Expedition: Being an Account in Words and Artwork of the A.D. 2358 Voyage to Darwin IV
List Price: $29.95
Expedition presents an almost totally alien world, which is part of what makes it so convincing. Barlowe does a good job of debunking the unrealistic perceptions of most science fiction regarding extraterrestrial life. Everything is treated with remarkable scientific objectivity, the protagonist making it clear that Earthling analogies cannot be easily drawn in most cases. It is a near-endless parade of detailed sketches and beautiful paintings. Virtually none of the life-forms so vividly portrayed therein resemble anything on Earth, their anatomies being almost totally unfamiliar; sonar is the primary sense of all animals on this planet, and thus visual senses are only rudimentary at best, while none of the creatures portrayed herein possesses anything even remotely akin to a "mouth" in the usual sense of the word. Many spend their entire lives on the wing, feasting on their floating brethren and/or the "microphytes", tiny plants that act as the phytoplankton of the almost oceanic atmosphere of this ocean-lacking world. My only complaint regarding the science of Darwin IV itself is that the author does go into much detail regarding its geology, climatology, meteorology, and paleontology, which are subjects that are inextricably linked with the development and survival of life on our own world. He certainly had the imagination (and talent) to do so.
The plot falls noticeably flat, however. The division of the book's "chapters" according to the biome that they address, while a justifiable decision on Barlowe's part, noticeably detracts from the feeling of a linear storyline. More importantly, we do not find ourselves at all identifying with the protagonist (largely due to the fact that he is barely ever visually portrayed), and who never seems to fall into any real mortal peril, in contrast with the endangered hero of the similar book Worlds (2005), by Alec Gillis. The "human element" seems to have been eliminated in Expedition, and while this was probably done to invigorate the conservationist message of the book, the said moral would be definitely more empowered if the book concentrated more on the interface of nature and humanity, as Worlds does. But these are really the book's only major flaws, and they are more than offset by the realism, beauty, and scientific accuracy of the planet the work profiles.
Beautiful Illustrations, Begging Storyline
Wayne Barlow is an exceptional artist. These are beautiful illustrations, and you should set aside some time to dwell on them. They are worthy of the imaginative musings of new planets that we sometimes see in artist conceptions.
But the story was...lacking a story. It was something like a scientific treatise, but lacking any real grounding in science. Unlike books like After Man: A Zoology of the Future, Expedition doesn't relate at all to what has occurred in true evolutionary history. After Man does an admirable job of imagining what might happen, given what has happened. Expedition therefore lacks value as a scientific exercise. And unlike books like Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe, this is no compendium accompaniment to a universe described in other books. All I get is a rather humdrum account of fictional explorations of the biology of another planet, punctuated by only occasional moments of excitement, quickly resolved.
I am frankly far more interested in the brief description of the extinction of all megafauna on Earth, and how tame megafauna have evolved through unnatural selection. Barlow's scientific suppositions on the evolution of organisms is questionable, for even when taking into account an alien environment, there are certain rules to this sort of thing. And he focuses on the typical interest of laymen- megafauna- large animals. I was really interested in the differences in plants on this new planet, as well as a giant sea of a unicellular colonial organism. This was innovative stuff. But the plants and unicellular fauna are merely background and environment for the animals, which after awhile, become themselves rather monotonous and repetitive.
Barlow would have been better served to create a book imagining strange creatures, with brief descriptions of each, rather than attempting some sort of narrative.
Awesome!
This is the best work for Alternative evolution yet! I actually like how he made the animals look nothing like things on Earth because they evolved from a completely different orgin.It is even better that it's movie adaption Alien Planet. In alien planet it said that they have eyes, but very weak ones, probably just strong enough to pick up biolights, but not strong enough to have complex vision. I like how they ended up with sonar. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is as big an evolutionary science nut as I am!
Out of this World!
Expedition is a book in the style of Dougal Dixon's "alternitive zoology" books, with the main diffrence being this book takes place on a completley alien world, Darwin IV.
The book itself is amazing. The writing, while not as bad as some reviwers say, is'nt up to Dixon's books, but the artwork is truly where Expedition shines. Darwin IV and it's alien inhabitants jump off the pages, even if some of the creatures look pretty "out there". I highly reccomend Expedition to any fan of scientific fiction.
An unique vision of an alien world!
Barlowe has created a rich and exciting world for his readers. We discover this world alog with his main character, who is an intrepid and earnest researcher and artist. Barlowe does not simply spell out every detail of this world, but makes conjectures based on the available data, thus preserving the illusion that this is an actual account of a place that exists.
This book is the template for the new Discovery Channel special on alien worlds. I recommend this book to anyone interested in beautiful art coupled with a fantastic story.
List Price: $29.95
Description
In 2358 Wayne Douglas Barlowe joined the first manned flight to Darwin IV, a newly discovered world beyond our solar system. Here he provides naturalistic paintings that vividly capture the alien creatures he encountered. Illustrations, full-color paintings, and maps.Customer Reviews
Wondrous! Magnificent! Plot-atrophied!Expedition presents an almost totally alien world, which is part of what makes it so convincing. Barlowe does a good job of debunking the unrealistic perceptions of most science fiction regarding extraterrestrial life. Everything is treated with remarkable scientific objectivity, the protagonist making it clear that Earthling analogies cannot be easily drawn in most cases. It is a near-endless parade of detailed sketches and beautiful paintings. Virtually none of the life-forms so vividly portrayed therein resemble anything on Earth, their anatomies being almost totally unfamiliar; sonar is the primary sense of all animals on this planet, and thus visual senses are only rudimentary at best, while none of the creatures portrayed herein possesses anything even remotely akin to a "mouth" in the usual sense of the word. Many spend their entire lives on the wing, feasting on their floating brethren and/or the "microphytes", tiny plants that act as the phytoplankton of the almost oceanic atmosphere of this ocean-lacking world. My only complaint regarding the science of Darwin IV itself is that the author does go into much detail regarding its geology, climatology, meteorology, and paleontology, which are subjects that are inextricably linked with the development and survival of life on our own world. He certainly had the imagination (and talent) to do so.
The plot falls noticeably flat, however. The division of the book's "chapters" according to the biome that they address, while a justifiable decision on Barlowe's part, noticeably detracts from the feeling of a linear storyline. More importantly, we do not find ourselves at all identifying with the protagonist (largely due to the fact that he is barely ever visually portrayed), and who never seems to fall into any real mortal peril, in contrast with the endangered hero of the similar book Worlds (2005), by Alec Gillis. The "human element" seems to have been eliminated in Expedition, and while this was probably done to invigorate the conservationist message of the book, the said moral would be definitely more empowered if the book concentrated more on the interface of nature and humanity, as Worlds does. But these are really the book's only major flaws, and they are more than offset by the realism, beauty, and scientific accuracy of the planet the work profiles.
Beautiful Illustrations, Begging Storyline
Wayne Barlow is an exceptional artist. These are beautiful illustrations, and you should set aside some time to dwell on them. They are worthy of the imaginative musings of new planets that we sometimes see in artist conceptions.
But the story was...lacking a story. It was something like a scientific treatise, but lacking any real grounding in science. Unlike books like After Man: A Zoology of the Future, Expedition doesn't relate at all to what has occurred in true evolutionary history. After Man does an admirable job of imagining what might happen, given what has happened. Expedition therefore lacks value as a scientific exercise. And unlike books like Contacting Aliens: An Illustrated Guide to David Brin's Uplift Universe, this is no compendium accompaniment to a universe described in other books. All I get is a rather humdrum account of fictional explorations of the biology of another planet, punctuated by only occasional moments of excitement, quickly resolved.
I am frankly far more interested in the brief description of the extinction of all megafauna on Earth, and how tame megafauna have evolved through unnatural selection. Barlow's scientific suppositions on the evolution of organisms is questionable, for even when taking into account an alien environment, there are certain rules to this sort of thing. And he focuses on the typical interest of laymen- megafauna- large animals. I was really interested in the differences in plants on this new planet, as well as a giant sea of a unicellular colonial organism. This was innovative stuff. But the plants and unicellular fauna are merely background and environment for the animals, which after awhile, become themselves rather monotonous and repetitive.
Barlow would have been better served to create a book imagining strange creatures, with brief descriptions of each, rather than attempting some sort of narrative.
Awesome!
This is the best work for Alternative evolution yet! I actually like how he made the animals look nothing like things on Earth because they evolved from a completely different orgin.It is even better that it's movie adaption Alien Planet. In alien planet it said that they have eyes, but very weak ones, probably just strong enough to pick up biolights, but not strong enough to have complex vision. I like how they ended up with sonar. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who is as big an evolutionary science nut as I am!
Out of this World!
Expedition is a book in the style of Dougal Dixon's "alternitive zoology" books, with the main diffrence being this book takes place on a completley alien world, Darwin IV.
The book itself is amazing. The writing, while not as bad as some reviwers say, is'nt up to Dixon's books, but the artwork is truly where Expedition shines. Darwin IV and it's alien inhabitants jump off the pages, even if some of the creatures look pretty "out there". I highly reccomend Expedition to any fan of scientific fiction.
An unique vision of an alien world!
Barlowe has created a rich and exciting world for his readers. We discover this world alog with his main character, who is an intrepid and earnest researcher and artist. Barlowe does not simply spell out every detail of this world, but makes conjectures based on the available data, thus preserving the illusion that this is an actual account of a place that exists.
This book is the template for the new Discovery Channel special on alien worlds. I recommend this book to anyone interested in beautiful art coupled with a fantastic story.
