Rating: 
Summary: Good book for academics, not for traders
Review: The book is written in arcane language. If you know nothing about futures for example, this book will make you even more confused. There is undoubtedly a great theoretical value to the book, so if you want to pursue a career in academic finance you definitely need to peruse this book.
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Summary: When dinosaurs ruled the earth
Review: What is this book supposed to be for? Practical? No way. Too abstract for sales. Too naive for a trader or quant. For probability theorists? Hull doesnt understand probability or risk neutrality. PDEs? No sign of them. Numerical methods? Embarrassing and out of date. When this book first came out it was great. But it hasnt aged well. If you admit to liking this book then you are a dinosaur.
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Summary: Total disaster and outdated
Review: Terrible book. A dead end as far as theory or practice go. Like a chinese meal, it's ok while it lasts, but you will quickly need more. It doesn't help you make progress. The numerical methods are antique. Best books are Nefci and Wilmott. Nefci for probability theory and Wilmott for applied math. Don't buy this garbage, it impedes progress.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Overview of Derivatives on the Market
Review: I loved the overview of derivatives products as well as the problem sets, which help to clarify (or review) one's grasp of the concepts. I'm a derivatives professional, but find I use this book as a frequent reference. I also recommend Tavakoli's book: "Credit Derivatives". The coverage in Hull's book was light, especially on the various types applications. I especially found Tavakoli's explanation of hedge funds use of credit derivatives and leverage of interest.
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Summary: This is still the best intro level book on derivatives.
Review: I took Prof Hull's Advanced Risk Management class a few years ago with lecture notes. I also have the previous edition of this book, but I still bought this one. It took me three days to read the book cover-to-cover, and I have to say I still enjoy reading it very much. Assuming minimum math background (basic calculus and prob theory), Prof Hull introduced the world of derivatives, pricing, risk mgmt in plain English. By far, it's still the best introductory level book on derivatives, with balanced treatment of pde and risk-neutral valuation (not like Wilmott's book - almost 100% pde and ignoring risk-neutral altogether). For a bit more advanced reading, Neftci's Intro to Math of Derivatives is a good one. However, to have a complete picture of derivatives pricing, stochastic calculus (at the level of Karatzas & Shreve' Brownian Motion and Stochastic Calculus) is a must, which will instead need a fair exposure to real analysis, measure-theory level prob theory, and ode/pde. For readers who want some knowledge of derivatives but don't want to be quant, Hull's book pretty much tells you everything you ever want to know about derivatives.
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Summary: Probably the best for practitioners; useful for theory
Review: This book is a solid introduction to pricing derivatives and explains in lucid detail all the techniques you need to get up and running with numerical valuation. It is aimed, I would say, at advanced MBA students and practitioners on the job already. That is to say, Hull doesn't spend too much time on theory (for instance, his explanation of HJM summarizes several of their papers and a number of preludes into a few paragraphs). I would also say that the more theory-oriented reader would benefit from reading Hull. It provides a fresh picture, distinct from the essential theoretical foundations of Merton, Duffie, Campbell, and Cochrane. Thus, to learn CAPM, state prices, or portfolio choice, look elsewhere; to learn how to price derivatives in practice, this is your best bet.
Rating: 
Summary: turgid
Review: Hull is the standard introductory text on derivatives pricing. However, its popularity is more due to its age and inertia rather than merit. The style is turgid and the mathematics is woolly.
It makes an interesting topic boring by solemnly saying a little about everything rather than moving to underlying concepts. If you want to understand derivatives pricing try Joshi, Baxter and Rennie, or Wilmott's Derivatives, and leave this book on the shelf.
Rating: 
Summary: This bible contains errors
Review: First, my review refers to the 1997 3rd edition. Since this book is regarded as the bible of derivatives (it was also my first introduction) I will leave it to others to praise it and concentrate instead on what's wrong with it. First and foremost, one cannot learn how correctly to formulate solutions to stochastic differential equations from this text: eqns. (10.7,8), e.g., are not correct for arbitrary returns but are valid only as approxmations for small returns (Hull leads the reader to believe the opposite). The problem is that Ito's lemma is only stated, not proven, and it's the proof that shows one how to formulate correctly the stochastic integral equations that Hull calls 'stochastic difference equations'. When volatility depends on returns and/or time, then the errors made from following Hull's oversimplified treatment become serious. My first impression of Baxter & Rennie's 'Financial Calculus' was that it was unnecessary and a waste of money. My opinion reversed completely after realizing (under prodding by a physics colleague who's an expert on sde's) how badly Hull's approach to sde's really is. Also, the systematic derivation of Black-Scholes from the assumption of a replicating, self-financing strategy in B&R is very nice. As Feynman said, we don't really understand a result until we can derive it from many different viewpoints. The method is not really different in principle from the standard short derivation given in Hull, but it does provide a nice, clear example of what is meant by replication and self-financing in the terminology of Brownian motion/sde's.
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Summary: Awesome used books by Laserna
Review: I ordered this book online through the used books section and recieved a great copy by Dan Laserna. He's definitely a good, reliable resource for future used book purchases.
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Summary: A Good Place to Start
Review: A core holding in any financial engineer's library. The cookbook approach, solved problems, and ready reference on numerous topics at the expense of depth left me wanting more...more...MORE! Like any good intoduction the focus is on the derivative products and the markets they trade in with enough mathematics to germinate an interest in going furthur behind the veil.
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