Reviews

In reading, it is very clearly an early work from the author. You can see him stretching some of the narrative devices and use of description that he becomes very adept in later works, and the core themes of environment and trans-humanism that are more concrete and explored in greater depth in his later works. Like a very baby brother to Southern Reach.

Would I have enjoyed it as much as a stand-alone piece, without prior knowledge of Vandermeer's body of work? Probably not, but it was still enjoyable all the same.

kilgoretroutman's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

3.5

eowyng's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective

4.25

kathrynlangenderfer's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cfos27's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

tregina's review against another edition

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4.0

Sometimes I need to remind myself not to rate authors against themselves, because while I prefer everything else I've read by Jeff Vandermeer, when I asked myself "What would you rate this if it had been written by somebody else?" it still rated very highly for me. It's all the creepy, strange and twisted things that I love, and doesn't flinch from the darkness. I didn't even mind the extensive parts in second person POV, which is saying a lot.

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