jnzllwgr 's review for:

The Strange Bird: A Borne Story by Jeff VanderMeer

4.0

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This was a novella between the first Borne and Dead Astronauts. It partially felt like a thread that was removed from the first novel that the editors recommended VanderMeer cut because it was too big of a branch from the central story. But it also feels a bit too flimsy to have been a standalone work. I’m glad I read it. It gave me some background to Rachel, Wick and the Magician that gives them some additional dimension (mostly the Magician with a bit of backstory). And there’s a smidge of a reference to the content in Dead Astronauts, although it really does not not benefit one to know it before or after. It fills out the universe of beasts a bit more and gives you more about the apocalypse beyond what was occurring in the the City in the novels. Most importantly, I think I have a better handle on Vandermeer’s writing and I can more deeply appreciate the nuances of the Southern Trilogy that I read a couple years back. This makes me want to try those on for size again soon.