This World Is Full of Monsters, by Jeff VanderMeer

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(Apocalypse) The narrator is a writer who finds a story on his porch. A story that enters his body, grows out of the top of his head, and destroys the rest of the world. Then things get strange. (10,048 words; Time: 33m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

"This World Is Full of Monsters," by Jeff VanderMeer [bio] (edited by Ann VanderMeer), published on November 8, 2017 by Tor.com.

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

Pro: The narrator describes his journey from the point the story-creature infected him to the point where he becomes the seed of his own story creature. During that time, he wrestles with the loss of the world he knew, the realization that a doppelganger replaced him with his wife and children, he walks away and gets an unwelcome education from the story-creature, and just when he’s ready to kill himself, he finds Dead-Shell. From Dead-Shell, he learns he needs to leave his old self behind, and he seeks the purpose of his existence, which, once he reaches the ocean, turns out to be becoming a story creature himself.

It’s possible that this is an allegory for the development of a writer, starting with a passion for stories and ending with him sending out his own stories.

Con: The prose is heavy, and the surreal descriptions are tiresome. It's likely that everything means something, but it's hard to figure out what.

Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 11/08/17)
Jeff VanderMeer Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

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