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The Strange Bird
The Strange Bird: A Borne Story | Jeff VanderMeer
The Strange Birdfrom New York Times bestselling novelist Jeff VanderMeeris a novella-length digital original that expands and weaves deeply into the world of his thorough marvel* of a novel, Borne. The Strange Bird is a new kind of creature, built in a laboratoryshe is part bird, part human, part many other things. But now the lab in which she was created is under siege and the scientists have turned on their animal creations. Flying through tunnels, dodging bullets, and changing her colors and patterning to avoid capture, the Strange Bird manages to escape. But she cannot just soar in peace above the earth. The sky itself is full of wildlife that rejects her as one of their own, and also full of technologysatellites and drones and other detritus of the human civilization below that has all but destroyed itself. And the farther she flies, the deeper she finds herself in the orbit of the Company, a collapsed biotech firm that has populated the world with experiments both failed and successful that have outlived the corporation itself: a pack of networked foxes, a giant predatory bear. But of the many creatures she encounters with whom she bears some kind of kinship, it is the humansall of them now simply scrambling to survivewho are the most insidious, who still see her as simply something to possess, to capture, to trade, to exploit. Never to understand, never to welcome home. With The Strange Bird, Jeff VanderMeer has done more than add another layer, a new chapter, to his celebrated novel Borne. He has created a whole new perspective on the world inhabited by Rachel and Wick, the Magician, Mord, and Bornea view from above, of course, but also a view from deep inside the mind of a new kind of creature who will fight and suffer and live for the tenuous future of this world. Praise for Borne *Jeff VanderMeers Southern Reach Trilogy was an ever-creeping map of the apocalypse; with Borne he continues his investigation into the malevolent grace of the world, and it's a thorough marvel. Colson Whitehead VanderMeer is that rare novelist who turns to nonhumans not to make them approximate us as much as possible but to make such approximation impossible. All of this is magnified a hundredfold in Borne . . . Here is the story about biotech that VanderMeer wants to tell, a vision of the nonhuman not as one fixed thing, one fixed destiny, but as either peaceful or catastrophic, by our side or out on a rampage as our behavior dictatesfor these are our children, born of us and now to be borne in whatever shape or mess we have created. This coming-of-age story signals that eco-fiction has come of age as well: wilder, more reckless and more breathtaking than previously thought, a wager and a promise that what emerges from the twenty-first century will be as good as any from the twentieth, or the nineteenth. Wai Chee Dimock, The New York Times Book Review
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tessavi
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Should have put a ring holder on my Kindle sooner! So much more comfortable when reading in bed.
I made these stickers and am happy with how they turned out 😊

ReadingVampire Super cute!!! I did the same thing! So much more comfortable! 1y
tessavi @ReadingVampire Thank you 😊 1y
28 likes1 stack add2 comments
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shadowspeak17
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#3books I‘ve read in a day

This was more difficult than expected. There are several books I‘ve almost finished in one day, but then I get interrupted right as I‘m nearing the end and have to put it down until the next day. But after a little hunting through my read list, I think I‘ve managed to find a few that I actually did finish in one day, so here they are. All great books too. 😊

OriginalCyn620 👍🏻📚👍🏻 4y
31 likes1 comment
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The.Intentional.Reader
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So I loved Borne (just got through with it last night), so I had to go today and get this one. This is the 2nd in the Borne storyline. I already have the 3rd book , Dead Astronauts, waiting for me on my reading side table!

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Bookwurmz
Pickpick

So beautifully sad. Following the mutations of this strange bird was an emotional roller coaster of hope and dismay. Vandermeer captures the dreamlike worlds in his non human fantastical creatures like no one I know. Currently reading Bourne because the strange bird comes from that world, I like it, but I love The Strange Bird.

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shadowspeak17
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Only three books finished this month, but I‘ve read about half of The Wise Man‘s Fear and Friday Black this month too, so that‘s still a good amount for me. 😊

Total books read: 3
Ebooks: 2
Physical books: 1
Borrowed: 2
#booked2019: 0
#seriesread: 1

Average rating: 3.83 stars

#FebruaryStats #FebruaryWrapUp

StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Nice job! 📖💖 6y
44 likes1 comment
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shadowspeak17
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such a beautiful and sad little book. 😢❤️ I had mixed feelings about Borne when I read it, so I was afraid I would end up disliking this. I really liked it though and I think it makes a nice addition to the Borne universe. I think it could stand okay on its own, but if you have any desire to read Borne, I would suggest reading Borne first since parts of The Strange Bird overlap with some spoilery parts of Borne.

#catsoflitsy #Phoenix

AlaMich 😻 6y
46 likes1 comment
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akckitty
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Pickpick

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ !!!!

Oh my GOODNESS. This book... Takes you on such a journey that just made me cry one too many times considering it isn't a very long novel to begin with.

Highly, highly recommend if you have read Borne also by Jeff Vandermeer (also one of my all time favorite books. Seriously. If you're into Weird New fiction read it) but this novella is great as a stand alone too!

Brb, looking for a new tissue box. Favorite book of 2019 🤘

Readergrrl Wow! I‘m sold on your review alone! I have Borne on my TBR pile right now! I‘ll have to get this one too! 6y
akckitty @Readergrrl Jeff Vandermeer has to be my favorite author for eco-fiction / sci Fi / fantasy / new weird realms ever. Borne is amazing! I really hope you enjoy it. Strange Bird takes place during same time period-ish of Borne and is an amazing companion to it. It's a heart breaking read, especially once you're at the end and realize the purpose of Strange Birds journey! 6y
Readergrrl @akckitty My heart is already breaking! Getting it ASAP! 6y
See All 6 Comments
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Wow! Have had Borne in the TBR - bumping up! 6y
akckitty @ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled I don't think you'll regret it! You'll have to let me know what you thought of it whenever you get a chance 😊 6y
ErickaS_Flyleafunfurled Looking forward to this!! Will start soon!! 6y
90 likes5 stack adds6 comments
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ssravp
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Pickpick

Weird, beautiful, and heartbreaking. As only VanderMeer can do.

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Settings
Mehso-so

Sequel novella to Borne.

Not overly enthused by this one either.

Imaginative stuff though.

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sloanghost

I guess I have to read the Strange Bird now

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bnp
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Pickpick

Awesome, painful, beautiful. I haven't read Borne yet, but this pushes it up my list. Started listening to this thinking it was Borne, and am glad I didn't read the summary on Litsy.

Zeller's reading was excellent as well.

Hope on a thread.

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GrilledCheeseSamurai
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Came home from work tonight and this was delivered & waiting for me. The Strange Bird is a companion novella to Jeff Vandermeer's book, Borne, which I absolutely loved so I'm pretty excited to dig in! 🕺

readordierachel Awesome cover! That is indeed a strange bird. 7y
batsy The covers for these are 👌🏽 7y
ReadingRover I saw that the other day! I love the cover!!! 7y
90 likes2 stack adds3 comments
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Jokila
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batsy Oh, that cover 💙 7y
minkyb ❣️❣️❣️ 7y
LA_Mead When did this come out?!? I loved “Borne.” 7y
Jokila @la_mead Officially I think it came out back in fall or something but only as an ebook or limited distribution for a while? This weekend was the first time I saw it physically in a store 7y
37 likes2 stack adds4 comments
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kristinshafel
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Pickpick

More from VanderMeer‘s world of Borne! This adds a chapter to Borne from a different creature‘s perspective. I do think you need to read Borne first. I kind of wish I had read it on paper instead of audio—the narrator had a tortured tone that was a bit much for me at times. There isn‘t quite the level of mystery and tension I felt here as I did with Borne, but it‘s a great expansion of this imaginative setting.

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Liberty
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My love for these books is as big as a bear several stories tall. 🐻💚📚

Larkken Those covers are beautiful! 😍 7y
AceOnRoam 😅😅😅 very funny! 7y
kamoorephoto 😹💖💖💖💖 7y
148 likes4 stack adds3 comments
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NerdyRev
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Pickpick

This is a mini story set in the world Bourne takes place in. You meet Mord the Bear and The Magician. It is told from a manufactured bird's perspective. Short, sweet, and a good read. It isn't essential, but it is a fun addition to Bourne.

speljamr I have this sitting on my TBR Nook list. Can't wait. 7y
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mtns_of_books
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Pickpick

Wow. I am blown away by how beautiful and atmospheric this was. I truly felt the despair and it makes you venture into the madness with this bird-seriously had left me feeling anxious multiple times throughout the book.

This is a side story to Jeff VanderMeer's story Borne. You follow The Strange Bird in this novella; however, past characters like The Magician and Wick show up as well.

I received a copy through Netgalley for an honest opinion