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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
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
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I think it's really interesting to see specific motifs recur in Vandermeer's work like oppressive, environmentally devastating, and unethical corporations, but also smaller things like tidal pools. Definitely not as good as the Southern Reach Trilogy, but still really fascinating and engaging scifi.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Dead Astronauts by Jeff Vandermeer is the sequel to Borne in that it takes place in the same world, where an all powerful company is at the center of the stories. This story focuses on a variety of characters, and is in every single way atmospheric. If the character is confused, you are confused. If the character is scared, you find yourself becoming creeped out. If the character begins to have an existential crisis you, too, feel as though you are having an existential crisis. Obviously that style isn’t for everyone, and while I would say this wasn’t my favorite story, I did love how atmospheric it felt. I just wish this had a little bit more of a plot structure. There were certain sections I liked better than others, and some that just made a little more sense overall, but again, the ones that were a bit confusing were meant to make the reader feel that way, so it was successful if you like that type of thing. If you’re really into atmospheric stories that don’t follow traditional structure, I would definitely check out this book (and no, you don’t really need to read Borne before your read Dead Astronauts they just take place in the same world and have some similar references but both stand alone).
I think this is supposed to be read as part of the Borne series? Idk. It was SUPER confusing.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"And in time, Behemoth, you will not suffer. Nor will you cause suffering. In time, you will be as you were hatched from the egg. New, curious. And I will be the old one. And you will be the start of something new … again, through me."
Even though Jeff spends a lot of the word count indulging himself, he writes in such an entertaining and kaleidoscopic way, it's hard to get mad about it. Jeff is clearly having so much fun.
Dead Astronauts is definitely hard to follow at times, but if you read it in that liminal space between immersion and absence, the words really just cascade over you - feel free to let your mind wander. If you like Mieville, L***c**ft, or Le Guin, but want to embrace a more fluid style, that jumps and bounds between beats then I can't recommend Vandermeer enough.
Three quacks out of five.
For fans of: SF, Environmentalism, groaning a bit
Not for: People who read to enjoy things
Even though Jeff spends a lot of the word count indulging himself, he writes in such an entertaining and kaleidoscopic way, it's hard to get mad about it. Jeff is clearly having so much fun.
Dead Astronauts is definitely hard to follow at times, but if you read it in that liminal space between immersion and absence, the words really just cascade over you - feel free to let your mind wander. If you like Mieville, L***c**ft, or Le Guin, but want to embrace a more fluid style, that jumps and bounds between beats then I can't recommend Vandermeer enough.
Three quacks out of five.
For fans of: SF, Environmentalism, groaning a bit
Not for: People who read to enjoy things