Rating: 
Summary: Oh, squid, oh squid...
Review: A well done and impassioned piece of pop science. Upon completing this you can honestly claim to know more about the giant squid than your friends. There is something of a problem with the book in that, so little is known about Archeteuthis, it's tough to fill a book with something more than marine biology. This is evident in the "naming of the squid" chapter and the exceedingly dull chapter on giant squid models.However, the subject matter and transparent excitement of the author win out. You know Ellis admires this beast, he shows it, but it does not detract from the science. Very worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: "I said tentacles, not..."
Review: A well done and impassioned piece of pop science. Upon completing this you can honestly claim to know more about the giant squid than your friends. There is something of a problem with the book in that, so little is known about Archeteuthis, it's tough to fill a book with something more than marine biology. This is evident in the "naming of the squid" chapter and the exceedingly dull chapter on giant squid models. However, the subject matter and transparent excitement of the author win out. You know Ellis admires this beast, he shows it, but it does not detract from the science. Very worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: Intresting topic and excellent sources.
Review: After running into this book and author completly on accident I purchased and read this book (I study cephalopods). This book is filled with wondering insights and info. on the elusive Giant Squid. His use of evidence from as far back as possible shows his devotion to the topic. Though, as is normal for Ellis, he overuses his footnotes and examples almost to the point of confusion in some parts. These would be much better used and more easily understood if the were organized into a seperate section or used as a reference not a paragraph written into the text. On the other hand I was not at all dissapointed with this book and have continued to buy other books buy Ellis. I would suggest this book to anybody that studies anything of this sort or that is just intrested in it. GREAT BOOK!
Rating:
Summary: Almost scientifically accurate
Review: As a scientist, I had 2 objections. On p.48, he continues the myth that eyes of cephalopods and higher vertebrates exhibit the principe of "convergence." In fact, the eyes of mollusks, arthropods, & vertebrates derive from the PAX-6 gene, which has been highly conserved in evolution. This is NOT convergence... Ellis, p.241, confuses Insecta with Arachnida, when he describes the former has having "eight eyes." This is a confusion in taxonomy on his part. -F.M. Sturtevant, Ph.D. Sarasota, FL
Rating:
Summary: Almost scientifically accurate
Review: As a scientist, I had 2 objections. On p.48, he continues the myth that eyes of cephalopods and higher vertebrates exhibit the principle of "convergence." In fact, the eyes of mollusks, arthropods, & vertebrates derive from the PAX-6 gene, which has been highly conserved in evolution., This is NOT convergence. Ellis, p.241, confuses Insecta with Arachnida, when he describes the former as having "eight eyes." This is a confusionnin taxonomy on his part.
Rating: 
Summary: Didn't hold my interest
Review: Before I start, let me point out that I've made several valiant attempts to read Ellis' books. I own "Imagining Atlantis" and recently lent out the one on sea monsters (the name escapes me). Based on the subject matter of each book, I feel like I should thoroughly enjoy reading them. These are the books I always imagine myself diving into and only coming up once in a great while for the bare necessities (food, shelter, sleep). Why oh why is it that I struggle through these books? I pick them up, read a few pages, and then find my mind wandering. "Search for the Giant Squid" was, unfortunately, no exception. While the topic sounds fascinating, there is something in the way that Ellis presents it that is downright uninspiring. Now and again there were some areas that held my interest...but I was bored to tears when the book delved into squid researchers of the past. Understandably, there isn't a whole lot of solid information about Architeuthis, at least not enough to fill an entire book. So it makes sense that Ellis had to veer off the main topic a bit to flesh out the rest of the story. But it all felt a bit like a patchwork quilt at times and not very cohesive/coherent. To top it off, Ellis has a tendency to throw in a LOT of quotes and footnotes, making it difficult to read a single page without having to stop several times along the way. All in all, the idea behind this book was a good one...but for whatever reason the book itself did not capture my interest as much as I expected.
Rating:
Summary: Didn't hold my interest
Review: Before I start, let me point out that I've made several valiant attempts to read Ellis' books. I own "Imagining Atlantis" and recently lent out the one on sea monsters (the name escapes me). Based on the subject matter of each book, I feel like I should thoroughly enjoy reading them. These are the books I always imagine myself diving into and only coming up once in a great while for the bare necessities (food, shelter, sleep). Why oh why is it that I struggle through these books? I pick them up, read a few pages, and then find my mind wandering. "Search for the Giant Squid" was, unfortunately, no exception. While the topic sounds fascinating, there is something in the way that Ellis presents it that is downright uninspiring. Now and again there were some areas that held my interest...but I was bored to tears when the book delved into squid researchers of the past. Understandably, there isn't a whole lot of solid information about Architeuthis, at least not enough to fill an entire book. So it makes sense that Ellis had to veer off the main topic a bit to flesh out the rest of the story. But it all felt a bit like a patchwork quilt at times and not very cohesive/coherent. To top it off, Ellis has a tendency to throw in a LOT of quotes and footnotes, making it difficult to read a single page without having to stop several times along the way. All in all, the idea behind this book was a good one...but for whatever reason the book itself did not capture my interest as much as I expected.
Rating: 
Summary: Booklist
Review: Ellis' illustrated books about sea creatures have long made delectable reading. Here he explores the clammiest leviathan form the abyss, the tentacled, giant-eyed giant squid. Architeuthis has never positively been seen by human eyes in its living active form; it has been found as carcasses on beaches or floating at sea or as pieces regurgitated by whales. With everything about the giant squid's life, behavior and geographical range as a mysterious background, Ellis roams through speculative tracts, dating back to Pliny the Elder, about Architeuthis. Historical illustrations underscore the perplexity and horror felt by observers as they depicted this sea monster, a reaction that has been exploited by the movie Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1954) and by the horror novel Beast (1991), in which Peter Benchley replaced his killer shark with a people-eating giant squid. Ellis also recounts the knowledge anatomists have gleaned from those washed-up carcasses, which combines with the lore to result in a fascinating compendium. -- Gilbert Taylor
Rating: 
Summary: A page turning masterpiece!
Review: Having been repeatedly devoured and regurgitated by a giant squid, I can vouch for the authenticity of this novel. It is no picnic, let me tell you. First, their tentacles feel you up like nobody's business and as if there's no tomorrow. Then they give you an intriguingly seductive wink, in that national-geographic kind of way. My latest and most alarming perpetrator was a big one indeed. Whislt descending into unimaginably murky depths in a submersible (I could even see the lights of hell sparkling in the distance like some forgotten Christmas tree), I caught a glimpse of the great one, a kahunasized dolphinlike-beast, larger than any amphibian I had ever seen, tossing and turning this way and that, but I could see that it was watching me ever so carefully out of the corner of its eye, blinking provocatively, and evasively beckoning me to its lurid illustrious lair. Once trapped in its powerfully limp grasp, I started to lose consciousness, and felt the soothing narcotic effects of 2000 pounds per cubic inch of pressure massaging me all over like a lukewarm bubble bath. Yes, I was victimized, over and over again, and very much against my will, in an incident that I shall never forget. Thank you Mr. Ellis, for sharing your own tragically discombobulative squeamish experiences.
Rating:
Summary: A good read
Review: I just finished a James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier's book. The book that they wrote was My Brother Sam Is Dead. It was an okay book but it was also very interesting. They do have some violence and they do swear a little. My favorite part in the whole story was when Tim outsmarted the cowboys. If your looking for a good book with some action and adventure this is the book to read.
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