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13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 What a treat! Challenging sudoku in a variety of new formats! Jun 10, 2007
By Mary Whipple
What makes this sudoku collection really special is its fascinating variety! Omitting the Easy and Medium sudoku, the collection begins with regular "Hard" puzzles (88 of them, not too hard), and then moves to Fiendish, seventy-seven of them. (Tom Sheldon's Master Class has more difficult "fiendish" puzzles, but the ones here are fun, too.)
Then I discovered variations that I'd never tried, each of which provided hours of new fun! Samurai Sudoku was my first variation--five connected sudoku with a center puzzle sharing its corners with four additional, interdependent puzzles. (See cover photo for example.) It is necessary to use patterns in the additional puzzles to fill in the center puzzle and, most importantly, its shared corners, so that the other puzzles can all be completed. Fortunately, author Michael Mepham rates these from Easy to Fiendish, as I found these puzzles initially to be quite challenging.
The Jigsaw Samurai Sudoku have become my favorites. Similar to regular samurai sudoku, the center puzzle has square corners, requiring 9 numbers, but except for these corner squares in the center puzzle, there are no other squares. Where the squares would be are irregular shapes, some of them in crosses (using one column and one row), some looking like stair steps through the puzzle, and some looking like the NYC skyline. The challenge is to give each irregular shape each of the numbers from 1-9, while, at the same time, putting 1-9 into each vertical column and each horizontal row. These range from "easy" to "fiendish."
Twelve by twelve and sixteen by sixteen square puzzles, which require numbers from 1-9, in addition to letters--A-C for the 12x12, and A-G for the 16x16 are all ranked "hard." The last variation, "Killer" sudoku, shows irregularly shaped "cages" within the regularly-shaped squares, each cage containing the mathematical totals for 2, 3, 4, or 5 numbers within the boxes they enclose. Only a few numbers are shown in the boxes(usually two or three, on average) and one "fiendish" killer puzzle, offers no given numbers at all, only the totals in the cages. Varying from "easy" to "fiendish," these require simple math.
My minor problem with the book is its binding--a spiral binding would help right-handers do the puzzles on the left side, especially at the beginning of the book. (I ended up Xeroxing some of these left side puzzles because it was hard to write along the tight binding.) The pages are 8" x 10 1/2", however, and offer large boxes and plenty of room to write. The paper quality is very high, allowing for numerous erasures. A great collection offering weeks of fun and many new puzzle experiences! n Mary Whipple
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
A Sudoku Variety Pack! Nov 25, 2006
By Daisy
"Sudoku Siren"
This book has given me hours of Sudoku-solving pleasure. It has normal Sudoku puzzles in varying degrees of difficulty and then Samurai Sudoku, Jigsaw Sudoku and Killer Sudoku (my favorites), as well as 12x12 and 16x16 grids. At the end of the book is a super-size Samurai Sudoku which I haven't got around to attempting yet. Michael Mepham is a genius. Buy this one now...it's great.
9 of 11 found the following review helpful:
 Misleading Cover, very disappointed Apr 29, 2008
By Rachel R. King
This book is misleading and I am extremely unhappy with it. I searched Amazon for Samurai Sudoku and this book came up. The cover displays a Samurai Sudoku so I naturally assumed that the book was a Samurai Sudoku book. But it aint! Out of 275 puzzles, only 50 are Samurai Sudoku - a total waste of money if you are looking for Samurai Sudoku.
Not quite hard enough ... but great entertainment! Aug 31, 2008
By Paul Weiss
When you get right down to where the rubber hits the road, there are a very limited number of things that one can say about a book of sudoku puzzles.
That said, Michael Mepham's "Jumbo Sudoku Challenge" is a pleasantly diversified set of tantalizing Sudoku challenges. The paper quality is wonderful and stands up to multiple erasures. The oversize format allows for lots of temporary mini-number entries. The variety puzzles such as Killer Sudoku and Samurai Sudoku are plentiful and equally challenging. There are also enough of them that one can actually hone your skills and begin to develop solving strategies that are deeper and more subtle than blunt force. The book's thickness means that right-handed people will encounter some difficulties completing the puzzles on the left hand side of the page and vice versa. But, frankly, that's a minor cavil because adding something like a spiral binding to make the book lie flat would also increase the cost of the book substantially.
I just wish that "hard" consistently meant "hard" and "fiendish" always meant "fiendish". In this case, "hard" seems to mean "mostly hard but some medium" and "fiendish" means "mostly fiendish, but sometimes merely hard". Whatsamatter for you guys? I know you can build fiendishly difficult puzzles! Too bad, that! So I guess what might have been a five-star review is going to have to be limited to four.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
A challenging mix of Sudoku variations Apr 28, 2008
By Bobby
I've enjoyed other variations of Sudoku, but this is definitely the hardest. If you're looking for something other than the usual 1 - 9, you'll definitely find them here - but don't expect them to be easy! As the title warns you, this is a challenge. If you want a more gentle introduction I'd suggest Will Shortz's Favorite Sudoku Variations: 100 Kakuro, Killer Sudoku, and More Brain-Twisting Puzzles and 100 Samurai Sudoku Puzzles to get your feet wet and then try to stay afloat in this book!
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