Tag Archives: fantasy  ‘Veniss Underground’ by Jeff Vandermeer
A few weeks ago, I was idly looking through my local charity
shop for books. Nothing really took my fancy – I have far too
many books so don’t usually buy them that whimsically – but as I
was just about to leave, an amazing cover caught my eye.  The
book was pretty thin, by an author I’d not heard of – later, I
realised that I had two books edited by the author in my
bookcase: The Steampunk Bible and the Steampunk anthology. The
blurb ofVeniss Underground sounded interested, and the first
page was readable and intriguing. The publisher was Tor, which
gave me a lot of faith. But most of all, I fell in love with the
cover art. It was so beautiful – the grungy colours and
textures, the menacing interlacing of semi-abstract imagery.
Yes, I bought the book based on its cover.  It was also a signed
edition. I wonder why someone would go to the trouble of getting
a book signed, only to give it to a charity shop.  Anyway, I
started reading, and I found t