Danna Staaf’s Monarchs of the Sea is a fascinating tour of the evolution of cephalopods. I am very very late to review it, and I’m sorry for that because it was fascinating. I’d never quite understood that ammonites were cephalopods before, somehow, so that was a surprise, and I was delighted to read more about them and the diversity of their shells. It’d be nice if some modern cephalopod was evolved from an ammonite, really, but Staaf does suggest it’s pretty unlikely.

This is the kind of non-fiction I really enjoy: a deep-dive on a particular subject, not afraid to get into the weeds, and glowing with the author’s fascination for the topic. I don’t know if I could stomach dissection, but she makes even that sound fascinating — I bet she’s great at teaching it.

I was especially fascinated by the discussion of the modern cephalopods and what’s become of their shells, the very last vestiges thereof. Fun!

I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found the subject of this book fascinating and can't wait to read more.

This is an excellent popular science book written by a marine biologist with an evident passion for her subject. I was attracted to the subject matter due to my enthusiasm for marine creatures, but I knew little about cephalapods. Staaf provides a wealth of information and plenty of revelations, spanning a vast fossil record as well as current science about the cephalapods of today. While she clearly has strong academic credentials, she discusses her subject matter at a level that lay people can understand, and this is assisted by a series of excellent illustrations.

I'm not the target audience for this book. I thought it would be interesting to learn about cephalopods, but this is a scientific read and I was pretty lost. It's not really a book for beginners.

Sadly, I was unable to download this book in time before it was archived and this I was not able to either read or review it. My apologies.

Everything you could ever want to know, shared with engaging style. This is remarkably accessible given the depth and complexity of the content, and should appeal to a wide range of readers. Staaf's enthusiasm is contagious, and you'll look at these creatures in a whole new light.

Whenever I don't like a nonfiction book, I feel like I have to defend myself. I read nonfiction. I read hard books, long books, classic books. Monarchs of the Sea was hard to follow and unorganized. Lots of hard words with barely any definition or explanation. It was tiring to read. I was so excited for this, and I'm so disappointed. It's like it was edited for grammatical errors but never for flow and organization. I'm sure this is a good book. I'm sure some people do and will love it. But I was expecting a book about squids and things. I know enough about them to know they're weird and amazing and full of fun facts, but this book was 95% focused on evolution itself, not the creatures, if that makes sense.

If you want to read about evolution, the hows and whys and whens, this may be for you. The book is described as funny, but I think the author and team used conversational language and witty but unclear chapter titles rather than actual humor.

Thank you NetGalley and The Experiment for a copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Monarchs of the Sea is probably one of the most fun educational texts I have ever read. Danna Staaf writes about topics that could be considered very boring in a truly engaging and entertaining way. This reads in no way like a textbook, but is absolutely packed with information. I learned a lot about cephalopods and chuckled quite a bit throughout the book at the author’s humorous commentary peppered in.

For someone to compile all this information and convey it to the reader in such a charming manner is impressive. It is both informative and captivating, with a heavy dose of humor tucked in. I would recommend this gem to anyone with an interest in sea creatures or nature overall, particularly if you are looking to read a work of nonfiction written in a way that is absolutely 100% NOT boring.

Thank you to the publishers for sending me this proof.

I found this book fascinating, and this is a passion of mine. I loved the scientific narrative throughout this book, however that being said this is a highly in depth coverage of cephalopods is very easy to understand.

Staaf writes with a Wonderfull humour and some excellent puns. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend to anyone with an interest in Marine Biology.

This was a really great book. It took my rather glancing interest in cephalopods (produced mostly by reading Gail Carriger’s Parasol Protectorate series, though I do have a general interest in any biology, human or animal), and complete lack of interest in history (particularly such ancient history), and transformed it into a far greater interest in both cephalopods and fossilised history. I don’t think you can give much higher praise than that!

I was initially attracted to this book by the cover illustration, and it wasn’t until I read the introduction that I realised it focusses mostly on the ancient history of the cephalopods (yes, I know it’s written right there on the cover). By that time, however, Danna Staaf’s witty and informative writing (along with further beautiful illustrations) had fully captured my interest. Somehow, she has managed to compress and polish many sources of scientific knowledge (and lack thereof, in some areas) into a coherent and fascinating history of cephalopods. Her use of headings and subheadings breaks things up into chunks that are easy to digest, and there are frequent touches of humour.

The book is also crammed full of beautiful illustrations, which alongside clear and informative diagrams and photographs, bring the animals described in the text to life.

I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in cephalopods, or in fossil history. It really brings everything together delightfully.

I was given a free copy of this book, my opinions are my own.

Educational, fun, and funny, I loved reading Monarchs of the Sea. Staff's humor appealed greatly to me, whichout detracting from the information provided. I learned more about the histories, anatomies, and lifestyles of cephalopods than I ever knew I didn't know. This book is smart and informative without being overwhelmingly technical or dense. Definitely would recommend to anyone remotely interested in this fascinating branch of the animal kingdom.

Language: None
Drugs: None
Sex: Mild, non-human
Violence: Mild, only the violence of nature

Monarchs of the Sea is a fascinating and factual look at cephalopods past and present by Dr. Danna Staaf. Originally published in 2017 as Squid Empire, this reformat and re-release by The Experiment is due out 15th Sept. 2020. It's 256 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats.

There are a handful of popular science and zoology writers who have the gift of writing layman accessibly and interestingly on their topics of expertise. Dr. Staaf is another such. This book is factual, science based, well annotated, but never dry and never devolves into pedantry or pedagoguery. I can imagine that she would be a capable teacher.

It's well laid out and follows a logical format. The introduction includes a very short author bio and some of her background in which I saw my younger self mirrored. She was "the girl with a pet octopus" and I was always the kid with the weird pets (snails, beetles, bees, snakes, etc.) too. The chapters are arranged more or less chronologically, a basic introduction covers some cephalopod physiology and habitat, followed by the rise of prehistoric examples.

The discussion of early cephalopods includes lots of diagrams explaining the different evolutionary innovations and adaptations which gave advantages to those early species from shells with enclosed air chambers to provide buoyancy, water-jet propulsion movement, and neurological advances. There are, today, four basic groups of cephalopods extant: squid, cuttlefish, octopi, and nautili and the author discusses each in depth both in historical context and more thoroughly in the modern day.

The author also does a good job of realisticailly presenting the conservation challenges of species which have lived hundreds and hundreds of millions of years and are now facing catastrophic losses because of climate change, pollution, loss of habitat, and other man made problems. The book is exhaustively annotated, providing rich resources for further reading.

For readers who have Rachel Carson, Richard Dawkins, and Stephen Jay Gould on their bookshelves, this will be a fascinating read. Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

PDF : je suis malheureusement incapable de lire ce format. Ça me vexe car ce livre avait l'air vraiment bien.

Monarchs of the Sea: The Extraordinary 500-Million-Year History of Cephalopods by Danna Staaf is by far one of the most comprehensive studies of ancient Cephalopods! I have already found it to be very useful. So much so, that I highly recommended that others put the book on their MUST READ lists! The author's writing is very tight and extremely comprehensive! She has opened up a major area of study that has not been documented. These creatures have survived so many Extinction Events here on Earth! The fact that they came long before the dinosaurs and are still here today... Holy Moly!! I loved that the author and scientist had the guts to say that Earth was likely seeded with life from Mars! WOW!! That it a major deal to me!

Every kid wants to find out about Dinosaurs. It takes something special to want to read and study creatures that came long before the dinosaurs. A very interesting read and study! One that I will highly recommend to others.

I wasn't able to finish the eARC of this book that I was gifted by #netgalley and #theexperiment as I really didn't feel an electronic copy was doing the book justice.

This is one of those rare books that I really needed to feel the weight of in my hands. I wanted to be able to mark pages and flip back and forth; to make drawings from some of the beautiful illustrations throughout the book; to curl up in a chair with the actual book rather than read over a laptop screen.

Having studied a science based degree, I know too well how dry some zoology books can be - this, however, was an absolute delight to read.

I will DEFINITELY be waiting for this book to be released so I can buy a hard copy and enjoy dipping in and out of it at my leisure. Coincidentally, it's released on my birthday, so I'll be dropping some heavy handed hints to my nearest and dearest over the coming weeks.

Thank you Danna Staaf for a fantastic book.

Cephalopods are incredible denizens of the sea who are often overshadowed by its other inhabitants. Staaf has written a wonderfully informative narrative that takes the reader from their humble origin millions of years ago to the modern era. She has a nice style that is down to earth for the most part. The jargon does pick up as the chapters go along and sometimes definitions are left on the cutting room floor. But it's pretty lay person friendly. I enjoyed that the book clearly shows how the study of past life forms is convoluted with sometimes no concrete answers. All you have is best guesses, though sometimes later finds provide better guesses/answers. Overall, a great informative book that looks at these endlessly fascinating creatures.

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher, for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

My review:

Monarchs of the Sea by Danna Staaf was a really interesting look at cephalopods, their evolution and development.

I didn't know a lot about cephalopods before I started this book, but as it says, there's 500 million years of history, and it really does have a look at how they have changed over time!  

I'm not planning on getting a pet octopus in a tank, but it showed what amazing creatures they are!

If you enjoy science and natural history books that are well written and will explain things to you, then this is a great book to dive into!

 Monarchs of the Sea  was published on 15th September 2020, and is available to buy on  Amazon  and  Waterstones .  I’ve found a link to where you can search for  local bookshops , including independent!

You can follow Danna Staaf on her  website and  Twitter .

I was given this book for free in return for an unbiased review, and so my thanks to NetGalley, and to  The Experiment  (the publishers) for this book.

A very informative book about the sea creatures the lie in the deep. It is easy enough to understand, but deep enough to give a broad picture. It reads very quickly and for anyone who is interested in learning more about cephalopods, both living and extinct, this would be a great book to pick up!

This book seems interesting enough. It appears to offer a high-interest angle of squid science and history for the amateur zoologists.

Very informative about cephalopods, although it can be a little dry in parts. This is a good book to introduce a reader to this subject and this field of marine biology. It can also be a good resource.