The Fungal Fantasy of Finch

Or perhaps it’s more like "spore noir," but hey, alliteration is nice too.

Our very own Jeff VanderMeer is getting a flood of much-deserved praise for his fantastic new novel, Finch. Finch is a foray into the fungus-infected city of Ambergris, set about a century after Shriek: An Afterword. Detective John Finch, hard-boiled hero, has a murder case on his hands that leads him on a journey through the science, myths, history, and uncertain future of the Ambergris world. As io9 has it:

"Surreal and at times intoxicating, Finch is ambitious in a way that few genre novels ever are. VanderMeer has tried - and, often, succeeded - in blending fantasy, science fiction, and crime fiction into something delightfully evil and strange...There is a David Cronenberg feel to the universe of Finch, with its gooey guns and spore surveillance devices. But it's also a kind of Lawrence of Arabia story, which is what will keep you reading. You never quite know what sort of weird new narrative path you'll be led down, and that's exciting."

Here are some more excellent reviews for Finch.

Washington Post
Los Angeles Times
Barnes and Noble Review
The Agony Column
SF Signal

As they say, go get your spore on (OK, that's icky but you get the idea).

In 2010 you can look forward to two exciting new Vanderbooks from Tachyon:

In March, Evil Monkey (that's Jeff - sorta) and Ann Vandermeer bring you The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals. Think ABCs and a nice roast of Sasquatch.

In July you'll be able to read all of Jeff's recent short fiction - plus one original story in The Third Bear.

And don't forget our other VanderMeer titles, Booklife, Steampunk, and The New Weird.

Whew.