异形博恩 (2017)

《异形博恩》（Borne）是美国作家杰夫·范德米尔于2017年推出的长篇小说。小说设定在一个被生物科技淹没的后末日城市环境中。

剧情

小说发生在未来，一个无名城市的废墟中，该城市被一只名为“莫德”（Mord）的巨型灰熊所主宰。视角人物瑞秋（Rachel）是城市中的一名拾荒者；她收集“公司”（the Company）——一家生物科技公司——创造的各种基因工程生物体和实验品。有一天，当她在莫德的毛皮中搜寻时，发现了一个海葵状的生物，她将其命名为“博恩”（Borne）。

创作背景

范德米尔长期以来一直考虑写一写他在南太平洋长大的经历，他童年曾在那里生活。有一天，一个海葵的形象浮现在他脑海中，伴随着一只他知道属于瑞秋的手，这只手从一只巨熊的毛皮中抓住了那只海葵。从这个意象出发，整个城市自行构建起来。莫德的形象受到理查德·亚当斯（Richard Adams）的《沙迪克》（Shardik）的影响，而他那种从未被解释的飞行能力则受到安吉拉·卡特（Angela Carter）的《马戏团之夜》（Nights at the Circus）中一个角色的启发。

反响

这部小说获得了高度评价，《卫报》称“范德米尔近期的作品在基础层面上表现出奥维德风格，探索生命形式的根本转变以及它们之间的界限。” 《出版人周刊》说这部小说读起来“像是一份来自某个介于科幻、神话和电子游戏之间的世界的报告”，并认为范德米尔通过《异形博恩》将怪诞小说转变成了“奇异文学”。 《纽约客》表示这部小说将读者带入“一个充满神话、寓言和童话的原始领地。” 卡梅隆·劳克斯（Cameron Laux）在BBC的文章中将其列为近期最被忽视的小说之一，它想象了“一个生态乌托邦，在那里人类对自然的虐待式关系已经终结。”

Borne is a 2017 novel by American writer Jeff VanderMeer. It concerns a post-apocalyptic city setting overrun by biotechnology.

Plot

The novel takes place in the future, in the ruins of a nameless city dominated by a giant grizzly bear called "Mord". The perspective character, Rachel, is a scavenger in the city; she collects various genetically engineered organisms and experiments that were created by "the Company", a biotech firm. One day, while searching in Mord's fur, Rachel discovers a sea anemone-like creature that she names "Borne".

Background

VanderMeer had for a long time considered writing about growing up in the South Pacific, where he lived as a child. One day the image of a sea anemone came to him, along with a hand which he knew belonged to Rachel, that reached out to grab the anemone from the fur of a giant bear. From that image, the rest of the city assembled itself. Mord was influenced by Richard Adams's Shardik, and his never explained ability to fly was inspired by a character in Angela Carter's Nights at the Circus.

Reception

The novel was highly praised, with The Guardian saying "VanderMeer’s recent work has been Ovidian in its underpinnings, exploring the radical transformation of life forms and the seams between them." Publishers Weekly said the novel reads "like a dispatch from a world lodged somewhere between science fiction, myth, and a video game" and that with Borne Vandermeer has transformed weird fiction into "weird literature." The New Yorker said the novel plunges the reader "into a primordial realm of myth, fable, and fairy tale." Cameron Laux in the BBC labels it one of the most overlooked recent novels, imagining "an ecological utopia where humans' abusive relationship with nature has ended."

Sequels and possible film

At one point Borne tells Rachel the story of a Strange Bird when he comes back from one of his explorations of the city, at least to the extent that the survivors in the City think they know the Strange Bird's story.

In August 2017 VanderMeer released the novella The Strange Bird: A Borne Story. The stand-alone story is set in the same world as Borne but features different characters.

VanderMeer also wrote Dead Astronauts, a stand-alone novel set in the Borne universe which was released on December 3, 2019.

Paramount Pictures has optioned the film rights to Borne.