Dead Astronauts: A Novel
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- Create Date：2020-12-02 04:10:48
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jeff VanderMeer
- ISBN：9781250758217
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Editor Reviews
Praise for Dead Astronauts
"[A] darkly transcendent novel filled with phantasmagoric visions， body horror and tortured beings traversing a blasted desert hellscape 。 。 。 terrifying and so compelling。"
CHELSEA LEU， The New York Times Book Review
"A Mobius strip of a novel， with each chapter containing worlds upon nested worlds， all of them dreamlike and dark。 In this shattered landscape， VanderMeer explores urgent ideas about capitalism， greed， and natural destruction。"
ADRIENNE WESTENFELD， Esquire
"VanderMeer is a master of literary science fiction， and this may be his best book yet。"
Kirkus （starred review）
"For any adventurous fan of sci-fi， fantasy， and/or horror， this book offers not only a rewarding read but， like， a thing to possess。"
ROBIN SLOAN， author of Sourdough
Praise for Jeff VanderMeer
“Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy was an ever-creeping map of the apocalypse; with Borne he continues his investigation into the malevolent grace of the world， and it’s a thorough marvel。”
COLSON WHITEHEAD， author of Nickel Boys
“Creepy and fascinating。”
STEPHEN KING， on The Southern Reach Trilogy
“[Jeff VanderMeer] makes the horrific beautiful。”
NISI SHAWL， The Seattle Times， on Annihilation
“Unsettling and un-put-down-ablelike an old-fashioned adventure story， only weirder， beautifully written and not at all old-fashioned。”
KAREN JOY FOWLER， BookPage， on Annihilation
“More than just a horror novel; there’s something Poe-like in this tightening， increasingly paranoid focus。 But where Poe kept his most vicious blows relatively oblique， VanderMeer drives them deepalbeit in a corkscrewing way that is not less cruel and exquisite。”
N。K。 JEMISIN， The New York Times Book Review， on Authority
Reviews
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Jo Sé
，
I can admit in advance， I’m a huge fan of Jeff Vandermeer’s work。 Borne and the Southern Reach Trilogy are some of my favourite sci-fi books of all time， so I was extremely surprised and worried when I started to read this and noticed the current rating on GoodReads。 3。36/5 is pretty poor in anyone’s mind， so you can imagine my thoughts。 Has Vandermeer’s writing quality fallen off a cliff？ Has he gone too far？ There are plenty of negative reviews here， but what I notice is most complain about al I can admit in advance， I’m a huge fan of Jeff Vandermeer’s work。 Borne and the Southern Reach Trilogy are some of my favourite sci-fi books of all time， so I was extremely surprised and worried when I started to read this and noticed the current rating on GoodReads。 3。36/5 is pretty poor in anyone’s mind， so you can imagine my thoughts。 Has Vandermeer’s writing quality fallen off a cliff？ Has he gone too far？ There are plenty of negative reviews here， but what I notice is most complain about almost anything except “I just didn’t understand it” and a lot of those reasons don’t make sense which makes me think a large volume of the negative reviews blame other things because they just don’t want to admit “I didn’t understand it”。What makes me think that is my own reading experience。 For about the first third of the book I had no idea what was going on， the prose was the same as usual， exceptional， but I couldn’t penetrate exactly what was going on。 Who are the astronauts？ What is their mission？ The duck， the blue Fox， Charlie X， there seemed to be no threads linking them in a coherent plot。 I went back and reread the first third thinking I’d missed something， and lo and behold I had。 All of a sudden the whole story opened up to me like a flower blooming at dawn。 Even when we start to see the story through the eyes of other than the astronauts， even when the narrative became fractured by versions， I had a grasp and understanding。 But that for me is one of the best things about Dead Astronauts， the narrative is like an eel， even once the penny drops it’s like trying to hold into an eel and that is the point， you’re experiencing what the different people and creatures are with their minds fractured from their drifting through times and realities。 The melding of minds when， for example， one Chen kills another reality’s Chen， it’s explained how they feel stronger after defeating themselves which shows that once they defeat that reality’s version they become that version alongside all other defeated versions。 Which is the original version？ That’s something we’ll never know。 The best way I could explain this book to someone who’s yet to read it？ Watch every episode of Rick and Morty， multiverses and inter dimensional travel are explained in lay terms rather than having to study string theory etc。 5* for me， upgraded from 4* after 24 hrs to digest and unpack everything。 Don’t bother with Dead Astronauts if you’re a reader who doesn’t like to work for their payoff。 。。。more
Audrey Hacker
，
This is just， not for me。。。。。 it always takes me a little bit longer to read vandermeer’s work， Because it often makes me feel like I’m taking the SAT or GRE。 This was written to be incomprehensible， and although I really enjoyed the characters， and where the story was going， it just was too much
Matěj Málek
，
“For what had a fox been but what a human thought it was？”Dead Astronauts is an exercise in xenoracionality， ungraspability of certain things and futility of language。 It’s a description of ecological collapse and inevitability of change。 Where Borne merely touched on those topics， Dead Astronauts dive deep and almost disregard reader’s comfort while doing it。 Otherwise， I believe， its goals would be almost impossible to achieve。The storyline is somewhat blurred， submerged even and the bulk of t “For what had a fox been but what a human thought it was？”Dead Astronauts is an exercise in xenoracionality， ungraspability of certain things and futility of language。 It’s a description of ecological collapse and inevitability of change。 Where Borne merely touched on those topics， Dead Astronauts dive deep and almost disregard reader’s comfort while doing it。 Otherwise， I believe， its goals would be almost impossible to achieve。The storyline is somewhat blurred， submerged even and the bulk of the book concentrates on non-human， barely human and partly human actors of the Borne universe。 Where Stanisław Lem approached similar entities with modernist thinking and uncovered its shortcomings in doing so， VanderMeer tries to give them their own voice。 Their consciousness and thought processes are so foreign， so difficult to understand that human language must inherently fall short of providing perfect translation。 In trying to approximate thinking of those strange creatures the writing often becomes complex， poetic， tangled， almost layered upon itself and uniquely beautiful。 Dead Astronauts reward slow and attentive reading， rereading and also require of its readers certain knowledge of what they are getting into。 Only then can the pieces fall into place with the satisfying click。 With that in mind， beware， the book can be challenging but rewards persistence with remarkable insight into post-anthropocentric thinking。 And that’s brilliant。 。。。more
Scott
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A truly mind-bending， bizarre trip。 Readers will hate it， or love it。 Those who read it as sci-fi poetry with an obscure narrative that leaves a hallucinogenic buzz - that type of reader will not be disappointed。
Ben
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Mesmerizing。 It’s very confusing， but somehow really compelling and I couldn’t stop reading - even when I wasn’t fully sure what was happening in the plot。 The writing style is something I’ve never seen before and that was a good thing， a hypnotic thing。 Hypnotic and mesmerizing and fragmented。 To me those are the best words to describe the experience。
Max
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This one is challenging to review。 The first few times I picked it up， I ended up putting it down。 Much of it is written in deep abstraction， in poetic circuitous prose that slips through your fingers and evades your grasp。 Some of it making sense， in its own nonsense sort of way。 Understanding skirting on your mind’s periphery。 Like a dream。 Or a trip on shrooms。 When that occurred to me， I restarted the book with the mindset that I would just let it happen to me。 Let it make its own sense， lik This one is challenging to review。 The first few times I picked it up， I ended up putting it down。 Much of it is written in deep abstraction， in poetic circuitous prose that slips through your fingers and evades your grasp。 Some of it making sense， in its own nonsense sort of way。 Understanding skirting on your mind’s periphery。 Like a dream。 Or a trip on shrooms。 When that occurred to me， I restarted the book with the mindset that I would just let it happen to me。 Let it make its own sense， like a dream or nightmare or psychedelic drug trip。 I’d stop rereading over and over trying to make perfect sense of each line。 I sound like a pretentious asshole writing all that， and what comes in the rest of this review will probably make me sound like I have my head further up my own ass than this book does。 But letting the book “happen to me” truly enhanced my enjoyment and， dare I say， understanding of it。 Sentences might not make sense。 But paragraphs and pages would start to。 Chapters would。 The whole started to （at least in some part）。This book was very experimental。 And self indulgent。 A blank check sort of book that would be hard to get published if you didn’t have so much success with your previous titles。 I don’t think it’s for everyone。 At times I’m not sure if it was for me。 And I wouldn’t call it a total success， because it is so truly slippery that parts of it have already begun flitting away from my mind like trying to remember a dream。 Some parts felt like a slog。 Its disjointed chronology makes an already hard to follow story nearly impossible to piece together。 It’s filled with Danielewski-esque notations， hinting at which “Version” of reality you’re reading， which suggest the tempting thought that there’s a code to be broken， but trying to break it made me frustrated。 Despite that nebulousness， and feeling that it really wasn’t a good book in a traditional sense， I cannot deny the experience I had with it: That I was emotionally moved in a deep way by it， in some cases to tears， multiple times。 That reading parts of it aloud made me feel like I was living in a different mind or body， with different senses。 That it made me hold my cat close to my heart。 That it made me thirst to reconnect with the world， both people and nature， to get lost in it。 That it kept me up at night because I legitimately dreamt of foxes and skulls and space in anxious and colorful loops。 Much like his short “The World Is Full Of Monsters” this book feels like living as something else。 If you’ve read Borne and Strange Bird， and don’t mind the idea of abject abstractness ， you should give this one a shot。 。。。more
Bec
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★★★★★ | 5 Stars
Jennifer
，
I am not really sure I completely understand。 I see that we are all dead astronauts to some degree， roaming around waiting for our planet to die。 But the thing is。。。no matter what terrible things The Company does， the planet does not die。 Things are just different。 This did not grab me in the same way that Borne did。 I appreciate the story for Moss， Chen and Grayson。 I also liked the homeless woman's story。 I would say if you have read the author sother novels， this novel will carry more weight I am not really sure I completely understand。 I see that we are all dead astronauts to some degree， roaming around waiting for our planet to die。 But the thing is。。。no matter what terrible things The Company does， the planet does not die。 Things are just different。 This did not grab me in the same way that Borne did。 I appreciate the story for Moss， Chen and Grayson。 I also liked the homeless woman's story。 I would say if you have read the author sother novels， this novel will carry more weight for you。 If this if your first read， I say go to the beginning Annihilation。 And then read Borne， there is also a short story ， The Strange Bird: A Borne Story。 It was kinda sad。 sigh。 。。。more
Amy
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So I read this book。 Took me almost a month。 Some of it was repetitive， like when the same few sentences were repeated literally for pages。 It is sort of like looking at high fashion or really fancy plates of food， you know the ones that have half a bite of food and cost more than I make in a day， that I see and am like I don't get it。 I really didn't understand what was going on most of the book or the ending。 I just don't get it。 I don't know if it would have helped if I read the first book。 E So I read this book。 Took me almost a month。 Some of it was repetitive， like when the same few sentences were repeated literally for pages。 It is sort of like looking at high fashion or really fancy plates of food， you know the ones that have half a bite of food and cost more than I make in a day， that I see and am like I don't get it。 I really didn't understand what was going on most of the book or the ending。 I just don't get it。 I don't know if it would have helped if I read the first book。 Even though I read another book in the Borne series that I also didn't understand I read this because it was a short book and I really loved the Southern Reach trilogy。 Although I didn't enjoy the book I hate giving it a 1 star since so many other people give it over 4。 It makes me feel like I'm just a simpleton who just doesn't get it， and I definitely didn't。 。。。more
Corvus
，
I totally understand why some readers did not like this。 It is certainly not for everyone。 Although， I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence as one reviewer mentioned I think it's just straight up taste and preference。 If you're not into bizarre， repetitive stream of consciousness sort of writing often coming from inside the minds of genetically and mechanically altered beings in a dystopian hellscape， then maybe this isn't for you。 At times it almost felt like listening to some av I totally understand why some readers did not like this。 It is certainly not for everyone。 Although， I don't think it has anything to do with intelligence as one reviewer mentioned I think it's just straight up taste and preference。 If you're not into bizarre， repetitive stream of consciousness sort of writing often coming from inside the minds of genetically and mechanically altered beings in a dystopian hellscape， then maybe this isn't for you。 At times it almost felt like listening to some avant garde track with lyrics and a chorus。Personally， I enjoyed this a lot。 It's definitely the most sort of scatterbrained book of Jeff Vandermeer's that I have read/listened to。 I would have given it five stars， but I do think it's suffered a bit in the last big chunk with an organizational issue that is not an artistic one。 It's difficult to explain other than that。 。。。more
Justin Faull
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A psychedelic fever dream exploring the collective trauma that the natural world suffers from at the hands of humanity。 At times it's ambitious to a fault— but never boring。 Read parallel with 'The Conspiracy Against the Human Race' for added effect。 Long Live the Blue Fox。
Joseph
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3。5 rounded down。I love the Borne universe and Jeff VanderMeer's prose is amazing。I like experimental literature （i。e。 Mark Danielewski， Paul Tremblay， etc。） but this just didn't do it for me。
Nancy
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Time loops， multiple realities， death of humanity。 Poetry on acid。 Don’t expect this to read like a cohesive story。 It’s not for the faint of heart。 Read slow and don’t try to make sense of it。
Heather
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Oh VanderMeer， what drugs do you take？ This book is Sound and Fury esque where everytime you get used to a narrator， understand more of what is being said， a new narrator pops up with a new code to decipher （note: I have never made it completely through Sound and Fury）。 The book is abstract with space left for interpretation （so if any of yall read it， let me know so we can discuss our theories！） than his other works。 I love VanderMeer and find him completely unique。 If you are interested in lit Oh VanderMeer， what drugs do you take？ This book is Sound and Fury esque where everytime you get used to a narrator， understand more of what is being said， a new narrator pops up with a new code to decipher （note: I have never made it completely through Sound and Fury）。 The book is abstract with space left for interpretation （so if any of yall read it， let me know so we can discuss our theories！） than his other works。 I love VanderMeer and find him completely unique。 If you are interested in literary horror/sci-fi with strong environmentalism themes， I recommend the Southern Reach triology as a starting point。 。。。more
Emory Allen
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I found the format very hard to follow and the repetition drove me bonkers。
Jake
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You ever wonder what Annie Dillard's writing might have been like if she'd eaten waaaaaaay too many mushrooms and maybe glimpsed hell？ Welcome to the genre bending celebration of life and nature that is the work of Jeff Vandermeer。Dead Astronauts is a book， unless it isn't， about three astronauts that exist across every version of reality， unless they don't， and always do everything and nothing simultaneously， unless they do the opposite of that， whatever that might mean or not mean。 You know ho You ever wonder what Annie Dillard's writing might have been like if she'd eaten waaaaaaay too many mushrooms and maybe glimpsed hell？ Welcome to the genre bending celebration of life and nature that is the work of Jeff Vandermeer。Dead Astronauts is a book， unless it isn't， about three astronauts that exist across every version of reality， unless they don't， and always do everything and nothing simultaneously， unless they do the opposite of that， whatever that might mean or not mean。 You know how you can wake from a vivid and crazy dream and it immediately fades from your mind as you struggle to hold onto it and tuck it away for future refelection？ Now， imagine documenting that struggle into a few hundred pages of a novel。 Or don't。 Or maybe you both already have and haven't。 Similarly， I cannot reasonably discern whether Dead Astronauts is brilliant or pretentious。 It is certainly flowery and beautiful in its language， yet it feels over-extended and exhausting。 It is the Southland Tales of books。Still， Borne sits firmly somewhere in my top ten books of all time， so if Vandermeer wrote a book set in the world of Borne （Dead Astronauts is the third set in this ruined world of bio-tech and hyper-evolution） called "Trump and the Doo Doo Monsters Come Late to the Teletubbie Orgy，" I'd probably read it at least once。 Unless I never did or was never born or was always born a gajillion times or whatever。 。。。more
Mar
，
what the fuck did i just read。 i feel like i know what death feels like。 i feel like i have experienced some raw form of hell。 i fucking hate this book because it will be stuck in my head and it will haunt me- but i love it for the same reason。
Alex
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As I read VanderMeer's books， and as they progressively got more and more bizarre， I could feel him getting more bold。 Southern Reach feels restrained and grounded compared to this one。 He really almost lost me there， but ultimately， I got it， as far as I can。 He got me there by the end。
Stephen Richter
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Normally Jeff VanderMeer weirdness does not go off the deep end， but this novella I found to be way too much。 Way too many of the " This is not that and that is not this" style of writing which gave me a feeling I was just wasting time while I read it。 My first ， "this is not for me" from I writer I really like。
Eve-Mai
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Jätsin pooleli。
Samantha
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Hard book to review， this is really more poetry than a standard， plot driven narrative。 Sort of a follow-up to Borne， I think you will enjoy more if you have read Borne （and the Strange Bird， too） as there are characters that reappear and the whole thing makes a bit more sense with context。 Dead Astronauts provides us with a bit of background on Charlie X， Rachel， and other characters from the Borne universe， but is also an exploration of how language can be used to create an atmosphere and a fe Hard book to review， this is really more poetry than a standard， plot driven narrative。 Sort of a follow-up to Borne， I think you will enjoy more if you have read Borne （and the Strange Bird， too） as there are characters that reappear and the whole thing makes a bit more sense with context。 Dead Astronauts provides us with a bit of background on Charlie X， Rachel， and other characters from the Borne universe， but is also an exploration of how language can be used to create an atmosphere and a feeling。 At times， I felt Dead Astronauts dragged， but in others， I was fully immersed in the weird creativity of VanderMeer's writing。 I wouldn't recommend this as your first VanderMeer read， but if you enjoyed his other work， perhaps give this a try。 。。。more
Michael
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I'm not really sure what this is， a lyrical masterpiece， a rule-breaker of the written word， ingenious？ All I know is that it held my attention， stretched my mind， and only made me want to read BORNE a second time。
Heather Mccall
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Loved this follow-up to Borne。 Vandermeer is as surreal as ever。
Elizabeth
，
I finally allowed myself the time to sit and actually read this book。 There is a good chance this book is not for you。 But that’s okay。 Not everything is for everyone。This book is a piece of modern dance。 It is Martha Graham or José Limón， Merce Cunningham or Alvin Ailey。 It has movement and rhythm and flow。 The layers of the story are unveiled through acts， and as you watch the piece unfold， it’s beautiful and uncomfortable， you don’t understand it and yet you know exactly what’s happening， you I finally allowed myself the time to sit and actually read this book。 There is a good chance this book is not for you。 But that’s okay。 Not everything is for everyone。This book is a piece of modern dance。 It is Martha Graham or José Limón， Merce Cunningham or Alvin Ailey。 It has movement and rhythm and flow。 The layers of the story are unveiled through acts， and as you watch the piece unfold， it’s beautiful and uncomfortable， you don’t understand it and yet you know exactly what’s happening， you love and mourn and laugh and despair。 It’s a written dance。But it doesn’t have the tricks and virtuoso bravado of contemporary dance that you see on popular television。 This is strong and grounded。 The words move in spaces that don’t need intricate flourishes。 The story is the dance。 It doesn’t need backflips and fouettés to make it special。 It is special in the very nature of the writing。So this may not be for you。 If you want beautiful， but palatable and tame for public consumption， contemporary dance， there are suitable writers who will deliver that。 And there’s nothing wrong with it。 But if you want a wordsmith who uses the foundation of storytelling and world building and character development to unfold a piece of literature you may not fully grasp your first read through， but you know you +felt+ it， then read this。 Because at its core， it is solid， deep， and beautiful。 。。。more
silvia
，
The style in which the book is written is definitely not for everyone， and in my case， while it started feeling fresh， lyrical， and impressionistic， it got old fairly quickly and just became tiresome。 I felt like yelling at the book "just use a complete sentence for once！" For those of us for whom English is not the first language， it can be twice as hard to read。 I have to disagree with other readers that said you can read this book without having read "Bourne" and "The Strange Bird"。 I can't i The style in which the book is written is definitely not for everyone， and in my case， while it started feeling fresh， lyrical， and impressionistic， it got old fairly quickly and just became tiresome。 I felt like yelling at the book "just use a complete sentence for once！" For those of us for whom English is not the first language， it can be twice as hard to read。 I have to disagree with other readers that said you can read this book without having read "Bourne" and "The Strange Bird"。 I can't imagine jumping into this book without any context。 Besides those 2 stories are much more intelligible and enjoyable to read。 Just like the "Annihilation" series， abandon from the start any delusion of knowing precisely what's going on。 Any of us could probably write a companion book to these 2 book series in which we give our interpretation， and each of our books would be different。 What shouldn't be too controversial is that the world went through a drastic technological revolution without much thought to ethics or consequences， greedy companies took over and ruined the planet， leaving behind pollution and grotesque genetic engineering experiments that haunt the spoiled land。 Other than that， who the 3 astronauts are， what they are trying to do， and how I'll leave it to you。 。。。more
Irene MacLennan
，
There are books that talk about what has come before。 In the prequels and companion books。 A little refresher for those who came back to the series after waiting a year for the sequel。 In such detail that someone completely new to the series could pick up the 4th， 6th book and understand events perfectly。 （And drive first-time readers binging the series up the wall because I have read that same summary 4/6 times！）Dead Astronauts is not one of those books。 It takes you and and nonchalantly drops There are books that talk about what has come before。 In the prequels and companion books。 A little refresher for those who came back to the series after waiting a year for the sequel。 In such detail that someone completely new to the series could pick up the 4th， 6th book and understand events perfectly。 （And drive first-time readers binging the series up the wall because I have read that same summary 4/6 times！）Dead Astronauts is not one of those books。 It takes you and and nonchalantly drops you in a world where the world has ended。 Where the world was made to end。 This is no sequel to Borne， but Borne is required reading if you don't wish to become lost in a world of man-made horrors， hopelessness， hope and repetition。 Horrifying horrifying repetition。I want to talk about things that I'll never forget。 Which will follow me into dreams I will never remember come morning。 But I can't。 Because I'd like you to read this。 Maybe get lost and hate it。 Or love it like I do。 。。。more
Felipe Follador
，
Borne and Strange Bird， novels from the same universe as this one， were very engaging and let's say， clearer。I found myself reading and re-reading sentences in "Dead Astronauts"， as for me they were deliberately written in a fashion that doesn't makes it easy for the reader， thus， rendering for me， an overall unpleasant read。I admire VanderMeer regardless， but this one， for me， was a miss。
Robert Stevenson
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synopsis:Grayson returns to our milky way galaxy alone after all her crew dies in unexamined ways。 She returns via wormholes to a moon based that devoid of humans and returns to earth devoid of humans。 It is unclear how much time has passed， hundreds or maybe a thousand years， she meets a moss that can mimic human form and has human consciousness and a cyborg named chen and they head to a city to stop a company that is creating dangerous bio-forms。 No humans exists anymore。 It appears the overlo synopsis:Grayson returns to our milky way galaxy alone after all her crew dies in unexamined ways。 She returns via wormholes to a moon based that devoid of humans and returns to earth devoid of humans。 It is unclear how much time has passed， hundreds or maybe a thousand years， she meets a moss that can mimic human form and has human consciousness and a cyborg named chen and they head to a city to stop a company that is creating dangerous bio-forms。 No humans exists anymore。 It appears the overlord of the planet is a a blue fox and dark duck bird and a fish called botch。 All was created by a lunatic called Charlie X and the book appears to be spread across multiple timestreams。review:I gave up at 50% of the book， hard to follow， too much abstraction， annihilation was alien this is a kind of human pollution and lunacy but it is all clouded up with self absorbed prose， it just tires you out。 。。。more
Katie Evans
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Jolene Haack
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