Slime: somewhere between liquid and solid, it inspires revulsion yet is vital to life…

This was pretty interesting, filled with plenty of weird and wonderful creatures who are either slimy or use slime in curious and clever ways. But for a book with “a natural history” as the subtitle, I did expect slightly more biological detail (which I reckon would have been possible without making it any less accessible to non-biologists) and I never quite found myself itching to pick it up. Also, some pictures and/or diagrams would not have gone amiss.

I didn’t expect the first chapter on slime in popular culture - specifically our association with slime as a negative thing (aliens, supernatural goo, etc.) and how that shows up in books and films. I have abysmal pop culture knowledge, particularly in terms of the horror and sci-fi canons, so this was actually rather fascinating. Until it carried through into the subsequent chapters and got a bit annoying, because I was most interested in the natural history side of things.

An accessible, wide-ranging book about slimy creatures and various biological uses of slime in the natural world, full of fun little facts and information tidbits but heavy on the pop culture references.