Customer Reviews

Spacebloom: A Field Guide to Cosmic Xflora

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Spacebloom is a unique take on the modern saw "the best way to predict the future is to invent it." In a world where our collective imagination of the future of space is limited to mining and militarization, Spacebloom offers a vision for filling the space with flowers. Needles to say these are not flowers as we know them. Here is a short description of my favorite spacebloom. Orfzic (naiti jimeo) An orderly aggregate of taste-free cuboids ready to absorb any flavor you may have a craving for. This versatile bloom is also a speaker, bed spring and insomniac's best friend. Clearly we are not talking forgetmenots here.

This is not an easy book to understand (after all it is an imaginary field guide to imaginary objects), and perhaps that is not the goal. The editor's note states: "It is my hope that this guide will ultimately serve as a springboard to creating better and tastier spaceblooms. It would be foolish to demand more and sad to achieve less." My understanding after reading this book is this is an invitation to create a better future using imagination and technology that is so far reserved to making space-based weapons. This is of course a serious issue, however the book is often quite funny, especially the recipes and the trivia sections.

The whole book is an incredible visual feat. The images are just flat-out stunning. I am sure you have not seen anything like it. It is impeccably designed, elegant and modern without relying on tricks. The more I look at Spacebloom the surer I am this is a timeless masterpiece.

If you want an unorthodox look at the future, a work of beauty, a glimpse into an imagination unseen, a conversation starter, get this book. Better yet, buy two because somebody will steal your copy sooner or later.

So frequently in life, we are encouraged to stop and smell the roses. In 2267, Awk Ro asks us to stop, smell and, indeed, taste the Spaceblooms - a unique collection of thirty-three cosmic flora of no natural garden variety. In this imaginary cosmic landscape, I found a wealth of beauty, humour and inspiration. These Spaceblooms are no ordinary flowers. And this is no ordinary book. Truly a testament to the limitless boundaries of the human imagination - Spacebloom is destined to become the blueprint for astronauts looking for floral life beyond Earth.

I loved this book! The images are truly amazing and literally burst off the page. Koulekouli and Zippinia are two of my favourite blooms. I have never seen anything similar and would love to have the opportunity to speak with the illustrator / author to find out how he conceptualized the idea for this incredible project. The text is also very cleverly conceived and very witty in parts but cannot be easily digested in one sitting. I find that there is something new that appears each time I look at this book and I look forward to more publications from the talented creator.

Great Book. Brilliant Images. Unconventional book design - you can read it upside down (you'll get the point if you see the book for yourself)!

I hadn't heard about this book at all, and a friend recently gave me a copy. I have no idea how he even knew about it, but I'm glad he dug it up. It's a book that imagines a future quite different from the typical science fiction view, and is also chock full of beautiful graphics, charts, pictorials etc. Its got a technical and sometimes funny commentary on the future where there are thousands of flowers in space (initially man-made but now self-producing) and the authors have created this entire universe, classification, and language for dealing with these "Xflora".

Going through it, it's interesting to imagine a future where you could go into space, travelling about seeing these flowers, individually and in vast fields, in the universe's 'sky'. I totally recommend this trip.

This is one cool book. Very unusual but very original. It combines designs of what seem like plants, but are actually much more as you read into them, in a universe in our future. It's also really cool, because it lets you imagine all kinds of possibilities, so as you're reading the detailed descriptions of each of these flora, you begin thinking of more, and what each could be capable of, or what each could solve of a need in our world. I think more than anything, this book is a collection of ideas that have a lot of depth beyond what appears on the page as simple descriptives.

The format is very simple. It has been written like a formal guide with a general introduction, and then each of the flora is given a 2-page spread describing the properties, usages, amusing trivia, and a recipe for each (yes, apparently they are all edible too, or at least have edible parts). Through these plants, one is shown glimpses of society as it would be in the 23rd century, which is quite unusual, since it is like science fiction, except it is not presented in a traditional story-like manner. It does, however, have a very high level of detail, and I like to consume it in bits and pieces since you have to make your mind stretch out there, as it is.

The most striking part of this book is the colour, the art work, the amazing level of detail. The quality is top-notch. I don't think I have yet seen a book of 3D computer art that makes each image look so photographic. The play with the images makes for beautiful viewing.

Spacebloom - A Field Guide to Cosmic Xflora - swept me into a galaxy of colour and splendor. An extraordinary vision of glittering, eye-catching and mouth-watering flowers. I found this unique book to be a beautiful fictional panorama of flowers with the power to transform the unimagined into reality. Could these spaceblooms possibly by real?

I just discovered this imaginative future history of space-born cosmic flora.
Right from the start, the first paragaph of the book makes a strikingly powerful comment:
"Spaceblooms emerged at the end of a remarkably long period of unprecedented growth in human knowledge. Ninety percent of all patents ever issued - perhaps a poor, but quantifiable, way of measuring knowledge - were granted in the last 150 years. While some of the technologies used today have roots in the 21st century or earlier, many of their manifestations were not envisioned until much later. The successful population of Moon and the building of the new settlements are achievements that would not have been possible without the newclear or unimbler technology, without ifasto materials or atmospheric solutions, and without the millions of discoveries, inventions and innovations. The roots of this knowledge explosion can be traced to the middle of the 21st century, when, after many decades of empty rhetoric and grandiose posturing, a worldwide focus on equal access to all levels of education was realized."

There is a lot of commentary here that relates to our current society while describing a future one. It's a very interesting version of science fiction, and a lot of it is just good straight poetry, beautifully written. And it's all enhanced by the art - the graphics rock.