Mind-Blowing Kusudama Origami: The Art of Modular Paper Folding

This is an amazing book. Too advanced for me. If you are experienced in origami, go for it. The designs are fantastic. I'm experienced, but OMG!

For context - I purchased Loper's "Mind-Blowing Modular Origami" a couple of years ago and have made it partway through that book. I did all of the kusudama-style models and a couple of the wire frame models before getting stuck, in part because some of them are very complicated, but also because I found the assembly instructions lacking. More on that in a moment. When I saw this book released, I had high hopes because I saw that it would be devoted exclusively to kusudama models. I assumed that since those were (for the most part) relatively well presented in Loper's first book, that the same would be true here. Unfortunately, my experience so far is that it seems to skew closer to the presentation of his wire frame models from his first book. Right off the bat with the first model ("Monarchy Star"), I found the following issues:1. In Step 1 of assembly, it says to "Slide the tab of unit B underneath the top layer of unit A". The problem is that the accompanying diagram refers to unit B as "unit A", and unit A as "unit B". Maybe you're reading this and thinking, OK, easy enough to figure that one out...but the fact that the error exists at all is problematic to me. It suggests that the author and/or the copy editor didn't proofread their instructions, because if they did, they would have figured it out in <10 seconds like I did. And if they aren't checking their instructions for the simpler models, they probably aren't checking the instructions for the more complex models either....2. Steps 1-2 of the assembly instructions show you how to join 2 units together. Step 3 explains how to modify the units in order to join 5+ units together at a vertex. That's it. The author expects you to connect the dots and figure out how to go from 2 units to (at least) 30 units with no additional instructions. This was especially frustrating to me because IT NEVER ACTUALLY SAYS HOW MANY UNITS TO JOIN TOGETHER IN A VERTEX IF YOU'RE ASSEMBLING IT FROM 30 UNITS. Maybe you're reading this and saying "OK, well just look at the photo of the completed model". And I'd agree with you, except....THE PHOTO DOESN'T EVEN SHOW A 30-UNIT ASSEMBLY. IT SHOWS A 90-UNIT ASSEMBLY. Really? So you're expected to have to figure out how many units to join to make each vertex - which could be anywhere from 3 to 5+ - and figure out how to assemble them together without even having a relevant photo to work off of?This kind of disconnect was persistent throughout Loper's first book, and apparently through this book also. It's especially frustrating (and perplexing) to me how the folding instructions in both of Loper's books can be so good, yet the assembly instructions can be so poor. Having read through both books, I get the feeling that Loper doesn't actually want to connect all of the dots for you - he'd seemingly rather have you struggle through it yourself to figure it out, come up with your own adaptations of his models, and become a better origami artist in the process. The problem I have with this mindset - if that's in fact what he's thinking - is that people who are that good at origami don't need to buy his books in the first place. I would guess that the majority of readers buy the books because they like the models and want step-by-step, easy-to-follow instructions so that they can make the models for themselves, family, friends, etc...without having to spend hours on each model trying to decipher minimalist instructions, multiple variants, typographical errors etc.I understand that more detailed instructions comes at a cost - either you pay more for the additional content, or if you have to give up something else. But I'd much rather pay more for a book that is easier to follow, or pay the same amount for a book with, say, 10 models with thorough folding instructions, assembly instructions, and (multiple) photos that ACTUALLY CORRESPOND TO THE WRITTEN FOLDING AND ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS...rather than the 30 models that are presented here, but with with minimal/nebulous assembly instructions and photos that show completely different variations from what you're following the instructions to make.It's hard for me to understand how this book made it to final publication. From the time I began following it on Amazon when it was available for preorder, I know its release date got delayed at least once. My best guess is that Loper/Tuttle were more interested in just getting it published (and avoiding further delays) that minimal effort was made to proofread the book. It's especially disappointing to me because with more careful copy editing and better assembly instructions and photos, this book (as well as Loper's first book, for that matter) could have been incredible. In the end, it feels more like an effort to show off the models of an incredibly talented origami artist rather than a dedicated effort to teach other less skilled origamists (such as myself) how to actually to make them.

It might be laid out where an experienced oragami person can use and read. Definitely not for beginner or intermediate paper folder. Plus I haven't received my refund.