Ambergris

City of Saints and Madmen, Shriek, Finch

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Narrated by: 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.

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.

Epic

The series starts out slow giving a history of Ambergris and I started to get a bit bored, but stuck to it. So glad I did. The history build a base to this crazy city and each story after builds and builds. Loved it. Ends with a noir style story to cap it off.

Unexpected and Excellent

Unexpected and quite excellent, Ambergris is a a fabulous fever dream of a book; a wild ride that I enjoyed immensely.

interesting point of view story telling

I really enjoyed the way the story was written, detailed and intricate world created. Switching point of views and times, the story truly comes to a head at the end, but despite the glory that should be there, I felt ultimately unsatisfied, which perhaps was the intention of the author.

The essence of Vandermeer’s magic

Essential reading for any fan of The Southern Reach trilogy. I picked up this book immediately after reading Area X and had a hard time getting into it. I have to admit now that I didn’t give it a chance. If I had finished the first chapter even, I would have been hooked. I have since devoured every other piece of fiction by Jeff Vandermeer and Ambergris was all I had left. So I tried again. I’m SO happy I did! This book ties in beautifully with the other worlds he has created! This is a MUST READ for any fan of his work! This trilogy puts a whole new perspective on the books that came after and leaves the reader searching for ties between worlds. Vandermeer fan or not it is a vividly constructed story that draws you in and leaves you wanting more with every page. Could not put it down.