VOOZH about

URL: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/33919.Jeff_Vandermeer

⇱ Jeff Vandermeer (Author of Annihilation)


Discover new books on Goodreads
See if your friends have read any of Jeff Vandermeer's books
πŸ‘ Facebook
Sign in with Facebook
πŸ‘ Jeff Vandermeer


more photos (1)

πŸ‘ Chas
17,809 books | 495 friends

πŸ‘ Stephan...
3,559 books | 1,021 friends

πŸ‘ Jason
2,162 books | 1,295 friends

πŸ‘ Bradley
8,034 books | 3,316 friends

πŸ‘ Jenevieve
3,405 books | 143 friends

πŸ‘ Tachyon...
228 books | 201 friends

πŸ‘ Kevin
4,658 books | 65 friends


More friends…

Jeff Vandermeer

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United States
Website

Genre

Member Since
May 2009


NYT bestselling writer Jeff VanderMeer has been called β€œthe weird Thoreau” by the New Yorker for his engagement with ecological issues. His most recent novel, the national bestseller Borne, received wide-spread critical acclaim and his prior novels include the Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance). Annihilation won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Awards, has been translated into 35 languages, and was made into a film from Paramount Pictures directed by Alex Garland. His nonfiction has appeared in New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Slate, Salon, and the Washington Post. He has coedited several iconic anthologies with his wife, the Hugo Award winning editor. Other titles include Wonderbook, the worl NYT bestselling writer Jeff VanderMeer has been called β€œthe weird Thoreau” by the New Yorker for his engagement with ecological issues. His most recent novel, the national bestseller Borne, received wide-spread critical acclaim and his prior novels include the Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance). Annihilation won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Awards, has been translated into 35 languages, and was made into a film from Paramount Pictures directed by Alex Garland. His nonfiction has appeared in New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Atlantic, Slate, Salon, and the Washington Post. He has coedited several iconic anthologies with his wife, the Hugo Award winning editor. Other titles include Wonderbook, the world’s first fully illustrated creative writing guide. VanderMeer served as the 2016-2017 Trias Writer in Residence at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He has spoken at the Guggenheim, the Library of Congress, and the Arthur C. Clarke Center for the Human Imagination.

VanderMeer was born in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, but spent much of his childhood in the Fiji Islands, where his parents worked for the Peace Corps. This experience, and the resulting trip back to the United States through Asia, Africa, and Europe, deeply influenced him.

Jeff is married to Ann VanderMeer, who is currently an acquiring editor at Tor.com and has won the Hugo Award and World Fantasy Award for her editing of magazines and anthologies. They live in Tallahassee, Florida, with two cats and thousands of books.

...more

To ask Jeff Vandermeer questions, please sign up.

Popular Answered Questions

Jeff Vandermeer Thank you for the truly great question, Ali. To me, this is the essential theme of our time, and it's not about giving in or checking out. It's about …moreThank you for the truly great question, Ali. To me, this is the essential theme of our time, and it's not about giving in or checking out. It's about adaptation to what's coming. Of course, I'm coming at it from a kind of fantastical point of view. No matter how I deploy science or specific detail about our real world, I'm still somewhere between the real and the metaphorical in these explorations. In part to get the distance to explore modes of thoughts, and in the absence of being able to imagine being truly not-human, to get as close to that as possible without marginalizing that state of being as horrific.

I suppose I don't see it as leaving behind individual consciousness as being in greater harmony and collusion with the contamination we already experience but that is invisible to us, and to also thereby better understand that we do not in fact stick out from our landscape, but are part of it. This is something we've forgotten over the last centuries, and the farther we get away from understanding this, the farther we get from long-term solutions to questions like...What do we contribute to our biosphere? Why do we privilege human-style intelligence to the exclusion of all else? Why do we see as strengths those things that are actually now weaknesses in ourselves as a sustainable species on Earth?

This doesn't even get to the question of being able to see our environment with a fresh eye--so that we no longer think in terms of being stewards or despoilers but some other philosophy altogether. And this in the context, too, of not bringing with us the old "culture creatures" as Schama puts it in his book Landscape and Memory. That we might see with clear vision but also perhaps with a hint of awe just how thoroughly we live on an alien planet that is full of wonders we're only now beginning to understand. And of which we are at times the most mundane.(less)
Jeff Vandermeer My real phobia is cockroaches. Growing up in Fiji, I would sometimes wake up and hear this crackling, shifting sound in my ears. These small cockroach…moreMy real phobia is cockroaches. Growing up in Fiji, I would sometimes wake up and hear this crackling, shifting sound in my ears. These small cockroaches would burrow in there and I'd have to fish them out. So I come by my phobia honestly. Also, I should note that it extends to professional cockroaches, not just amateur ones. We were on a claustrophobic boat trip once in Romania (eventually cut off by the Romanian navy and a man in a dinghy, but that's another story0 and there were rustling boxes under each of the bench seats in the passenger area (which didn't have windows you could open). The translation came back as "professional cockroaches." Boxes and boxes of professional cockroaches, to be used as bait by fishermen. I was as phobic about them as any number of amateur cockroaches. When it comes to cockroaches, I treat all equally. (Except, I really hate the flying ones.)

As for using them in my writing, I did once write a children's story called Erin & the Roach, but it has never been published, and probably shouldn't be published...by anyone.(less)
Average rating: 3.74 Β· 683,221 ratings Β· 81,403 reviews Β· 244 distinct works β€’ Similar authors
πŸ‘ Annihilation (Southern Reac...

3.80 avg rating β€” 313,312 ratings β€” published 2014 β€” 105 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ Authority (Southern Reach, #2)

3.55 avg rating β€” 109,100 ratings β€” published 2014 β€” 78 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ Acceptance (Southern Reach,...

3.67 avg rating β€” 82,477 ratings β€” published 2014 β€” 72 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ Borne (Borne, #1)

3.93 avg rating β€” 41,891 ratings β€” published 2017 β€” 55 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ Absolution (Southern Reach,...

3.58 avg rating β€” 12,206 ratings β€” published 2024 β€” 25 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ Area X: The Southern Reach ...

3.86 avg rating β€” 10,793 ratings β€” published 2014
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ Hummingbird Salamander

3.25 avg rating β€” 12,017 ratings β€” published 2021 β€” 31 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ The Strange Bird: A Borne S...

4.14 avg rating β€” 8,177 ratings β€” published 2017 β€” 11 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ City of Saints and Madmen (...

3.86 avg rating β€” 8,214 ratings β€” published 2002 β€” 33 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
πŸ‘ Dead Astronauts (Borne, #2)

3.36 avg rating β€” 9,231 ratings β€” published 2019 β€” 4 editions
Error rating book. Refresh and try again.
Rate this book
Clear rating
More books by Jeff Vandermeer…

Welcome to Tallahassee: November Local Elections Voter Guide

πŸ‘ Image
Our picks: Josh Johnson, Kristin Dozier, David O’Keefe

Candidate Recommendation Cheat Sheet:

Mayor: Kristen Dozier

County Commission: Josh Johnson (at-large Group 2), David O’Keefe (District 5), No Vote (District 2)

School Board:  Alex Stemle (District 4)

After the resounding reelection of reformer Jeremy Matlow to the Tallahassee city commission in the August primaries, the November general elect

Read more of this blog post Β»
Published on October 18, 2022 09:13

(2 books)
by
(Goodreads Author)

3.87 avg rating β€” 59,329 ratings

(3 books)
by
(Goodreads Author)

3.95 avg rating β€” 16,600 ratings

(2 books)
by
(Goodreads Author)

3.21 avg rating β€” 2,342 ratings

(2 books)
by
(Goodreads Author) (Editor),
(Goodreads Author) (Contributor),
(Contributor),
(Contributor),
(Goodreads Author) (Contributor),
(Contributor),
(Contributor),
(Contributor),
more…
(Goodreads Author) (Contributor),
(Goodreads Author) (Contributor),
(Goodreads Author) (Contributor),
(Goodreads Author) (Contributor),
(Goodreads Author) (contributor)
…less

3.65 avg rating β€” 1,582 ratings

More series by Jeff Vandermeer…

Related News

Here at Goodreads World Headquarters, we sort through a lot of books each month. Our monthly Readers' Most Anticipated Books feature is exactly...
80 likes Β· 0 comments
For a certain subset of dedicated readers, there’s nothing on the planet quite so beloved as an extended book series.   After all, when you love...
88 likes Β· 13 comments
Julia Armfield doesn’t believe in star signs or personality tests, but if you tell her your birth order, she knows everything about...
39 likes Β· 2 comments
Quotes by Jeff Vandermeer  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)
β€œWhere lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead to share with the worms that gather in the darkness and surround the world with the power of their lives while from the dimlit halls of other places forms that never were and never could be writhe for the impatience of the few who never saw what could have been. In the black water with the sun shining at midnight, those fruit shall come ripe and in the darkness of that which is golden shall split open to reveal the revelation of the fatal softness in the earth. The shadows of the abyss are like the petals of a monstrous flower that shall blossom within the skull and expand the mind beyond what any man can bear, but whether it decays under the earth or above on green fields, or out to sea or in the very air, all shall come to revelation, and to revel, in the knowledge of the strangling fruitβ€”and the hand of the sinner shall rejoice, for there is no sin in shadow or in light that the seeds of the dead cannot forgive. And there shall be in the planting in the shadows a grace and a mercy from which shall blossom dark flowers, and their teeth shall devour and sustain and herald the passing of an age. That which dies shall still know life in death for all that decays is not forgotten and reanimated it shall walk the world in the bliss of not-knowing. And then there shall be a fire that knows the naming of you, and in the presence of the strangling fruit, its dark flame shall acquire every part of you that remains.”
― Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

β€œThe effect of this cannot be understood without being there. The beauty of it cannot be understood, either, and when you see beauty in desolation it changes something inside you. Desolation tries to colonize you.”
― Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

β€œThat's how the madness of the world tries to colonize you: from the outside in, forcing you to live in its reality.”
― Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

Polls

What book would you like to read in July to discuss in August (starting the 1st)? Important! Do not vote unless you will return to discuss, as it is unfair to participants to have tally affected by hit-and-run voters. Thanks, and see you in the discussion!

The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones
2017, 400 pages, 3.6 stars
$12.99 Kindle, cheap used copies, probably at library

πŸ‘ Image


"In the spirit of Station Eleven and California, award-winning novelist Holly Goddard Jones offers a literary spin on the dystopian genre with this gripping story of survival and humanity about a group of adrenaline junkies who jump -the Salt Line.-

How far will they go for their freedom--once they decide what freedom really means?"
See book page for longer blurb
  5 votes, 35.7%

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
2017, 336 pages, 3.91 stars
$9.99 Kindle, print from $6.28, available at libraries

πŸ‘ Image


"In a ruined, nameless city of the future, a woman named Rachel, who makes her living as a scavenger, finds a creature she names β€œBorne” entangled in the fur of Mord, a gigantic, despotic bear. Mord once prowled the corridors of the biotech organization known as the Company, which lies at the outskirts of the city, until he was experimented on, grew large, learned to fly and broke free. Driven insane by his torture at the Company, Mord terrorizes the city even as he provides sustenance for scavengers like Rachel."
See book page for the remainder, long blurb.
  3 votes, 21.4%

Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed
2017, 353 pages, 3.76 stars
$17.08 paperback, $13.99 Kindle, $5.01 and up in used print, probably at the library

πŸ‘ Image


"Never Let Me Go meets The Giver in this haunting debut about a cult on an isolated island, where nothing is as it seems.

Years ago, just before the country was incinerated to wasteland, ten men and their families colonized an island off the coast. They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. Only the Wanderers--chosen male descendants of the original ten--are allowed to cross to the wastelands, where they scavenge for detritus among the still-smoldering fires.

The daughters of these men are wives-in-training. At the first sign of puberty, they face their Summer of Fruition, a ritualistic season that drags them from adolescence to matrimony. They have children, who have children, and when they are no longer useful, they take their final draught and die. But in the summer, the younger children reign supreme. With the adults indoors and the pubescent in Fruition, the children live wildly--they fight over food and shelter, free of their fathers' hands and their mothers' despair. And it is at the end of one summer that little Caitlin Jacob sees something so horrifying, so contradictory to the laws of the island, that she must share it with the others.

Born leader Janey Solomon steps up to seek the truth. At seventeen years old, Janey is so unwilling to become a woman, she is slowly starving herself to death. Trying urgently now to unravel the mysteries of the island and what lies beyond, before her own demise, she attempts to lead an uprising of the girls that may be their undoing."
  2 votes, 14.3%

Parasite by Mira Grant
2013, 504 pages, 3.65 stars
$9.99 Kindle, cheap used copies, definitely at library

πŸ‘ Image


"A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease.

We owe our good health to a humble parasite - a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the tapeworm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system - even secretes designer drugs. It's been successful beyond the scientists' wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them.

But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives...and will do anything to get them."
  2 votes, 14.3%

The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway
2017, 594 pages, 4.13 stars
$10.99 Kindle, cheap used copies, available at libraries

πŸ‘ Image


"The Jorgmund Pipe is the backbone of the world, and it's on fire. Gonzo Lubitsch, professional hero and troubleshooter, is hired to put it out, but there's more to the fire, and the Pipe itself, than meets the eye. The job will take Gonzo and his best friend, our narrator, back to their own beginnings."
  1 vote, 7.1%

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman
2017, 608 pages, 4.32 stars
$1.99 Kindle, cheap used copies, at library

πŸ‘ Image


"Kady thought breaking up with Ezra was the worst thing she'd ever been through. That was before her planet was invaded. Now, with enemy fire raining down on them, Kady and Ezra are forced to fight their way onto one of the evacuating craft, with an enemy warship in hot pursuit.
But the warship could be the least of their problems. A deadly plague has broken out and is mutating, with terrifying results; the fleet's AI, which should be protecting them, may actually be their biggest threat; and nobody in charge will say what's really going on. As Kady plunges into a web of data hacking to get to the truth, it's clear only one person can help her bring it all to light: Ezra.
Told through a fascinating dossier of hacked documentsβ€” including emails, schematics, military files, IMs, medical reports, interviews, and moreβ€”Illuminae is the first book in a heart-stopping, high-octane trilogy about lives interrupted, the price of truth, and the courage of everyday heroes."
  1 vote, 7.1%

The Given Garden by S.K. Munt
2015, 403 pages, 4.45 stars
$4.99 Kindle, $14.99 paperback, likely not available at lib.

πŸ‘ Image


"They told us that this new world was perfect

They told us that we were all equal under the eyes of the only God

They told me that I was nothing

He told me that he would protect me

They swear that I can trust them

I don't

How can I believe in something, in a world where faith isn't optional?"
  0 votes, 0.0%

The Host by Stephenie Meyer
2008, 625 pages, 3.84 stars
$7.99 Kindle, cheap used copies, definitely at library

πŸ‘ Image


"Melanie Stryder refuses to fade away. The earth has been invaded by a species that take over the minds of human hosts while leaving their bodies intact. Wanderer, the invading "soul" who has been given Melanie's body, didn't expect to find its former tenant refusing to relinquish possession of her mind.

As Melanie fills Wanderer's thoughts with visions of Jared, a human who still lives in hiding, Wanderer begins to yearn for a man she's never met. Reluctant allies, Wanderer and Melanie set off to search for the man they both love."
  0 votes, 0.0%

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics posts views last activity  
Fantasy Book Club: πŸ‘ This topic has been closed to new comments.
What are you reading in March?
72 382 Mar 29, 2009 05:36PM
Beyond Reality: πŸ‘ This topic has been closed to new comments.
Nominations for July
23 243 Apr 19, 2009 08:25AM
Beyond Reality: πŸ‘ This topic has been closed to new comments.
Welcome to May!
1 56 May 01, 2009 10:10AM
Beyond Reality: So who are your favorites? 49 780 May 21, 2009 08:24AM
Beyond Reality: πŸ‘ This topic has been closed to new comments.
Welcome to June!
1 40 Jun 01, 2009 08:59AM
SciFi and Fantasy...: What I am also reading in April 40 403 Jun 30, 2009 07:43PM
Beyond Reality: πŸ‘ This topic has been closed to new comments.
What are you reading right now?
175 518 Jul 01, 2009 01:34AM
Challenge: 50 Books: Evan's 50 for 2009 42 726 Sep 08, 2009 11:24AM
Beyond Reality: πŸ‘ This topic has been closed to new comments.
Nominations for March!
30 69 Dec 21, 2009 09:06AM
The Lucid Garden: Welcomes and Whatnot 4 51 Mar 12, 2010 12:04PM
πŸ‘ 1218
The Next Best Book Club β€” 26092 members β€” last activity Apr 06, 2026 03:56PM
Are you searching for the NEXT best book? Are you willing to kiss all your spare cash goodbye? Are you easily distracted by independent bookshops, bi Are you searching for the NEXT best book? Are you willing to kiss all your spare cash goodbye? Are you easily distracted by independent bookshops, big name book stores, and library or used book sales? Are your bookshelves currently a little tight of space? Joining this group is highly addictive. In a matter of weeks, your TBR list will be longer than you are tall, you will be wondering how the heck you walked into a bookstore for one little book, and walked out with two bags crammed full of new novels you never knew you wanted. Your bookshelves will be bursting at the seams and you wont remember what color the rug was as it will be buried under all the new purchases you have made! We are not here to hold you back, or pat your hand as you try to be strong and cut back on your purchases. We will be rallying behind you, chanting your name as you enter the bookstore, and we will throw a book-party in your honor when you come back and share all the wonderful new books youve adopted with us! I would love for you to follow TNBBC on Facebook and Twitter!!! And be sure to check out book reviews and special indie series and spotlights on TheNextBestBookBlog.blogspot.com. ****Effective Immediately - Due to blantant misuse and a disregard of group rules and guidelines, we will no longer allow self promotion of books. Creation of threads to promote your work will lead to deletion of posts and blocked membership. ...more
πŸ‘ 1865
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club β€” 42368 members β€” last activity 1 hour, 49 min ago
Hi there! SFFBC is a welcoming place for readers to share their love of speculative fiction through group reads, buddy reads, challenges, Hi there! SFFBC is a welcoming place for readers to share their love of speculative fiction through group reads, buddy reads, challenges, and lively conversation. Introduce yourself, see Current Events for info about what's happening, and if you have other questions, please see Everything you need to know (Rules). ...more
πŸ‘ 74958
Book Keeping β€” 132 members β€” last activity Mar 18, 2021 12:44PM
Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Sarah Crichton Books / FSG present Book Keeping, a readers' community. Join us for discussions, author chats, and giveaw Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Sarah Crichton Books / FSG present Book Keeping, a readers' community. Join us for discussions, author chats, and giveaways of our favorite new books! For more bookish goodies and FSG exclusives, visit www.fsgbookkeeping.com. ...more
Comments (showing 1-4)    post a comment Β»
dateπŸ‘ Down arrow
   newest Β»

message 4: by Sandy

πŸ‘ Sandy Parsons
WTG Jeff! I loved Annihilation. Couldn't stop reading. I was totally captivated.


πŸ‘ Niederberger
This image gave me flashbacks to your Southern Reach trilogy (which I DEVOURED in a few short weeks!). Hope you enjoy:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marcoor...


πŸ‘ Christine Hatfield
Thanks for being my friend


message 1: by Fran

πŸ‘ Fran Friel
Happy Tuesday, Jeff!


back to top

Add a reference:

Search for a book to add a reference

add:    link cover


add:    link photo







Welcome back. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account.

πŸ‘ Login animation