Creatures of the Deep: In Search of the Sea's Monsters and the World They Live in

Rating:
Summary: "Stunning" doesn't quite cover it
Review: I sat with this book for 4 solid hours, in aew. Packed with incredible photos of creatures so bizarre that you couldn't invent anything even close to this reality. Hoyt explains the layers of the sea and what lives there, why and how each atmosphere creates and hosts it's own World. It tells in plain language how these creatures live, eat and reproduce and find each other in the pitch black. It's rare to find a book who's text and visual offerings are equally astounding and educational. I came away with a feeling that all I thought I knew about the sea and life on Earth had just been rewritten for me. This book is a genuine treat and a glimpse into all the possibilites of Life in our "not human" terms.

Rating:
Summary: "Stunning" doesn't quite cover it
Review: I sat with this book for 4 solid hours, in aew. Packed with incredible photos of creatures so bizarre that you couldn't invent anything even close to this reality. Hoyt explains the layers of the sea and what lives there, why and how each atmosphere creates and hosts it's own World. It tells in plain language how these creatures live, eat and reproduce and find each other in the pitch black. It's rare to find a book who's text and visual offerings are equally astounding and educational. I came away with a feeling that all I thought I knew about the sea and life on Earth had just been rewritten for me. This book is a genuine treat and a glimpse into all the possibilites of Life in our "not human" terms.

Rating:
Summary: Shallow book (pun intended)
Review: This book displays more about what the author doesn't know, rather than what he does know. Also, it is peppered with evolutionary dogmatism. I think evolution is ridiculous, but if you don't, you may not mind. That aside, there are a few nice pictures, which I surmise is why this book sells any copies at all.

Rating:
Summary: Shallow book (pun intended)
Review: This book displays more about what the author doesn't know, rather than what he does know. Also, it is peppered with evolutionary dogmatism. I think evolution is ridiculous, but if you don't, you may not mind. That aside, there are a few nice pictures, which I surmise is why this book sells any copies at all.

Rating:
Summary: surreal so real
Review: This is a fascinating, compelling book with a lot of truly phenomenal photography throughout. I love deep-sea beasties - they please my aesthetic taste - spiky, fangy, bizarre and... bioluminescent. Hmm. The writing is clear, concise and evocative - an 'easy' read without being simplistic or dumbed-down. Overall, an excellent trip into a world here and not-here. Highly recommended.