Rating: 
Summary: Information you wont find anywhere else
Review: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui teaches "Compass School" feng shui a much different approach than the popular "Black Hat Sect", which is probably why this book has received such mixed reviews. Those who thought all feng shui schools had similar basic guidelines - put a mirror here and a windchime there- may be confused to learn that mirrors don't even play apart in Compass School (The confusion dates back to the days when mirrors were disks of polished brass and thus were brought in if an area needed to be "balanced" with metal), and windchimes are considered to be dangerous! Also terms like "wealth area" and "relationship area" are Black Hat Sect and have no meaning in Compass School Feng Shui. The two styles both get results but Compass school is based on mathmatical computations. I don't understand how that one editor said this is a book a person could "dip into", it actually lays out a very careful system which must be fallowed step by step from beginning to end. It requires knowing the direction the house is facing, the year the house was built, the current year and the year the tenants were born. As far as it goes this is an excellent book although there are some errors which hopfully further additions will eliminate. The flaw with "The Complete Idiot's Guide" is that it does not go far enough. I also have studied with Master Sang and recognize how the authors have based their text on his "Beginner" and "Intermediate" level courses. However, in the "Advance" course Master Sang gives additional information that refines and adjusts so much of the initial teachings that to do a Compass School Feng Shui Reading based souly on the information in this book practically guarantees misunderstandings.
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Summary: Interactive Feng Shui!..Excellent!
Review: Feng Shui books abound and one can easily get lost finding a good self help source, since there are different forms of Feng Shui methods employed and discussed by different authors on the book front. I already own several books on this great traditional science and stumbled upon "The Principles of Feng Shui" by Master Larry Sang, the founder of the American Feng Shui Institute. I enjoyed the book and it opened my eyes toward learning more aspects of feng shui orientation using the East/West method. However, still hungry for something much more comprehensive on this topic, I scour my local Borders bookstore and discovered that they have "An Idiot's Guide" on Feng Shui. From my personal experience, the "Idiot's Guide" series or franchise, or whatever you choose to call it, is often a respectable and good buy for the topics published.They don't normally stake their branding on writer/s who don't pack the punch between the covers. Needless to say, I was more than impressed. This Guide really educates the reader on Feng Shui history, its process, influences and application of this science to full advantage. The language and writing style are clear, simple and concise-a real art, considering you are dealing with a topic like Feng Shui! Most Feng Shui books tell you how to move or block this and that-you know the drill; but this guide has all these and more. It makes you understand why you need to effect certain wisdom and imbues you with a discerning eye to make the right decision year after year. I felt I made an error in one reading on my own and emailed one of the authors, Ms Elizabeth Moran. She not only responded immediately twice but offered friendly and warm advice on rectifying a possible costly renovation mistake for my home. This is what I call a true professional Master and a wonderful interactive experience! My compliments to the publisher for allowing a contact to the authors via email-something that has always been lacking for published works in the market. I understood much more having read this wonderful book than most other on feng shui and I believe that Ms Moran must have made his teacher,Master Larry Sang, very proud. In this case, I believe Ms Moran and her co-author, Mr Biktashev took great efforts to ensure that their material is first rate and this outstanding contribution scores well in all areas. This comprehensive Guide is enough to strip any self respecting idiot of his/her CROWN-->it's that powerful! However, if after having read this incredibly insightful guide and you still don't know where your East meets your West, then we usher you into a new era of unparalled majesty! All bow and say, " Hail, your Majesty!"
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Summary: Best feng shui book out there - though a bit dry
Review: This is the best book about traditional feng shui. It is a bit dry and hard to read, but the most informative. Expect to get headaches if you jump around and try to read it too fast.
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Summary: Outstanding organization and presentation of information.
Review: I greatly appreciate the well organized presentation of this information. The authors have created a book that nurtures the beginner, taking the reader to new levels with each chapter. Filled with valuable history and factual material, the subject matter is well-developed, precise and clearly no-nonsense. With so little time for study, this book is a jewel.
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Summary: An Excellent Beginning Guide to Traditional Feng Shui
Review: As a professional Feng Shui consultant, teacher and moderator of an online discussion group on Feng Shui and the Four Pillars of Destiny, I am often asked to recommend the best book for beginning students on compass school FS. The "Complete Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui" has been my choice since its publication. The authors have performed a great service to those seeking to undertake the study of the complexities of Feng Shui by providing an organized format that builds layers of understanding while keeping the information personally relevant and often entertaining. The fundamental principles of Feng Shui are covered - the nature of qi, yin/yang, the elements (phases), trigrams and form school - as well as two compass school methodologies, the East/West system and beginning Flying Stars. Easy reference charts, tables and diagrams are useful tools for beginning and advanced students alike. Many chapters contain workbook pages so that the information can be readily applied to the reader's own environment. Learning traditional Feng Shui is initially more complex than following the generic fixes/advice offered in some books. All houses, buildings, environments and people are not the same, and do not remain static over time. CIG teaches, in the simplest possible way, Feng Shui that is authentic and effective. Superstitious and superficial practices are debunked through logical reasoning. The highly respected Master Joseph Yu wrote the chapters on the basics of the Four Pillars of Destiny (one form of Chinese astrology) - worth the price of the book alone, as other reviewers have noted. CIG is a must for anyone wanting to learn true Feng Shui.
Rating: 
Summary: Very very disappointing
Review: Someone should have told me that this was a badly organized textbook on feng shui, NOT the how-to book that I was hoping for. I wish I'd read some of the negative reviews here on amazon before I bought this useless book.
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Summary: Fabulous!
Review: Finally, some truth about the subject, not just the endless and worthless tripe about where to stick the couch and all that Puritan nonsense about clutter. These people tell the truth and plenty of it. Hope they write more!
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Summary: I thought this book was about Feng Shui?
Review: This book is poorly organized and poorly written. I only made it 135 pages before I couldn't take it anymore. There was too much historical information and not enough practical information. One section about history is fine, but chapters! All I wanted to know was how to place my couch, not who wrote about feng shui 6,000 years ago. Even though it was broken into chapters and sections, it felt very diconnected; with the authors referring constantly to information they would tell you later and to those obscure chinese texts. If you want information on chinese philosophy, religion and the different dynasties then this is your book. But if you are like me and only want to know if your bed should be this way or that than buy another book.
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Summary: A big disappointment
Review: Had I known the content of this book, I'd never have bought it. It's more like a badly organized textbook on everything you didn't want to know about Feng Shui than on simple, easy-to-apply principles that "complete idiots" can apply to their homes. Too much background information about which I don't care. Too little in the way of immediately useful ideas. What I had hoped for was a sort of Cliff's notes on the topic with a basic Feng Shui to-do list, but what I got was page after page (after page) of theory and tables. If you are looking for an education on Feng Shui and don't care about being able to ferret out any useful ideas, buy this book. Otherwise, keep looking for a Feng Shui book that will actually help you improve your home.
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Summary: Feng Shui - a practical tool for the new millenium
Review: I believe Feng shui is one of the great tools to learn the basic Chinese philosophy which became so relevant in our era. This book is the best among the (~40) books I've read as it makes this elaborate tool (feng shui) so easy to work with. I would recommend any beginer to start here if he doesn't want to loose his direction. I wish this book would have been written before I have started to study Feng Shui. Thank you
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