Monday, August 7, 2017

The Strange Bird: A Borne Story, by Jeff VanderMeer

[Single]
★★★☆☆ Average

(Post-Apocalypse SF Horror; Borne) The Strange Bird escapes the ruins of the laboratory that created her, compelled by an inbuilt imperative to go southeast. But for what? (26,349 words; Time: 1h:27m)


Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Review: 2017.564 (A Word for Authors)

Pro: The setting is incredibly imaginative.

The plot is solid, albeit bittersweet, since the Strange Bird finally delivers the message from one dead woman to another.

The Magician’s conversion of the Strange Bird into a living, thinking cloak is very effectively horrifying.

Con: The Strange Bird hasn’t got a lot of agency; others do most of the acting and it just goes along for the ride most of the time.

The ending goes on for too long. Once the four new birds are created, it’s tedious having to wait to find out what was at the destination.

The ultimate result is that it was all in vain.

Other Reviews: Search Web, GoodReads.com
Jeff VanderMeer Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

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