Veniss Underground was VanderMeer's first novel, written after some of the stories that would later be incorporated into the Ambergris book City of Saints and Madmen. I was impressed at first by structural similarities to the Ambergris trilogy, chiefly in the precession of viewpoint characters. Veniss Underground is leaner, and has a far future setting rather than the para-modern fantasy of Ambergris. It features body horror, noir atmosphere, and mise en abyme regarding creativity.

The book begins with narration from the artist Nicholas, who is a "slang jockey," consciously perverse in his use of language. The opening chapters thus present the reader with an exotic and mysterious view of the troubled city of Veniss.

The switch to the perspective of his twin sister Nichola comes as something of a relief to the reader, and her life is a more conventional one as a successful programmer--although it is rapidly thrown into chaos by her brother's disappearance. This part of the book is addressed to Nichola, describing her and her doings in the second person. "You carefully fold the poem and put it in your purse" (47). This mode is not arbitrary. There is a plot-based reason for it that is only later revealed.

The properly Underground business is all in the third and longest part of the book. The protagonist Shadrach is ultimately concerned to overcome the abysmal demiurge Quin. The Publisher's Weekly review excerpted in the jacket copy rightly compares this story to Dante, Bosch, and the Orphic katabasis. The end of the book was a bit more conventional, and thus less satisfying, than what I have encountered in VanderMeer's later work. Still, the whole novel is a fast read, and worthwhile in its own right, not just in relation to a larger ouevre.

From the more or less normal top world to the increasingly weird subterranean levels, this book sends you on a trip to deeply surreal el bosco-type world. Although some parts work better than others it is definitely worth a read for its uniqueness. And then I'll read anything featuring meerkats. ( )

http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-of-veniss-underground-by-jeff.ht... ( )

Unfortunately my copy of this book doesn't include the extra stories so I only had the pleasure of reading the main story. The first section of the story reminded me of Jeff Noon's Vurt or Pollen, it was rife with fantasy lingo and extreme future concepts and frankly very confusing. The 2nd section was more somber and creepy and then the last section (my favorite) was a surreal, horror-filled quest/adventure (akin to China Mieville's Perdido Street Station)

The mix of atmosphere's and writing styles worked for me. I enjoyed Vandermeer's City of Saints and Madmen and I would say this is on par with that in creativity and originality. ( )

Jeff Vandermeer here mixes point of view; from first person to second to third limited in a ambitious and challenging story that mixes horrific images of genetic freaks and phantasmic scenes into a melange that will carry you the his extreme dreamland nightmare. The book to me has hints of Hunter S Thompson, Poe, Dick and Lovecraft in a bizarre dystopian soup. Tae a ride to this thrilling and horrific place with Jeff as your guide... Lovely really a must have ( )