Book Series Guide
Jeff VanderMeer

Author guide

Jeff VanderMeer Books in Order

Jeff VanderMeer is an American author whose fiction includes the Ambergris cycle, the Southern Reach series, the Borne sequence, Hummingbird Salamander, and A Peculiar Peril. His nonfiction includes writing guides, criticism, essays, and books on steampunk and fantasy. His work often combines weird fiction, ecological themes, literary experimentation, dark fantasy, and horror.

weird fictionscience fictionfantasyhorrorliterary fictionspeculative fictionnonfictionyoung adult

Catalog record updated .

Jeff VanderMeer's Newest Book

Cover of Absolution

Absolution

novel · First published 2024

"Many years later, the Forgotten Coast files wind up in the hands of a washed-up Central operative, Old Jim. He starts pulling a thread that reveals a long, troubling record of government agents meddling with forces they clearly cannot comprehend. Old Jim’s investigation culminates in the first Central expedition into what has now been labeled Area X. A border has come down, and a full team has been assembled to find Area X’s “off switch” somewhere in the volatile, dangerous terrain that has defied all attempts to be explored, mapped, or controlled."-- Provided by Amazon

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Cover of Annihilation

Annihilation

The natural entry point to the Southern Reach series and VanderMeer's best-known novel.

Cover of Borne

Borne

A self-contained novel and accessible introduction to the Borne sequence.

Cover of City of Saints and Madmen: The Book of Ambergris

City of Saints and Madmen: The Book of Ambergris

The principal entry point to the Ambergris cycle, incorporating its foundational early works.

Read in order

Books by series

shared-world sequence · complete

Ambergris

A shared-world sequence centered on the strange city of Ambergris, beginning with two foundational novellas and continuing through City of Saints and Madmen, Shriek, and Finch.

Series guide →
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
    City of Saints and Madmen: The Book of Ambergris

    Book 3 · collection · 2001

    Once upon a time, on the banks of the River Moth, a city sprang up like no other in or out of history. Founded on the blood of the original inhabitants, the stealthy gray caps, and steeped for centuries in the aftermath of that struggle,…

  4. 4
    Shriek: An Afterword

    Book 4 · novel · 2006

    An epic yet personal look at several decades of life, love, and death in the imaginary city of Ambergris-previously chronicled in Jeff VanderMeer's acclaimed City of Saints & Madmen-Shriek: An Afterword relates the scandalous,…

  5. 5
    Finch

    Book 5 · novel · 2009

    In a world where mysterious underground dwellers rule the state of Ambergris and control its residents with addictive drugs, internment camps and random acts of terror, John Finch and his partner, Wyte, must solve a double murder for…

loose sequence · complete

Borne

A loosely connected sequence of speculative works about biotechnology, ecological collapse, and the ruined worlds shaped by the Company.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    Borne

    Book 1 · novel · 2017

    A novel that is simultaneously harrowing, dark, dangerous, funny and uplifting from the author of the Southern Reach trilogy "Am I a person?" Borne asks Rachel, in extremis. "Yes, you are a person," Rachel tells him. "But like a person,…

  2. 2
    The Strange Bird: A Borne Story

    Book 2 · novella · 2017

    The Strange Bird--from New York Times bestselling novelist Jeff VanderMeer--expands and weaves deeply into the world of his "thorough marvel" of a novel, Borne. The Strange Bird is a new kind of creature, built in a laboratory--she is…

  3. 3
    Dead Astronauts

    Book 3 · novel · 2019

    A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. A giant leviathan of a fish, centuries old, who hides a…

young-adult fantasy series · ongoing

The Misadventures of Jonathan Lambshead

A young-adult fantasy series involving Jonathan Lambshead, a family legacy, portals, and surreal alternate worlds.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    A Peculiar Peril

    Book 1 · young-adult novel · 2020

    Jonathan Lambshead stands to inherit his deceased grandfather’s overstuffed mansion―a veritable cabinet of curiosities―once he and two schoolmates catalog its contents. But the three soon discover that the house is filled with far more…

novel series · ongoing

The Southern Reach Series

A speculative-horror series about Area X and the government agency investigating its ecological and psychological transformations.

Series guide →
  1. 1
    Annihilation

    Book 1 · novel · 2014

    "Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its…

  2. 2
    Authority

    Book 2 · novel · 2014

    "Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray. John Rodriguez (aka “Control”) is the Southern Reach’s newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a…

  3. 3
    Acceptance

    Book 3 · novel · 2014

    "As Area X expands, the agency tasked with investigating and overseeing it―the Southern Reach―has collapsed in on itself in confusion. Now one last, desperate team crosses the border, determined to reach a remote island that may hold the…

  4. 4
    Absolution

    Book 4 · novel · 2024

    "Many years later, the Forgotten Coast files wind up in the hands of a washed-up Central operative, Old Jim. He starts pulling a thread that reveals a long, troubling record of government agents meddling with forces they clearly cannot…

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Novels (15)
  1. The Exchange

    novella · 2001

  2. Veniss Underground

    novel · 2003

    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…

  3. The Situation

    novella · 2008

  4. Booklife: Strategies and Survival Tips for the 21st-Century Writer

    nonfiction · 2009

    Offering timely advice in an era when the burden of production and publicity frequently falls on authors, this essential reference reflects on methods for being focused, productive, and savvy in the craft of writing. Discussing a wide…

  5. The Kosher Guide to Imaginary Animals: The Evil Monkey Dialogues

    nonfiction · 2010

    " ... [E]xploring an alternate history of science fiction, this ingenious anthology showcases eighteen brilliant authors leading the way to a new literature of the future ... Two strangely-detached astronauts orbit Earth while a third…

  6. Wonderbook: The Illustrated Guide to Creating Imaginative Fiction

    nonfiction · 2013

    This visual guide to writing creative and compelling fiction includes interesting and inspiring artwork as well as motivational tools and essays from today's top fantasy writers, including George R. R. Martin and Neil Gaiman, to help all…

  7. Hummingbird Salamander

    novel · 2021

    From the author of Annihilation, a brilliant speculative thriller of dark conspiracy, endangered species, and the possible end of all things. The security consultant "Jane Smith" receives an envelope with a key to a storage unit that…

  8. Secret Life

    graphic novel · 2021

  9. Bliss

    novella · 2022

Short fiction (5)
  1. Secret Life

    short-story collection · 2004

    This collection of 23 stories reflects a diversity of approaches to key questions about the human condition, including questions about mortality, love, obsession, and creativity. "Balzac's War" is a harrowing, powerful far-future novella…

  2. Secret Lives

    short-story collection · 2006

    In this new collection by World Fantasy Award winner Jeff VanderMeer, the secret lives of librarians, doctors, lawyers, university students, bank tellers, sex shop clerks and dozens of others are revealed for the first time. Ordered by…

  3. The Third Bear

    short-story collection · 2010

    “Cunningly crafted stories full of wonder and intelligence. VanderMeer proves again why he is so essential and why everybody should be reading him.” —Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao…

Poetry (2)
  1. Lyric of the Highway Mariner

    poetry collection · 1991

  2. The Day Dali Died: Poetry and Flash Fiction

    poetry and fiction collection · 2003

Other (3)
  1. The Book of Frog

    collection · 1989

  2. The Book of Lost Places

    collection · 1996

  3. VanderMeer 2005

    ephemera · 2005

Frequently asked questions about Jeff VanderMeer

Who is Jeff VanderMeer, and what kind of writer is he?

Jeff VanderMeer is a novelist, short-story writer, essayist, editor, and poet best known for weird, speculative, and ecological fiction. His work crosses science fiction, fantasy, horror, and eco-fiction.

Sources: jeffvandermeer.com (opens in a new tab)arts.gov (opens in a new tab)

Where did Jeff VanderMeer grow up?

VanderMeer grew up in the Fiji Islands and later returned to the United States. Before settling back in the U.S., he also traveled through Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Source: jeffvandermeer.com (opens in a new tab)

What influences Jeff VanderMeer's writing?

His writing is shaped by travel, wilderness, environmental change, science, and biological inquiry. He has specifically connected climate change and environmental issues to Borne, while describing scientific uncertainty as an inspiration for his weird fiction.

Sources: arts.gov (opens in a new tab)scientificamerican.com (opens in a new tab)jeffvandermeer.com (opens in a new tab)

What awards has Jeff VanderMeer won?

Annihilation won the Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Shirley Jackson Award for Novel. VanderMeer has also won World Fantasy Awards for works including The Transformation of Martin Lake, Leviathan 3, and The Weird, co-edited with Ann VanderMeer.

Sources: nebulas.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)shirleyjacksonawards.org (opens in a new tab)worldfantasy.org (opens in a new tab)

What is Jeff VanderMeer's connection to the New Weird?

VanderMeer helped bring the New Weird into wider literary discussion by co-editing the anthology New Weird with Ann VanderMeer and by writing about the form’s conventions. He describes it as fiction that combines realistic, complex settings with elements of science fiction, fantasy, and surreal or transgressive horror.

Sources: jeffvandermeer.com (opens in a new tab)jeffvandermeer.com (opens in a new tab)