Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Introduction and Resource
Review: This book has great introductory information laid out in a format that is clear and easy to understand. It presents information on the theories behind Chaos Magic, good resources to followup on, and interesting information on different forms that magic can take. The information is clear, well laid out, and well written so that it is an easy read.That being said...
At the beginning of the book it almost sounds like Hine is preaching rather than informing. There is also a lack of an index in the book, making it a poor referance despite being an excellent straight through read and guide. All in all I recommend this book highly despite its (few and far between) flaws.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Introduction and Resource
Review: This book has great introductory information laid out in a format that is clear and easy to understand. It presents information on the theories behind Chaos Magic, good resources to followup on, and interesting information on different forms that magic can take. The information is clear, well laid out, and well written so that it is an easy read. That being said...
At the beginning of the book it almost sounds like Hine is preaching rather than informing. There is also a lack of an index in the book, making it a poor referance despite being an excellent straight through read and guide. All in all I recommend this book highly despite its (few and far between) flaws.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book on Chaos Magick
Review: This book is extremely helpful if you are interested in pursuing your OWN personal system of development. He presents the core ideas of many magickal traditions and the new ideas of chaos magick in a very readable, user friendly work. I especially liked the chapters on chaos servitors (personally designed entities) and working with your personal demons.
Rating:
Summary: great book
Review: This book is one of the best I have seen in a long time. I only wish I had gotten it when it first came out. Everything in it is useful, not just a rehash of 101 stuff. If I cleared out all of my magick books and could only keep one, this would be it.
Rating:
Summary: All in all, I recommend this book.
Review: This book provides a solid introduction to the concepts of chaos magic. Even though it sometimes comes across as so much psychobabble, there is good information here.
Rating:
Summary: best book on magic available
Review: This is a great book! Plain and simple. :) It is full of great insights and reflects the varied background of the author. No bogus authoritarian decrees about how things must be done here. The whole point is that magic only works if the practice of it stirs something within you, and that is a very personal thing. No one else's system will produce the sort of results you can achieve if you develop something of your own. In particular, the chapter on Ego magic is fantastic. Here you will find all sorts of suggestions for dumping baggage and becoming less hindered by ego identification. I guess one of the best things I can say is this is one of the few magic books that I have bothered to read TWICE. :) Get it. You won't be sorry.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for anyone studying any path(s) in Magick
Review: With a combination of Personal anecdotes along with a great deal of occult knowledge, this book is a must have for anyone studying magick, especially those who study more than one path. Occasionally the author's style can create tangents, but for the most part it was easy to read and follow. I highly recommend this book for anyone studying the occult, spiritual paths, or New Age philosphies.
Rating:
Summary: Review for non-practitioners, by a non-practitioner
Review: You may have noted that all the other reviews of "Condensed Chaos" (at least as of this date) are by practitioners of magick, so their concern is whether the this book helps them advance the state of their art. If you are a non-practitioner, as I am, you might wonder what this book is about and whether these folks are really serious about this magick stuff or whether they are putting you on. Well, here's my take on "Condensed Chaos," from a non-practitioner's point of view.
In brief, if you took a ballpoint pen and crossed out the word "magick" on every page of the book, you would have terse but comprehensive outline about what you need to do to assert your will in world. The secret is to maintain a clear intention of what you want; when this is absolutely clear, all of your actions naturally work towards your ends. However, maintaining a clear intention is easier said than done, since your brain, which was originally designed to help you climb down from the trees and throw rocks at small mammals, is not so good at dealing with life off the savannah. Much of the book is about the necessity to discipline your mind so that you can achieve this clarity of intention (plus some techniques for doing this). There are also techniques for tricking your mind, so that it lets you do what you want without it getting in the way.
I was surprised to find myself thinking, "Yes, this all makes sense" for most of the things he talked about. For example, he describes creating a sigil (a magical symbol) or a mantra derived from statement of purpose and then focusing on the sigil or mantra rather than the statment of purpose. My take on this is that the sigil is form of subliminal suggestion. Many times when you try to push yourself into doing something, your brain pushes back. By focusing your brain's border patrol on a sigil, however, you can subconsciously evoke a suggestion, sneaking it in through the back door.
So, where's all the spooky stuff? He doesn't spend much time talking about this, although he has one interesting story about a friend and him talking to a shadowy figure on his stairway, then just walking away from it when it couldn't give a convincing account of why it was there. I had the impression that it was not really important whether you achieved your ends through normal or paranormal channels. So, even if you don't buy into occult stuff, you could still make use of what he has to say.
What makes "chaos magick" different from other magical traditions is that it embraces all traditions---a kind of Unitarianism of the occult world. It also does not take itself too seriously; humor is an important component of its practice. For example, the magical servitor that helps you get through traffic is visualized as a cat on a skateboard. There is some tie-in with chaos theory, with he notion that brain activity turns into macroscopic effects in the world (the "butterfly effect," doncha know), but I get the impression that most of the stuff it embraces (fractals, quantum theory, etc.) is more important for its metaphorical impact than for any purported theoretical grounding.
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