Borne: A Novel Hardcover – April 25, 2017

The story is told by Rachel about her drug dealing boyfriend and a creature child named Borne. So far not entirely too weird. The further you read the more the story gets stranger.The world is like an apocalyptic Earth but not quite. The memories that Rachel have of the past fit more our time but don't fit with the current Earth she's is in . Even her creature/ child Borne asks her if her memories really happened. You kind of wonder if Rachels past memories are real or just a fantasy she made up to cope in the environment she lives through.Even though the story is really strange its still really good. The ending was great and a little hopeful.

If I could describe this book in one word it would be: Bizarre. I want to comment on the genre, because though it is definitely science fiction, I think there's an argument for survival horror in there as well (and I sort of reveled in it). The writing style really clicked with me here. It was both poetic and punchy. It complemented the overall feeling of the book while still being impactful, and I'm really excited to check out this author's other works in the future.The beginning starts tame enough. Just another day in the post-apocalyptic neighborhood, scavenging for biotech. Climbing giant psychotic killer bears and rifling through their stinking blood matted fur. Yes, that's the tame part.Rachel brings home an odd piece of biotech she's never seen before and decides to name it Borne. He's an invertebrate sea anemone type creature who can change shape and size. Her lover and roomie Wick, an ex-biotech scientist and a memory beetle drug dealer, immediately wants to break him down, crack him open and see what's inside. But Rachel likes him. Rachel wants to keep him. Rachel puts him in the window like a decorative plant. This is where the fun begins.Borne was far and away my favorite character here. I loved the way he spoke. I loved the way he learned and grew. I loved that you could never really trust him. I loved that when it came to Borne, Rachel wasn't exactly reliable. She loves him the way any mother loves her child, blindly. I enjoyed Rachel and Wick's characters as well, and I think Vandermeer did an excellent job making them all very human.The story could be slow going at times. The action part of the plot is centered on day to day survival, while in the background the reader has all these mysteries propelling them forward. What is Borne? Can he be trusted? What is happening at the Company? What's wrong with Wick? Why can't Rachel remember what happened to her? The ending is ambiguous and will leave you with questions unanswered and many things to think about.My only real complaint about the book, was that the world that all these characters lived in occasionally felt devoid of other humans. For example, Wick is a drug dealer. He sells memory beetles to people who can't cope with reality and just want to forget, or remember someone else's life instead of their own. I really would have loved for the author to have done something with this concept. The world is filled with monsters galore, but there were no other people (save for one other person, who I won't spoil). I just kept wondering, who is Wick selling all these memory beetles too? Where is everyone else? There is talk of territories between the drug dealers but it never seemed like there would have been enough humans to sell all these biotech drugs to.Overall I enjoyed it. It was unique. It was weird. It was fun. It gave me something to think about. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for something different, a little change in their regularly scheduled programming.

This book was my savior during my grandmothers death. I couldn't bend my mind around what was happening. I couldn't sleep or stop thinking. I was reading voraciously, devouring books, anything to get a break from reality...This book is a break from reality. It is beautiful, violent, absurd, engaging, and always surprising. The characters are magnificent, the relationships satisfying, the implications horrific. This is a book that sticks. I did not want it to end, but the ending was beautiful. If you read the premise, you will likely walk away, but if you just let this book happen, you might be like me and walk away with something special.It also lead me to The Southern Reach Trilogy, which is different and I loved it, but this book, this book is something else. For me it is all-time, ranked with the books that I will come back to again and again. Thanks for the recommendation Sci Fri!

This book is good, not great. Nice world building and unique points of view. I felt a little underwhelmed by the ending, though it's not a bad or inconsistent one. But the main antagonists are unsatisfyingly dealt with. After a book building both of them up, it was just disappointing.I just didn't think there was enough "meat" here to justify the price of the book. An interesting idea with quirky main characters, however tonally the book is all over the place with many whimsical moments jarringly interrupted with gruesome violence. I'm sure this was on purpose as one of the main characters is literally growing up from naivety to maturity, but it didn't quite work for me for some reason. I also don't know why Vandermeer's books are so expensive. This one in particular was a nice but quick and easy read. I liked this enough to look at his other work but the price-points are the main barrier to me picking up any more of his stories. He just hasn't convinced me he's good enough or says enough to make it worth it. Those looking for a quirky unique scifi novel who aren't particularly price sensitive should pick it up. Just don't expect the Hyperion Cantos and you should be alright.

This odd, quirky story started out with the reader inserted into Racheal’s day to day life from her POV. She is a 28 year old scavenger eking out a living in the remnants of a past apocalypse event which left a destroyed, toxic world. The prime menace is Mord, a gigantic flying bear wreaking destruction and death. The Company is responsible for all the biotech running amok, but not much is explained about them or their motives. Racheal lives with Wick in a labyrinth of apartments rigged with booby traps for protection against other scavengers. It is a pretty grim picture. She finds and raises Borne against Wick’s wishes, not knowing what he is. Racheal will never birth her own children, but in this harsh world, she raises Borne like he was her own and as non-human as Borne is, he develops a bond with her in his own way. The author takes his time developing the character relationships with each other and by the end much is revealed and the book really touched me with the themes of destiny, sacrifice and love. The story is complete with this book.

I don’t find this book to be the original masterpiece that it’s sometimes been made out to be, but it’s worth reading. Some parts are both rather boring and predictable, but others are interesting, exciting and even emotional; as a whole you want to keep reading to find out how it’s all going to end.The authors writing style is easy to read and follow, while retaining an adult voice. The story is a pleasant slow burn that I am unlikely to reread, but it has me curious about the other’s other works, and I will be reading more.The book itself is a standard paperback copy. The pages seem to be glued well, with good thickness to the covers.

A moving story of love and redemption that keeps revealing itself all the way to the end. I loved this book.

A very engaging and thrilling sci-fi adventure set in a future world ravaged by war and destruction. Rachel, who survives by scavenging in the ruined remains of a once great city, discovers an organism buried in the fur of a giant bear-god. Nothing is quite what it seems in this fantastic story and soon Rachel finds herself facing some difficult decisions.

Très beau roman d'un auteur culte mais que je découvre, j'avoue.

No cenário da ficção-científica contemporânea (ou da literatura mesmo, que seja) poucas mentes são tão brilhantemente criativas como a do americano Jeff VanderMeer. Sua Southern Reach Trilogy, de 2014, já era um exemplo claro disso, mas, em seu novo romance, BORNE, ele extrapola os limites, cria um personagem indescritível, um apocalipse como poucos e uma trama repleta de som, fúria e poesia, num mundo constituído pela tecnologia e o sobrenatural.Num futuro próximo, numa cidade sem nome, governada por algo chamado apenas de Company, as pessoas são aterrorizadas por um urso voador e destruidor, criado em laboratório, e gangues de crianças geneticamente modificadas. Há também insetos capazes de entrar dentro de humanos e curar as doenças. É um mundo complexo em suas criaturas e relações, que VanderMeer cria com riqueza de detalhes e consistência dramática.A protagonista e narradora do romance é Rachel, que passa os dias vasculhando a cidade, até que encontra Borne, uma criatura que parece uma criatura que parece “um híbrido entre uma anêmona e uma lula: um vaso brilhante com cores que mudam, indo do roxo até o mais profundo azul e verde oceano”. É um ser estranho, mas ao mesmo, tempo familiar. Ela o leva para casa, e eles têm uma relação que parece entre mãe e filho, o que causará um problema no namoro dela com Wick.Mas Borne cresce, seus questionamentos sobre o mundo e as pessoas, assim como seus sentimentos, também amadurecem. Ele também começa a “experimentar” criaturas e coisas – por “experimentar”, entenda-se envolver a presa por completo, até, literalmente, sumir com elas. Tal qual esse processo, o romance é claustrofóbico, com a ação acontecendo, na maior parte do tempo, em ambientes fechados ou (pior ainda) dentro da cabeça de Rachel, em suas ruminações e memórias antes do fim do mundo.Se na trilogia anterior os personagens eram solitários, aqui, o autor investiga estruturas familiares e carcaças que sustentam a sociedade à beira da destruição e os laços de afeto e afins. A ressonância emocional, em meio ao caos ecológico, econômico e político que cercam os personagens, se constrói pela relação estranha e, ao mesmo tempo, comum entre Rachel e Borne. Este, por sua vez, é, em boa parte da narrativa, uma criança descobrindo o mundo – suas perguntas e reações são exatamente de crianças descobrindo o mundo.Outro personagem é chamado de The Magician, uma antiga funcionária da Company, cujos poderes fortalecidos por meios biotécnicos. Mord também é outra criatura saída da corporação, e definido como algo humano capaz de se transformar em inumano – a completa antítese de Borne, que não é remotamente humano, mas tenta agir como tal, e poderá ser aquilo que equilibrará a disputa entre essas duas forças.Nos mundos de VanderMeer, as tensões são constantes, e a natureza capaz de revidar, como também proteger. Nem sempre os personagens (ao menos os humanos) tem o poder – ou a força – para controlar suas próprias vidas. A criatura Borne aparece exatamente como a materialização de uma espécie de resíduo do mundo corporativo, algo que nem era para existir. Mas sua “vida” é o que ele faz dela, e, nesse sentido, nem a Company (que nem existe mais) conseguiria interferir.O retrato do presente em BORNE é incisivo, sem nunca cair no óbvio. O futuro, como bem tem retratado o gênero, é pouco animador - mas, entre a curiosidade de Borne e a devastação do planeta (ecológica, política, social e culturalmente) há espaço para alguma ternura e redescoberta de o que é ser humano em tempos assim – descoberta essa exatamente graças a uma criatura inclassificável.