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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
what an absolutely wild ride. past the middle of the book i struggled to keep up with what was actually happening, but i didn't really care? it felt like i was experiencing it how it was supposed to be experienced. really adore vandermeer's underlying environmentalism spread out through his series, it's very bleak and jarring and it really paints a picture of what greed is doing to everything around humanity. the ending felt hopeful. i loved it.
challenging
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Apparently, this is a sequal to Borne, which me because nothing on the cover or on the inside pages told me about that.
This is a cryptic book, filled with poetic lines and not meant to be easy to follow. Ever read Annihilation? You know that one section wherethe protagonist confronts the Crawler in the tower, and everything goes super metaphorical and difficult to parse? The whole book is like that.
This is a cryptic book, filled with poetic lines and not meant to be easy to follow. Ever read Annihilation? You know that one section where
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
First 120 pages - 5 stars
Second half - 2.5 stars
Make sure you've read Borne before you read this! Dead Astronauts is abstract, vague, evasive -so although they both stand alone, Borne will give you an understanding of the world Dead Astronauts is set in and allow you to follow the unconventional style of this one with a little more ease.
The narrative voice and characters shift half way through this book - something I should have been prepared for, having read some of VanderMeer's weirdly structured novels before (like City of Saints and Madmen, which becomes an educational text about squid partway through). But I was so wrapped up in the characters of the astronauts that I was sad to see the POV shift and didn't get on so much with the rest of the book, which reads like a collection of connected short stories set within the same world. But then that's usually what I love about his books, that they always challenge and surprise me.
Be warned; it's dark and unrestrained, angry and grotesque, but stunningly (if confusingly) written, poetic, and holds moments of real beauty among the horrors.
Second half - 2.5 stars
Make sure you've read Borne before you read this! Dead Astronauts is abstract, vague, evasive -so although they both stand alone, Borne will give you an understanding of the world Dead Astronauts is set in and allow you to follow the unconventional style of this one with a little more ease.
The narrative voice and characters shift half way through this book - something I should have been prepared for, having read some of VanderMeer's weirdly structured novels before (like City of Saints and Madmen, which becomes an educational text about squid partway through). But I was so wrapped up in the characters of the astronauts that I was sad to see the POV shift and didn't get on so much with the rest of the book, which reads like a collection of connected short stories set within the same world. But then that's usually what I love about his books, that they always challenge and surprise me.
Be warned; it's dark and unrestrained, angry and grotesque, but stunningly (if confusingly) written, poetic, and holds moments of real beauty among the horrors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"It's a pond, not a creek. Does that make sense?"
That's how someone described Dead Astronauts to me the other day and after finishing it a more apt or perfect description of the book you couldn't find. Whereas Borne and The Strange Bird have very linear and clear stories to tell Dead Astronauts is a nonlinear swirl that goes nowhere, it's a muddied story that ebbs and flows in no real direction. It's almost fable-like at times, dark whimsy and horrific heartbreaking tragedy all trying to illustrate the dangers of capitalism and climate denial among other lessons.
I'm still in the midst of processing this book, I only finished it about 12 hours ago and I am still unsure of much other than I did enjoy it. Though maybe enjoy is the wrong word...that it affected me deeply might be a better way than enjoyed to describe how this book has left me feeling. I recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of Borne/The Strange Bird or just VanderMeer in general but do not go into it expecting it to be much like Borne at all, the window dressing is familiar but the rest is something different and strange.
That's how someone described Dead Astronauts to me the other day and after finishing it a more apt or perfect description of the book you couldn't find. Whereas Borne and The Strange Bird have very linear and clear stories to tell Dead Astronauts is a nonlinear swirl that goes nowhere, it's a muddied story that ebbs and flows in no real direction. It's almost fable-like at times, dark whimsy and horrific heartbreaking tragedy all trying to illustrate the dangers of capitalism and climate denial among other lessons.
I'm still in the midst of processing this book, I only finished it about 12 hours ago and I am still unsure of much other than I did enjoy it. Though maybe enjoy is the wrong word...that it affected me deeply might be a better way than enjoyed to describe how this book has left me feeling. I recommend this book, especially if you are a fan of Borne/The Strange Bird or just VanderMeer in general but do not go into it expecting it to be much like Borne at all, the window dressing is familiar but the rest is something different and strange.
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
VanderMeer remains at the top of his game in Dead Astronauts, a wildly inventive, dream-like story about a team of post-apocalyptic travelers trying to fight against or otherwise undo the force that rendered their reality so desolate.