Could someone that has read these books give a review please.

Thanks
edh

If you are at all interested in Ascanio's magic and thoughts on magic, you should get them straight away.

Volume one is made up of essays and interviews on various subjects, and are fascinating reading if you are into theory. Read this and you WILL learn.

Volume two features the most complete descriptions of the Ascanio spread(and it's variants) ever put to paper. The following chapter is based on layouts of the cards after the spread. There are two chapters featuring effects from Ascanio's mentors and friends, including Kaps, Pollock and Fu Manchu. There is also a chapter for short mysteries, and a chapter on Marlo.

There are several versions of the Ace !@#embly, and Oil and Water in this book, so people looking for a greater variety of effects may be disappointed, but it is the progression and routining of these effects that should be studied. They are beautifully structured and shining examples of the theory from the first book in action. The methods are described thoroughly, the only negative issue is that sometimes it will reference a diagram in another part of the book, causing you to flip from the description on page 30, to a diagram of a similar hand position in another routine on page 320, which can be a pain when you are reading with a handful of cards.

Again, if you are at all interested in Ascanio, you should get these books. Otherwise, I would recommend them to all who are interested in card magic and theory. I am very much looking forward to volume 3.

Kimura, thank you for your response.