City of Saints and Madmen by Jeff Vandermeer

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I finished, not too long ago, City of Saints and Madmen, by Jeff Vandermeer. Has anyone else read it, or other works of the author?

I really enjoyed it. It's a collection of short stories all involving Vandermeer's created world of Ambergris, a sort of very-early 20th century city with fungus. And, yes, I know how weird that sounds. It's a city that is plagued by a rapidly growing fungus that must be continually combatted. It is also cohabited by two different races/species. One is humans, the other are the mysterious gray caps, who are short people with large gray hats, and who also seem to coexist with the fungus. It's all wonderfully strange.

The books itself is strange. There are four short stories (a few more novellas) that comprise half the book, and the second half is an appendix, which sontains notes, histories, and informational texts about Ambergris. It also contains a couple short stories written by fictional authors from Ambergris. I didn't read all of these, particularly the 50+ page history on the giant squid. Still, the four short stories and many of the appendix pieces are well worth the price.

Great book. Definitely recommended for lovers of fantasy who would like something different.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Why was this moved? It didn't mean this to be a review. I just wanted to see if someone else read it, and discuss it.

This forum is way too preoccupied with moving threads.

Edit: It's funny that this was labeled a book review, as it doesn't even meet the minimum requirements for a book review:


2. Something about, not a biography of, the author. Biographical information should be relevant to the subject of the review and enhance the reader's understanding of the work under discussion.

Edit 2: I get what you're saying, Sche. We wouldn't want to clutter up that amazingly busy twenty-posts-a-day General Lit forum.

[Scheherazade]

Why was this moved? It didn't mean this to be a review. I just wanted to see if someone else read it, and discuss it. When a thread is about a specific book, we are try to keep them in the Book Reviews section so that they do not get lost among the threads dealing with more general issues in the General Literature section.

Books can still be discussed in the Review section as well.


This forum is way too preoccupied with moving threads.I know, right?

It is because moderators have nothing better to do. Sometimes we move threads back and forth between different sections to keep ourselves occupied!

:rolleyes:
Edit: It's funny that this was labeled a book review, as it doesn't even meet the minimum requirements for a book review:These are not "requirements" but mere guidelines (one look at the other threads in this section and you will realise that very few thread actually include such details).

We do not aim to agitate anyone by moving threads but sometimes it is necessary for future convenience and structure of the forum.