusions without using chemicals or magnets too. Also we are left to wonder which person is being promoted here Mr. chang or Mr. Danaos? I would like to see Mr. chang come out and openly demonstrate his abilities to the public otherwise why write this book at all?
Rating:
Summary: Values and choices
Review: There are many of us interested in the human potential movement and ecological wholeness. We read Redfield, Millman, Capra, and others as we try and develope those qualities we value. Some of mine are health, compassion, strength, awareness, and vision. The 'character' in this book can light paper on fire and move objects with his internal energy. He also smokes cigarettes, drives recklessly, and eats animals. This is not the path for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Common Knowledge in Java
Review: This book has confirmed many of the common stories in Java. I myself is a Javanese Chinese who live in the United States.
I was born in Java and am aware of the many phenomenons in the book (keris, energy blast, spirits, etc.). To many Westerners, these phenomenons are science fiction. Some Westerners are not even aware of the power of Ouija board. Well, unless you seek for it, you'll never experience/believe it and have no point of claiming that it doesn't exist. When I was in High School, I used to call spirits and the spirits can write! You will need two people to hold the basket with a marker attached to it. Yes, you will need mantra to call the spirit, but it's so simple and always works. While 'playing' at my friend's house, his mother got skeptical and I recommended her to ask a question that only she will know. Amazingly, the spirit answer it correctly and since then she always joined the 'game' and ask questions. How do you explain that? John Chang explains that a spirit don't lie when you ask questions, they are either 'smart' or 'dumb'. Before reading this book, I never could understand why do you need more than one people for the spirit to be able to move things? Now I understand...Most spirits posseses yin energy and it will need our yang energy to move things. That's the answer! As for the book itself, John Chang never claims that he is a Taoist Master. He is not a Taoist from the context of Taoism religion. However, he is a Neikung Master. His knowledge of Taoist practice comes from his Nei-kung experience. There are many books that can explain the theory behind it, but they don't describe the physical manifestation of it better than this book. John Chang made a vow to his Master that he would never demonstrate his power for public display. He accepted the "Ring of Fire" documentary film only because he thought it was for scientific documentation and not for commercial use which he later found he was tricked by Dr. Blair, the producer of the "Ring of Fire". Overall, this book is a great book to read to bring awareness of an ancient knowledge which has been kept secret for many years and most importantly to provide additional information on the nature of reality. The least you can expect from this book is it's entertaining value. The author has done an excellent job!
Rating: 
Summary: What the....have we learned nothing from Houdini?
Review: This book is complete fiction and is insulting to the educated reader who is not willing to believe you can buy the Brooklyn Bridge. Perhaps the author Danaos, (AKA Dervenis), should have studied up on Taoism before writing a book, it would have helped a great deal with the content, the facts and the non-fictionality of it all. For example, most of the "masters" mentioned in this book are Buddhist, not Taoist. It seems that one studying so "deeply" should know the difference. Most importantly, any magician worth their salt could perform these tricks...where is Harry Houdini when you need him?
Don't waste you money on this book. Buy "Magic the Gathering" cards if you want to stock up on your Mana. At least they will be worth something when you are tired of looking at them.
If you want a book on Taoism, seek it elsewhere.
Puhhhlease.
Rating: 
Summary: good story
Review: This book makes very outlandish claims, I am only twenty two years old but I have over seventeen years of martial arts experiences with over twelve years in internal arts. I would say from my experiences I have met many amazing people and many fraudulent people, the amazing people have skill and back it up with evidence of their own person, while the fraudulent people claim to be able to talk to ghosts and strike you dead with their chi but never seem to be able to deliver. Never not once however, even with the most looney out their energy warrior practitioner I've met on my travels through the east have I heard of claims like these. This guy claims to be able to slice a banana with his laser finger, whats more he says he can get in a car crash at one hundred plus miles perhour and use his chi to protect himself. It is also quite convenient for Danaos that he happened to speak perfect english. Well if all that is true than well good for him, but I have to say if you really believe any of that then your very easy to decieve, even if it were true the odds are that it is just some made up story to make money. Meaning that tommorow someone may come along and make up another big one and you buy that one as well.
It is though at least a good story.
Rating:
Summary: A great appetizer, it leaves you hungry.
Review: This book really gets your curiosity going as one amazing feat after the other is trotted out for the reader. But alas, this is all this book accomplishes. Buy it for an entertaining read, but don't expect to learn how to do anything. The book (and its' sequel Nei Kung: The Secret Teachings of the Warrior Sages) can't do any better than replay the type of instructions you get in the first chapter of any basic chi-kung book. I gave it a high-ish rating for it's entertainment value.
Rating:
Summary: The perpetual appetizer.
Review: This book, for anyone interested in qigong or martial arts, is a fascinating read. But like an expensive restaurant bringing you a beautiful but tiny morsel on a huge plate, one is left desparately hungry. Kosta Danaos never tells you how to do any of this stuff. Feeling a bit like I just got caught in a scam, I eagerly awaited the next book by Mr.Danaos (Nei Kung, the Secret Teachings of the Warrior Sages), to finally get to the how-to nuts and bolts. No luck. What am I talking about? Kosta Danaos seems to revel in repeatedly telling he reader about all the really amazing things he is learning and then refuses to share the methodology to accomplish these things...So here he had an opportunity to share something important with the world, and falls short. The lack of instruction relegates his story to a sort of fun fairy tale. Perhaps, someday, one of his students will take the next step and help raise the planet to a new paradigm. I rated this book 4 stars...a high rating based on sheer enjoyment and a good read, but not on its instructional value. For students of body energenics I would point them to the deep and detailed instructions found in "Qigong for Health and Martial Arts" by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming. Any of Dr. Yang's books are erudite and completely authentic, as a quick glance will show...
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This is a fascinating book; however, you'll have to be open-mined in order to appreciate this book. I wish more books like this are published to help people realize the full potential of a human being. I'm glad to hear that such a human being with such capabilies exist today. Also, thanks to John Chang for having the courage to allow this information to be published. It's a great book. I can't wait for the next one! This book has wetted my appetite, now I want more ...
Rating:
Summary: good, but....
Review: This is a good book on the internal arts as explained in the taoist tradition. The author claims to have witnessed the incredible feats of a master of these internal arts. He writes of levitation, telepathy, etc. in a fascinating and engaging way. However, there are some problems with the book. The master this author writes about claims that there are 72 levels of power. He claims that Bodhidharma, the great buddhist master, reached the seventy second level and died. This doesnt make sense. Someone who has attained nirvana, as Bodhidharma did, is incapable of suffering. Thus such a saint could not die or suffer in any way. The truth is we dont know what happened to Bodhidharma. Secondly, according to Buddha, Nirvana is unconditioned ie., it is infinite. This being so, how could there be seventy two levels of power? As soon as one says the infinite is this or that, one is automatically limiting it, and thus it can no longer be the infinite. Perhaps the author meant that there are seventy two levels of power on earth, but perhaps more in higher realms of reality. Taoism is a great religion, but its founder Lao Tzu did not have the full truth as Buddha himself did. Lao Tzu did not claim to be all knowing, but Buddha did. Although this book is well written and does show the awesome powers inherit in man, the buddhist teaching goes much further in explaining it then does taoism. Some excellent books on buddhism are: What the buddha taught by walpola rahula, Buddhism by Christmas Humpreys, and the Secrets of Chinese meditation by Charles Luk. This last book,near the end of the book, explains why the buddhist teaching is superior to the taoist.
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