Veniss Underground

Veniss Underground is a 2003 novel by Jeff VanderMeer, his first published novel. It was nominated for numerous awards.

Descriptions

"In his debut novel, literary alchemist Jeff VanderMeer takes us on an unforgettable journey, a triumph of the imagination that reveals the magical and mysterious city of Veniss through three intertwined voices. First, Nicholas, a would-be Living Artist, seeks to escape his demons in the shadowy underground–but in doing so makes a deal with the devil himself. In her fevered search for him, his twin sister, Nicola, spins her own unusual and hypnotic tale as she discovers the hidden secrets of the city. And finally, haunted by Nicola’s sudden, mysterious disappearance and gripped by despair, Shadrach, Nicola’s lover, embarks on a mythic journey to the nightmarish levels deep beneath the surface of the city to bring his love back to light. There he will find wonders beyond imagining…and horrors greater than the heart can bear.

By turns beautiful, horrifying, delicate, and powerful, Veniss Underground explores the limits of love, memory, and obsession in a landscape that defies the boundaries of the imagination. This special edition includes the short stories “The Sea, Mendeho, and Moonlight”; “Detectives and Cadavers”; and “A Heart for Lucretia” and the novella Balzac’s War, offering a complete tour of the fantastic world of Veniss."

"On a far-future Earth, where vast deserts - ecological disaster areas - surround walled city-states slowly losing their grip on advanced technology, the mysterious Quin manipulates biological engineering to create sentient species as both toys and manual labour. When Nicholas, a failed holo artist, decides to visit Quin, he - along with his programmer sister Nicola and her former lover, Shadrach - will discover just how dangerous it is to know Quin - in the place known as Veniss Underground. 'Visionary episodes come thicker and faster, and at times the author only barely controls his own invention ...The denouement is as powerful as any I have read' - "Michael Moorcock", "Guardian". 'An outstanding first novel brimming with startling ideas' - "Scotsman". 'A dark, phantasmagoric tale that echoes Dante's Divine Comedy, the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and the landscapes of Hieronymus Bosch' - "Publishers Weekly"."