The Teeming Universe: An Extraterrestrial Field Guide: An Exploration & Journey to Worlds Beyond the Solar System Paperback – September 5, 2021

The Teeming Universe : A Extraterrestrial Field Guide is a science fiction book by Christian Cline in which we explore speculative biology one planet at a time. We tour the universe, in a way, visiting system after system. Each system with their own alien life forms which illustrate certain ways evolution works on Earth and may work on other planets, The author also does all the images inside the book and he is a good artist. From landscapes to aliens to machinery he can do it all.There is a Glossary and even a list of books, many classics, for further reading.This book is so good that there is already a sequel which focuses on the Yaetuan Species all by themselves. This sequel has already been declared a example of the best world building by a YouTuber who I watch and trust. So, yeah, I will likely grab the sequel if I can. These are NOT cheap books to be honest.I would put this right up there with After Man by Dougal Dixon, Expedition by Wayne Douglas Barkowe, The Snouters by Gerolf Steiner, and many others.

This book is ABSOLUTELY SOVLFUL, by which I mean it's an enthusiastic, attentive love letters to the works in its genre that came before it made by a fan who wants to leave his own mark on it, even if it's not absolutely perfect. It's a speculative biology book like those of Wayne Barlow or Nemo Ramjet (though much less grim and creepy than Ramjet's prognostications of humans warped by the Qu, lol). There are several planets that Cline has created with incredible, painstaking detail, down to their mass in relation to earth, orbits, axial tilts, etc. etc. etc, and he did the same with the creatures he made up for them, which range the gamut from tiny microorganisms to giant air-faring behemoths to a "mechanical autominer" robot civilization to an actual alien civilization, the Yaetuan. He put SO much thought into all of them with such painstaking attention to scientific detail in physics and biology I MUST give this book 5 stars. Now, there are a couple small drawbacks. The print quality isn't super good, the book feels a little like a cheap school textbook, though maybe that's the intent for nostalgia purposes. The art is fine, it's not on Simon Stalenhag's level, but it gets the job done. The writing is just serviceable, there are little errors here and there so that could be better. It would be AWESOME if someone like Stalenhag's editors worked with Cline to get a nice hardback artbook with professionally edited text for Cline's work! But yeah, absolute SOVL. 5 stars!

An amazingly rich imaginary trip discovering life in the universe. This is so much better than Star Trek and guys with funny foreheads. This is a scientifically based exploration of possible Earth-like worlds. The slightly familiar is followed by the utterly alien in this panoramic voyage through the galaxy. Any one of these worlds might fill a book by themselves. But in stead the author/artist chose to take us on a whistle stop tour of eleven planets beyond our own. In each world we see several major families of life forms and how they relate to each other. We are also introduced to the planets themselves, showing how they and their solar systems are different from our own and how that relates to the formation of the worlds and the life on them. This book is fascinating and I will be sorry to see it end. But field guides often only hit the high spots. This book could launch a whole Encyclopedia Galactica! It shouldn't take more than a couple of dozen volumes for a starter set. I would reserve my set like a Time/Life subscription. No problem!

The Teeming of The Universe: An Extraterrestrial Field Guide is a pseudo-scientific illustrated guide on aliens and the planets they reside on. There is no discernible narrative or characters, instead the book relies on a series of elaborate descriptions of 11 worlds awaiting to be explored. Each section is separated by beautifully illustrated spreads of space explorers traveling on or between planets, creating a tangible sense of progression as the reader is taken from one world to the next, finding more complex and bizarre lifeforms with each turn of the page! There is a lot of content in this book. Over 300 pages brimming with art, diagrams, and vivid descriptions of the creatures, environments, and planetary bodies. The book is surprisingly easy to follow, as many complicated scientific words and ideas are broken down for the reader, and there's even a glossary for supplementary reference. The book is fun and engaging, and will certainly entertain your fantasy of investigating extraterrestrial life across the galaxy!That being said, there are a few things that hinder the quality of the book, mainly the book's format. For instance, the font is a bit large and text sometimes wraps across a page forming eye-straining blocks of words. I would also suggest that text gutters and page margins should be increased, as that would help content be more pleasing to the eye. As a designer and illustrator myself, these graphical errors stuck out to me and became meddlesome during my first read. This is quite unfortunate as the artwork within the book is absolutely gorgeous, I just wish the format of the pages and text was presented better!Overall, The Teeming Universe is a great reading experience despite a few graphical design choices. I really like this book and all its imaginative art, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in science fiction, astronomy, creature design, and speculative evolution! I'm glad I am able to support this fledgling author, and I look forward to seeing more inspiring works from him in the future!