This is a Mobius strip of a novel, with each chapter containing worlds upon nested worlds, all of them dreamlike and dark. Dead Astronauts is a prequel of sorts, following those three astronauts as they square off against a nefarious biotech corporation known only as the Company, which devastated Earth’s biome by releasing bioengineered creatures into the wild.

Through novels like Borne and the Southern Reach Trilogy (whose first volume, Annihilation, was adapted into a 2018 Natalie Portman movie), VanderMeer has become a pioneer of the New Weird, a genre that subverts cliches of speculative fiction to create something dark, terrorizing, and wonderful.ĭead Astronauts, his latest novel, returns to the post-apocalyptic world of Borne, where three dusty spacesuits fallen from the heavens and embedded in the terrain made for a memorable, mysterious image. His novels and stories exist at the vanguard of art and activism, with each one not only pushing the formal boundaries of literary science fiction, but advancing the conversation about climate crisis. N.K.As the prophet of climate fiction, Jeff VanderMeer occupies a singular space in literature. But where Poe kept his most vicious blows relatively oblique, VanderMeer drives them deep-albeit in a corkscrewing way that is not less cruel and exquisite.” “More than just a horror novel there’s something Poe-like in this tightening, increasingly paranoid focus. KAREN JOY FOWLER, BookPage, on Annihilation “Unsettling and un-put-down-able-like an old-fashioned adventure story, only weirder, beautifully written and not at all old-fashioned.”

NISI SHAWL, The Seattle Times, on Annihilation STEPHEN KING, on The Southern Reach Trilogy COLSON WHITEHEAD, author of Nickel Boys “Jeff VanderMeer’s 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.” 'For any adventurous fan of sci-fi, fantasy, and/or horror, this book offers not only a rewarding read but, like, a thing to possess.' 'VanderMeer is a master of literary science fiction, and this may be his best book yet.' In this shattered landscape, VanderMeer explores urgent ideas about capitalism, greed, and natural destruction.'

'A Mobius strip of a novel, with each chapter containing worlds upon nested worlds, all of them dreamlike and dark. CHELSEA LEU, The New York Times Book Review ' darkly transcendent novel filled with phantasmagoric visions, body horror and tortured beings traversing a blasted desert hellscape.

Dead astronauts a novel