Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Del Rey (2020), 400 pages
Description
"Nia Imani is a woman out of place and outside of time. Decades of travel through the stars are condensed into mere months for her, though the years continue to march steadily onward for everyone she has ever known. Her friends and lovers have aged past her, and all she has left is work. Alone and adrift, she lives for only the next paycheck, until the day she meets a mysterious boy, fallen from the sky. A boy, broken by his past. The scarred child does not speak, his only form of communication the beautiful and haunting music he plays from an old wooden flute. Captured by his songs, and their strange, immediate connection, Nia decides to take the boy in. And over years of starlit travel, these two outsiders discover in one another the things they lacked. For him, a home, a place of love and safety. For her, an anchor to the world outside herself. For the both of them, a family. But Nia is not the only one who wants the boy. The past hungers for him, and when it catches up, it threatens to tear this makeshift family apart"--… (more)
Media reviews
Spanning a thousand years, this sweeping novel takes the reader from the drowned cities of Old Earth to the vast reaches of Umbai corporate space but always anchors itself in human connection.
User reviews
LibraryThing member roses7184
I don’t know what I expected when I started The Vanished Birds, but I can tell you that it blew any expectations I did have completely out of the water. This book is beautiful. It’s haunting and poignant. This story is filled with scenes that will make your imagination sing, and your eyes tear
It all begins on a world that is on the fringes of occupied space. One that is spared the colonization of other worlds, and is saturated with tradition. Jimenez makes it obvious early on that this will be a story about how civilization changes over time. How, despite what we cling to, the world is continuously evolving around us. A story about how one tiny thing, in this case a boy who falls out of the sky, can set in motion things that will change everything.
What is so fascinating about this story is that it also bring so the table so many questions about human kind. What depths will we go to in order to further a cause? Are people expendable, if it means progress? When does greed get to a point where it is no longer sustainable? As Nia and her crew navigate the stars, learning more about the mysterious boy who fell into their life as they travel, the story even questions what makes up a family. I can’t express enough how deep this story is, and how wonderful it was to sink into.
This story is not going to be for everyone, I know. It’s the kind of Science Fiction that is a gorgeous, slow burn. It takes a while to understand the characters, and how they interact with one another. You must be patient as the universe expands, and the terrible/wonderful things that come along with that unfold. If you are patient, you’ll be well rewarded. This book too my breath away and I can scarcely believe that it’s a debut.
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up. This is the kind of Science Fiction that I missed so very much.It all begins on a world that is on the fringes of occupied space. One that is spared the colonization of other worlds, and is saturated with tradition. Jimenez makes it obvious early on that this will be a story about how civilization changes over time. How, despite what we cling to, the world is continuously evolving around us. A story about how one tiny thing, in this case a boy who falls out of the sky, can set in motion things that will change everything.
What is so fascinating about this story is that it also bring so the table so many questions about human kind. What depths will we go to in order to further a cause? Are people expendable, if it means progress? When does greed get to a point where it is no longer sustainable? As Nia and her crew navigate the stars, learning more about the mysterious boy who fell into their life as they travel, the story even questions what makes up a family. I can’t express enough how deep this story is, and how wonderful it was to sink into.
This story is not going to be for everyone, I know. It’s the kind of Science Fiction that is a gorgeous, slow burn. It takes a while to understand the characters, and how they interact with one another. You must be patient as the universe expands, and the terrible/wonderful things that come along with that unfold. If you are patient, you’ll be well rewarded. This book too my breath away and I can scarcely believe that it’s a debut.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
In a future controlled by the corporation that runs Resource Worlds for extraction, a young boy with the power to go vast distances instantly might hold the key to an alternative. But this summary is vastly misleading because the book is almost the opposite of “plucky rebels somehow survive vast
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apparatus against them”; everyone but the boy is implicated in various ways (and he’s more of a victim than an actor), and victories are few and partial at best. It’s a mournful, elegiac book, in which each character is bound to their own past in ways that make it hard for them to work with each other. I understand why people like it, but I didn’t need this much of a downer. Show Less
LibraryThing member BethYacoub
Fair warning: this review is a bit Adjective laden. I apologize right here and now...some things had to be expressed ... verbosely.
Well well well... This lucky find was a true work of art! It was a magnificently wrapped present that I didn't know I absolutely had to have in my life until I tore
Let's start off with the basics. The story was primarily character driven and oh how I lost myself in their depths. The world building, on the other hand, was ethereal, resplendent, and quite impressive but the stars of the show were most definitely the Characters. The Characters were (at times) resilient, hopeful, brave, (at other times) bereft, defiant, and (always) adventurous pioneers... in other words, they were perfectly flawed human beings like the rest of us. The writing was skillful and seasoned without being pretentious. The prose, delicate and not overpowering. The way the characters and their situations were presented were both tasteful and seductive. There were interwoven vignettes that were equal parts gorgeous, traumatizing and oh so poignant. I absolutely adored each character's contribution to the finely woven tapestry, BUT I was a little confused towards the end. I'll have to revisit the last few pages to make sure I got exactly what was being intimated ... AHEM, Ahro's birth (birth mother??)--> Quiet Ship pickup... who the hell called those psychopaths onto the scene?? Anyway, I digress. The rest was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! It jumped around spotlighting seemingly unrelated people and illuminated their seemingly singular lives. Then, slowly, masterfully, the entwining threads of commonality amongst the group started to form a fully cohesive picture. We were constantly seeing through the different character's deliciously tinted shades of Reality and I was SO enamored with that/them/EVERYTHING!
The story was chock full of modern day societal hot topics and dilemmas such as: the dissipation of environmental resources, the ramifications of corporate greed, mass extinctions, genetic tinkering, society's toxic influence on body image, the future of tech and more. It also masterfully portrayed the splendor of Resonance, not only the instrumental kind but that of Familial harmony and the crescendo of carnal cadences as well. There was a plethora of musical accoutrements like the physical act of playing instruments and songs being sung (and internalized) but metaphors and similes and an all around reverence for its presence in the Universe as well. Jimenez colored the Cosmos with a veritable palette of music, light and emotion. It was surreal.
Another thing that made me swoon was the slew of strong female representation, it had me falling deeper in love with every turn of the page. Fummiko was scary brilliant and bucked the traditional views of what makes a Woman desireable and worthy. Nia was strong, smart, at times (reluctantly) affectionate, a loyal friend, and a kick ass Captain that never gave up on who and what she desired/needed. I even adored Dana's gossamer presence BUT I strongly recommend that you do not get too attached to the cast members, Jimenez showed no qualms about harming, mutilating or killing off his beloved characters...snuffed some right out... gone in a blink. So yes, there were times that I raged against the book and times when I coddled and cradled it in my lap. I'm not too proud to admit that there were tears shed too... tears of outrage and tears of profound happiness and best of all were the tears of personal connection. I was put through the gamut of Feels and I begged for more. The end was happy and sad and satisfying all at once (except for that one little hiccup of confusion) and ultimately, it was well worth every emotion wrung out of my storm battered heart.
Overall:
This SciFi/Space Opera/Dystopian amalgamated gem will certainly appeal to lovers of those genres but I foretell this reaching the Snubbers as well. It's true, Science Fiction...Space Operas... and Dystopian novels aren't for everyone (especially smooshed into the same book) BUT If you're a little reticent and on the fence about picking up The Vanished Birds because you've been spurned in the past by any of those genres, I say go for it anyway because it is most definitely worth the time and emotional investment!
~ Enjoy
*** I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ***
Well well well... This lucky find was a true work of art! It was a magnificently wrapped present that I didn't know I absolutely had to have in my life until I tore
Show More
into it. It was a lot of things (mostly all sorts of awesome) but it was also somewhat tricky to whittle down to bite size pieces without giving away too much of what I believe to be spoiler material. Soooo I won't regale you with my regurgitated version of the synopsis, better writers than I have succinctly captured its essence. What I will say is that I categorically loved this read!! It beautifully showcased the literary genius that is Simon Jimenez's mind. Let's start off with the basics. The story was primarily character driven and oh how I lost myself in their depths. The world building, on the other hand, was ethereal, resplendent, and quite impressive but the stars of the show were most definitely the Characters. The Characters were (at times) resilient, hopeful, brave, (at other times) bereft, defiant, and (always) adventurous pioneers... in other words, they were perfectly flawed human beings like the rest of us. The writing was skillful and seasoned without being pretentious. The prose, delicate and not overpowering. The way the characters and their situations were presented were both tasteful and seductive. There were interwoven vignettes that were equal parts gorgeous, traumatizing and oh so poignant. I absolutely adored each character's contribution to the finely woven tapestry, BUT I was a little confused towards the end. I'll have to revisit the last few pages to make sure I got exactly what was being intimated ... AHEM, Ahro's birth (birth mother??)--> Quiet Ship pickup... who the hell called those psychopaths onto the scene?? Anyway, I digress. The rest was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!! It jumped around spotlighting seemingly unrelated people and illuminated their seemingly singular lives. Then, slowly, masterfully, the entwining threads of commonality amongst the group started to form a fully cohesive picture. We were constantly seeing through the different character's deliciously tinted shades of Reality and I was SO enamored with that/them/EVERYTHING!
The story was chock full of modern day societal hot topics and dilemmas such as: the dissipation of environmental resources, the ramifications of corporate greed, mass extinctions, genetic tinkering, society's toxic influence on body image, the future of tech and more. It also masterfully portrayed the splendor of Resonance, not only the instrumental kind but that of Familial harmony and the crescendo of carnal cadences as well. There was a plethora of musical accoutrements like the physical act of playing instruments and songs being sung (and internalized) but metaphors and similes and an all around reverence for its presence in the Universe as well. Jimenez colored the Cosmos with a veritable palette of music, light and emotion. It was surreal.
Another thing that made me swoon was the slew of strong female representation, it had me falling deeper in love with every turn of the page. Fummiko was scary brilliant and bucked the traditional views of what makes a Woman desireable and worthy. Nia was strong, smart, at times (reluctantly) affectionate, a loyal friend, and a kick ass Captain that never gave up on who and what she desired/needed. I even adored Dana's gossamer presence BUT I strongly recommend that you do not get too attached to the cast members, Jimenez showed no qualms about harming, mutilating or killing off his beloved characters...snuffed some right out... gone in a blink. So yes, there were times that I raged against the book and times when I coddled and cradled it in my lap. I'm not too proud to admit that there were tears shed too... tears of outrage and tears of profound happiness and best of all were the tears of personal connection. I was put through the gamut of Feels and I begged for more. The end was happy and sad and satisfying all at once (except for that one little hiccup of confusion) and ultimately, it was well worth every emotion wrung out of my storm battered heart.
Overall:
This SciFi/Space Opera/Dystopian amalgamated gem will certainly appeal to lovers of those genres but I foretell this reaching the Snubbers as well. It's true, Science Fiction...Space Operas... and Dystopian novels aren't for everyone (especially smooshed into the same book) BUT If you're a little reticent and on the fence about picking up The Vanished Birds because you've been spurned in the past by any of those genres, I say go for it anyway because it is most definitely worth the time and emotional investment!
~ Enjoy
*** I was given a copy of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review ***
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LibraryThing member ladycato
I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley.
What an astonishingly deep, meaningful book--one that I fully expect to be up for awards next year. Even more remarkable that this is the author's debut. That said, I didn't find it to be a flawless work, especially at the very end.
The
The book flows between many points of view, though it primarily follows Nia--the starship captain-and the boy, who comes to be known as Ahro. At times, the transitions in POV come as a bit of a jolt. The mystery around the boy continues to build: Who is he? What is he? When his mystery gains the attention of a 1000-year-old famed scientist of old Earth, the book shifts in a very unexpected way. Really, much of the book's plot comes as a surprise, which is refreshing for me as I normally can predict things a bit too well.
Like so many great science fiction books right now, The Vanishes Birds explores the innate nature of what defines humanity--love, found family, faith in one another--against a fascinating far-future. It's beautiful. Sometimes disturbing. And always, heart-wrenchingly human.
Then comes the ending. I won't state any spoilers, but I will say that something about the end feels... off. I can't put my finger on what I would do differently, though. I like that it's not a cookie-cutter happy ending, but a resolution that involves considerable time and work. At the same time... I don't know. It didn't ruin the book for me, not by any means, but neither did it resolve what I hoped it would resolve for all of the major characters.
What an astonishingly deep, meaningful book--one that I fully expect to be up for awards next year. Even more remarkable that this is the author's debut. That said, I didn't find it to be a flawless work, especially at the very end.
The
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cover copy mentions that the book is about 'space and time,' but that minimizes the book's true genre. It ends up being straight-out space opera with very literary-style elements. The book starts out on a world that has a vibe of rural Africa or Asia, where people live and harvest and await a space transport every 15 years that will pick up their wares. A boy crash lands there. He has no ship, no clothes, and no voice. He's taken in by a man who presents him with a flute given to him by an interstellar trader. The boy becomes obsessed with the instrument. When the trader returns again--unaged, due to the nature of space flight--she agrees to take the strange child for treatment and to find out the mystery of his origins.The book flows between many points of view, though it primarily follows Nia--the starship captain-and the boy, who comes to be known as Ahro. At times, the transitions in POV come as a bit of a jolt. The mystery around the boy continues to build: Who is he? What is he? When his mystery gains the attention of a 1000-year-old famed scientist of old Earth, the book shifts in a very unexpected way. Really, much of the book's plot comes as a surprise, which is refreshing for me as I normally can predict things a bit too well.
Like so many great science fiction books right now, The Vanishes Birds explores the innate nature of what defines humanity--love, found family, faith in one another--against a fascinating far-future. It's beautiful. Sometimes disturbing. And always, heart-wrenchingly human.
Then comes the ending. I won't state any spoilers, but I will say that something about the end feels... off. I can't put my finger on what I would do differently, though. I like that it's not a cookie-cutter happy ending, but a resolution that involves considerable time and work. At the same time... I don't know. It didn't ruin the book for me, not by any means, but neither did it resolve what I hoped it would resolve for all of the major characters.
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LibraryThing member midnightbex
In sweeping and intimate prose, The Vanished Birds builds a universe from the inside out. The world building is grand, the scale epic, but never alienating. Jimenez has managed what many great world building writers never can - to write a book whose heart is profoundly, achingly human.
Summaries of
Jimenez has proven himself to be a talent to look out for. I can't wait to see what he does next.
An advance digital galley of this book was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Summaries of
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The Vanished Birds will tell you this is the story of a woman out of her time who takes guardianship of an injured boy and fights to save the family they build. That the book is about that is undeniable, but that is only one face of the prism. This book is about a traumatized boy who finds a home and himself and discovers that the consequences of other people’s greed can be worse than anything he could imagine. It’s the story of a woman born at the end of the Earth whose genius defines humanity’s post-Earth future and who lets her drive and intelligence alienate her from her own heart. It’s a heartbreaking study of dehumanization and a blistering critique of capitalism, colonization, and corporations. But above anything else, it’s a meditation on love - platonic, romantic, unrequited, familial.Jimenez has proven himself to be a talent to look out for. I can't wait to see what he does next.
An advance digital galley of this book was provided to me by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
Beautiful writing and well-developed characters make this sci-fi book worth reading. The excellent story development was a good tool to make readers questions what makes a relationship work between humans. This first-time author knows how to write.
LibraryThing member LisCarey
The universe of The Vanished Birds is one of, perhaps faster than light travel, but not so fast that crew on trading ships aren't separated from family and friends, staying young while those they leave behind grow old.
Nia Imani is a ship's captain who is a bit isolated, and haunted by guilt at
Kaeda, when we meet him, is a young boy growing up on an agricultural world, a Resource World for the Umbai Corproation. Umbai controls much interstellar trade, and is quite ruthless, but we don't see that in the visits Nia makes to Kaeda's world collect their crop.
For Kaeda, the visits are fifteen years apart, starting when he's seven, but for Nia, they are eight months apart, and she meets Kaeda as child, youth, adult, and village elder. Not long before one of those visits, Kaeda and his village find that a young boy, naked and scarred, has appeared mysteriously among them. Kaeda takes him temporarily, but since he's obviously from offworld, he is given into Nia's care when she arrives.
The boy doesn't speak, and communicates only with the music of a flute Kaeda gave him--that Nia had previously given to Kaeda. We see the nameless boy and Nia build a relationship, and then gradually, he starts to communicate with other crew members. He begins to talk, and chooses a name, Aro.
At one of their stops, they meet Fumiko Nakajima, and we learn a little about Fumiko's background and strange upbringing on Earth, when it was dying, and invented the space stations and much of the system of interstellar travel--a thousand years in the past.
Fumiko claims Aro, and but also offers Nia a deal. She will take Aro on a years-long journey through the Fringe, an area Nia and her crew would ordinarily prefer to avoid, and remain there till Aro is grown and, hopefully, reaches what Fumiko believes to be his potential. She won't say what she believes that to be until Nia has signed the contract, and she can't tell her crew until they sign the contract. Most of them refuse, and her crew is replaced by people supplied by Fumiko.
And Nia has no idea whether Fumiko's wild expectations will be fulfilled, or if that will be a good or a bad thing. But they are off on their travels, a very different life than before, with new people, building a new family, and a new life for all of them.
Until the day comes that they're supposed to go "home."
This is in many ways a lyrical and strange book, with a hard look at the ruthlessness of corporations, and the science-fictional elements in soft focus. It's fascinating and enjoyable.
Recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
Nia Imani is a ship's captain who is a bit isolated, and haunted by guilt at
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leaving her sister behind to deal with their late father's debts herself.Kaeda, when we meet him, is a young boy growing up on an agricultural world, a Resource World for the Umbai Corproation. Umbai controls much interstellar trade, and is quite ruthless, but we don't see that in the visits Nia makes to Kaeda's world collect their crop.
For Kaeda, the visits are fifteen years apart, starting when he's seven, but for Nia, they are eight months apart, and she meets Kaeda as child, youth, adult, and village elder. Not long before one of those visits, Kaeda and his village find that a young boy, naked and scarred, has appeared mysteriously among them. Kaeda takes him temporarily, but since he's obviously from offworld, he is given into Nia's care when she arrives.
The boy doesn't speak, and communicates only with the music of a flute Kaeda gave him--that Nia had previously given to Kaeda. We see the nameless boy and Nia build a relationship, and then gradually, he starts to communicate with other crew members. He begins to talk, and chooses a name, Aro.
At one of their stops, they meet Fumiko Nakajima, and we learn a little about Fumiko's background and strange upbringing on Earth, when it was dying, and invented the space stations and much of the system of interstellar travel--a thousand years in the past.
Fumiko claims Aro, and but also offers Nia a deal. She will take Aro on a years-long journey through the Fringe, an area Nia and her crew would ordinarily prefer to avoid, and remain there till Aro is grown and, hopefully, reaches what Fumiko believes to be his potential. She won't say what she believes that to be until Nia has signed the contract, and she can't tell her crew until they sign the contract. Most of them refuse, and her crew is replaced by people supplied by Fumiko.
And Nia has no idea whether Fumiko's wild expectations will be fulfilled, or if that will be a good or a bad thing. But they are off on their travels, a very different life than before, with new people, building a new family, and a new life for all of them.
Until the day comes that they're supposed to go "home."
This is in many ways a lyrical and strange book, with a hard look at the ruthlessness of corporations, and the science-fictional elements in soft focus. It's fascinating and enjoyable.
Recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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LibraryThing member iansales
I’d given up on reading US genre debuts, but then I go and pick one up and read it. To be fair, I’d heard good things of The Vanished Birds from people whose opinion I trust, and I’ve not seen it mentioned often on social media, which means it probably doesn’t appeal to the sort of people
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who champion books I’ve found I definitely don’t like. (And it hasn’t made any award shortlists this year.) But, oh dear. Tricked again. On the plus side, it’s better written than is usually the case – but given it was apparently a thesis for a Creative Writing MFA, that’s hardly a surprise. Unfortunately, it fails pretty much everywhere else. It opens with a section set on a world which is visited by twelve spaceships every fifteen years, there to collect… a fruit which apparently stays fresh for up to fifteen years after harvesting. The economics make no sense – there are other villages, and hence more spaceships, on different schedules, so demand for this fruit must be huge. Except… the ships only appear every fifteen years, but for them the trip takes days, and they’re away from their destination for only months. (This time discrepancy in FTL applies nowhere else in the novel.) All this has little to do with the story, which is all about a mysterious boy one such ship picks up on a trip to the planet. There are a series of spacestations, in a universe that borrows most of its visuals from media sf, especially Star Wars, and which are shaped like birds because… because why? Their architect is treated more or less like an empress, for no discernible reason. She goes into cold sleep at regular intervals and has now lived for over a thousand years. She has determined the mysterious boy has the ability to “jaunt”, ie, travel from planet to planet without a spaceship. This ability could, understandably, upset the standard corporatist US-imagined space opera bollocks universe, with its serfs and one-percenters and child abuse and slavery, all of which exist because. For all its praise, The Vanished Birds is a creative writing exercise that strives more for effect than rigour, has a plot that makes little sense, and a universe cobbled together from a dozen ro so properties and overlaid with the usual US science fiction fascist nonsense. (In one scene, 2,500 innocent men, women and children are herded into a room and shot dead by corporate soldiers in order to “punish” the aforementioned architect who had created the secret complex where they lived and worked. Seriously, this fascist shit needs to stop. It’s a failure of imagination, and says more about US culture than it does English-language science fiction. And The Vanished Birds will definitely be the last twenty-first century US genre debut novel I ever read – at least until those authors have several more novels under their belt. Show Less
LibraryThing member Charon07
Tragic, at times truly horrific, heartbreaking. This dystopic science fiction is going to haunt me for quite some time.
LibraryThing member tuusannuuska
On the one hand, this is very well-written, and I totally understand why people love this. On the other, I felt absolutely nothing while reading this (aside from boredom) and I didn't care at all about what was going to happen to any of the characters. The ending mostly left me relieved that the
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book was finally over. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
Whether the impact is on an individual's life or on a planet's culture the Umbai corporation blights aspirations across interstellar distances from it's origins on earth to the stations it controls and the planet it isolates in order to exploit for a millennium.
Fumiko is the scientist who has
This felt like a tribute and extraction of such disparate mid-20th century authors as LeGuin and Blish and others as well, presented through 21st century relentlessly anti-corporate filters. I found the mythic language wearying when it went on at length.
Fumiko is the scientist who has
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sacrificed the core of her life to designing stations for Umbai and wants to find the way around it's stranglehold on pocket space travel which requires travelers to live at relativistic speeds while touching planets at years long local intervals. Nai is the ship captain who makes a connection with a boy who appeared mysteriously on an exploited planet and who chooses to accept Fumiko's offer to spend years outside Umbai's sphere in the hope that he is the one who embodies the secrets of Jaunting, instantaneous star travel.This felt like a tribute and extraction of such disparate mid-20th century authors as LeGuin and Blish and others as well, presented through 21st century relentlessly anti-corporate filters. I found the mythic language wearying when it went on at length.
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Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — First Novel — 2021)
British Fantasy Award (Nominee — 2021)
Arthur C. Clarke Award (Shortlist — 2021)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Science Fiction and Fantasy — 2020)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2022-06-01
Physical description
9.53 inches
ISBN
0593128982 / 9780593128985