The Complete Borne

Borne #1.5-2

by Jeff Vandermeer

In the course of a career that has spanned more than three decades, Jeff VanderMeer has emerged as one of the most elegant, intelligent literary fantasists of the modern era. His best work bears comparison to such established masters as John Crowley and Ursula K. Le Guin, and he keeps getting better, book after book. In 2017, he followed his groundbreaking Southern Reach Trilogy with the powerful dystopian fantasy, Borne. In The Complete Borne, VanderMeer expands that novel’s original vision through supplementary narratives that enlarge our understanding of his astonishing fictional world.

The centerpiece of this collection is the original novel itself. Borne offers a portrait of a broken, toxic future dominated by three elements: the immense flying bear known as Mord, an elusive figure called simply the Magician, and the remnants of a once powerful organization called The Company. Into this dying world come Rachel, a woman who survives by scavenging food and discarded “biotech,” and Borne, a bizarre and protean figure unlike any you have ever encountered. Their evolving relationship forms the heart of the novel and leads to a conclusion you will never forget.

Borne is filled with strange, often misbegotten creatures, the products of unchecked Company experiments. In a heavily illustrated supplement called “Teem’s Bestiary,” we learn a great deal about the nature and history of such singular creatures as memory beetles, mudskippers, damsel flies and red salamanders. Of special note is the perhaps mythical creature known simply as “Strange Bird,” the title figure of the harrowing—and deeply affecting—novella that follows.

“Strange Bird” begins with the nameless bird’s escape from a sinister laboratory—the only home she has ever known—into a world of unaccustomed freedom. She is a purely innocent creature searching for love, a sense of purpose, and a place to call home. What she finds is something very different. Her journey through assorted hazards toward an unforeseen transformation has the feel of a tightly compressed epic. Like everything else in this volume, it is original, enthralling, and impossible to forget.

Taken individually, the pieces in this collection all offer their own self-contained pleasures. Taken together, they form a sort of narrative mosaic in which the whole truly is more than the sum of its dazzling parts. The Complete Borne takes us to a world that is grim, frequently frightening, and paradoxically beautiful. This is literary fantasy at its deepest and most developed. It doesn’t get better than this.

Lettered: 52 signed leatherbound copies, housed in a custom traycase

Limited: 500 signed numbered hardcover copies

Table of Contents:

Borne (novel)
Strange Bird (novella)
The Situation (proto-Borne novelette)
Teem’s Bestiary (illustrated)

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Speculative Fiction

Hardcover

First published October 26, 2018

About the author

NYT bestselling writer Jeff VanderMeer has been called “the weird Thoreau” by the New Yorker for his engagement with ecological issues. His most recent novel, the national bestseller Borne, received wide-spread critical acclaim and his prior novels include the Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance). Annihilation won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Awards, has been translated into 35 languages, and was made into a film from Paramount Pictures directed by Alex Garland. His nonfiction has appeared in New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Slate, Salon, and the Washington Post. He has coedited several iconic anthologies with his wife, the Hugo Award winning editor. Other titles include Wonderbook, the world’s first fully illustrated creative writing guide. VanderMeer served as the 2016-2017 Trias Writer in Residence at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He has spoken at the Guggenheim, the Library of Congress, and the Arthur C. Clarke Center for the Human Imagination.

VanderMeer was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, but spent much of his childhood in the Fiji Islands, where his parents worked for the Peace Corps. This experience, and the resulting trip back to the United States through Asia, Africa, and Europe, deeply influenced him.

Jeff is married to Ann VanderMeer, who is currently an acquiring editor at Tor.com and has won the Hugo Award and World Fantasy Award for her editing of magazines and anthologies. They live in Tallahassee, Florida, with two cats and thousands of books.

Reviews

[Jeff Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a time before I knew who Jeff VanderMeer was. In this time, I was told by a colleague to avoid the trilogy about a border that moves and changes the planet as it moves. So I did. It was easy to avoid when you don't know the name of the author or the books. I was vigilant anyway.

Then Cemetery Dance announced they were publishing The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer. I immediately ran over to my colleague and told her about my findings. She confirmed that this was the trilogy and author to avoid. I avoided.

Then Subterranean Press announced they were doing limited editions of The Complete Borne by Jeff VanderMeer. Here's where it gets complicated. My directive was to avoid this author but not this particular book. I have also been programmed to purchase blindly from both SubPress and CD. So which command do I follow?

My fuse blew and I bought The Complete Borne because I wasn't told, directly and explicitly, to avoid this particular book.

I read it and LOVED it. Thus the five stars. It's unconventional and amazing. The added content makes it spectacular. I'll say that VanderMeer's style might not be for everyone. But I adore his prose and his world-building.

I loved it so much, that I begged CD to find a copy of their sold-out edition of The Southern Reach Trilogy and they hooked me up. So I got that on order. And a collector in the CD Forum offered to sell me his pristine Heretic edition of Finch by VanderMeer and I jumped on that as well.

I went from refusing VanderMeer to spending over $335 dollars on his books. And most of that was due to this fantastic book.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Borne is a piece of art, truly! While Strange Bird is a little boring. And Dead Astronauts is quite disjointed.
All in all, I love the world Jeff made, so it would be a sin to give this any less than 4 stars. 😊

[asiandeadgirl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Бесконечно раздражающе.