Veniss Underground - Gatti Ninja

No cover — Jeff VanderMeer: Veniss Underground (2005, Bantam Books)

278 pages

English language

Published Jan. 5, 2005 by Bantam Books.

OCLC Number:: 58919916

(1 review)

In his debut novel, literary alchemist Jeff VanderMeer takes us on an unforgettable journey, a triumph of the imagination that reveals the magical and mysterious city of Veniss through three intertwined voices. First, Nicholas, a would-be Living Artist, seeks to escape his demons in the shadowy underground--but in doing so makes a deal with the devil himself. In her fevered search for him, his twin sister, Nicola, spins her own unusual and hypnotic tale as she discovers the hidden secrets of the city. And finally, haunted by Nicola's sudden, mysterious disappearance and gripped by despair, Shadrach, Nicola's lover, embarks on a mythic journey to the nightmarish levels deep beneath the surface of the city to bring his love back to light. There he will find wonders beyond imagining...and horrors greater than the heart can bear. By turns beautiful, horrifying, delicate, and powerful, Veniss Underground explores the limits of love, memory, …

In his debut novel, literary alchemist Jeff VanderMeer takes us on an unforgettable journey, a triumph of the imagination that reveals the magical and mysterious city of Veniss through three intertwined voices. First, Nicholas, a would-be Living Artist, seeks to escape his demons in the shadowy underground--but in doing so makes a deal with the devil himself. In her fevered search for him, his twin sister, Nicola, spins her own unusual and hypnotic tale as she discovers the hidden secrets of the city. And finally, haunted by Nicola's sudden, mysterious disappearance and gripped by despair, Shadrach, Nicola's lover, embarks on a mythic journey to the nightmarish levels deep beneath the surface of the city to bring his love back to light. There he will find wonders beyond imagining...and horrors greater than the heart can bear. By turns beautiful, horrifying, delicate, and powerful, Veniss Underground explores the limits of love, memory, and obsession in a landscape that defies the boundaries of the imagination. This special edition includes the short stories "The Sea, Mendeho, and Moonlight"; "Detectives and Cadavers"; and "A Heart for Lucretia" and the novella Balzac's War, offering a complete tour of the fantastic world of Veniss.From the Trade Paperback edition.

3 editions

screamsbeneath reviewed Veniss Underground by Jeff VanderMeer

Narration is World Class

5 stars

The stories are what you'd expect from VanderMeer. I enjoyed going back to beginning of his writing career after having already read the majority of his works. So many of the spores that colonize the other novels can be found growing and mutating within the grotesquely beautiful new weird landscape of Veniss.

Bronson Pinchot absolutely nailed their portion of the narration. He was fantastic in his parts for Ambergris and Area X, but this was next level. Just when I was feeling completely lost in the incomprehensibly weird atmospheres of Veniss, the narration allowed me to feel my way into an understanding that my logical mind just couldn't fit into.

Subjects

Civilization, Subterranean -- Fiction.
Regression (Civilization) -- Fiction.
Animal experimentation -- Fiction.
Genetic engineering -- Fiction.
Underground areas -- Fiction.