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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
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.
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
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.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is more of a 3.5, and a challenging rating for me, warring between admiration for the execution of the style and the author with an acknowledgement of how excellently it is written, and noting it didn't entirely work for me.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This is my, technically, second book by Vander meet if you consider that the Southern reach Trilogy is in one book now and a fourth book is being edited as I write this. Dead Astronauts is an interesting way to deliver a tale about a horrid future where nature is alive but so are the horrors made by man. Did take me a bit to work through this one though.
This book feels like the one VanderMeer wanted to make, but had to give Borne to his publisher first before he was permitted.
This is certainly a companion book - it's a collection of short stories connected by the world of Borne, delving into creatures and deceased beings that seemed insignificant in the original novel.
It feels like a huge experiment for the author in terms of writing style, which makes it a difficult read, and will try your patience. I honestly almost gave up on it half way through.
Especially the initial Astronauts tale, which might be the weakest part of this book, but damn the visuals are really fun. It's just slow and written in such a dense way, which is rough since it's also the longest section of the book.
The author could have easily made this novel entirely revolve around these characters and this chapter but he doesn't and it ends up feeling packed in. I have to believe there's a major reason for this that I'm missing, because later chapters are given tons of room to breathe.
The rest of the book is a major critique on how we treat animals and our environment. VanderMeer really lets loose on these subjects in a way that must have been freeing for him. In books like Borne and Annihilation the critique is there but mostly in metaphors and symbols. In this case perhaps fed up with where we are in caring for our world, VanderMeer is his most brutal yet against human beings.
When it comes to scoring this, I wanted to rate this book lower than Borne at first, because it didn't invoke major emotions in the way the original novel did. Also its longest chapter made the book feel uneven and poorly paced, granted the rest of the book does a fairly good job swinging the other way.
But I also have to consider how I've never seen a book written this way before, it feels fresh. I consider myself a newbie when it comes to the "world of literature" so maybe this isn't as original as it seems to me. It probably isn't.
But the more I think on it, the more I love the entire thing. In totality it feels more like an art piece than a standard work of fiction, which I do admire.
This is certainly a companion book - it's a collection of short stories connected by the world of Borne, delving into creatures and deceased beings that seemed insignificant in the original novel.
It feels like a huge experiment for the author in terms of writing style, which makes it a difficult read, and will try your patience. I honestly almost gave up on it half way through.
Especially the initial Astronauts tale, which might be the weakest part of this book, but damn the visuals are really fun. It's just slow and written in such a dense way, which is rough since it's also the longest section of the book.
The author could have easily made this novel entirely revolve around these characters and this chapter but he doesn't and it ends up feeling packed in. I have to believe there's a major reason for this that I'm missing, because later chapters are given tons of room to breathe.
The rest of the book is a major critique on how we treat animals and our environment. VanderMeer really lets loose on these subjects in a way that must have been freeing for him. In books like Borne and Annihilation the critique is there but mostly in metaphors and symbols. In this case perhaps fed up with where we are in caring for our world, VanderMeer is his most brutal yet against human beings.
When it comes to scoring this, I wanted to rate this book lower than Borne at first, because it didn't invoke major emotions in the way the original novel did. Also its longest chapter made the book feel uneven and poorly paced, granted the rest of the book does a fairly good job swinging the other way.
But I also have to consider how I've never seen a book written this way before, it feels fresh. I consider myself a newbie when it comes to the "world of literature" so maybe this isn't as original as it seems to me. It probably isn't.
But the more I think on it, the more I love the entire thing. In totality it feels more like an art piece than a standard work of fiction, which I do admire.
The prose style just did not work for me at all. I found myself having to read and re-read passages. I’m sure this is a good book to some people, but I personally can’t endure this writing for 200+ pages