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on May 10, 2017
Enthralling and absorbing, all the way up to the end. It screams for a continuation. The modernist in me (still) wanted to know more about Mord and the Magician, and about how Wick knew of rumors.
on May 10, 2017
Clearly one of the most personal and emotive of all of Jeff's works. I am amazed at his skill at conveying so much while never letting the pace slacken, or the action not seem character driven. His language is beautiful and poetic, even while describing horrors. This is a morally informed, disturbing, and unflinching look at the world's headlong dive into the anthropocene, and it's greed and ignorance ruined environment; but one that strongly hints at the tenacity of life and the inevitability of change beyond the current and future ignorant and blind human damage. I love this man's mind, and his great writing skill. Do read the book, it is so very worthy of your time and efforts! I also have to add, it is an wonderfully effective drama of human relationships, human<-> world relationships, and what is it to be human, and what it is to love.
on May 22, 2017
"The world is broken and I don't know how to fix it." - from Borne's journal.
****
Jeff VanderMeer is America's closest answer to China Mieville, a crafter of weird new stuff (I won't hang the "New Weird" label on him, but his work is certainly weird in new ways). His previous work, the "Southern Reach" trilogy, has been translated into more languages than J.R.R. Tolkien invented, and is being filmed (or at least the first book, _Annihilation_, is). His newest novel is _Borne_.
_Borne_ is currently something of a nine-days' wonder, appearing on many "recommended summer reading" lists, some of them quite unlikely. Yet this is completely appropriate, and I add my own small recommendation. Read it.
What it's about is quite complicated. Rachel (the only name given for her) was born on an island nation that, due to rising seas, no longer exists. She ekes out a life in a post-disaster city as a scavenger. The city (also no name) is ruled, if that's the word, by a giant (many stories tall), vicious flying bear named Mord.
One day Rachel scavenges among the fur of the sleeping Mord and finds a ... thing. Sort of like a plant; sort of like a squid: she names it Borne and keeps it against the advisement of her lover and sort-of partner Wick, himself a biotech craftsman of some repute. Before everything fell apart, Wick worked for the Company (which also made Mord and then lost control of him).
Oh dear. I've not gotten past page fifteen or so, and a lot of what I've just said is backstory that *isn't* known that early. But it's the only way I know to even begin to explain what a tangled, glorious mess _Borne_ is. Plotlines include simple survival; a siege by Mord's proxies; Wick and Rachel struggling for trust; a struggle for control of the city between the forces of Mord and of the Magician; and Borne himself, who grows and grows. All this and much, much more, in little more than 300 pages.
Borne seems to take food in but not to excrete in any way. He learns to talk, to change shape, and to (maybe?) love. He wants to fix the broken world. (There may be an allegory there, but probably not.)
Rachel has a voice of her own, and VanderMeer hews to it faithfully. More to the point, she has a _soul_ of her own, as do Wick and Borne - not so much the other "characters," who are by-and-large only there, at least as we see them, for Rachel to respond/react to. She narrates the novel's many eyeball kicks exactly as she perceives and receives them. Even mediated through her voice, they are strange indeed.
This is a book that will take time and rereadings for me to truly grok. It isn't difficult in the sense of "what is going on here?" but in the sense of "what does what is going on here *mean*?" Surely it must mean something, for all the work VanderMeer put into crafting this dense text ... Or must it? Consider the Voynich Manuscript; consider _A Humument_. Sometimes a work of art simply _is_. And whatever else _Borne_ may do to its readers, it certainly _is_, complete and whole and self-contained.
****
Jeff VanderMeer is America's closest answer to China Mieville, a crafter of weird new stuff (I won't hang the "New Weird" label on him, but his work is certainly weird in new ways). His previous work, the "Southern Reach" trilogy, has been translated into more languages than J.R.R. Tolkien invented, and is being filmed (or at least the first book, _Annihilation_, is). His newest novel is _Borne_.
_Borne_ is currently something of a nine-days' wonder, appearing on many "recommended summer reading" lists, some of them quite unlikely. Yet this is completely appropriate, and I add my own small recommendation. Read it.
What it's about is quite complicated. Rachel (the only name given for her) was born on an island nation that, due to rising seas, no longer exists. She ekes out a life in a post-disaster city as a scavenger. The city (also no name) is ruled, if that's the word, by a giant (many stories tall), vicious flying bear named Mord.
One day Rachel scavenges among the fur of the sleeping Mord and finds a ... thing. Sort of like a plant; sort of like a squid: she names it Borne and keeps it against the advisement of her lover and sort-of partner Wick, himself a biotech craftsman of some repute. Before everything fell apart, Wick worked for the Company (which also made Mord and then lost control of him).
Oh dear. I've not gotten past page fifteen or so, and a lot of what I've just said is backstory that *isn't* known that early. But it's the only way I know to even begin to explain what a tangled, glorious mess _Borne_ is. Plotlines include simple survival; a siege by Mord's proxies; Wick and Rachel struggling for trust; a struggle for control of the city between the forces of Mord and of the Magician; and Borne himself, who grows and grows. All this and much, much more, in little more than 300 pages.
Borne seems to take food in but not to excrete in any way. He learns to talk, to change shape, and to (maybe?) love. He wants to fix the broken world. (There may be an allegory there, but probably not.)
Rachel has a voice of her own, and VanderMeer hews to it faithfully. More to the point, she has a _soul_ of her own, as do Wick and Borne - not so much the other "characters," who are by-and-large only there, at least as we see them, for Rachel to respond/react to. She narrates the novel's many eyeball kicks exactly as she perceives and receives them. Even mediated through her voice, they are strange indeed.
This is a book that will take time and rereadings for me to truly grok. It isn't difficult in the sense of "what is going on here?" but in the sense of "what does what is going on here *mean*?" Surely it must mean something, for all the work VanderMeer put into crafting this dense text ... Or must it? Consider the Voynich Manuscript; consider _A Humument_. Sometimes a work of art simply _is_. And whatever else _Borne_ may do to its readers, it certainly _is_, complete and whole and self-contained.
on May 27, 2017
I first discovered Jeff VanderMeer through his Southern Reach Trilogy. While it wasn't perfect, it took me on a ride that mixed Lovecraft with Roadside Picnic. The writing was unique (each volume told in a different voice, the third told in multiple), and the story had a depth and mystery far beyond what you find in most science fiction novels.
So, when I learned he released a new novel, I was eager to read it. We're introduced to a new an interesting world, more odd than frightening, almost cartoon-like at times. We follow a survivor named Rachel, along with her companion, Wick who live their days out scavenging to survive. Borne soon enters their lives and everything changed.
I won't go into plot details, but wanted to describe why it fell short for me. At times the story feels like it's going somewhere, only to fall flat in the small scenes/arcs. Speaking of arcs, there really isn't much to the characters. They go places, do things, maybe learn a little bit toward the end, but I didn't feel like there was much of a character journey, one that I would come to expect from his previous novels. The Southern Reach had such deep characterization, the lack of it here really stands out. The conclusion almost makes up for it, throwing all the great characterization and theme that was peppered throughout the Southern Reach trilogy, but it doesn't quite make up for the rest of the novel.
While it is worth reading, I felt it didn't have the same staying power and depth that his previous works did.
So, when I learned he released a new novel, I was eager to read it. We're introduced to a new an interesting world, more odd than frightening, almost cartoon-like at times. We follow a survivor named Rachel, along with her companion, Wick who live their days out scavenging to survive. Borne soon enters their lives and everything changed.
I won't go into plot details, but wanted to describe why it fell short for me. At times the story feels like it's going somewhere, only to fall flat in the small scenes/arcs. Speaking of arcs, there really isn't much to the characters. They go places, do things, maybe learn a little bit toward the end, but I didn't feel like there was much of a character journey, one that I would come to expect from his previous novels. The Southern Reach had such deep characterization, the lack of it here really stands out. The conclusion almost makes up for it, throwing all the great characterization and theme that was peppered throughout the Southern Reach trilogy, but it doesn't quite make up for the rest of the novel.
While it is worth reading, I felt it didn't have the same staying power and depth that his previous works did.
on May 29, 2017
Vandenberg has written his most accessible novel of weird fiction yet. You should read the story of Rachel, Wick, Borne and their world. Also, watch for Mord proxies.
on May 5, 2017
A really great meditation on what makes a person and how forgiveness creates a person who can be forgiven. It's a emotionally tough book to read.
on May 8, 2017
If you like the odd, the mysterious, and strangely beautiful yet grotesque creatures and and world's, then Mr. Vandermeer is for you.
No one else out there takes such risks with the new and odd. It's at once awe inspiring and brilliant and disturbing and gorgeous. The creativity flows. And the true magic lies in how deeply he believes it, how effortlessly he conveys such oddities in a manner that, in the face of impossible things never before imagined, I understand and believe.
Mr. Vandermeer has the technical ability of Gene Wolfe with odd and colorful world's that bring to mind Jack Vance.
No one else out there takes such risks with the new and odd. It's at once awe inspiring and brilliant and disturbing and gorgeous. The creativity flows. And the true magic lies in how deeply he believes it, how effortlessly he conveys such oddities in a manner that, in the face of impossible things never before imagined, I understand and believe.
Mr. Vandermeer has the technical ability of Gene Wolfe with odd and colorful world's that bring to mind Jack Vance.
on May 26, 2017
Dark, creative, and well written!
on April 26, 2017
Borne is bizarre and riveting and completely unexpected. I loved the novel's take on the themes of redemption and what makes us "human." One of the best fantasy/horror books I've read so far this year. Highly recommended!
on May 19, 2017
The author's imagination is astounding, the writing and descriptions so believable. This is a page turner and I could envision a world like this - unfortunately.. Who says climate change and fooling with mother nature isn't dangerous?
