The Strange Bird

I often find I'm not as into spin-off short stories and novellas, but this is a rare exception. I wouldn't recommend reading it if you haven't read “Borne,” but it also only has to do with Borne on the periphery. It's Vandermeer at his weird, bio-tech best, weird and wonderful with rich language and challenging perspectives, and it adds to the Borne universe in unexpected ways.

I love Vandermeer's prose. He's fast becoming one of my favourite writers. And his stories are always compelling, his vision of our possible future scary and somehow beautiful.

I had a difficult time connecting with Jeff VanderMeer's Borne, so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this novella set in the same world. The Strange Bird herself is an odd amalgamation – part bird, part human, part machine, part other. She's sentient and self-aware, but ultimately disoriented. Her understanding of the world is fragmented, much like the composition of her body. 

The way VanderMeer describes bird flight in the story is evocative and beautiful. His love and appreciation for birds and their characteristics is obvious (check out his Twitter feed for further confirmation).

Overall, The Strange Bird is a moving and haunting story that reignited my interest in this world in anticipation of Borne's pseudo-sequel, Dead Astronauts, next on my to-read list.

http://spikegelato.com/2019/12/11/review-the-strange-bird

Gut wrenching and sad, was surprised by how much emotion is in it for it being a novella.

i like the bird

Beautifully Strange

This Kindle Single was unlike anything I've read before and am likely to read after, at least until I crack open Borne itself. It's hard to categorize this into a single genre, though I suppose the setting and topics land it closest to sci fi. Highly enjoyable if you can suspend yourself in the narrative and evocative environments.