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This World is Full of Monsters
An alien invasion comes to one man’s doorstep in the form of a story-creature, followed by death and rebirth in a transformed Earth, in this Tor.com Original science fiction tale from Jeff VanderMeer, the New York Times bestselling author of the Southern Reach trilogy.
1 pages, Audiobook
First published November 8, 2017
206 people are currently reading
3772 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Vandermeer
239 books16.6k followersNYT 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 439 reviews
November 15, 2017
But still the story-creature revealed Itself to me, until I understood that now It covered every surface, every space, and even though I thought I had been alone down in the basement among the rat-things and the other things I wanted very much to be rats and weren’t…I had not been alone. The story-creature had always been there, silent beside me, breathing beneath me, waiting for me to wake to its presence, to understand where I really was. But I would never understand. How could I? I had not understood the story to begin with.
i have no idea what i just read, and it made me feel a little dumb, yet i enjoyed it.
review to come (?)
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2017/11/08/this-w...
February 26, 2018
The story that meant the end arrived late one night. A tiny story, covered in green fur or lichen, shaky on its legs. It fit in the palm of my hand. I stared at the story for a long time, trying to understand. The story had large eyes that could see in the dark, and sharp teeth. It purred, and the purr grew louder and louder: a beautiful flower bud opening and opening until I was filled up. I heard the thrush and pull of the darkness, grown so mighty inside my head.
I grew weary.
The story of a story’s creation in the unmistakable weird style of Vandermeer: beautiful, mesmerizing, lyrical and nightmarish at the same time. Simply brilliant!
Same for the artwork.
One the best on Tor.com.
Here’s the link for it: https://www.tor.com/2017/11/08/this-w...
I grew weary.
The story of a story’s creation in the unmistakable weird style of Vandermeer: beautiful, mesmerizing, lyrical and nightmarish at the same time. Simply brilliant!
Same for the artwork.
One the best on Tor.com.
Here’s the link for it: https://www.tor.com/2017/11/08/this-w...
November 5, 2023
I loved this. In my heart it’s set within the world of The Southern Reach. Very literary and surreal in a way that you won’t know what’s real or what’s really going on.
February 25, 2018
Probably my least favorite of any work by VanderMeer I've read so far. I'm disappointed.
The prose is gorgeous and poetic and I am sure that with a little digging a lot of metaphors and deep meanings could be unearth, but to be honest, I just don't feel inclined to try...
This short story is the inner monologue of a human who gets attacked and taken over by some unknown entity that causes him to mutate and transform over and over again, as the world ends and his memories of his old life slowly fade.
Some people have interpreted it as linked to the "Southern Reach" trilogy, which I finished a few weeks ago: personally, I don't see the connection at all.
Well-written but kind of a bummer.
The prose is gorgeous and poetic and I am sure that with a little digging a lot of metaphors and deep meanings could be unearth, but to be honest, I just don't feel inclined to try...
This short story is the inner monologue of a human who gets attacked and taken over by some unknown entity that causes him to mutate and transform over and over again, as the world ends and his memories of his old life slowly fade.
Some people have interpreted it as linked to the "Southern Reach" trilogy, which I finished a few weeks ago: personally, I don't see the connection at all.
Well-written but kind of a bummer.
August 10, 2018
I had not been alone. The story-creature had always been there, silent beside me, breathing beneath me, waiting for me to wake to its presence, to understand where I really was. But I would never understand. How could I? I had not understood the story to begin with.
Read it free here: https://www.tor.com/2017/11/08/this-w...
Read it free here: https://www.tor.com/2017/11/08/this-w...
January 12, 2023
So far, any of Jeff Vandermeer's works has fallen into one of two categories for me:
1. "Jeff, you mad-genius! 5-stars"
2. "Go home Jeff, you're drunk."
This added a third category that I'm calling:
3. "Go home Jeff, you're drunk. But first stop by the ER because I think your drink was spiked and I'm genuinely concerned about your wellbeing".
This World is Full of Monsters takes Vandermeers pension of weird and Lovecraftian in the most literal sense (that of unknowable and incomprehensible horrors that in essense defy understanding), and takes it into the realm of incoherence.
There may or may not be some intelligent metaphors below the surface, but they quickly become so convoluted and mixed that their power is lost. It's probably intentionally so, but to me, it's too far. I've seen many reviewers name this book "too smart for them". To me, that argument doesn't hold up. It's part of the skill of a good writer to convey an intelligent message in a comprehensible way to the reader. Failing that accidentally is unsuccesful writing, failing it intentionally is just pretentiousness.
Coming from a typical Vandermeer-fan; this is one of his weakest works unfortunately.
1. "Jeff, you mad-genius! 5-stars"
2. "Go home Jeff, you're drunk."
This added a third category that I'm calling:
3. "Go home Jeff, you're drunk. But first stop by the ER because I think your drink was spiked and I'm genuinely concerned about your wellbeing".
This World is Full of Monsters takes Vandermeers pension of weird and Lovecraftian in the most literal sense (that of unknowable and incomprehensible horrors that in essense defy understanding), and takes it into the realm of incoherence.
There may or may not be some intelligent metaphors below the surface, but they quickly become so convoluted and mixed that their power is lost. It's probably intentionally so, but to me, it's too far. I've seen many reviewers name this book "too smart for them". To me, that argument doesn't hold up. It's part of the skill of a good writer to convey an intelligent message in a comprehensible way to the reader. Failing that accidentally is unsuccesful writing, failing it intentionally is just pretentiousness.
Coming from a typical Vandermeer-fan; this is one of his weakest works unfortunately.
May 14, 2019
Read this review and others on my blog!
This week I returned once more to Tor to look at another piece of short fiction. I was especially intrigued to read a story by Jeff VanderMeer, since he’s actually been on my radar for a while as one of the editors of The Weird . Side note that his wife, Ann VanderMeer, also edited The Weird, as well as some of the other Tor stories I’ve read for Short Tuesday thus far, plus edited this story as well, which adds a whole different layer of interesting. You can read the short story for free here…
I’ll be honest—I’m a bit flummoxed by this story! It documents one man’s interactions with an alien force that has engulfed the Earth; the narrative focuses more on the MC’s discovery of the world and the realization of what is happening than on any kind of plot. The aliens are of the parasitic variety, rather than laser gun toting sort, and the focus throughout is on the natural progression of the parasite—what happens to Earth’s flora and fauna, as well as how the parasite (called the “story-creature”) physically and mentally manifests itself in the MC.
There are many instances throughout where it’s difficult to get a sense of what’s happening, which adds to the story in my opinion. With a kind of Lovecraftian flair, the MC is presented with beings and creatures that don’t really make sense, and all he can do is relay what’s happening as best he can based on his human capacities. At the same time he is uncovering truths about himself; contact with the alien parasite has changed him in irreparable, unexpected ways.
I think this is the kind of story that really needs a few reads. The prose has such a driving momentum that you kind of can’t help reading onward, even as your brain is trying to parse what’s happening, so I felt like there was quite a lot I was missing. Even so, I like to think that there would be so many unknowns in the event of actual extraterrestrial contact that this story conveys that uncertain feeling exceedingly well. Who knows—maybe I’ll read through it again sometime and see how the story hits me a second time around.
This week I returned once more to Tor to look at another piece of short fiction. I was especially intrigued to read a story by Jeff VanderMeer, since he’s actually been on my radar for a while as one of the editors of The Weird . Side note that his wife, Ann VanderMeer, also edited The Weird, as well as some of the other Tor stories I’ve read for Short Tuesday thus far, plus edited this story as well, which adds a whole different layer of interesting. You can read the short story for free here…
I’ll be honest—I’m a bit flummoxed by this story! It documents one man’s interactions with an alien force that has engulfed the Earth; the narrative focuses more on the MC’s discovery of the world and the realization of what is happening than on any kind of plot. The aliens are of the parasitic variety, rather than laser gun toting sort, and the focus throughout is on the natural progression of the parasite—what happens to Earth’s flora and fauna, as well as how the parasite (called the “story-creature”) physically and mentally manifests itself in the MC.
And while I stood there in the shadows of the moonless night, beyond the street lamps, beyond the circling moths and with the nighthawks gliding silent overhead…while I stood there and pleaded, the story-creature sprouted out of the top of my skull in a riot of wildflowers, goldenrod, and coarse weeds.
There are many instances throughout where it’s difficult to get a sense of what’s happening, which adds to the story in my opinion. With a kind of Lovecraftian flair, the MC is presented with beings and creatures that don’t really make sense, and all he can do is relay what’s happening as best he can based on his human capacities. At the same time he is uncovering truths about himself; contact with the alien parasite has changed him in irreparable, unexpected ways.
I think this is the kind of story that really needs a few reads. The prose has such a driving momentum that you kind of can’t help reading onward, even as your brain is trying to parse what’s happening, so I felt like there was quite a lot I was missing. Even so, I like to think that there would be so many unknowns in the event of actual extraterrestrial contact that this story conveys that uncertain feeling exceedingly well. Who knows—maybe I’ll read through it again sometime and see how the story hits me a second time around.
November 8, 2017
Damn
I loved this. So much going on that I felt I understood on a deep and strange level that's hard to articulate. Certainly open to interpretation and probably not gonna be for everyone. Still, wow. Trying to makes sense of a world as it changes in grotesque and incomprehensible ways right under your feet. I know that feeling.
I loved this. So much going on that I felt I understood on a deep and strange level that's hard to articulate. Certainly open to interpretation and probably not gonna be for everyone. Still, wow. Trying to makes sense of a world as it changes in grotesque and incomprehensible ways right under your feet. I know that feeling.
January 4, 2018
Wonderfully strange
Such a bizarre, wonderful story than requires more than one reading to fully appreciate the created worlds, beautiful language, and characters.
Such a bizarre, wonderful story than requires more than one reading to fully appreciate the created worlds, beautiful language, and characters.
February 25, 2018
Jeff Vandermeer is quite definitely a writer of the weird. This is one of those cases where I admire the writer greatly while not being 'simpatico' with the underlying thought processes for Vandermeer is very much a child of his time, worrying about the anthropocene and the natural.
This work (which I experienced alongside the equally remarkable 'Secret Life') positions, like 'Secret Life', the human in the context of the alien where the alien is the more natural force. Indeed, his alien worlds are really expositions of the power of the natural to overcome the human.
From this perspective, Vandermeer is not a trans-humanist writer (at least in these two stories) but rather a writer of the post-human where the displacement of humanity into the alien-natural is a consummation devoutly to be wished for - not at all my view since I don't like human self-hatred.
One might compare this implicit negativity towards his own species - the despair perhaps of the intellectual in a world he no longer controls - with the very different and more overt conservative pessimism of Ligotti. One is a green, the other a nihilist. Sometimes I don't see the difference.
These are two sides of the same despairing class - one sinking into the despond of the occult and meaningless and the other sidling into a green preference for anything living that is not human. Both seem to prefer the company of the alien.
Having said that and prejudices aside, both stories are very finely written, taking enormous risks with narrative and the suspension of disbelief and managing to get away with it because the worlds being drawn have a coherence that pulls you in as the narrative unfolds.
'Secret Life' does not follow a simple narrative trajectory. The setting is an office block whose initial caricatured corporatism is brother to Ballard's High Rise and sister to Ligotti's corporate tales of sinister meaningless doings behind the doors of the offices of 'managers'.
But it rapidly moves on from there into high weird fantasy as individuals come to terms with the appropriation of the human by the alien-natural, becoming integrated with nature in some cases as the corporate structure becomes the jungle. The influence of Ballard is clear enough.
'This World is Full of Monsters' takes another approach. Here the alien-natural is truly alien but is an alien invading the world of man through bending time and space in monstrous evolutionary adaptations of familiar biological forms. It is the unnatural natural.
This novella has more in common with Lovecraft than with Ballard (though the influence is there) but the tone is still very different. There is none of Lovecraft's cold detachment. Vandermeer is engaged with his alien worlds and sympathetic to them. He wants to make them real for us.
The narrator goes through terrors and horrors that are presented ultimately as a rebirth into something new and post-human, in tune with 'creation' (in pre-scientific parlance) or with 'nature' (if nature is taken to be all possible evolved forms).
The writing in 'Secret Life' is simple and readable. In 'The World is Full of Monsters', it is more lush and allusive although the tale hooks you despite the jump starts from one state of being to another. And yet it is not over-literary though some will find it 'difficult'.
The narrator is not the detached observer of H G Wells' 'War of the Worlds' (ironically doing precisely what he says the Martians have dispassionately done to us before the invasion) but an emotional being trying to cope with radical horrible changes that could be mistaken for madness.
Jeff Vandermeer is a fine writer and I was happy to ignore what I consider to be the negativity of wanting 'nature', perhaps existence itself, to conquer and transform humanity. I prefer things to be the other way around but I know that is now unfashionable amongst depressed liberal intellectuals.
October 21, 2019
Beautiful and strange. The story of The Story weaves, twists and blooms within - and owing to - the beautiful fluidity of the flowering and haunting prose.
An absolute stunning pallet cleanser, bursting with vibrancy of a harrowed world beyond humanity as we know it, but not bereft of it, serving as an ode to memory, new beginnings and reconciliation to profound loss in the face of utter alienation.
An absolute stunning pallet cleanser, bursting with vibrancy of a harrowed world beyond humanity as we know it, but not bereft of it, serving as an ode to memory, new beginnings and reconciliation to profound loss in the face of utter alienation.
March 30, 2020
A striking example of modern weird fiction. Beautiful, elegant, spectacular and more than anything, strange.
You’re either going to love it or hate it.
You’re either going to love it or hate it.
February 21, 2018
Beyond boring.
February 20, 2020
CAWPILE rating: 5/10
STAR rating: ★★★
Read on Tor.com here.
Me, reading this short story:
Me, after reading this short story:
REVIEW: There's a lot to unpack here, especially considering this story's length, but I'm not quite sure where to begin. The writing is beautiful, but that's to be expected because Jeff Vandermeer's writing is always beautiful. A lot of elements reminded me of the Southern Reach trilogy but it was also very different from those books. I finished it around an hour ago and I'm still thinking about it; I'm probably going to be thinking about it for a very long while yet.
I don't even know if I enjoyed reading this short story exactly, but it was definitely an Experience.
STAR rating: ★★★
Read on Tor.com here.
Me, reading this short story:
Me, after reading this short story:
REVIEW: There's a lot to unpack here, especially considering this story's length, but I'm not quite sure where to begin. The writing is beautiful, but that's to be expected because Jeff Vandermeer's writing is always beautiful. A lot of elements reminded me of the Southern Reach trilogy but it was also very different from those books. I finished it around an hour ago and I'm still thinking about it; I'm probably going to be thinking about it for a very long while yet.
I don't even know if I enjoyed reading this short story exactly, but it was definitely an Experience.
didn-t-finish
November 18, 2017Just a short story, but couldn't finish it. I just didn't appreciate the style of writing. Too odd for me. No star rating.
June 9, 2024
4.25 STARS
CW: body horror, death (including of loved ones), gore, mention of suicidal ideation
I listened to this short story during my walk this morning when I went to vote for the European election. I had read one other book by Jeff VanderMeer so I knew this story would probably be weird and mindbending. My expectations were fully met and I was surprised at how much I liked and enjoyed it and how thoughtprovoking this story was.
The symbolism of having the alien invading the main character (which is mentioned in the blurb) be a story or rather, disguise as a story so the protagonist lowers his guard and takes it in was stunning to me. I spend so much time while listening thinking about the power of stories, mostly in connection to what happens throughout this one. What the main character does and thinks and the way this alien / story is talked about was great. I could see myself talking about and dissecting this for a long time.
I was also reminded of Edgar Allan Poe, specifically the story William Wilson, because sometime in the middle, a sort of doppelgänger appears and there's a lot of confusion between many different versions of someone but still in connection to this story that appeared on the doorstep in the very beginning. This led me down a path of thinking about how much stories can influence people, it doesn't even have to be fictional stories, any story or narrative can contribute to decisions we make and how we conduct ourselves.
Overall, it was a little unexpected for me but I absolutely loved this story, especially this aspect of underlining the value of stories and their power.
CW: body horror, death (including of loved ones), gore, mention of suicidal ideation
I listened to this short story during my walk this morning when I went to vote for the European election. I had read one other book by Jeff VanderMeer so I knew this story would probably be weird and mindbending. My expectations were fully met and I was surprised at how much I liked and enjoyed it and how thoughtprovoking this story was.
The symbolism of having the alien invading the main character (which is mentioned in the blurb) be a story or rather, disguise as a story so the protagonist lowers his guard and takes it in was stunning to me. I spend so much time while listening thinking about the power of stories, mostly in connection to what happens throughout this one. What the main character does and thinks and the way this alien / story is talked about was great. I could see myself talking about and dissecting this for a long time.
I was also reminded of Edgar Allan Poe, specifically the story William Wilson, because sometime in the middle, a sort of doppelgänger appears and there's a lot of confusion between many different versions of someone but still in connection to this story that appeared on the doorstep in the very beginning. This led me down a path of thinking about how much stories can influence people, it doesn't even have to be fictional stories, any story or narrative can contribute to decisions we make and how we conduct ourselves.
Overall, it was a little unexpected for me but I absolutely loved this story, especially this aspect of underlining the value of stories and their power.
March 8, 2020
3.5 Stars
Bizarre, but I think I’m coming to really like Vandermeer’s style.
This book is heavy on the metaphorical end, so be prepared. I think I understood the author’s message, so I’ll give you my best stab at it. If you’ve read it, we can compare notes.
The book takes place in a world where humans who might be resistant to “change”, through a transformative power (hello Annihilation) that remains obscure, sleep beneath the ground for a hundred years and wake to find the world completely transformed. Everyone and everything have been absorbed seamlessly into nature, but not our familiar wildlife, an alien thing.
Then our protagonist struggles with his desire for what was lost, and a resistance to change, before falling into the ocean as a one-eyed something, before he is slung by the ocean into space to terraform other planets.
Humanity is part of nature, but we have risen to the place of nature’s keepers by virtue of our intelligence and the power we have to transform our world around us. This book seems to ask the question, what then is our place? We have effectively removed ourselves from this living, breathing thing (Mother Nature) and barely brush it when we pause to watch a beetle crawl or a bird fly. These things are marginal to us. Should they be?
I enjoyed the surreal ride. I haven’t understood it as well as I could, but maybe future rereads will lend to that growing understanding.
Bizarre, but I think I’m coming to really like Vandermeer’s style.
This book is heavy on the metaphorical end, so be prepared. I think I understood the author’s message, so I’ll give you my best stab at it. If you’ve read it, we can compare notes.
The book takes place in a world where humans who might be resistant to “change”, through a transformative power (hello Annihilation) that remains obscure, sleep beneath the ground for a hundred years and wake to find the world completely transformed. Everyone and everything have been absorbed seamlessly into nature, but not our familiar wildlife, an alien thing.
Then our protagonist struggles with his desire for what was lost, and a resistance to change, before falling into the ocean as a one-eyed something, before he is slung by the ocean into space to terraform other planets.
Humanity is part of nature, but we have risen to the place of nature’s keepers by virtue of our intelligence and the power we have to transform our world around us. This book seems to ask the question, what then is our place? We have effectively removed ourselves from this living, breathing thing (Mother Nature) and barely brush it when we pause to watch a beetle crawl or a bird fly. These things are marginal to us. Should they be?
I enjoyed the surreal ride. I haven’t understood it as well as I could, but maybe future rereads will lend to that growing understanding.
February 27, 2023
Imagine if Ernest Hemingway wrote gothic lit. Now imagine he got possessed by the Mind Flayer from Stranger Things and wrote about his experiences. That’s what this story is.
It started off really flowery and captivating and then quickly became confusing and hard to follow with all its obscure stream of consciousness ramblings.
DNF at 72%
[[note: reading update was supposed to be 25%, not page 25]]
It started off really flowery and captivating and then quickly became confusing and hard to follow with all its obscure stream of consciousness ramblings.
DNF at 72%
[[note: reading update was supposed to be 25%, not page 25]]
May 2, 2024
This is a deeply touching story about the generation of distance between author and story, creator and creation, told with VanderMeer's trademark imagination and heartfelt whimsy. Author and brother; story and anti-story, combine in my mind not only to speak truth(s) to the creative process, as well as broader truths about narrative hegemony in our global political system.
September 2, 2024
3.5⭐
This book had me like that Naruto meme - "I haven't a clue what's going on here, but I'll act like I do."
This was so incredibly strange and surreal that it honestly went over my head. I thought the writing was absolutely fantastic and beautiful, but other than that, I was kind of lost. I had to go back and reread multiple sections to try and figure out what was going on.
I still think this is worth reading though!
This book had me like that Naruto meme - "I haven't a clue what's going on here, but I'll act like I do."
This was so incredibly strange and surreal that it honestly went over my head. I thought the writing was absolutely fantastic and beautiful, but other than that, I was kind of lost. I had to go back and reread multiple sections to try and figure out what was going on.
I still think this is worth reading though!
January 29, 2018
This short story is available for free on Tor.com website.
The story is written in poetic and a bit flowery way. VanderMeer imagination is awe-inspiring. On the other hand, there’s not much plot here and it’s a problem I had with Borne as well. While it was pleasant to read the story and try to imagine all the weird stuff, I can’t help but notice it feels a bit empty inside.
Sure, deep allegories and hidden meaning can be found here if you try hard enough and want to find them. The same is truth for almost everything, though.
I like reading VanderMeer but after finishing his texts I feel somewhat ambiguous about them.
This one is short and free. Go, give it a try and see if it speaks to you.
The story is written in poetic and a bit flowery way. VanderMeer imagination is awe-inspiring. On the other hand, there’s not much plot here and it’s a problem I had with Borne as well. While it was pleasant to read the story and try to imagine all the weird stuff, I can’t help but notice it feels a bit empty inside.
Sure, deep allegories and hidden meaning can be found here if you try hard enough and want to find them. The same is truth for almost everything, though.
I like reading VanderMeer but after finishing his texts I feel somewhat ambiguous about them.
This one is short and free. Go, give it a try and see if it speaks to you.
December 12, 2019
This is exactly the type of weird, surreal story I've come to expect from Jeff VanderMeer. The writing was absolutely beautiful, the imagery was vivid and visceral, and the story was bizarre but intriguing.
I listened to the audio version and the narration was excellent. It was a quick, strange listen and the narrator really brought the creatures to life.
I listened to the audio version and the narration was excellent. It was a quick, strange listen and the narrator really brought the creatures to life.
January 10, 2020
Everything VanderMeer rights is a singularly beautiful and hallucinogenic experience. It feels less like reading and more like falling through books. This World is Full of Monsters is dark fable poetry in action.
Read
June 21, 2021Bitch, what the fuck?
April 30, 2020
Cómo me engaño leyendo cualquier cosa lovecraftiana para no releer tan rápido In the Shadow of Spindrift House...
En fin, una lectura super rara con una narración que en partes me gustaba y en otras se me hacía bastante pretenciosa, pero con una trama interesante y enroscada.
Les dejo algunas quotes que me gustaron mucho:
Y mi favorita, porque resume todo lo que pensaba mientras leía este cuento: (😂)
3,5/5
En fin, una lectura super rara con una narración que en partes me gustaba y en otras se me hacía bastante pretenciosa, pero con una trama interesante y enroscada.
Les dejo algunas quotes que me gustaron mucho:
"I was in the world but I was not in the world, endless and numb yet in agony.
Some I could only see out of the corner of my eye. Others had the right number of legs but no symmetry and trailed across the ground at odd angles, drawing deep lines in the mud."
"My mind made them into insects, because my mind wanted stories it could understand, stories that would not frighten it. But still I knew my mind was tricking me, and for a second I loved my mind for the deception."
"What would this world have been if I had slept and had returned to find it human? Would it have been terrible or beautiful? Would I have recognized it any better, or would humankind have been as banished as if the story-creature had come along after all?"
Y mi favorita, porque resume todo lo que pensaba mientras leía este cuento: (😂)
"The story-creature had always been there, silent beside me, breathing beneath me, waiting for me to wake to its presence, to understand where I really was. But I would never understand. How could I? I had not understood the story to begin with."
3,5/5
June 7, 2025
ok but I can’t explain
June 12, 2025
3.5 stars
loved the planty portion but didn't enjoy the underwater/shell portion as much
loved the planty portion but didn't enjoy the underwater/shell portion as much
December 12, 2025
Some really cool storytelling, but just kinda overall fell flat
May 15, 2023
#listened to this one.. mr. Vandermeer ur everything
May 26, 2023
Bizarre, but interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 439 reviews