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Rating: 
Summary: THIS BOOK IS THE WORST - FLUFF IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT
Review: I found this book to be good, but David Clarke tends to add fanciful fluff in an attempt to make the topic matter interesting. The book covers all the necessary info, lays it out pretty much as you will see on the exam, however, the author presents the material like a text book, not an exam cram book. In this way, you can potentially learn the material better and later use the book as a reference. Unfortunately this makes for a thick book that may take you longer to plow through. I can honestly say this book helped me pass my CNA exam the first time out. Oh course, it helped that I have 10+ years experience in NetWare and networking. The important point here is the book will cover everything, but you will need experience. Do the labs, puzzles, and sanple exam!
Rating:
Summary: Nothing lower than 1 star? -10
Review: I have never been so ashamed of myself as I am for having spent good money for this incredibly bad drivel. I will never purchase anything with David James Clark's name on it again. What little info there is in this book could have made a pamphlet. A short one. PLEASE, do not support this comic book writer. (and I don't mean he's funny)
Rating: 
Summary: Most reviews much too harsh
Review: I hesitated buying this book because of all the reviews saying there was to much fluff to this book. I was impressed with the book. It is a little overboard but the basics are covered well and it is a very good instructional book for someone new to Novell. I read this and the Clark notes book, and set up a server at home, and passed the test the first try. Butch Kiles MCSE MCP+I MCP/Win98 CNA
Rating:
Summary: Wow - Amazed at how bad this book is.
Review: I'm at pg 500 out of 700 of this book. I have stuck with it, altho it is a waste of my time and money. I truly feel dumber for reading this book. I would just be mad tho, since I did pay for it.I'm an MCSE, & I can say the Microsoft books may be dead boring, but at least they aren't filled with idiotic blabbering, "Very cool." etc. If you have read this book, you will understand. It actually has helped me learn the material, but it could have been cut down to 250-300 pages easily. Once again, I can not believe this is the official Novell book.
Rating:
Summary: 90% crap, 10% useful
Review: Simply the worst exam preparation book I've ever come across. What little useful info Mr. Clark presents could be condensed into 1/10 as many pages. This is a huge, irritating tome which will leave you wondering how Novell corporation could give their blessing to such a waste of paper. How many of your precious innocent trees were sacrificed for this monstrosity Mr. Clark? Seriously, don't waste your money, more importantly your time, on this book. Humour can indeed aid the learning process but there is such a thing as brevity (besides, none of Clark's drivel is at all funny or clever). This is one of those cases where less is more. Save yourself the shame you will inevitably feel after buying this book and realizing you've been had. How many budding Novell professionals have been stymied by this giant slap-in-the-face book? Seriously folks, it is your duty to our IT profession not to support such garbage. You don't need to indulge in this kind of self-flaggelation to get your CNA. Do what I did, get a good concise reference book and purchase the Big Red Self Test, and take it over and over again until you've got it all down. You'll learn what you need to know in a fraction of the time it would take to actually read all of Clark's giant farse of a book (which, by the way, wouldn't adequately prepare you for actual exam by a long shot).
Rating: 
Summary: 350 pages of useful info, 500 pages of crap
Review: This book will prepare you for the exam, but what a waste of time reading. I was so incredibly sick of his tree-hugging "wit" I have done MCSE, Citrix CCA, Cisco CCNA, Compaq ASE courses and exams and never seen a book where an author needs to put his beliefs or humor in the book. Get to the point and get there quickly. Alright, my wife thinks I am being too negative. Do you get prepared for the test absolutely. Did I learn a lot about Netware 5 absolutely. Did I pass the test easily, yes again. I just didn't appreciate the writer's style of presenting the material. Also, why doesn't Novell give you an evaluation copy of Netware with this kit? If they want you to learn this stuff then experience is the best way. (I didn't buy a Compaq server to sit around and collect dust)!!!! Please Novell, DO NOT allow this moron to write for you. Hire a professional writer and allow Mr. Clarke to write the great American novel "My trip through Woodstock: The stories of a 60's tree hugger living in the 21st century"
Rating: 
Summary: so you want to be CNA ?
Review: This is a nice book its good and covers alot of subjects. I passed CNA today using this book. However remember that this book alone is not enough if you havent worked with novell before. I used this book and program called exam essentials and I passed after 15 questions :). and I did it all in 1 week. Moran.
Rating:
Summary: tester
Review: When I bought this book about 3 months ago, I was a complete NetWare 5 neophyte. I finished the book in about a month and bumped up to the CNA NetWare 5 level. However, actually getting through this book was harder than becoming competent in Novell software. Mr. Clarke has established himself as both an experienced technician and the world's most demented computer nerd to me-his idea that a simple NOS can save the world is an insult to every sane person over 3 years old in the world. If you read this book, prepare to hear the phrases "Sta-Puff man" "Big-Friendly Clound" "V-rooom!" and "Charging your supercar" ten million times per chapter. The worst part would undoubtedly have to be the fact that Mr.Clarke reserved well over 300 pages altogether babbling about a fanatical company ("ACME")which consists of people that have died hundreds of years ago with the sole purpose of saving humans from extinction by a race of aliens ("Alpha Centurarians) who love the Earth and are frustrated by the amount of corruption on Earth due to human error. Sounds ridiculous? It is. Then why did I rate this book at three stars? Despite Mr. Clarke's poor attempt at entertainment,he does cover a large amount of information in less than 1,000 pages (only about 700 omitting the appendices). Coverage of NDS, NDPS, the file system, connectivity, and security is very thorough. And you will actually find yourself laughing from time to time (not from the ACME babble, but from the fact that a grown man could actually put his name on something as disturbing as this.) So, if you have a big sense of humor like me and can make it though partially entertaining stories of stories of little fairy people and futuristic highways when you would rather be learning NW5 features then you should consider buying this book (the CD is useless).However, for the strict computer conservatives, Sybex is your best bet. And as for you, Mr. Clarke, my advice is to invest in a either becoming a stand up comedian or losing the supernerd fourth grade philosophies-and stay away from technical books until then.
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