Rating: 
Summary: A writer's writer
Review: The thing that sticks out about this book is the quality of the writing -- it's par excellence. Computer books come and go, but this one has real staying power. It's a cut above the rest in terms of the prose. Unlike a lot of techie books out there, this is one you can't put down. I picked up the book only mildly interested in the subject material and couldn't put it down. It took me a week or so to read through it all (the book is _really_ dense), and, once I had, I was half tempted to go through it again. It's great to run into a technical author who knows how to write. In my view, this book is right up there with the best works in other genres. Kudos to Henderson for such a wonderful piece of work.
Rating: 
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: After reading the rave reviews, I was disappointed with the book. In initially KH has a go at books that fill their pages with screen shots. However half the book is filled with ugly Courier code slabs of not only repetitive code but also repetitive result sets. Notwithstanding that some of the code is useful to browse, it is usually pretty ordinary to someone like me who has been writing T-SQL for 10 years. Also some of it is just showmanship as KH often admits that there are better and more efficient ways of getting the required result (either with code or tools). I ended up reading the book in a few hours and then putting it on the shelf where it will probably now collect dust which is unfortunate after laying out US$50 after postage.
Rating:
Summary: Well worth the price if you use T-SQL for anything
Review: This is an excellent addition to any shops reference material. It contains great examples and covers everything from simple select statements to complex math functions. I have learned a lot from reading this book. Highly recommend
Rating:
Summary: incredible
Review: there simply isn't a better book on transact sql. if all you want to do is generate reports on your little four table database, then don't waste your time, this book isn't for you. however, if you are an ms sql server power user, i can't stress enough how valuable this book is. every time i pick it up i learn something new.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written, and not just for Gurus.
Review: I HIGHLY recommend 'The Guru's Guide to Transact-SQL'. Although the book is dated (doesn't cover OLAP and other SQL-7 features), it is superbly written stylistically (probably the best-written technical book I've EVER read). The writing style is concise, elegant and most importantly, not antagonzing. The book is stuffed with little tidbits and fills in LOTS of blanks. Within the first few pages I learned that a blank time in a timedate field evaluates to midnight, and that can cause problems: "The following example uses the BETWEEN operator to return orders occuring between October 1990 and May 1995, Inclusively. I've included the time with the second of the two dates because without it, the time would default to midnight (SQL Server datetime columns always store both the date and time; an omitted time defaults to midnight), making the query noninclusive. Without specification of the time portion, the query would return only orders placed up through the first millisecond of May 31. SELECT ordernumber, orderdate, amount FROM orders Where orderdate BETWEEN '10/01/90' AND '05/31/95 23:59:59.999'" Note the clarity of the writing and the clear capitalization scheme used. Moreover, this is important stuff. I never would've guessed that SQL Server is that dumb, and it's really necessary to know . For all I know, they may have fixed this on 7.0, but I still have clients on 6.5). Obviously from this example you can see that you don't have to be an aspiring guru yourself to get a lot out of it. Don't let the title scare you off: it's fine for beginners and will get you way beyond beginner's level quickly. It will take you as far as you want to go, if you put in the time and effort. I consider it a must on any SQL bookshelf (now, if only they'd update to include OLAP, DTS etc.).
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent advise, samples lacking
Review: I found the advise and guidance this book offers to be top-notch. Anyone and everyone developing for SQL Server should read this book. My only gripe is that the examples aren't as practical and applicable as I'd hoped. The author over uses temporary tables in sample code, and doesn't give good examples of how cursors could be used for complex calculations that aren't easily expressed with the Select statement. I think this is because he is so adiment about not using them.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended
Review: Compared to other large SQL Transact books, this book has solid information. It only provides information from what is not covered in MS "Books Online" which makes this book a perfect companion. I spent four months reading reviews and trying to find the right rescource. I am glad I chose this book!
Rating:
Summary: Best Book I Have Bought on Subject
Review: I am ordering two more of these for my company. We have many books on T-SQL but none compare to the quality of content of Henderson's work. Seems everytime we're stumped there is good content, and excellent sample code. Can't keep enough of these around for my developers. Keep-in-mind, this is not a beginner's book, but is outstanding for intermediate to advanced SQL Server developers.
Rating:
Summary: A keeper
Review: Most of the computer books I buy end up on the floor, in a box, or in some cases in the trash. Not this one. Its a real keeper. I've been working in SQL Server for several years, but this book taught me all sorts of things I didn't know. Who knew about all the undocumented stuff? I knew about a few of them, but the Undocumented T-SQL chapter really opened my eyes. I've got a better understanding for what's going on behind the scenes because of it. Also, the stats chapter was a good one. It has given me some ideas I want to try in a project I'm workingo on. And the OLE Automation chapter was cool. I knew the functionality was there, but didn't know how or why I might use it. Now I do. If you want the last word in all there is to know about T-SQL, give this book a try.
Rating:
Summary: Can't imagine doing SQL Server work without it
Review: This was a wonderful investment for me. It opened a whole new world of SQLSvr development to me. They say the first thing you need to do to become familiar with a new country is learn the language. Thanks to this book, I feel I'm finally on my way to learning the language of SQL Server, Transact-SQL. What I really like about the book is the effort to avoid repeating the Online Books. What you find in this book is everything that Microsoft left out of the docs that you need to know about Transact-SQL. Specifically the Cursors chapter and the Transactions chapter are real masterpieces. I highly recommend this book.
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