VanderMeer, Jeff

"The humans are Rachel and Wick - a scavenger and a drug dealer - both with too many secrets and fears, ready with traps to be set and sprung. The creatures are Mord and Borne - animal, perhaps plant, maybe company discard, biotech, cruel experiment, dinner, deity, or source of spare parts"--Provided by publisher.

A single-volume collection of the Southern Reach Trilogy, that tells the stories of three tropical expeditions.

"The first book in a two-volume fantasy about a teenaged boy who inherits his grandfather's mansion and discovers three strange doors, evidence his grandfather did not die of natural causes but spectacularly unnatural ones, and clues to the family's ties to an alternate Europe immersed in a war fought with strange tech and dark magic"--Provided by publisher.

"Wonderbook has become the definitive guide to writing science fiction and fantasy by offering an accessible, example-rich approach that emphasizes the importance of playfulness as well as pragmatism. It also exploits the visual nature of genre culture and employs . . . drawings, maps, renderings, and visualizations to stimulate creative thinking. On top of all that, the book features sidebars and essays from some of the biggest names working in the field today, including George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, and Karen Joy Fowler. For the fifth anniversary of the original publication, Jeff VanderMeer has added an additional 50 pages of diagrams, illustrations, and writing exercises creating [a] . . . volume of . . . advice that is also an . . . inspiring object"--Provided by publisher.

Four scientists, all female--an anthropolotgist, a surveyor; a psychologist who is the leader; and a biologist, the narrator--infiltrate Area X, the twelfth expedition into this Edenic paradise that has claimed the lives of the previous eleven expedition members. However, it is the secrets these four women take in, rather than what they find there, that will likely be their downfall.

A young scavenger named Rachel explores a post-apocalyptic world in a constant search for supplies. One day, she finds a sentient green mass she calls Borne that she decides to keep and raise as her own. As Borne grows, Rachel comes to realize the significance of the strange creature and its potential impact on the world. But other forces see it too, and Rachel must face surprising enemies to keep Borne safe.

"This guide to writing imaginative fiction takes a completely novel approach and fully exploits the visual nature of fantasy through original drawings, maps, renderings, and exercises to create a spectacularly beautiful and inspiring object. Employing an accessible, example-rich approach, Wonderbook energizes and motivates while also providing practical, nuts-and-bolts information needed to improve as a writer. Aimed at aspiring and intermediate-level writers, Wonderbook includes helpful sidebars and essays from some of the biggest names in fantasy today, such as George R. R. Martin, Lev Grossman, Neil Gaiman, Michael Moorcock, Catherynne M. Valente, and Karen Joy Fowler, to name a few"--Provided by publisher.

Thirty years have passed since Area X appeared, a hostile landscape mysteriously wiped clean of civilization. A government agency known as the Southern Reach is the only body still investigating it. John Rodriguez, Southern Reach's "Control," tries desperately to head up an investigation into the secrets of Area X, each discovery more disturbingly implicating the very organization he is a part of.

Area X is expanding, threatening the humans who have tried with little luck to explore and understand it. Winter rolls in causing even more peril for the last desperate team trying to reach a remote island inside the border, where they hope answers to Area X's origins will be found.

Area X has claimed the lives of members of eleven expeditions. The twelfth expedition consisting of four women hopes to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.