Customer Reviews

Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the A.D. 2358 Voyage to Darwin IV

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

All these people saying that this is a well illustrated but poorly written book shouldn't take it so serioulsy, who cares if the inhabitants are unbelievable. It's a fiction book, none of these reviewers could come up with anything half as imaginitive as Wayne Barlowe... consult a scientist or biologist, yeah right...it's not real.......just have fun with it.

Having just purchased a new copy of the classic BARLOWE'S GUIDE TO EXTRATERRESTRIALS, I felt it necessary to catch up on some of the incomparable Wayne D. Barlowe's more recent work. I leafed through several books and settled on EXPEDITION, primarily for my interest in its subject matter (having many graduate hours of zoology under my belt). I see that from the late '80s-onward, Barlowe has been handling both art and writing chores, I assume in order to make his projects more personal and satisfying. Certainly, the man is an immensely talented artist, but I feel that he should have worked with established authors and/or scientists in order to give EXPEDITION more substance, structure, and technical basis.

Regarding the story, I feel that Barlowe blew it from the start with the premise that the expedition to the planet Darwin IV was only possible due to the fact that Earth had already made contact with a sort of "sponsor" alien species, the Yma. If that's the case, then why aren't we learning more about the Yma instead of the inhabitants of Darwin IV? Detailing Earth's first contact with another intelligent life-form sounds more interesting to me than the study of an unknown planet. A tighter approach would have been to drop the Yma and then have all of the technology be Earth-based (this IS the 24th century, after all).

I definitely feel that when you're theorizing on alien biology, all rules, such as we know them, can stand by the wayside. For a detailed project such as EXPEDITION, however, there should be some logical restraint. While this book contains some very clever biological concepts, such as the Amoebic Sea, Emperor Sea-Strider, Rime-Runner, and Gyrosprinter, they are brought down a notch by the questionable equilibrium of the Daggerwrist population, the feeding and locomotion of the Tundra Plow, and the seemingly inefficient maturation of the Forest Slider. But of course, we've found some organisms on our own planet that are almost as odd, so who's to say what we may find on another?

While there can be no quibbling with the quality and beauty of the artwork seen in this book, W D Barlowe would do well to consult a scientist or two (preferably a biologist, a chemist and a physicist) to get a handle on what is physically possible and what is not.
Certainly a planet full of liquivorous predators would be inefficient and covered in meter-thick piles of decomposing bodies.
Even very massive creatures would be unlikely to use skids for part of their locomotion when they also have developed legs.

The bottom line is that this is a beautifully illustrated, if poorly concieved and written book. It surpasses most soft science fiction in terms of believability based on the merits of the artwork alone.

Barlowe grabbed my attention decades ago with his aliens book, but since that he moved on. Expedition is amazing, a masterpiece as it goes against most established cliche's and chauvinisms about how alien life is supposed to be. Barlowe puts a lot of though in his designs and the result truly fascinating. The guy can't write though.
When leafing through the D-IV book, set aside your preconceptions about alien worlds and let it sink in. Surely, real alien life will be even stranger, but the stuff in this book is already transcendental for 99% of earthlings. Barlowe scrutinously studies his own preconceptions, exorcizes them and dreams up weird alternatives.
Good news he's busy with a sequel, and I bet that's gonna be even better. Let's hope he get's someone else to write the explanatory sidebars.

Fantastic artwork, and story of a group of scientists, and an artist sent to explore the primitive world of Darwin IV. Get this book you won't regret it.

I love this book. All I can say that hasn't been said before is that I wish the place really existed.

I'm a fan of science fiction, but before reading this book, hadn't been too exposed to sci-fi art. Barlowe is a gifted host in the fantastic world of science fiction art. I read this book over a period of three or four days, and couldn't wait to get back to it. The pictures are amazing, and the story is gripping. Barlowe is an incredible artist and storyteller, and I hope to see more of his work in the future! Highly recommended.

To compare this work with his earlier books, Expedition is a certain step up. All of the creatures of Darwin IV are beautifully rendered with complete backgrounds and vivid text that communicates the truly mantic zoology of this pristine planet. Each of the chapters is centered around a specific creature or terrain, and is written in personal narrative, with numerous sketches of the minor details. Highly recommended because of the beautiful imagery and Barlowe's thoughrough understanding of and ability to manipulate the basics of biology.

This book is amazing and far outpaces the nearest competition in the 'lets imagine if' category of illustrated science fiction. barlowe's artwork is center-stage and exquisitely detailed. my only complaint is that the book should have been at least 3 times larger...i wanted more creatures and siphonovores! maybe barlowe will read this and get to work on a re-visit to darwin or another new planet (hint hint!)

Expedition is an absorbing, detailed, elaborate, and fully convincing account of a futuristic voyage to Darwin IV and an observation of it's fauna. The illustrations contain excellent detail and have an almost photographic quality. While reading this book, I was totally emersed.