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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I finally found a book that's too weird for me. Usually when other people describe a book that I've as weird, I think "hell yeah" and then it isn't even that weird. This takes the cake. If I had the patience (and a smaller TBR) maybe I would push through at least for the writing. BUT other reviews, especially positive ones, made it clear that this is a book you have to work for and the negative reviews are enough to confirm my suspicion that this one is too all over the place for anyone but the most intrepid readers.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This book is occasionally slow and melancholy, finding unused pathways through the literary darkness. It’s experimental in its structure and unrelated to its ‘prequel’. While I can’t say I know the true thesis of the author, I found many thoughts and opinions arising within me, brought forward only by the thoughts and actions of those in this novel.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail
I loved Dead Astronauts.
I actually read it before Borne, thinking it was a stand-alone, and embraced the whimsy and undefined.
Then, I read Borne and re-read Dead Astronauts, and I’m glad I did! Jeff Vandermere’s atmospheric writing captured my attention, and the new background I had meant I enjoyed Dead Astronauts even more the second time around.
I actually read it before Borne, thinking it was a stand-alone, and embraced the whimsy and undefined.
Then, I read Borne and re-read Dead Astronauts, and I’m glad I did! Jeff Vandermere’s atmospheric writing captured my attention, and the new background I had meant I enjoyed Dead Astronauts even more the second time around.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It doesn't make sense, nor is it meant to. VanderMeer's Dead Astronauts is a hallucinatory melting pot that rails against the need for plot coherency. Just as the rules of space and time break down, so too does Vandermeer dismiss the rules of language. Nouns become verbs, and adverbs rain down from the sky like salamanders in the City.
The novel veers into self-indulgence at times, where VanderMeer seems to want only to flex his descriptive prose muscles, but he's good enough to get away with it. It's a challenging read, and just when you think you're getting a grasp on it, it slips through your fingers. The whole thing is ambitious, ambiguous, and audacious.
Is there meaning in the void? The water of Dead Astronauts is deep, but if you dive down far enough maybe you'll find out
The novel veers into self-indulgence at times, where VanderMeer seems to want only to flex his descriptive prose muscles, but he's good enough to get away with it. It's a challenging read, and just when you think you're getting a grasp on it, it slips through your fingers. The whole thing is ambitious, ambiguous, and audacious.
Is there meaning in the void? The water of Dead Astronauts is deep, but if you dive down far enough maybe you'll find out