Barlowe's Guide to Extraterrestrials <small><br>by Wayne Douglas Barlowe </small></small>

I have had this book in my possession for well over thirty years now; starting with the early 1979 paper back edition and graduating to the 1987 hardback when I wore the first out. At the time it was published there really was not much competition in this field and I am unaware of any comprehensive "collections" of this ilk to that point. Despite its age, this is still a wonderful work and as much as I hate to use the word "must," in this case I am forced to do so in my recommendation to any serious student of the Science Fiction genre.

The author has taken over fifty works by well known authors, used some of their most important works and rendered his interpretation of the alien beings inhabiting these works. He has given us wonderfully executed visuals of the works of Heinlein (Have Spacesuit Will Travel), Tiptree (Up the Walls of the World), Silverberg (Downward to Earth), Asimov (The Gods Themselves), Piers Anthony (Kirlian Quest), Pohl (The Age of the Pussyfoot), A.E. van Vogt (The Voyage of the Space Beagle), Herbert (Dune Messiah), Frank Herbert, Harry Harrison, Jack Chalker and many, many, many others.

Each drawing rendered is accompanied by a text on the opposite page giving us such information as Physical Characteristics, habitat, Culture, Reproduction, History and the like. The author has set this work up much like a bird or animal field guide. Now I grant you, some of the text is rather tongue-in-cheek as has been pointed out by others here, but it is well done and an absolute delight to read.

When I read science fiction for fantasy, I always (like most of us do) have a visual picture in my head of the people inhabiting the world the author builds. I have always amazed as to how close Wayne Douglas Barlowe came to the images I had in my own mind. I must say though that on several occasions, the artist's opinion differed considerable with mine...this is a good thing though. If you had 20 people draw any given character of any of these stories, I suspect you would have twenty different alien critter pictures. That is what makes this genre so fascinating and so versatile.

The colors here are crisp and each and every illustration in meticulously executed. You can spend quite a number of hours, repeated hours over the years, and never tire of leafing through this one. I must say also that my grandsons, who have not read one of the stories or authors addressed in this book, have all enjoyed gong over and over it themselves down through the years. One of the wonderful features of this book is the last section where we have a collection of pencil drawings which have been taken directly from the artist's sketchbook showing prep work, notes and structural cut-aways. This is an absolute delight!

This can certainly be classified as a classic of its type and belongs in the library of any science fiction lover. Do you recognize the names of Abyormenites, Cygnans, Dirdirs, Gowachins, Ishtarians, Ixchels, the Old One, the Pnume, Puppeteers, or Sirian? If so, then you will be reacquainted here; if not, then you have been missing some great reading adventures. I promise you that you will meet many old friends in and on the pages of this book!

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks