This is the second book I purchased from Douglas Downing in the series
The Easy Way. The prior book, Trigonometry the Easy Way and this book
tell a story that is actually fun to read about a fantasy kingdom and
how the concepts are discovered in order to solve issues that the
royal court encounters.

I find that this book contains most of the AP Calculus material
needed for the exam. I consider I more useful book than textbooks
that can cost many times more. The book also goes into proving
certain concepts that are beyond the level needed for AP exams.

Most math advances came as a result of a real-life problem. As the problem came up, math was developed to find a solution. This book uses a story line where problems are encountered to explain the conceptual basis of the math concept. The story is a little cheesy, but fun. What I really like about this text is that it explains the concept, and the reasoning behind the concept well. I used it in college, and now that I'm reviewing Calculus to become an actuarian, it's proving useful again. I don't know how you are, but I don't like memorizing math, I like understanding math, and this book helps me with that.

Boy do I hate this book. I hardly know where to begin in explaining why I think this book is terrible despite the high ratings people seem to give it.

I assume that most people buy help books for the same reasons that I do. Either you want a book that will compliment your class or school text, or you want a book that you can use as a reference so that you can look up information pretty easily whenever you run into something not adequately covered by your notes or textbook. Unfortunately, this book fails miserably at both.

First of all, this book is written in the format of a novel. That's right, a calculus help book that is written in story book format. Well, okay, that part, though weird, isn't necessarily the problem. The problem occurs when you try to look up information. For example, say you're having trouble understanding definite integrals and you want to use this book to help clear up some of the confusion. Well, normally with most books of this type, you could just flip to that section and take a look at some solved examples to figure out how to do that problem. But not in this book. Instead, you'll be reading about some fantasy land characters who live in some fictional land who are trying to figure out how to do definite integrals themselves in order to dispell some evil threat that is haunting them at the current moment. It becomes really frustrating when you're reading about some fantasy-land characters and their daily lives when you're pressed for time and all you want to do is get some calculus concept down before your next big test.

Another problem I have with this book is the few example problems it has (and I mean the FEW) are ridiculously easy. It seems to me that the author was more worried about writing a novel and developing the on going story than he was about actually putting in practice problems and worked example problems into the book... I guess that just would have made too much sense.

If this weren't all bad enough, it's just that the fact that most "Easy Way" books aren't like this at all. Most of them cut straight to the chase and don't make you read through some stupid fictional story just because you wanted to look something up. Half the time when I want to look up some calculus concept, I'm not sure if I can just skip to that concept, or if I will be missing some key information because I didn't feel like reading the story from the beginning.

Usually no matter how crappy a book I have, I can usually find something that the book came in handy for. However, I can honestly say that I didn't find anything useful in this book. I am currently finishing up calculus 3, and not once out of my entire time in calculus did I ever rely on this book for anything, (it only took me about 3 days to figure out that this book was junk), instead, I have used REA's Calculus Problem Solver, and Schaum's Outline of Calculus, which are both FAR superior books to this overpriced piece of junk. I almost just want to ask the author what he was even thinking when he decided to make a help book like this. It might have turned out to be a pretty decent book if it was an actual help book that could be used as a reference. Instead, it is a novel with that happens to have characters who use calculus to ward off some evils that plague their land. What was the author thinking? Worse yet, how in the world was anyone allowed to cut down a tree to print this book? What a waste.

If you want a calculus help book, I suggest checking out the Schaum's or REA books. If you want some fantasy land novel... well... still don't get this book... it sucks even at that, get Harry Potter or the Narnia books.

If you want to learn what really matters, enjoy learning it, and remember what you learn buy this book. I am a doctoral engineering student. I first learned calculus from this book many years ago (I used it to teach myself before I entered college). The strong and intuitive grasp of the subject gained from this book has enabled me to succeed at all levels of math. Sure, later you will want more advanced books -- but those are common. This book is unique and exceptional.

By the way, the other books by this author are also excellent.

A cute story line to keep the student's interest and give them problems with application. Knowing the reason something is important is half the battle of the desire to learn. It is an interesting approach that makes learning part of an interesting puzzle to be solved. Combines the learn-by-discovery and learn-by-adventure method in an original and fun format.