Jeff Vandermeer's Ambergris is named for the fantasy city in which the three component volumes transpire, one that compares to the Well Built City of Jeffrey Ford and the Viriconium of M. John Harrison. This "New Weird" setting is introduced in a kaleidoscopic fashion through a collection of shorter pieces in City of Saints and Madmen, each written in a different documentary register. One of these, "The Strange Case of X" involves some transformations of veridicality reminiscent of the fantasizing technique in Paul Park's Roumania and the John Crowley stories "Conversation Hearts" and "Anosognosia."

There is a sort of talmudic textuality to the second book Shriek: An Afterword. Janice Shriek claims to be writing a biography of her brother Duncan, and she includes excerpts from his journals. But he has reviewed and annotated her MS, although she seems to think he is already dead. Another editorial layer is revealed at the end. The "Afterword" is (at least initially) supposed to be end-matter to Duncan Shriek's "History of Ambergris" pamphlet that forms a portion of City of Saints and Madmen. In the course of the biography-cum-confession the reader is introduced to a tension between "Nativist" denial and the Shrieks' acceptance of human contingency and the mysterious mycelial agenda.

The third book Finch is a sort of noir detective story with an espionage substructure and Cronenberg horror esthetics. It reminded me of Mieville's The City and the City, and I also perceived something shaped like the corpse of Fleming's Casino Royale with psychedelic mushrooms sprouting all over it. It is divided into seven long chapters named for the days of the week over which the story takes place, and I serendipitously fell into the rhythm of reading them on the corresponding days of the last week of April.

This Farrar, Straus and Giroux omnibus reprint is a beautiful volume, and it provides a long and satisfying read. I did take pauses between each of the three books within. I gather that some editions of Ambergris: City of Saints and Madmen under its own cover have additional content not included here, and I would be happy to spend time reading that at some point.

A stunningly designed book. Ambergris is a reissue of Jeff Vandermeer's Ambergris cycle: City of Saints and Madmen, Shriek, and Finch. The collection is huge and beautiful. The main draw for this collection, aside from is beauty, is the revisions to City of Saints and Madmen.The first book has been edited and revised for cohesiveness with the other two novels. For those looking for an even deeper dive into Vandermeer madness get the new omnibus and then look on ebay or other booksellers for older versions of City of Saints: first editions and or the Pan Macmillan editions that came out around the time of the Annihilation movie.

Super great omnibus. Highly recommend. Dig in! ( )