Books by Jeff VanderMeer
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review 1: Annihilation is a sparse, haunting read by Jeff Vandermeer. The protagonist is so anti-social and wrapped up in her head she is a somewhat unknowable and unreliable narrator. Just as Area X is an unknowable space outside (?) the border of The Southern Reach. This novel reminds ...
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review 1: if you like weird tales even a little bit you'll definitely find something you like in this compilation. there is A LOT of content here. there are 110 weird stories by an "all-star cast of literary legends" that takes you through early twentieth-century literature to present day....
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review 1: It's not often that a book sitting in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy shelf impresses me so deeply for its literary merits. Finch is one of those rare books--a sort of strange cocktail of Raymond Chandler, William F. Burroughs and Franz Kafka with definite nods to Lovecraft. God, the writing ...
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review 1: 1/3 of the stories are too deep for me. Too not accessible (hmhmhah) and cryptic. Too weird? Another third of the stories are the most epic stories with occasional oneliners that just kills ..everything. The rest is a mix of Calvino and Borges but with a more atmospheric ...a mo...
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review 1: The short stories were too tightly packed with characters and details... I felt like I was studying for an exam rather than reading for pleasure. It was like it wasn't enough to have stories about pirates. No, you had to have rival pirates and descriptions of various parts of the...
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review 1: I bought this book at the Strand in October (plucked it off a staff favorites stack because a) I do that a lot and b) it looked interesting). Then I read all these "best book of 2014" type lists and this trilogy was on all of them, so I figured it was time to see for myself. And....
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review 1: I did not like this one as well as Annihilation. I thought it was dry, in comparison to the richness of description that Area X and its effects offered. It was almost... boring. But when it does go to hell, does. it. ever. Mundane bureaucracy and office politics are the perfect p...
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review 1: This is the final book in the Southern Reach trilogy. The Ghost Bird (the entity inhabiting the Biologist's body that is probably not really the Biologist) and Control enter Area X by means of powers granted the Biologist during her initial expedition, when she is exposed to bio...
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review 1: A solid overview of the steampunk culture and the sub-cultures that have evolved from it. The book focused on fashion, music, books and film that all have a steampunk aspect. There are a few stretches in the book (Dresden Dolls described as "Brechtian punk cabaret" seems to place...
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review 1: While this didn't change my writing life, it had a lot of very useful ways of looking at the concept and practices of producing speculative fiction - and unlike a lot of writing books, it didn't claim to have all the answers, but to try and provide some examples of tools that you...
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review 1: Again, VanderMeer captures a surreal dream/nightmare world (Lovecraft meets Kafka) so well that, even though I got bogged down in places, I ended up greatly admiring the unique achievement of this author. (I know I said Lovecraft and Kafka, but that was only to give a feel...thi...
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review 1: Merci Bragelonne pour ce magnifique livre, superbement edite et qui m'a fourni une nouvelle liste de lectures a venir s'empiler bientot sur ma table de nuit ! Si certains sujets meriteraient d'etre creuses davantage (mais il s'agit d'un dictionnaire, non d'un essai), ceci est amp...
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review 1: This book has some wonderful qualities. The artwork is fantastic and eye catching and the early portion of the book moves along well. The author gives a loving and detailed examination of the background of the literary basis for Steampunk. Not only does he go over the coining of ...
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review 1: After finishing Vandermeer's excellent Southern Reach trilogy I was excited to check out his guide to "strategies and survival tips for the 21st-century writer". It's great, pragmatic, and straightforward, honest, and not afraid to get a little deep to. there is a lot here that I...