Ambergris

City of Saints and Madmen, Shriek, Finch

De: Jeff VanderMeer

Narrado por: Bronson Pinchot, Cassandra Campbell, Oliver Wyman

From the author of Borne and Annihilation comes the one-volume reissue of his cult classic Ambergris Trilogy.

Before Area X, there was Ambergris. Jeff VanderMeer conceived what would become his first cult classic series of speculative works: the Ambergris trilogy. Now, for the first time ever, the story of the sprawling metropolis of Ambergris is collected into a single volume, including City of Saints and Madmen, Shriek: An Afterword, and Finch.

©2020 VanderMeer Creative, Inc. (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

Hits different

This book just hits different. It’s format is different. I didn’t feel like things got bows as much as they got more questions. So much is left for us to decide after the fact. But I loved every minute of it.

Excellent Series

The first few novels were good, but a bit scattered and seemed to be loosely connected. But the final novel Finch was a subtle weaving of the previous books with the character John Finch and all the mysteries of Ambergis and his own life together. I especially loved the ending, which was uplifting and let the reader's mind reeling with possibilities.

Wonderful & Imaginative

The whole Ambergris trilogy was fantastic. Each book is distinct and unique but the over-arching plot and story of the city is always present.
Ambergris is a beautifully crafted world with a very deep history. I couldn’t put the books down and wanted more stories from Ambergris when I was finished.

Can’t recommend enough!

It’s a long listen but it’s worth it, as you discover the amazing city of Ambergris and the strange and thrilling stories that bring it to life.

Enjoyable and relaxing listening.

Character description and development are done in a balanced way to show how disturbing the changes happening are, and thankfully leaving the details up to the imagination of the listener. There are unexpected twists which eventually show that revenge is indeed a dish served cold; and perhaps with a side of terror?
Shall “we” end up working with “them” eventually? The we-s and them-s persist on all levels, human, vegetable, alien, and hybrids leading to a beautifully complex and easily understood story.

Ambergris is a New Weird metropolis worth visiting

This collection includes most of the AMBERGRIS-related fiction by Vandermeer. A few bits are missing, but mostly they would be difficult to make work in this medium. Check out City of Saints and Madmen for the rest. Still, Shriek, the middle story, told in dueling first person, is fantastic as read, and the fungal-punk noir of Finch is well suited to hard boiled narration, even from an omniscient perspective.

Very Good

I read it a second time the next week. I really hope there will be more stories set in this universe.

Genius

Jeff VanderMeer is a genius of eco-horror. It’s as Lovecraft and Poe combined their writing powers and sent them as a gift to a kind and talented contemporary of ours.

Narration on this series is out of this world. I rarely enjoy the narrators’ craft so much - all folks on Finch and City of Saints, City of Madmen are incredible voice actors, each in a special way, capturing the heart and soul of a careening historian, a mysterious indigenous spy, and a tough noir detective.

VanderMeer delivers

VanderMeer once again creates a rich storyline with twists and turns that delight. Absolutely wonderful way to spend 40 hours.

Deus ex mushrooma

Imagistic, vivid, vulgar, and artistic, this author's weak narrative is partially hidden by the spectacle of the imagery. I could not like or empathize with a single character, mostly because the reader isn't given any real reason for the loves or resentments, they are just dramatically and vividly displayed; kind of splatted there like... well, I am not the author. Extremely good and detailed imagery and feel, but what's described is rarely important to the narrative. If you enjoy looking through an extremely detailed kaleidoscope for hours, then you might like this series. It's not to my taste.