Borne A Novel
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer, published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on February 27, 2018, is a reprint edition comprising 368 pages. This novel explores the life of Rachel, a scavenger navigating a devastated city marked by drought and conflict. Amidst the ruins, she discovers Borne, a mysterious entity that challenges her understanding of existence and companionship. As Rachel grapples with her attachment to Borne, she confronts the dangers of her environment, including a giant bear and the remnants of a biotech company that once thrived.
Readers will find a narrative that delves into themes of survival, identity, and the complexities of relationships in a dystopian setting. The story unfolds as Rachel’s bond with Borne deepens, revealing the beauty and innocence that can emerge even in desolation. As Borne grows, he poses a threat to the fragile balance of power in Rachel’s world, forcing her to confront the precariousness of her situation and the secrets that underpin her existence. This edition invites readers to reflect on the implications of genetic engineering and the nature of humanity in a post-apocalyptic landscape.
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Named one of the best books of 2017 by The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, PopSugar, Financial Times, Chicago Review of Books, Huffington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Thrillist, Book Riot, National Post (Canada), Kirkus and Publishers Weekly
From the author of the Southern Reach Trilogy comes Jeff VanderMeer’s Borne, a story about two humans and two creatures.
“Am I a person?” Borne asked me.
“Yes, you are a person,” I told him. “But like a person, you can be a weapon, too.”
In Borne, a young woman named Rachel survives as a scavenger in a ruined city half destroyed by drought and conflict. The city is dangerous, littered with discarded experiments from the Company—a biotech firm now derelict—and punished by the unpredictable predations of a giant bear. Rachel ekes out an existence in the shelter of a run-down sanctuary she shares with her partner, Wick, who deals his own homegrown psychoactive biotech.
One day, Rachel finds Borne during a scavenging mission and takes him home. Borne as salvage is little more than a green lump—plant or animal?—but exudes a strange charisma. Borne reminds Rachel of the marine life from the island nation of her birth, now lost to rising seas. There is an attachment she resents: in this world any weakness can kill you. Yet, against her instincts—and definitely against Wick’s wishes—Rachel keeps Borne. She cannot help herself. Borne, learning to speak, learning about the world, is fun to be with, and in a world so broken that innocence is a precious thing. For Borne makes Rachel see beauty in the desolation around her. She begins to feel a protectiveness she can ill afford.
“He was born, but I had borne him.”
But as Borne grows, he begins to threaten the balance of power in the city and to put the security of her sanctuary with Wick at risk. For the Company, it seems, may not be truly dead, and new enemies are creeping in. What Borne will lay bare to Rachel as he changes is how precarious her existence has been, and how dependent on subterfuge and secrets. In the aftermath, nothing may ever be the same.
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