Review: Dead Astronauts, by Jeff VanderMeer, 2019

Dead Astronauts by Jeff VanderMeer
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Dead Astronauts, by Jeff VanderMeer, 2019

Sequel to Borne and The Strange Bird, Dead Astronauts feature existing characters from the same shared universe of Borne. The three main characters, the Dead Astronauts, Grayson, Chen, and Moss, travel through timelines and multiverses to battle against and takedown "The Company."

Dead Astronauts, by Jeff VanderMeer, is one of those books where you have to pay attention and focus. Most of the novel is poetic exposition, and the plotline is obscured behind beautiful prose. VanderMeer's creative chops are showcased from line to line with his lyrical writing. And that, for me, was the problem. Without enough action and direct plotting, my attention drifted away easily. With the multiversal timeline hopping between scenes and sequences, VandenMeer really pushed my understanding of what is going on to the limits of where my interests and attention span intersect.

I'm such a VanderMeer fan, but this book may be my least favorite from all his released work to date. In fact, I gave up on it about 2/3 of the way through. Though, I may return to it someday and give it another chance.

I rate this book 1 out of 5 stars.

#JeffVanderMeer #VanderMeer #DeadAstronauts #Borne #DNF

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Review: The Strange Bird, by Jeff VanderMeer, 2017

The Strange Bird: A Borne Story by Jeff VanderMeer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Strange Bird, by Jeff VanderMeer, 2017

Jeff VanderMeer's new novella, The Strange Bird, is beautiful, captivating, and profoundly moving. The story told through the Strange Bird's increasingly desperate perspective, at parts, was almost too painful to bear reading but too beautiful to abandon.

Set in the same wasteland as Jeff VanderMeer's Borne, The Strange Bird enriches the universe of Borne. The story is short enough to be considered a supplemental story, one which weaves through and about its predecessor's ragbag plot. 

Readers will likely find this fascinating as a side story to Borne and not necessarily a mandatory narrative. The Strange Bird is as hauntingly tragic as is as remarkable as its unforgettable predecessor.

I rate this novella a 5 out of 5 stars.

#TheStrangeBird #VanderMeer #JeffVanderMeer #Borne #DeadAstronauts

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