Compared by critics to Borges, Nabokov, and Kafka, an inventive contemporary fantasist continues to amaze with this surreal, innovative, and absurdist gathering of award-winning short fiction. Exotic beasts and improbable travelers roam restlessly through Jeff Vandermeer’s darkly diverting and finely-honed tales.
“A fine introduction to one of our very best contemporary practitioners of the fantastic.” —Publishers Weekly
“These 15 elegantly crafted stories ably demonstrate VanderMeer’s skill . . . calls to mind the works of Borges, Kafka, and Lem.” —Library Journal, Starred Review
“VanderMeer proves again why he is so essential and why everybody should be reading him.” —Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
“One of the things that sets VanderMeer apart is his embrace of technology and media. His online presence is considerable and includes a number of web sites, frequent blogging, a short film adaptation of his novel Shriek (including collaboration with pop rock band The Church), his Alien Baby photo project and even a project involving animation via Sony Playstation.” —Wired.com
“Jeff Vandermeer is not to be trusted. He hypnotizes with shiny objects, bizarrely beautiful shapes and phrases, then (more often than not) gently drifts you into very dark places. You won’t know where you’re going till you get there and then, of course, it’s too late.” —Mike Mignola, creator, Hellboy
“In the hands of a brilliant writer like Jeff VanderMeer, writing fantasy can be a means of serious artistic expression. . . . It is also playful, poignant, and utterly, wildly imaginative.” —Peter Straub, author, The Talisman
“Jeff VanderMeer is an extraordinary writer . . . passionate, beautiful, complex, terrifying.” —Tamar Yellin, author, The Genizah at the House of Shepher