Veniss Underground [Paperback]

A timely and cautionary tale regarding the manipulation of genetics...a marvellous trip into a future world... --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

"A magnificently phantasmagoric account of an epic journey of discovery. It is rare to find such intense visual imagery combined with such a fast-paced and far-reaching narrative, and the alloy is as hectically exciting as it is luminously brilliant. Brian Stableford "A dark, phantasmagoric tale... that echoes Dante's Divine Comedy, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the landscapes of Hieronymus Bosch" PUBLISHERS WEEKLY --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Five stars! VanderMeer is a major author to watch. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

A strange, enigmatic and wonderful tale. Highly recommended. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Darkly compelling. Not to be missed! --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

An outstanding first novel brimming with startling ideas made unpleasant flesh by VanderMeer’s deliciously decadent prose. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Jeff VanderMeer’s last book, City of Saints & Madmen, explored the limits of literary fantasy, garnering raves from critics, including a starred review in Publishers Weekly. Now, with Veniss Und

On a far-future Earth, where vast deserts - ecological disaster areas - surround walled city-states slowly losing their grip on advanced technology, the mysterious Quin manipulates biological engineering to create sentient species as both toys and manual labour. When Nicholas, a failed holo artist, decides to visit Quin, he - along with his programmer sister Nicola and her former lover, Shadrach - will discover just how dangerous it is to know Quin -- in the place known as Veniss Underground. 'Visionary episodes come thicker and faster, and at times the author only barely controls his own invention ... The denouement is as powerful as any I have read' MICHAEL MOORCOCK, Guardian 'An outstanding first novel brimming with startling ideas' Scotsman 'A dark, phantasmagoric tale that echoes Dante's Divine Comedy, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the landscapes of Hieronymus Bosch' Publishers Weekly --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

I was recently very pleased that two of my favorite writers blurbed Veniss:

Veniss Underground is a darkly beautiful and genuinely nightmarish tale which takes the established ground of dystopian SF by storm and twists it into something utterly new. Jeff VanderMeer has little time for the conventions of a coherent futuristic world; instead, characters of almost mythic simplicity and power stalk a landscape that owes as much to Hieronymous Bosch and Salvador Dali as it does to SF mavericks like J G Ballard or Simon Ings. Cataclysmic external events rub shoulders with brooding personal self examination and intense, dislocated moments of beauty and terror that are nothing short of dreamlike. Warning: do not take hallucinogenic drugs whilst reading VanderMeer's work; it simply won't be necessary. Yup, it's that good.
Richard Morgan, author of Altered Carbon

A striking and unusual blend of wonders. Stark, intricate and gripping, Veniss Underground takes the reader on a moving journey through a world which is endlessly surprising.
Ian R. MacLeod, author of The Light Ages --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Jeff VanderMeer, a winner of the World Fantasy Award, has seen his fiction published in over twenty different countries -- including the highly praised City of Saints & Madmen, also published in the UK by Tor. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.