We look forward to seeing you on your next visit to the library. Find a location near you.

Borne: A Novel
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

Book Cover
Average Rating
5 star
 
(2)
4 star
 
(4)
3 star
 
(2)
2 star
 
(0)
1 star
 
(0)
Series:
Borne novels volume 1.
Published:
Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2017
Status:
Checked Out
Description

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.

Also in This Series
Formats
Adobe EPUB eBook
Works on all eReaders (except Kindles), desktop computers and mobile devices with reading apps installed.
Kindle Book
Works on Kindles and devices with a Kindle app installed.
OverDrive Read
Need Help?
If you are having problem transferring a title to your device, please fill out this support form or visit the library so we can help you to use our eBooks and eAudio Books.
More Like This
Other Editions and Formats
More Copies In LINK+
Loading LINK+ Copies...
More Details
Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
04/25/2017
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780374714925
ASIN:
B01M98T0J7
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

Jeff VanderMeer. (2017). Borne: A Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Jeff VanderMeer. 2017. Borne: A Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Jeff VanderMeer, Borne: A Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Jeff VanderMeer. Borne: A Novel. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2017.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Copy Details
LibraryOwnedAvailable
Shared Digital Collection10

There are 2 holds on this title.

Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
55cc0840-ada8-95f5-9fc6-07f41d0f5704
Go To Grouped Work
Needs Update?:
No
Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 19:56:31
Date Updated:
Aug 14, 2023 08:53:45
Last Metadata Check:
Mar 24, 2024 11:36:10
Last Metadata Change:
Dec 11, 2023 13:58:43
Last Availability Check:
Mar 24, 2024 11:36:18
Last Availability Change:
Mar 23, 2024 11:54:45
Last Grouped Work Modification Time:
Mar 27, 2024 02:11:40

OverDrive Product Record

images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/2390-1/{E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/2390-1/{E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/2390-1/E81/15D/57/{E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/2390-1/E81/15D/57/{E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
formats
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780374714925
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • identifiers:
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B01M98T0J7
      • name: Kindle Book
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780374714925
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • id: ebook-overdrive
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9780374115241
mediaType
eBook
primaryCreator
    • role: Author
    • name: Jeff VanderMeer
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
Borne
dateAdded
2017-04-07T23:35:03.543Z
contentDetails
      • href: https://link.overdrive.com?websiteID=141&titleID=2996766
      • type: text/html
      • account:
          • name: Sacramento Public Library (CA)
          • id: 1151
sortTitle
Borne A Novel
crossRefId
2996766
subtitle
A Novel
id
E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9
starRating
3.8

OverDrive MetaData

isPublicDomain
False
formats
      • fileName: Borne_9780374714925_2996766
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 21397520
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780374714925
      • rights:
            • type: Copying
            • value: 0
            • type: Printing
            • value: 0
            • type: Lending
            • value: 0
            • type: ReadAloud
            • value: 0
            • type: ExpirationRights
            • value: 0
      • name: Adobe EPUB eBook
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-epub-adobe
      • onSaleDate: 4/25/2017
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=e8115d57-8cf6-40c4-83e7-9102fa5d3bf9&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: Borne_2996766
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 0
      • identifiers:
            • type: ASIN
            • value: B01M98T0J7
      • name: Kindle Book
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-kindle
      • onSaleDate: 4/25/2017
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=e8115d57-8cf6-40c4-83e7-9102fa5d3bf9&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
      • fileName: Borne_9780374714925_2996766
      • partCount: 0
      • fileSize: 1227292
      • identifiers:
            • type: ISBN
            • value: 9780374714925
      • name: OverDrive Read
      • isReadAlong: False
      • id: ebook-overdrive
      • onSaleDate: 4/25/2017
      • samples:
            • source: From the book
            • formatType: ebook-overdrive
            • url: https://samples.overdrive.com/?crid=e8115d57-8cf6-40c4-83e7-9102fa5d3bf9&.epub-sample.overdrive.com
keywords
      • value: dystopian
      • value: biotech
      • value: Spaceship
      • value: futuristic
      • value: near future
      • value: born
      • value: supernatural
      • value: Science
      • value: Hanukkah
      • value: speculative fiction
      • value: Philosophical
      • value: Horror
      • value: urban fantasy
      • value: Thriller
      • value: Genetic engineering
      • value: police
      • value: Climate change
      • value: survival
      • value: absurd
      • value: sci-fi
      • value: drug dealer
      • value: speculative
      • value: Post Apocalyptic
      • value: drug dealers
      • value: birthday present
      • value: literary science fiction
      • value: new weird
      • value: drug companies
      • value: world building
      • value: animal companions
      • value: southern us cities
      • value: borne
      • value: far reaches of the world
      • value: around the globe
      • value: post apocalypse dystopia
      • value: publishers weekly kirkus best books of the year
      • value: big corporation
      • value: biopunk bio punk
      • value: biotech biotechnology
      • value: evil company
      • value: southern settings
      • value: strange city
      • value: strange new drug
      • value: southern journey
      • value: life around the globe
      • value: lovers mother
creators
      • role: Author
      • fileAs: Vandermeer, Jeff
      • name: Jeff VanderMeer
imprint
MCD
publishDate
2017-04-25T00:00:00-04:00
isOwnedByCollections
True
title
Borne
fullDescription

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.

reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Colson Whitehead
      • content:

        "Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy was an ever-creeping map of the apocalypse; with Borne he continues his investigation into the malevolent grace of the world, and it's a thorough marvel."

      • premium: False
      • source: Wai Chee Dimock, The New York Times Book Review
      • content: "VanderMeer is that rare novelist who turns to nonhumans not to make them approximate us as much as possible but to make such approximation impossible. All of this is magnified a hundredfold in Borne . . . Here is the story about biotech that VanderMeer wants to tell, a vision of the nonhuman not as one fixed thing, one fixed destiny, but as either peaceful or catastrophic, by our side or out on a rampage as our behavior dictates--for these are our children, born of us and now to be borne in whatever shape or mess we have created."
      • premium: False
      • source: Laura Miller, The New Yorker
      • content: "The conceptual elements in VanderMeer's fiction are so striking that the firmness with which he cinches them to his characters' lives is often overlooked . . . Borne is VanderMeer's trans-species rumination on the theme of parenting . . . [Borne] insists that to live in an age of gods and sorcerers is to know that you, a mere person, might be crushed by indifferent forces at a moment's notice, then quickly forgotten."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        Starred review from February 6, 2017
        VanderMeer, author of the acclaimed Southern Reach trilogy, has made a career out of eluding genre classifications, and with Borne he essentially invents a new one. In a future strewn with the cast-off experiments of an industrial laboratory known only as the Company, a scavenger named Rachel survives alongside her lover, Wick, a dealer of memory-altering beetles, with whom she takes shelter from the periodic ravages of a giant mutant bear named Mord. One day, caught in Mord’s fur, Rachel finds the bizarre, shape-shifting creature “like a hybrid of sea anemone and squid” she calls Borne. Rachel adopts Borne and takes on its education over Wick’s objections. But Borne proves a precocious student, experiencing more and more complex transformations, testing Rachel’s loyalty as it undertakes a personal mission that threatens Rachel and Wick’s fragile existence even as it brings painful truths to the surface—truths like Wick’s mysterious past with the Company, the identity of the mercurial rival he calls the Magician, the origin of the feral children who roam the wasteland, and even the circumstances of Rachel’s own interrupted childhood. Reading like a dispatch from a world lodged somewhere between science fiction, myth, and a video game, the textures of Borne shift as freely as those of the titular whatsit. What’s even more remarkable is the reservoirs of feeling that VanderMeer is able to tap into throughout Rachel and Wick’s postapocalyptic journey into the Company’s warped ruins, resulting in something more than just weird fiction: weird literature.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        Starred review from February 15, 2017
        "Once upon a time there was a piece of biotech that grew and grew until it had its own apartment": an odd, atmospheric, and decidedly dark fable for our time.VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy (Acceptance, 2014, etc.) set high standards for dystopian fantasy, and the wizardry was as much in the writing as in the storyline. This latest is much the same: supremely literary, distinctly unusual, its title character a blob of something or another that earns its name, in part, because it's carried from place to place--when we meet it, in fact, it's tangled up in the fur of a giant bear that just now is busily marauding through the ruins of a once-thriving city in what would seem to be the very near future. The Company, an unfeeling and monstrously inclined biotech giant, once held sway there, but now what's left is a whole bunch of one-time experiments gone awry. Mord, the bear, is one, Borne another. Alternately dodging and caring for them is Rachel, an eminently resourceful young woman who doesn't quite know what to make of the little creature at first: "I knew nothing about Borne and treated him like a plant at first. It seemed logical, from my initial observations." Logical, yes, but Rachel is no Mr. Spock: she brims with feelings, some of them for her fellow survivor Wick. Just as Borne is able to morph into semblances of other beings, though, including an uncanny other-Rachel, so Wick would seem to have logged some hours in the lab himself. The reader is treated to the intriguing spectacle of Borne's acquiring consciousness in the middle of all the mayhem: "I became entangled in Mord's fur. (Who entangled me?) Where did I come from before that?" That the genetic basis for life is nothing to tinker with is plain throughout, especially in the moments where VanderMeer's deep talent for worldbuilding takes him into realms more reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's The Road than of the Shire. Superb: a protagonist and a tale sure to please fans of smart, literate fantasy and science fiction.

        COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        March 15, 2017

        In the blighted landscape of a nameless city, Rachel is a scavenger who roams the land looking for useful biotech scraps, remnants of experiments done by the Company. She brings back her finds to her lover Wick, who was once an employee of the Company, before everything fell apart. On one excursion, Rachel discovers a lump that she cannot at first identify as plant, animal, or machine. She brings it home, names it Borne, and quickly grows attached. As Borne evolves into a seemingly sentient creature, he becomes a bone of contention between Rachel and Wick, who have differing opinions on Borne's nature and possible threat. VERDICT VanderMeer ("Southern Reach" trilogy; Finch) delivers a work of dystopian ecofiction that will appeal to fans of Margaret Atwood's "MaddAddam" trilogy, albeit with a weirder sensibility. The language is lush and playful, with surreal touches, such as the building-sized bear that wanders a ruined landscape, attacking the sparse human population.--MM

        Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: School Library Journal
      • content:

        Starred review from July 1, 2017

        The setting, plot, and characters of this novel are richly realized, but it's the almost unbearably poignant tone that will draw in readers. Rachel lives with her reclusive lover, Wick, in a postapocalyptic city ruined by corporate greed. A giant bearlike creature flies overhead, trash stuck to his fur. He was designed to help restore order, but instead he wreaks more havoc. Rachel scavenges what she can and brings it back to Wick. Barricaded within their deteriorating apartment, they figure out what they can use. When Rachel finds a throbbing blob that reminds her of sea anemones and happier times, scientist Wick wants to kill it to understand it, but Rachel insists on letting it live. She names it Borne, and it grows quickly until one day it speaks. Borne's coming-of-age is also Rachel's, but as the two mature, Rachel's and Wick's lives-and the city itself-are at risk. Themes such as the consequences of science without ethics, attraction vs. addiction, secrets and trust, and the rewards and heartbreak of parenting (pets, children, or monsters) provide food for thought on top of an exciting survival story. VERDICT Suggest this title to teens who love layered, unusual, harsh, yet ultimately hopeful dystopian tales such as Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven or Ernest Cline's Ready Player One.-Hope Baugh, Carmel Clay Public Library, Carmel, IN

        Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Booklist
      • content:

        Starred review from April 1, 2017
        After the impeccable weirdness of the Southern Reach trilogy, VanderMeer offers another conceptual cautionary tale of corporate greed, scientific hubris, and precarious survival. Rachel is a battle-hardened scavenger in a near-future city plagued by experimental horrors from the Company, a now-derelict biotech firm. Most of the city is ruled by Mord, a titanic, intelligent, flying bear. His rival, the Magician, controls her territory with an army of mutated children. Rachel and her lover and business partner, Wick, operate beneath the notice of these larger forces until Rachel finds an amorphous blob that appears part plant, part sea anemone. She calls this oddly compelling creature Borne and becomes its teacher and protector as it begins to move, talk, and transform into new shapes. The question of Borne's origin and purpose looms ominously as its abilities and size expand, testing Rachel's loyalty and love, separating her from Wick, and fracturing Borne's fragile sense of self. VanderMeer marries bildungsroman, domestic drama, love story, and survival thriller into one compelling, intelligent story centered not around the gee-whiz novelty of a flying bear but around complex, vulnerable characters struggling with what it means to be a person. VanderMeer's talent for immersive world-building and stunning imagery is on display in this weird, challenging, but always heartfelt novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

popularity
1509
links
    • self:
        • href: https://api.overdrive.com/v1/collections/v1L1BWwAAAA2I/products/e8115d57-8cf6-40c4-83e7-9102fa5d3bf9/metadata
        • type: application/vnd.overdrive.api+json
id
e8115d57-8cf6-40c4-83e7-9102fa5d3bf9
starRating
3.8
images
    • cover:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-100/2390-1/{E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9}Img100.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • thumbnail:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-200/2390-1/{E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9}Img200.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover150Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-150/2390-1/E81/15D/57/{E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9}Img150.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
    • cover300Wide:
        • href: https://img1.od-cdn.com/ImageType-400/2390-1/E81/15D/57/{E8115D57-8CF6-40C4-83E7-9102FA5D3BF9}Img400.jpg
        • type: image/jpeg
isPublicPerformanceAllowed
False
languages
      • code: en
      • name: English
subjects
      • value: Fantasy
      • value: Fiction
      • value: Science Fiction
publishDateText
04/25/2017
otherFormatIdentifiers
      • type: ISBN
      • value: 9780374115241
mediaType
eBook
shortDescription

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...

sortTitle
Borne A Novel
crossRefId
2996766
subtitle
A Novel
publisher
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
bisacCodes
      • code: FIC028000
      • description: Fiction / Science Fiction / General
      • code: FIC028010
      • description: Fiction / Science Fiction / Action & Adventure
      • code: FIC028070
      • description: Fiction / Science Fiction / Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic