A review by jimmyfission
Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer

4.0

3.5 rounded up. It's Vandermeer's earliest work and shows, but he nevertheless captures the raw, mind-numbing horror of being alive as powerfully as ever. Some parts are kind of rough, stylistically. I don't feel that Nicola is a very well-rounded character compared to Shadrach and even Nicholas, who plays a much smaller role, but I'm not bothered by the second-person perspective. I also feel like the ending was somewhat anticlimactic, but I enjoyed the reveal of Quin and descriptions of all of his creatures. Overall it's imperfect, but solid.