Rachel and Wick are doing all they can to survive in the Balcony Cliffs in this new dystopian earth. When scavenging on Mord’s giant body, Rachel finds Borne. As Rachel becomes maternal towards Borne and Wick becomes suspicious, their survival may start to crumble away. Will their safety be compromised or heightened with Borne in tow?
One word to describe Borne is weird. It took me a lot longer than expected to read this book as I had to get my head around the world, the history, and Borne himself. The book starts off wondering what and who is Borne straight away. Throughout the book it’s a looming question over the action and excitement. The advanced bio-technology throughout the book was wonderfully described. I felt entranced by this desolate yet advanced society and how they had learnt to survive.
Balcony Cliffs reminded me a lot of a rabbit den, full of twists, turns and traps. When within it’s walls, there was a sense of home even through the clutter. Vandermeer perfectly writes about a dystopian world which feels real. Although it was highly outlandish, there was also an underlying feeling of a threat. It was as if there was always a possibility of walking round a corner into the arms of an enemy.
There’s multiple antagonists within Borne. There’s the company created Mord and then a shadowy figure called the Magician. These two also oppose one another. We learn about the Magician as the book progresses but I wish we had known a bit more about Mord. We only get small glimpses into the giant bears past and creation.
The only negative thing about Borne was that we spent a lot of time watching him grow up. Although this time hinted forward at future instances, it could have skipped ahead without too much confusion. It added to my read time as I kept putting it down. But overall it’s a good book which I would gladly read again to pick up on missed hints for future chapters.
I received Borne* by Jeff Vandermeer as an e-book from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review.
