Borne, Jeff VanderMeer
Borne, Jeff VanderMeer
12 Rating(s)
List: $22.95 | Sale: $16.07
Club: $11.47

Borne

Author: Jeff VanderMeer

Narrator: Bahni Turpin

Unabridged: 12 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/25/2017


Synopsis

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.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.

About Jeff VanderMeer

Jeff VanderMeer is an award-winning novelist and editor. His fiction has appeared in the Library of America’s American Fantastic Tales and in multiple anthologies. His recent books have made the year’s best books lists of Publishers Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, and Amazon.com.

About Bahni Turpin

Bahni Turpin has guest starred in many television series, including NYPD Blue, Law & Order, Six Feet Under, and Cold Case. Her film credits include Brokedown Palace and Crossroads. She has won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and three prestigious Audie Awards.


Reviews

Goodreads review by karen on June 23, 2018

We all just want to be people, and none of us know what that really means. oh, jeff vandermeer…. to my shame, i have yet to read the southern reach trilogy, although i own all three, and have owned them for a good long time now. and while we’re on the subject of my many personal failings, i actually......more

Goodreads review by Bradley on June 14, 2018

Re-read 6/14/18: It never ceases to astound me how much one day's blow-me-over imaginative fiction can suddenly be a warm and cozy blanket to carry me through a chilly night. Or, I should say, an enormous bear-hug to destroy whatever is left of a dystopian-ravaged city to give my belly a good belly l......more

Goodreads review by Nnedi on February 07, 2017

Gloriously bizarre. The world building is incredible. Within the first night I started reading this, I had nightmares. There's an icky flying bear that is sort of a GMO cautionary tale. The biotech is wicked (heehee, there's a pun in there, but you have to read the book to get it). This novel grows......more


Quotes

“Creepy and fascinating.” Stephen King, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“A thorough marvel.” Colson Whitehead, National Book Award winner and #1 New York Times bestselling author

Borne is VanderMeer’s trans-species rumination on the theme of parenting.” New Yorker

“A story of loving self-sacrifice, hallucinatory beauty, and poisonous trust…[with] engrossing richness.” Washington Post

“VanderMeer’s apocalyptic vision, with its mix of absurdity, horror, and grace, can’t be mistaken for that of anyone else. Inventive, engrossing, and heartbreaking.” San Francisco Chronicle

“May be the most beautifully written, and believable, post-apocalyptic tale in recent memory…VanderMeer…outdoes himself in this visionary novel.” Los Angeles Times

"Borne…represents a high-water mark in an ascendant strand of science fiction, one that looks with a sharp eye toward a near future of ecological calamity, chaos, and monumental ethical battles.” Literary Hub

“Turpin’s memorable performance highlights the outstanding world building, lyrical prose, authentic characters, and richly layered story line. Turpin’s clear and thoughtful reading guides listeners through the book’s complexities, clarifying language and ideas and revealing its heartfelt center: What does it mean to be human?” Booklist (starred audio review)

“Narrator Bahni Turpin brings a haunting melancholy to VanderMeer’s enormous weird world, transforming what initially seems an outlandish dystopian tale into a deeply personal journey…Turpin…build[s] a palpable and audible bond between Rachel and Borne that makes this story gripping, unsettling, and thoroughly memorable.” AudioFile

“Reading like a dispatch from a world lodged somewhere between science fiction, myth, and a video game…Something more than just weird fiction: weird literature.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)


Awards

  • Book Riot Pick
  • BuzzFeed Books Pick
  • Washington Post Top 10 Book
  • Chicago Review of Books Pick
  • Paste Magazine Pick
  • Booklist Best Book
  • Publishers Weekly Best Books of the Year
  • Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books
  • Los Angeles Times Best Book
  • Huffington Post Best Book
  • Boston Globe Book of the Year
  • Literary Hub Pick
  • Arthur C. Clarke Award
  • Society of Voice Arts and Sciences Award
  • Wired Magazine Pick
  • Oprah’s Book Club Selection
  • Electric Literature
  • BBC Pick
  • Amazon Editors' Pick