Endangered Species Books

After three outings that were fun, although a bit off-the-wall, this fourth effort is rather a total loss. Briefly put, Venus Diamond is on a case again, although she gets into it indirectly. The Greedy are seeking to profit from the Protectors of near-extinct wildlife. The Moralists and the Environmentalists are in there, too.
There were too many plot elements to keep track of; too many subplots that do little to advance the major thread; too many "just-in-time-and-place" resolutions of sticky issues.
Of course, everything gets more-or-less resolved by the last page, but one can hope that Venus' next outing will be more grounded and less contrived.

Habitat is the fourth mystery in Skye Kathleen Moody's series starring Venus Diamond, Fish and Wildlife agent, continuing her high level of suspense writing with another exciting and thought-provoking mystery. Venus, recently married and, at the insistance of her husband, on leave from her job, is suffering from depression which she attributes to Seasonal Affective Disorder. However, the doctor she consults diagnoses it much more accurately as 'spiritual suffocation.' When her husband, Richard Winters, accepts an overseas assignment, Venus agrees to help her boss with the particularly nasty and vicious murder of Dr. Hannah Strindberg, and simultaneously throws herself into grave danger while curing her soul's suffocation. Venus refuses to accept the arson investigator's formulaic solution to the crime, and instead investigates those associated with Strindberg in the secretive Breedhaven project to harvest, freeze, and clone embryos of endangered species. Once again, Moody gives readers an extremely well-crafted plot, which is supported by a tremendous depth of research. She demonstrates her sensitivity to a variety of viewpoints concerning the very complex issues of cloning, preservation of endangered species, and the relationship between science and the general public. Her characters are realistic, complex, and very well developed. This novel is most highly recommended for those readers who want an action-packed mystery which also has believable characters and a thought-provoking plot.

Interesting concept that combines a more realistic Jurassic Park and genetic engineering plus the concept of another Noah's Ark. Moody writes well and her heroine is realistic, gutsy, and funny.

I'm not basing this judgement on just one book -- I read both "Wildcrafters" and "Habitat," to be certain that I hadn't merely caught the writer in a slump, or caught her editor on vacation. Alas, apparently not -- both books had the same flaws.

The main character in this series is supposed to be a highly professional federal Fish & Wildlife law enforcement agent. The second sentence of "Habitat," however, refers to "octopuses." That's on Page One, a foreshadowing of the many slips, hiccups, and foolish errors which insult the reader throughout the book.

More substantive, for instance, is an encounter in which our badge-carrying heroine is physically assaulted -- but when the police come, they treat the incident as a he-said she-said episode, and walk away. Come ON! Not in any jurisdiction in the nation would a federal law enforcement agent of any gender or agency be treated so cavalierly. But it's needed for the plot, as are so many other ludicrous developments, so the author plopped it in and the editor passed it by.

Moody has a wild imagination, and her books could be fun, silly, James-Bond-type romps -- for example, she drags NASA into this one, an agency not likely in real life to have anything at all to do with Fish & Wildlife. However, she needs a more thorough and stern editor to address not only the sloppy errors mentioned above, but also the tendency in both of the books I read to have too many narrative threads which have to be knotted together too hastily at the end. The result is neither attractive nor satisfying.

She could be good, but her style will always be more fantastical than realistic. If you're looking for believable wildlife settings with common-sense sleuths, stick with Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak series, or Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon. If you're looking for giddy and glamorous fun, Moody's Venus Diamond *might* be your girl -- someday. Here's hoping for better from this lively writer!

In the previous Venus Diamond novels we have seen her as a get-tough, get-it-done Fish and Wildlife Agent. Since her marriage to Richard, Venus appears to have lost her way. She is depressed, goal-less, and unable to carry out her investigation of murder and theft in her usual no nonsense, efficient style. She is unable to dodge the bad guys, getting hit over the head more than once. Unfortunately, little sense is knocked into her. Venus needs to get her life back and with the Zen help of Dr. Wong might do so if she can muster up the motivation. Venus does get to realize one of her dreams, that of becoming an astronaut, but this part of the plot is decidedly far fetched.

As an avid reader of mysteries, and as a great lover of the out-of-doors, I would like to see Venus return to her roots and her kicking ways. This is not the Venus I have come to know and love.

Intriqued by the title, and interested in insights on Haiti, I mistakenly wasted my time reading this 'soap opera type' strings of incidences, that kept the reader in a state of indifference.
The first paragraph deceives the reader into thinking they are in for a treat... I was not. It is a mundane story of a boring American and his lifeless responses to a ficticious Haiti. Many one line descriptions of sex, murders and spirits overwhelm the story. No real depth. It is very obvious the author is an outsider, who neither knows or cares for the place or its people. Although the format was smart, the writing itself became very predictable and annoying.

Intriqued by the title, and interested in insights on Haiti, I mistakenly wasted my time reading this 'soap opera type' strings of incidences, that kept the reader in a state of indifference.
The first paragraph deceives the reader into thinking they are in for a treat... I was not. It is a mundane story of a boring American and his lifeless responses to a ficticious Haiti. Many one line descriptions of sex, murders and spirits overwhelm the story. No real depth. It is very obvious the author is an outsider, who neither knows or cares for the place or its people. Although the format was smart, the writing itself became very predictable and annoying.

A wonderful read - questions our view of the world , our priorities, our interpersonal relationships in a quiet way. This is a book wrapped in factuality re:the extinction of frogs and in mystery - the zombies, poisons and spirits of the Haitian world. This is tightly constructed story that is never a hard read.

I read this book as part of a local book club I belong to, and it was by far the most interesting, well-written (what I could tell from the translation) of the three we've read so far. I loved the juxtaposition of the Haitian guide's personal anecdotes with the main thrust of the story told by the narrator. There is even juxtaposition within each chapter, as Thierry recounts his mysterious stories about his life in Haiti (sometimes gruesome and always enthralling) the narrator is only half-listening, as he ponders his own less-than-fulfilling personal history. The writer never fully unravels the dark mysteries of Haiti, only hints at them. I am anxious to read other books by Ms. Montero.

It's a shame that there aren't more English translations of this writer's work. I'm eager to discover what else Montero has to say (A hint to translator Edith Grossman should she ever read this). I found this novel among those listed in the Best Fiction of 1997 compiled by Booklist. Montero's novel certainly is deserving of a "Best of" list being a uniquely constructed story with alternating viewpoints of the two protagonists (the American gets the even numbered chapters, his storytelling Haitian guide the odd) and intertwining reports of the decline of numerous species of frogs throughout the world. I have never come across a work of fiction that incorporated the extinction and threatened extinction of amphibians as a metaphor for the chaotic state of the human condition. Having recently returned from a wildlife tour of Costa Rica, I am well-acquainted with the low or completely absent populations of frogs there. I was astonished to learn from reading t! his novel that the phenomenon of vanishing frogs is a global one. Readers with an interest in the alarming environmental situation of our planet and the mysteries of life should find a copy of Montero's novel and give it a thorough read. It is sure to give some reflection on the fragile state of both Earth and the human heart. The final paragraph is heartwrenching. I gasped before closing the book leaving me with much to mull over.

I have read a lot on the dodo, but I'm afraid this wasn't one of the better books. Half of the book is not actually about dodos but deals with Portugese and Dutch shipping and history - the dodo isn't really mentioned in depth until a few chapters in, and then it is faffed about with and dragged out on very little information. Sadly disappointing as there are so few resources on the topic, but perhaps of interest to people who aren't so keen on the dodo details. As above, I would recommend Fuller or even Strickland.

At a young age, the author Clara Pinto-Correia heard about the long extinct dodo and became fascinated by the bird's fate. The end result is a well-researched and well-written text that takes the reader from the shores of Europe to a small chain of islands where the dodo and it's genetic cousins made their homes.

Sadly, the dodo and it's genetic cousins were doomed to extinction with the arrival of Europeans (starting with the Portuguese). The plump, flightless animals were slow breeders with a single offspring per mating season and no natural enemies. Add ravenous creatures (Homo sapiens included) into their safe mircosphere and diaster was assured.

Pinto-Correia traces the few captive dodos in Euorpe and the fates of their remains. Now, the only things the modern world has of the dodo are a scattering of bones, some paintings and sketches and the cultural understanding that to be a dodo is to be doomed.

A must read for the natural history reader or devotee.

Subtitle of this book is "The Sad, Strange Tale of the Dodo" and so it is. Pinto-Correia mixes a bit of humor with a pleasant writing style, lots of relevant history and geography, and a sad shake of her head about how rapacious humans are.

It was a marvelously heady period in Europe's awakening after intellectual dark days and Pinto-Correia gives the reader a sense of that emergence. On one level the dodo is a symbol of an eden found and lost on three small islands along the way to spices and riches. In their rush to gather spices, riches and glory men plundered these islands and left them poorer - the islands' inhabitants were decimated and became fearful, the men did not realize what a treasure they had found.

The reader can assign other levels to the story as Pinto-Correia unfolds it. Science came into its own during these centuries, and the dodo's discovery and extinction is a grand example of the days when alchemy gave way to chemistry and astrology became astronomy. Natural history developed as well, with taxonomy seemingly in the forefront. The dodo was classified and plunged into first one species then another, had little to prove that it even existed, finally was declared extinct - all in less than 100 years.

Pinto-Correia packs information about the hapless bird and the European humans of the era into this book. The reader learns painlessly while realizing this is a learning experience.

For this reader Return of the Crazy Bird is a grand vacation read, easy to pick up and put down without losing the thread of the story.

This book pales having arrived just after E. Fuller's recent book "The Dodo from extinction to icon (UK)". From a scholarly vantage it fails utterly.

Firstly the book is quite parochial dwelling at great length on issues very distant from the dodo such as Portuguese navigation and ignoring the fact that the dodo was painted in India completely. The book makes extraordinary claims like "Why do we know so much about what the dodo looked like?" when the text itself makes clear we know very little and makes tremendous claims on behalf of R. Savery, (a relatively poor artist of animals) in the context of his contribution to Western art - why. The best thing about Savery was he did several pictures of the dodo unlike many other artists though Savery's dodos cannot be trusted for accuracy.

Most of the facts in the book such as the numbers of dodo's that arrived in Europe or how much contact R. Savery had with the dodo are either speculative or from doubtful sources. Though references are copious, some important references are not taken up and there is an over reliance on secondary sources. Much of the content it must be said is therefore presumptious.

There are some new translations such as descriptions by Clusius on the dodo's head, but there is little primary material of relevance in a critical style on the dodo itself.

As a celebration of the iconic place of the dodo and the history of the period and the Mascarenes this book has some claims, but you'd be better off reading Fuller. As there are so few good books on the Dodo I think this book is a reasonable start and the author has written it with enthusiasm.

Beware -- this Smithsonian reprint does not contain a copy of Hornaday's famous map, even although it is referred to in the text.

A word of warning -- this reprint does not come with a copy of Hornady's famous map -- so you're out of luck on that score. The Introduction is very good.

I looked forward to reading this book since I took a trip with the author to the Khutzeymateen several years ago. At that time Dan was talking about writing the book. I was happy to see that the bears are thriving and glad that "Lucy" is still doing well. I can't wait to return for another trip someday.
Janet

i HAVE PURCHASED A FEW BEAR BOOKS , ABOUR BEARS AROUND THE WORLD , I THOUGHT THAT THIS BOOK IS A GOOD READ , GREAT PRICE , VERY INTERESTING , GREAT PHOTOS , AND DETAIL , CHEERS COLIN, S/WEST DEVONSHIRE UK (I AM INTERESTED IN BEARS OF THE WORLD , AND HOW WE ALL CAN SAVE THEM AND HELP THEM , ALL THE BEST , AND GOOD READING

it is good it has cool pics and it is thorough

This is a good book to throw in your suitcase if you are a birder and like to travel. Gives many locations for birding but not much detail at each.

This book give some good summaries of research which was done over 10 years ago and is very much outdated but organised well. I would not recommend it for a classroom setting but is a read for those who wish to learn about the background in this field which at the time was cutting edge.

A few chapters could be relevant to current research but not worth a purchase. Look for a newer version or different title for more recent and up to date research.

For what it is, the Firefly Animal Rescue series is good, I suppose. I bought "Birds of Prey" and "Rainforest Birds," but, I expected both to be a lot more interesting than they were. For educational purposes, they're fine, but I bought them out of curiosity and interest in wildlife, and found them lacking in entertainment value. Their photos were OK, but I've seen better.

This is very well constructed propaganda for high school audiences. And, when I say "propaganda," I mean that in a nice way.

The book is part of a series of "critical thinking" on the environment. Like the others, this book is less "critical thinking on the environment" than critical thinking about the conventional wisdom : on endangered species, for example, he criticizes common understanding of the number of extinctions, the causes of extinction, and the benefits of existing regulations such as the Endangered Species Act.

Simmons does not really turn the same degree of criticism onto his own preferred approaches, such as private property rights, incentives for landowners, or compensation for wildlife-related losses. For example, Simmons would prefer a system by which landowners are compensate for protecting habitat but he does not think critically about where the money for this program would come from. Would western landowners favor federal tax increases earmarked for such a program?

While taking a strong position, the book does try to be balanced. For example, Simmons balances his specific arguments in a format of "some people say X but other people say Y." The voices that Simmons prefer get the last word, of course, but he does present both sides fairly for the most part.

The book would serve well for prompting discussion and debate at the high school level, and it is written at a level appropriate for that audience.