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cam_midnight's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
mementomoriiv's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book hurts.
It is beautiful and twisted, twisting. It moves across Earths, through glass globes, into animals and boys who yesrn to stay dead but awaken with new ways of being each day. It examines the damage left by humans who think only of their own uses.
It is helpful to look back and re-read as you move forward. There is no timeline.
This is a beautifully written, richly imagined, devastatingly human book.
It is beautiful and twisted, twisting. It moves across Earths, through glass globes, into animals and boys who yesrn to stay dead but awaken with new ways of being each day. It examines the damage left by humans who think only of their own uses.
It is helpful to look back and re-read as you move forward. There is no timeline.
This is a beautifully written, richly imagined, devastatingly human book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Grief, Death, and Violence
cornbread's review against another edition
2.0
i remember really loving Borne but cannot remember if it was also so incomprehensible or if i have just become an idiot
schuster_s's review
5.0
This book was absolutely phenomenal. Told from multiple perspectives and in a non-linear time frame, this book brings you on a journey through the world created in Borne. Three astronauts arrive on Earth to stop the Company. They've done this before, and they might do it again.
One note I have is that this book must be read after reading Strange Bird (Borne #1.5)
Charlie X plays a role in the novella, and the character is revealed and unraveled in this book. It really makes you feel like you are on drugs. Nothing makes sense, and you aren't sure where it is going, but like with all Vandermeer books, the ending is worth it.
It isn't the kind of ending where every choice is explained, and you don't get a wonderful happy ending for all the characters in the story, but what you do get is a new perspective on the world and what it means to have joy and then be free. all of the players in this tale want the same thing, and it is to rest and be safe.
I don't think I have ever sat down with a Vandermeer book and have been prepared to read through it easily, and the same goes for Dead Astronauts. It takes time, and thought, and a desire to process what you are reading. You will have to think HARD about what is going on. But that is what I love about these books.
If you are a true fan of his work and want to read one of the greatest works of weird fiction you will have ever set your eyes on, I suggest you read this.
ALSO: I agree with people here who say this needs a whole literary analysis because I might just do it myself!
One note I have is that this book must be read after reading Strange Bird (Borne #1.5)
Charlie X plays a role in the novella, and the character is revealed and unraveled in this book. It really makes you feel like you are on drugs. Nothing makes sense, and you aren't sure where it is going, but like with all Vandermeer books, the ending is worth it.
It isn't the kind of ending where every choice is explained, and you don't get a wonderful happy ending for all the characters in the story, but what you do get is a new perspective on the world and what it means to have joy and then be free. all of the players in this tale want the same thing, and it is to rest and be safe.
I don't think I have ever sat down with a Vandermeer book and have been prepared to read through it easily, and the same goes for Dead Astronauts. It takes time, and thought, and a desire to process what you are reading. You will have to think HARD about what is going on. But that is what I love about these books.
If you are a true fan of his work and want to read one of the greatest works of weird fiction you will have ever set your eyes on, I suggest you read this.
ALSO: I agree with people here who say this needs a whole literary analysis because I might just do it myself!
calicokingdom's review
3.0
weird and wordy which is fun!!! i definitely enjoyed its companion novel, borne, more. this was missing the linearity and humor that i loved about borne. but this was still fun!! it was wild to see how all over the place this was compared to its companion—the writing style felt completely opposite at most times.
thelaurelwreathcrowned's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
w1ndupbird's review against another edition
4.0
A psychedelic fever dream exploring the collective trauma that the natural world suffers from at the hands of humanity. At times it's ambitious to a fault— but never boring. Read parallel with 'The Conspiracy Against the Human Race' for added effect. Long Live the Blue Fox.
sine_qua_non's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
telligraphy's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
11corvus11's review against another edition
4.0
I totally understand why some readers did not like this. It is certainly not for everyone. Although, I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence as one reviewer mentioned I think it's just straight up taste and preference. If you're not into bizarre, repetitive stream of consciousness sort of writing often coming from inside the minds of genetically and mechanically altered beings in a dystopian hellscape, then maybe this isn't for you. At times it almost felt like listening to some avant garde track with lyrics and a chorus.
Personally, I enjoyed this a lot. It's definitely the most sort of scatterbrained book of Jeff Vandermeer's that I have read/listened to. I would have given it five stars, but I do think it's suffered a bit in the last big chunk with an organizational issue that is not an artistic one. It's difficult to explain other than that.
Personally, I enjoyed this a lot. It's definitely the most sort of scatterbrained book of Jeff Vandermeer's that I have read/listened to. I would have given it five stars, but I do think it's suffered a bit in the last big chunk with an organizational issue that is not an artistic one. It's difficult to explain other than that.