Borne

Books | Fiction / Literary

(1.4K)

Jeff VanderMeer

Named one of the best books of 2017 by The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, PopSugar, Financial Times, Chicago Review of Books, Huffington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Thrillist, Book Riot, National Post (Canada), Kirkus and Publishers WeeklyFrom the author of the Southern Reach Trilogy comes Jeff VanderMeer's Borne, a story about two humans and two creatures. “Am I a person?” Borne asked me.“Yes, you are a person,” I told him. “But like a person, you can be a weapon, too.” In Borne, a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Company—a biotech firm now derelict—and punished by the unpredictable predations of a giant bear. Rachel ekes out an existence in the shelter of a run-down sanctuary she shares with her partner, Wick, who deals his own homegrown psychoactive biotech.One day, Rachel finds Borne during a scavenging mission and takes him home. Borne as salvage is little more than a green lump—plant or animal?—but exudes a strange charisma. Borne reminds Rachel of the marine life from the island nation of her birth, now lost to rising seas. There is an attachment she resents: in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet, against her instincts—and definitely against Wick’s wishes—Rachel keeps Borne. She cannot help herself. Borne, learning to speak, learning about the world, is fun to be with, and in a world so broken that innocence is a precious thing. For Borne makes Rachel see beauty in the desolation around her. She begins to feel a protectiveness she can ill afford. “He was born, but I had borne him.”But as Borne grows, he begins to threaten the balance of power in the city and to put the security of her sanctuary with Wick at risk. For the Company, it seems, may not be truly dead, and new enemies are creeping in. What Borne will lay bare to Rachel as he changes is how precarious her existence has been, and how dependent on subterfuge and secrets. In the aftermath, nothing may ever be the same.

Science Fiction

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More Details:

Author

Jeff VanderMeer

Pages

336

Publisher

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published Date

2017-04-25

ISBN

0374714924 9780374714925

Community ReviewsSee all

"While Borne struggles to gain momentum in the first act, its other two acts prove to shine more, as it delves into the oddly intriguing post-apocalyptic setting full of diverse ecological biology that’s both weird and cool at the same time! The human element is touching and the idea of finding a new purpose through something resonates so well! 8.25/10"

Jordan Patron

"Yes! Vandermeer is one of my favorite authors. There's a lovecraftian essence to his stories (without the racism) that I have found compelling; his take on science fiction is quickly becoming a favorite niche of mine."

Daniel Skoglund

"I found it hard to start the book because it’s a slow build. I’m still reading the book, but man I get sad when I have to put it down. "

Gabrielle Sams

"I hop all over the place with genres, but my favorite is The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. "

Arielle Hendrix

"This book is so weird. I highly recommend it. VanderMeer’s way of describing things is, as the titular character might say, “beautiful” and “disgusting”. If you like alien or post-apocalypse stories, give this one a shot. #WeirdFiction"

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"A lot of reviews call this hard to read, but I didn't find that at all. On the other hand, like others, it took me an oddly longish time to read it, so maybe it was difficult and I didn't notice it. I loved reading about all the little biotech bits and bugs and nautili, and in another book I would have loved to learn more about them. Borne is a great character. I kept thinking of him as the Short Circuit Johnny Five Robot, in weird alien/engineered life sort of way. <br/><br/>Anyhoo, it's good, and I should keep up with more VanderMeer."