Shriek: An Afterword [Unabridged] [Paperback]

'It is, in short, exactly the sort of book which ought to be in contention for major literary prizes' -- Birmingham Post and Western Mail

'Shriek is a fantastic book, and a fantastical one.' -- Birmingham Post and Western Mail

'the...following he has is bound to expand on the strength of this atmospheric novel.' -- The Times

Narrated with flamboyant intensity by one-time society figure Janice Shriek, and presenting a vivid gallery of strange characters and even stranger events, this is an account of the adventures of her brother Duncan, a historian obsessed with a doomed love affair and a dark secret that may kill or transform him. It involves, too, a war between rival publishing houses which threatens to change Ambergris forever, and rivalry with a marginalised race known as the “grey caps” who, armed with advanced fungal technologies, wait underground for their chance to recover the city that was once theirs. This story of the family Shriek is an exotic and colourful novel of love, life and death which brings to fruition the author’s genius for capturing the truly weird. ‘Unsettling, erudite, dark, shot through with unexpected humour. Ambergris is one of my favourite haunts in fiction’ CHINA MIÉVILLE, author of Perdido Street Station

Jeff VanderMeer is a two-time winner of the World Fantasy Award, and author of Veniss Underground and City of Saints & Madmen.