Ive also becomes fairly obsessed with this author this year Have made it through the Southerm Reach Trilogy including the new 4th novel, the Ambergris Trilogy, and Borne. Looking forward to reading Dead Astronauts!
Great to see all those editions. I love Vandermeer's work, especially the Ambergris trilogy. There's something about his particular kind of weird fiction that just speaks to me because in addition to the horror elements it also has all those fun/playful/imaginative components that I'm just really looking for in the (New) Weird ... the entire world of Ambergris, with the Freshwater Squid Festival and all those connections between different inhabitants and families (Voss Bender, Martin Lake, the Shrieks, Matt Durdin etc.) are just endlessly fascinating I had never seen those illustrations for "Dradin In Love", those are amazing
I discovered borne through my sons kindle and I fell in love. I wasn't even a reader until i read that book randomly one day. it lit a fire inside me and im currently reading all of his work. All i do now is read. Im scared that when i finish all his books nothing else will compare.
I was initially confused by some of the cat motifs, but then remembered the main character (Dradin) was previously a missionary in a jungle region, and noted his fear of local big cats. I won't spoil the rest of the story... ;-)
I just picked up Ambergris trilogy from the library yesterday. I've been doing a bit of research about it just to get a feel for what its like before I start it. Everything I've seen said about it has been pretty vague except for there being mushroom people. Although I also haven't seen any negative reviews of it. So based on what I've heard I'm kinda thinking it might be similar to Murakami in some ways. Magical realism/surrealism etc. Is it like Murakami at all?
I've never read Murakami so I can't compare, but yeah Ambergris is magical realism. Especially City of Saints and Madmen, Finch is more scifi I would say, and Shriek is somewhere in the middle. The gray caps also become more prominent as the books go on. CoSaM has some stories that aren't focused on the gray caps at all but are weird and have that magical realism. I made a video in December all about Ambergris and if I'm remembering correctly, I think it's spoiler free.
@@WhytheBookWins well I finished Saints and Madmen yesterday. Great descriptive writing. I feel like you could open to any page and point to a random paragraph and be able to envision the scene vividly. Also good worldbuilding, I definately want to keep reading to discover more about Ambergris and the jungle and whatever else. I was not expecting it to get so dark tho lol. Also I didnt think it was like murakami at all, except maybe in certain scenes like when Draden is waiting for his "love" and going through how every moment would happen. Glad I picked this book up so far.
The books behind you look like library books with the dewey labels at the bottom. Do you catalog your collection or do you film in a library? Just curious.
Ive also becomes fairly obsessed with this author this year
Have made it through the Southerm Reach Trilogy including the new 4th novel, the Ambergris Trilogy, and Borne.
Looking forward to reading Dead Astronauts!
I still need to read Absolution!
Great to see all those editions. I love Vandermeer's work, especially the Ambergris trilogy. There's something about his particular kind of weird fiction that just speaks to me because in addition to the horror elements it also has all those fun/playful/imaginative components that I'm just really looking for in the (New) Weird ... the entire world of Ambergris, with the Freshwater Squid Festival and all those connections between different inhabitants and families (Voss Bender, Martin Lake, the Shrieks, Matt Durdin etc.) are just endlessly fascinating
I had never seen those illustrations for "Dradin In Love", those are amazing
Totally agree! Such unique stories
I discovered borne through my sons kindle and I fell in love. I wasn't even a reader until i read that book randomly one day. it lit a fire inside me and im currently reading all of his work. All i do now is read. Im scared that when i finish all his books nothing else will compare.
oh and if i had to stick Jeff in a category, I would probably say Bio-Science fiction? He is obviously obsessed with biology (and bears)
i just bought the ambergris collection and been really loving it. never really read any fiction before
Oh nice! It's such a great series!
Those "Dradin, In Love" illustrations are amazing! They remind me of Max Ernst's collage novels.
I've never heard of him, I'll have to look him up!
I was initially confused by some of the cat motifs, but then remembered the main character (Dradin) was previously a missionary in a jungle region, and noted his fear of local big cats. I won't spoil the rest of the story... ;-)
That was well presented. Love science fiction . I would recommend the Culture series by Ian M. Banks.
Sci-fi is my least favourite genre, but I love the omnibus and the mushroom covers 😅 Btw. your bookshelf looks amazing!
Yeah his writing is definitely unique!
I just picked up Ambergris trilogy from the library yesterday. I've been doing a bit of research about it just to get a feel for what its like before I start it. Everything I've seen said about it has been pretty vague except for there being mushroom people. Although I also haven't seen any negative reviews of it. So based on what I've heard I'm kinda thinking it might be similar to Murakami in some ways. Magical realism/surrealism etc. Is it like Murakami at all?
I've never read Murakami so I can't compare, but yeah Ambergris is magical realism. Especially City of Saints and Madmen, Finch is more scifi I would say, and Shriek is somewhere in the middle. The gray caps also become more prominent as the books go on. CoSaM has some stories that aren't focused on the gray caps at all but are weird and have that magical realism.
I made a video in December all about Ambergris and if I'm remembering correctly, I think it's spoiler free.
@@WhytheBookWins well I finished Saints and Madmen yesterday. Great descriptive writing. I feel like you could open to any page and point to a random paragraph and be able to envision the scene vividly. Also good worldbuilding, I definately want to keep reading to discover more about Ambergris and the jungle and whatever else. I was not expecting it to get so dark tho lol. Also I didnt think it was like murakami at all, except maybe in certain scenes like when Draden is waiting for his "love" and going through how every moment would happen. Glad I picked this book up so far.
@@Skatelifefool yeah the festival of the freshwater squid got dark and was so wild! glad you liked it!
I've never read this guy, but I think I might try him out!
Let me know what you think!
The books behind you look like library books with the dewey labels at the bottom. Do you catalog your collection or do you film in a library? Just curious.
That's actually a tapestry. I ordered bookshelves today though and will soon be filming in front of real books lol