From Library Journal
Australia's Great Barrier Reef has been studied before, but Love aims to explore its meaning as it is experienced by past, present, and future groups: mariners, fishermen, and pearl shellers, Aborigines, scientists, and tourists. The author of two collections of speculative fiction and editor of an anthology of Australian science writing, Love balances her historical views with personal perspective. Watching birds, she muses about the damage we do in spite of our awareness and care, and she counterposes beautiful descriptions of fauna with amounts, costs, and dates of the damage done. She strives to define her own relationship to the reef and is at her best when she matches her scholarship with her experiences, as in the chapter "Diving for Oldies," about the history of scuba diving and learning the sport at the age of 58. Reefscape provides a list of books for further reading and web sites of interest. Recommended for all libraries. Elizabeth C. Stewart, Portland, ME
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Sian Prior's Book Reviews, ABC Melbourne
...a sheer delight...a kind of psychological and spiritual analysis of why we are so fascinated by this huge living thing that is the Great Barrier Reef.