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Roll call! Who's reading Borne with me? Buel....buddies? Buddies?

I plan to join

I own it and have it on my schedule.

Read this last year, so I'll follow the discussion. Interested to see what people think.

Meredith wrote: "Read this last year, so I'll follow the discussion. Interested to see what people think."

Same!

Sounds good, team!

I am encouraged by the fact that Meredith gave it five stars and Kristin four ;)

I'm in!

I liked Borne too and will also lurk. There's a decent companion novella that goes with it- The Strange Bird: A Borne Story. It can be read in one sitting in case anyone wanted to check it out. It sheds more light on the back story but I think is meant to be read after the book.

The Strange Bird was lovely, but I agree, it should be read after Borne.

Good to know, thanks!

I'm in. This will be my first on-line 'buddy read'. Looking forward to it.

I’m in. Borne is one of the books on my “read it this year�� shelf, so this buddy read is great timing.

Glad you both could join this, Petar and Tina. It will be my first book from the author.

Silvana wrote: "Glad you both could join this, Petar and Tina. It will be my first book from the author."

Thanks Silvana. The Southern Reach trilogy is a favourite of mine. I'm trying not to let my expectations get too high about Borne. It does sound markedly different to Southern Reach.

I started early, only 6% so far and really liked the imageries of the biotech-laden post-apocalyptic world. I wonder how big the Company was.

20%
Borne is... (view spoiler)[Cute. 😆 The word plays and the tongue twister! (hide spoiler)]

I am liking the book so far. The world is fleshed out bit by bit but still satisfying. Even though we (view spoiler)[are in Rachel's head most of the time, I do not feel bored or annoyed. I find myself wondering about her country of origin. (hide spoiler)]

Silvana wrote: "20%
Borne is... [spoilers removed]

I am liking the book so far. The world is fleshed out bit by bit but still satisfying. Even though we [spoilers removed]"

I felt the exact same way about Borne. If I was Rachel (view spoiler)[I would have kept him as a pet too. (hide spoiler)]

I just started this one. 4 whole pages in.

First impression: Wow this one just dives straight into the weirdness right from page one. For some reason I was expecting a bit of a slower build-up to get to this level of completely strange stuff. It’ll be interesting to see where this goes, but it’s almost too bizarre already.

I'm only about 12% in ATM but really enjoying it so far. I really like Vandermeer's style. He's evocative and engaging, and he creates mystery very effectively by teasing things out slowly.

Early days but so far so good.

@Tina: yep it just went total weird in no time. Have you read any of his works so far? Or other New Weird authors?

@Petar: I totally agree, evocative is a good way to describe the writing. And the slow reveals are infused experty, so we don't have many long info dumps.

I am at 55% already (sorry! It is such an easy read!) 😆, and it is still great. End of part II was particularly (view spoiler)[heartbreaking. I felt bad for both Borne and Rachel. (hide spoiler)]

Mord (the woodcut) meets a capybara:

Silvana wrote: "@Tina: yep it just went total weird in no time. Have you read any of his works so far? Or other New Weird authors?.."

Not so much new weird. But I read the annihilation/area x trilogy and really enjoyed it. That sort of built up a bit before it was at the level of strangeness this one starts at. There was definitely weird stuff right from the beginning but it was sort of low level weird that eased you in a bit before it got to the really bonkers stuff.

Tina wrote: "Silvana wrote: "@Tina: yep it just went total weird in no time. Have you read any of his works so far? Or other New Weird authors?.."

Not so much new weird. But I read the annihilation/area x tril..."

I see. I guess I need to read Annihilation one day as you guys seem to enjoy it.

Speaking of bonkers, I like the term bonkers-SFF. Maybe I should have a special shelf in ŷ������ with that title....

I'm trying not to read your spoilery bits until I catch up Silvana :-)

Agree with Tina, Annihilation ratcheted up the weirdness a bit slower than Borne, but the writing style is still very similar. I dare say if you're enjoying Borne, Silvana, then I reckon you'll like the Southern Reach as well.

Maybe having watched Annihilation I expected something else but to me it seems rather young adult-ish. It’s a bit juvenile or simplistic. I’m a little bored to be honest :(

The movie is wildly different from the book.

Re: annihilation
Neither juvenile or simply would describe the books at ALL. I do think the end of the movie is...well a travesty. Defeats the whole point imo. Also giving the characters their names defeats the purpose of the first book!


Ok rant over,

Hmm I remember watching it for Oscar Isaac and Nat Portman and yet it was totally forgettable except for the weird wrestling scene.

Rachel, I haven't read Annihilation, only seen the movie, and that's certainly not juvenile but eerily dark and gorgeous, and that's what I was expecting of Borne as well but it's light and feels to me like YA and yes also juvenile.

Annihilation the movie was not a complicated story either, in fact it was rather simple and even though it was beautiful I agree with Silvana that it was forgettable. Not enough meat on it to keep me interested.

But I digress, my comment was only meant to be about Borne.

Rachel wrote: "Re: annihilation
Neither juvenile or simply would describe the books at ALL. I do think the end of the movie is...well a travesty. Defeats the whole point imo. Also giving the characters their nam..."

Seconding everything about this. Especially the names. The movie while I enjoyed it for what it was because it's totally my kind of movie, made me really mad. Simple things could have made it better, the names being a big one.

Dawn wrote: "Rachel, I haven't read Annihilation, only seen the movie, and that's certainly not juvenile but eerily dark and gorgeous, and that's what I was expecting of Borne as well but it's light and feels t..."

Hmm.. what feels juvenile to you about it Dawn? I didn't get that feeling at all from Borne. I think if you push through to the end you might feel differently but I felt like Borne gave the reader a lot to think about.

Sarah wrote: "Hmm.. what feels juvenile to you about it Dawn? I didn't get that feeling at all from Borne. I think if you push through to the end you might feel differently but I felt like Borne gave the reader a lot to think about. ."

Well, Borne, the creature, is a kid throwing tantrums constantly, and has childish arguments with Rachael, who is just as childish responding to him. In fact all arguments between any of them including Wick is childish. Furthermore I guess maybe Rachael is supposed to "raise" Borne? but they never discuss anything of substance, in fact all the dialog is shallow without any real meaning. Rachael, Wick and Borne are just annoyingly childish and jealous when they talk to each other, I feel like I'm in kindergarten. The plot doesn't really give it any depth either, it's like reading a children's book where every danger is over in minutes and no one was never really in any danger so I never really sense any peril.

I'll keep reading, though, and hope for that major plot twist that turns everything on its head :P

Dawn I can see that. I do remember the arguing between Rachel and wick specifically growing a little tiresome.

Sarah wrote: "Dawn I can see that. I do remember the arguing between Rachel and wick specifically growing a little tiresome."

Yeah, I think I could bear with it better if I was just following Borne as he grew and experienced the world on his own.

I can't believe I almost forgot about this one, because I've been wanting to read it for a while, and it will be my first book by this author. I have it downloaded and I can start today. I will be busy tonight but hopefully I will at least make a bit of headway.

Interesting. I have not paid attention to Wick and Rachel's stuff (view spoiler)[since maybe I just thought of it as a background for Borne's development, giving more conflict, creating unease on Rachel's side and so on. (hide spoiler)]

I am curious, where are you at right now, Dawn? There were at least two moments I read so far that were pretty horrifying/distubing and the scare never really fade away after that.

I too however would like to have Borne's own POV. He reminds me of Temeraire from Naomi Novik's Temeraire series a bit, the way he learned everything and interaction with his 'parent'.

Bobby wrote: "I can't believe I almost forgot about this one, because I've been wanting to read it for a while, and it will be my first book by this author. I have it downloaded and I can start today. I will be ..."

We'll be here :)

I am about a third of the way in. Enjoying the weird child/animal-friend motif.

I am reminded of a couple of short stories. The title makes me think of Richard Matheson's "Born of Man and Woman." Perhaps Rachel and Borne could have gone down that road, but I'm glad they didn't. Another short story is by Sarah Monette (who also wrote The Goblin Emperor under a pen name); the title character is what it is through love and stories - especially "Rikki Tikki Tavi."

I started it and only like 10% in and a like it so far

I'm at around 70%. Rachel was one depressed soul, wasn't she. (view spoiler)[she was so shaken with what Borne did she even kind of losing her identity a bit and consider herself as a ghost. At least she was not that suicidal yet. (hide spoiler)]

Wick (view spoiler)[I guess we will know about that letter at the end. Such a tease. (hide spoiler)]

Mord (view spoiler)[while not a surprise I'd really wanna know how a human can transform into that form. And whyever a bear? With wings? Not very aerodynamic 😅

For a moment I thought Borne saved Rachel and Wick in the close call with Mord. But looks like it was only Wick. Maybe we'll still get Borne vs Mord showdown later? (hide spoiler)]

Chris wrote: "I am about a third of the way in. Enjoying the weird child/animal-friend motif.

I am reminded of a couple of short stories. The title makes me think of Richard Matheson's "Born of Man and Woman." ..."

Ooh Kipling! Thanks for the short story rec.

I'm 12% in and I like it. This is one crazy world, but I'm loving the weirdness. I'm really interested in seeing more of how Borne develops.

Finished. Part III (view spoiler)[was a teensy bit dragging for me in some parts. (hide spoiler)]

Wick (view spoiler)[that's quite a surprise for me to know he was an AI biotech made by the company. The thoughts about personhood is interesting. I still want to know why the Company made lots of him though. (hide spoiler)]

Borne (view spoiler)[finally had that awaited showdown with Mort and while predictable the ending of the fight was so sad. I am glad Rachel still cared for him and get to channel her nurturing side with others (hide spoiler)]

Magician (view spoiler)[I was expecting more from her character but apparently she was there only to act as a counterbalance to Mord and someone who Wick gave Rachel's memory to. Her ending was pretty meh to me. Why did she follow Rachel and Wick everywhere anyway? (hide spoiler)]

All in all, a solid four stars. I will definitely read more from the author.

I'm at about 33%.

(view spoiler)[We're getting more and more world building, and it's still really interesting with strange bio engineered animals that perform certain tasks. I still want to know who the company is, Mord's origins, and what happened to the world to bring it to this state.

Borne is fun with his childlike state right now. The descriptions with the way he changes form is really interesting. It's a bit hard to imagine all of his shape changes in my head, but they are descriptive enough that I have a basic idea of what he looks like.

I feel like there's going to be a lot about the Magician later, and I'm really curious to see what that's all about (hide spoiler)]

Silvana wrote: "Finished. Part III [spoilers removed]

Wick [spoilers removed]"

While your interpretation is most likely right, I ain't completely sure that (view spoiler)[Wick is AI. His unwillingness to be seen as a person maybe due to his dehumanization by the Company. We see half-made 'items' with Wick's face, but they can be made on the basis or a real person. And his insistence to hold Mord's hand speaks about 'human' feelings. So can he be a scientist, who lost and than found his humanity/personhood? (hide spoiler)]

Oleksandr wrote: "Silvana wrote: "Finished. Part III [spoilers removed]

Wick [spoilers removed]"

While your interpretation is most likely right, I ain't completely sure that [spoilers removed]"

Oh, I did not think of that. I like that scenario as well.
(view spoiler)[Mord on the other hand completely lost his humanity even though he's confirmed as actual human at first.

You know what, it crossed my mind that Wick was his own fish project LOL (hide spoiler)]

The company is one effed up organization, full with Doctor Moreaus and worse.....Though I'd love to read more biotech SF, any suggestion?

Silvana wrote: "Though I'd love to read more biotech SF, any suggestion? "

Maybe less visceral bio-tech stuff but:
This monthly read Planetfall, has bionic artifact God's city
Monthly read in another group (which you have joined) is God's War, which the author positions as a bugpunk
Last year group read Rosewater
and one you are just over with but if others are interested - Semiosis

Semiosis is biotech? The plants and animals looked pretty natural to me.
I have Planetfall and Rosewater in my maybe list so that's great.

Silvana wrote: "Semiosis is biotech?"

It is definitely bio :) and the fact that plant's characteristics are (view spoiler)[changed in sentient artificial way to serve new purposes by the bamboo (hide spoiler)] seems falls under this definition

I’m gonna DNF this one.

I finished part one and put the book down for a few days. Picking it up just now I realize I just really have no interest in finishing it. I am just bored of being in Rachel’s head, and the random weird stuff just isn’t enough to make me keep going.