Perfectly fine eco-thriller. I personally couldn't bring myself to care about the main character. For a book in first person, I felt more disconnected than I do from many with a third person perspective. If I'm not going to care about the characters, the plot better be great and this.. wasn't

There’s a tendency to think of genre fiction as somehow less than, even though we’ve always known that some of our most gifted writers happily appropriated some of the tropes and themes inherent to sci-fi or fantasy or thriller or horror or what have you.

Our foremost practitioners of genre work have shown themselves capable of embracing and elevating the precepts and preconceptions that define their genre of choice, all while also showing themselves capable of both literary and ideological excellence.

Jeff VanderMeer is one such practitioner, an author dubbed “sci-fi” because no other label fits. One of the best-known luminaries of the so-called “Weird Fiction” school, VanderMeer utilizes the tools that genre gives him to create works that are very much their own thing, even if recognizable elements appear within them.

His latest is “Hummingbird Salamander,” a bleak and dystopian piece of ecologically-charged speculation that marries the seemingly casual world-building at which he excels with a twisting, conspiracy-laden puzzle box of a thriller. He’s so gifted at placing character-driven narrative at the forefront while parceling out details about the world in which the narrative takes place – this is just another example of his tremendous talents at work.

VanderMeer’s affection for the natural world – as well as his concern for its future – plays out regularly in his books; “Hummingbird Salamander” is no exception. Through his vivid imagination and visceral descriptions, he creates people, places and events that lodge themselves in the mind of the reader, sparkling with bright colors that are both beautiful and poisonous.

Jane Smith – she adamantly refuses to give us her real name – is a security consultant for an unnamed firm. Physically imposing and detail oriented, she’s quite good at her job. She’s got a family at home – a husband who’s a realtor and a teenaged daughter who is embarrassed by her mother in the manner of teenaged girls since the dawn of time. It’s a bland, relatively quiet life.

A life that is upended with the arrival of a simple envelope.

The envelope contains a key to a storage unit. Inside that storage unit is a box. Within the box is a taxidermied hummingbird – a bird that, like many others, is believed to be extinct. The only other clue is a hint that there is a salamander in similar condition that she must find.

From there, it’s down the rabbit hole. Jane finds herself swept up into a far-ranging conspiracy. Silvina, the now-deceased woman who left the note, is an alleged ecoterrorist and one of the heirs to the industrial fortune of the mysterious Vilcapampa family. After just a brief period of investigation, Jane’s life is completely upended – she is threatened by assailants both known and unknown, put under surveillance and forced to go on the run.

And yet, she simply can’t let it go. For reasons that not even she can articulate, it becomes vital that she figure out what Silvina expected from her. And so she embarks on a journey that takes her on the road and on the run, to abandoned industrial properties and crumbling eco-tourist attractions. She encounters those who would harm her, those who would help her … and a surprising number that would do both.

All of it in service to a mission that she doesn’t understand, at the behest of a dead person that she has never met. And yet, all that matters is uncovering the truth.

In the background, a picture of the world in which Jane lives is gradually painted. It’s a world where rising sea levels have wreaked havoc on coastal cities and where hordes of the displaced are moving en masse in search of somewhere else to go. Commandeered cruise ships packed with climate refugees wander the ocean, with nowhere to go. Economic recessions and pandemics. And yet, for many, life goes on, following everyday routines even as it all begins to crumble.

Again – this is all playing out secondarily to Jane’s story. VanderMeer’s understanding of just how much backstory to lay out at a given time is exquisite; often, it’s just a stray snippet of a news report or an offhanded “everyone knows”-type reference. It’s a wonderful way to develop a rich, full world without bogging things down with exposition.

He’s no stranger to this kind of end-stages bleakness, either. He’s explored our limping finish previously, whether via ecological disasters, humanity’s irresponsibility or both. “Hummingbird Salamander” is no different, with the author deftly weaving his condemnatory warnings into the narrative. We get rapid shifts from conspiratorial ramblings to ruminations on environmental responsibility, yet it all fits snugly into the literary structure that VanderMeer has built.

Ultimately, though, the book is driven by character. Everything we see is through Jane’s eyes – the book itself is structured as a journal of sorts, an effort by our protagonist to make sure her story is eventually told, even as she faces down the looming specter of her own death. She is affable and capable throughout, often surprising even herself with her ability to handle the bizarre circumstances into which she has been thrust.

“Hummingbird Salamander” is another exceptional piece of work from the pen of Jeff VanderMeer. His unique combination of descriptive acumen and deeply-held ideology creates fiction that is challenging and thought-provoking. There’s no one else quite like him out there – and that’s a good thing.

What a unique, original novel! This is a eco-thriller, dsytopian, mysterious ride through "Jane"s quest finding Silvana as well as the reasons she received a cryptic note that simply says Hummingbird. Salamander....... along with a taxidermy hummingbird.
On her quest, she is also running from her life where she feels mediocre in general.
Much of the messaging here is left to the reader - what does it all mean to you?
To me, I felt desperation, a yearning to feel complete even if I don't know how or why this quest would do so. While I did not love Jane the character, there were pieces of her I felt strong empathy towards. There were parts I loved, parts that dragged, parts I hated. Overall, a solid read, thought provoking, definitely not a light or quick read - one to absorb and ponder.
Very original and a change from the usual - thankful for the ARC!

I tend to have a love or not love relationship with Jeff VanderMeer. I never hate his writing but sometimes it just doesn't click with me. Hummingbird Salamander was one that just didn't click with me. I ended up DNFing it at around 35%. I hope to go back to it some day but it's just not the book for me right now.

I'm not going to give this one star because I genuinely don't think it's a one star book. I'm giving it three stars for the possibility of me liking it when I pick it back up later this year.

DNF @ 16%

This is the first book I have read by VanderMeer, so I am not sure if the writing style is unique to Hummingbird Salamander of if this is how he always writes. However, I just could not get into the flow of the story with the very choppy sentences and the half thoughts. Maybe I am just not the target audience for this book.

Since I did not finish this book, I will not be posting my review to any retail sites as that wouldn't be fair to the author or the publisher.

Thank you for the advanced reading copy.

This is a thriller unlike anything I've ever read. It's SMART. and GOOD. and COMPLEX! Finally a thriller that made me think and required some "work".

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange of a review. All opinions my own.


One of the things I love about VanderMeer’s books is no matter the blurb or what I hear about it, I know it is going to be weird and unique in a very positive way. But on that same dynamic, when it is my time to talk about it, most of the time I find myself lacking the words to do so. Even in order to categorise its genre, as it is a mixture between thriller, science fiction and climate change “fiction” with a very humane and ethic perspective.

And I would like to highlight the use of comas in fiction as the way climate change is introduced in the book is closer to where we are at in this point of history rather than a hypothetical future. Thankfully neither salamanders or hummingbirds are extinct yet, but are on the verge on. We are not unfamiliar with the fact that, as humans, we have made several species extinct, and sadly we are still doing so.

This is such a well written and complex book that I don’t really know where to start explaining it. It is like diving in a pool without testing the waters beforehand. You are suddenly surrounded by small pieces of information that apparently do not make sense, you cannot put them well together nor it seems to be going anywhere. However, the more and more you read, you gain more small pieces of information and suddenly you realize where are you at, where everything is going and, before you realise, you need to know more.

One of the things I enjoyed the most is how visual and dynamic the writing is. For me, is one of those books whose text is very easy to bring to life in my head. With the help of short chapters and a very fluid prose it is a steady read that keeps you involved in an effort to connect the pieces yourself, unravel the mysteries and see how everything is going to develop. But, at the same time, it is a walk in the dark due to how little we know about it all. And this contrast is something that absolutely fascinates me. It was so satisfying.

I do have to confess one of the things that marvelled me the most was Jane, [she/her] our main character and so very unreliable narrator. She is a character of whom we know a lot but at the same time very little, I think, in order to find ourselves reflected on her. We only know what she knows and she is a terribly biased character in this whole mess so, how much of what she says can be considered truth? At the beginning it felt a bit dry to me, how this character quits everything in order to chase a few leads and a lot of smoke, but the more time I spend with her, in her brain, the more everything made sense in terms of what drives her and why she makes certain choices. Being able to follow her though process had me marvelled.

The message of the book, and its more highlighted question, for me felt like “how much would you commit to a cause? how far are you willing to go?” and how our decisions, even the smallest ones, can have a huge impact in everything that surround us. How we can be just an individual, but at the same time, have an impact as huge as those massive corporations or rich investors. Yes, they could absolutely change things just by blinking and, yes, they are powerful, but we must not underestimate the power that one single individual can have as well. Maybe even a wake up call or a call to arms, depending who is reading.

I would describe it as a challenging read with demanding prose that I see how it won’t be everyone cup of tea. That is the problem sometimes with this author, there is no middle ground, either you like his work or you cannot even finish the book. It wants you to actively involve yourself with the narration. It is cryptic, ambiguous and biased but I found it so satisfying and powerful that, every single new book he releases, I end up reading. And once I’m finish, I find myself looking forward to the next one.

I've always waited to read from this author. A packed 360 page odd book.

I had trouble understanding and absorbing the story. There was a family and the protagonist is on a quest to uncover the secrets left behind by a woman. This woman continues to haunt the protagonist and in uncovering secrets, the protagonist risks everything and losses everything in order to find herself and the secrets of the extinct creatures.

I never really understood the emphasis on the hummingbird and salamander...was is that their unique extract had something to do with saving the world ? Lot of doubts, gaps and questions.

I needed every ounce of brain cell to understand and pay attention. Was it just me or for everyone? It was tough to plow through and complete.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me & I loved "Annihilation" so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and I just couldn't get into this book no matter how much I wanted to so, I'd rather stop here and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting this book much success and connections with the right readers.

Book Review for Hummingbird Salamander
Full review for this title will be posted at: @cattleboobooks on Instagram!

2.5 stars, rounded up

“Hummingbird Salamander” is an eco-thriller by Jeff VanderMeer who’s known for his “weird fiction.”

Our protagonist is Jane, a 6-foot, 220-pound bodybuilder who specializes in cybersecurity. But she gets thrust into detective mode when she is handed an envelope with a key inside. “Assume I’m dead by the time you get this.” Oddly, the key unlocks a taxidermied hummingbird. And it has clues that lead Jane to a taxidermied salamander. What does this mean?

Yes, this is weird fiction.

So off Jane goes to try to figure out the bizarre clues left behind. Her mission is find the ecoterrorist and corporate heiress, Silvina Vilcacampa, who’s believed to be dead. Soon time is running out. For Jane, her family and the world. Yes, this is apocalyptic weird fiction. And it’s about conspiracy theories, corporate polluters, wildfires, climate change, a pandemic and mass extinction.

Did I mention it’s weird?

I feel like VanderMeer writes stories within stories. It’s tangent-city and keeping up is difficult. The plot is very obscure and I didn’t love it. That said, I do love the short, choppy sentences, and short chapters (of which there are more than 100!)


Special thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an advanced reader copy, via NetGalley. This is my honest review.

I felt kinda meh about this one. Not really connected with the story, even though I did read the whole thing. I would read further books by the author. This one to me was bland. I really love Vandermeer as an author, but this one wasn't for me.

3/5 Stars

Jeff VanderMeer’s environmental whodunit, "Hummingbird Salamander," is a hybrid of genre and literary fiction. It has everything I look for in environmental SF: a lucid style, quirky characters, speculations about climate change and the future of Earth, allusions to pandemics, and observations about the tragic extinction of birds and animals. The narrator, Jane, struggles to decipher the meaning of an extinct taxidermic hummingbird, which she finds in a storage unit after a barista hands her a note and key from a stranger.

This smart novel is almost insanely breathtaking, accentuated by Jane’s witty tough-gal musings. At six feet tall and 220 pounds, Jane is a former bodybuilder and wrestler, a force to be reckoned with, as well as a sympathetic wife and supportive mother. But home is not the center of her attention. As a cybersecurity expert, paranoid Jane knows the ins and outs of corporate culture and more than you want to know about how we are tracked on computers and phones. When she learns that the note-writer, Silvina, was the daughter of a particularly dangerous CEO, that she was allegedly a bioterrorist, and is probably now dead, Jane embarks on amateur detective work and dangerous conversations with criminals. Things get dicey–Jane and her family are being watched–and pretty soon she’s on the road, running from danger and searching for answers.

A brilliant read, and I also enjoyed VanderMeer's occasional lyricism"

"The internet was a colander. You were the water. The metaphor changed by the week. It didn’t always make sense."

This one started off very strong and I was intrigued by the mystery. As the book went on, I found some of the book confusing and slightly hard to follow. I found the main character a bit difficult to relate to throughout the book, which I suspect was part of the point, but it was hard for me to engage with the book as it went on. I never really understood Jane's motivation for as the book proceeded. Her relationship with her family was difficult to understand as well. But I did appreciate the unique story and at times, felt compelled to figure out the mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jeff VanderMeer is an automatic read for me. I have never been so intrigued and confused and compelling by science fiction as I have been by his writing. And Hummingbird Salamander is no different -- except we add a but more of a thriller twist to it. I really liked this journey through the unknown, the dramatic, and the violent. I didn't know what was going on most of the time but I knew that I wanted to stick around to find out!

We have Jane, a security consultant/wife/mom/a person with a lot of secrets. She gets left a note which leads her on an insane chase to find something she's not even sure exists. There are secrets, deaths, gunfights, lots of men following her, and lots of gritty sacrifices. And some stuff about animal trafficking and selling and science? And a pandemic? And maybe bioterrorism? I'm not sure. But it was interesting!

I wish I had more to say here but Jeff's books are as confusing as they are fun. This was gritty in a different way from The Southern Reach Trilogy and Bourne/Dead Astronauts -- since it was much more based in reality. I think I preferred the worldbuilding in the other books, which is why this is only 4 stars for me.

I honestly don't know how to review this book. If you've read the Southern Reaches books by VanderMeer, you know that his books are somewhat strange and opaque, and this one is even stranger and more opaque.

A woman (called Jane Smith) is handed an envelope by a barrista, with a key and a clue that leads her to a storage unit where she finds a taxidermied (not sure that's a word!) hummingbird. For some reason that is not clear to me, she feels compelled to follow clues to find a salamander and trace the story of a woman named Silvina, a dead heiress. She jeopardizes her job, walks away from her husband and daughter, in order to follow these clues and trace Silvina's path. In the process, for some reason (again not clear to me), there are people trying to kill/attack her on the way, and who are quite okay with attacking anyone else who might know something about Jane and her research.

There's mystery, a science fiction element, and environmental/climate change, all wrapped up in this. I personally have trouble enjoying a book that, to me, makes little sense. But, in fairness, I had the same issue, although to a lesser extent, with Annihilation. I think that if this sort of book appeals to you, you'll enjoy this one.

I really struggled with this book. I've read some of VanderMeer's books in the past and enjoyed the story and plot, but just couldn't get with the writing style. This is what happened again. It has such a curious plot and I definitely want to know what's going to happen, but I feel like I'm dragging myself to get there.

I've had my eyes on Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation for awhile now so I jumped at the opportunity to read his latest novel, Hummingbird Salamander. This was my first book by him and I enjoyed it. Others (and myself) have tagged this as sci-fi but it isn't super futuristic laser guns, spaceships etc sci-fi. Rather, it is set in the near to mid future in a time where a bunch of animals have gone extinct or are extremely endangered.

Jane Smith works as a security analyst and spends a lot of time away from her family at conferences or on investigations. One day, she receives a key from a recently deceased woman, Silvina, who is a purported bio-terrorist. The key is to a storage unit that contains a taxidermy hummingbird. The bird and the note set Jane off after a trail of clues. Jane's life quickly gets our of control as she finds herself entwined in conspiracy theories, shady dealings, and more.

This modern speculative fiction has a lot to say about the ecosystem and human's treatment of our planet. It's the battle between climate change/environmental activists vs. evil corporations and capitalism cranked up to maximum level. The story is full of twists and turns and is confusing at parts because just like Jane, we have no idea what is going on and how things are connected. It all comes together in the end. This was a fun and thought-provoking techno thriller. I enjoyed this crazy ride and will definitely pick up the Annihilation series sooner rather than later.

What to listen to while reading...
Birds of Paradise by Chromatics
Human by Sevdaliza
No Surprises by Radiohead
You Don't Know Me by Son Lux
Destroy Everything You Touch (Hot Chip Remix) by Ladytron
Running up that Hill by Meg Myers
Echo Home by The Kills
This Mess We're In by PJ Harvey
New Ways by Daughter

Jeff Vandermeer has a unique eco-horror take on things which runs through all of his novels and Hummingbird Salamander is no different. This noir take on the world leading up to the end was unique from his other novels in that it wasn’t so fantastical. Up until the very end you could see how the world that these characters were in was still our world, just darker. I can’t say I enjoyed any of the characters or even the story, but it kept me reading steadily. Just out this month, Hummingbird Salamander will be one of the most unique novels of 2021.
This book wasn’t as horrifying to me as some of Vandermeer’s other works. Some of the worst images were of family trauma and the horrifying nature of taxidermy. It was interesting and incredibly sad at moments but not as blatantly horrific as some of the psychological scares in Annihilation or some of the body horror of the Borne world.
I have to agree with someone I saw on twitter who described Hummingbird Salamander as the pre-prequel to Borne. I think they could definitely be the same world, and possibly the same one as the Southern Reach. All of it could cohesively enough go together.
I recommend these books if you’re looking for a surrealist noir novel which highlights ecology and nature.

4ish stars

If not quite up to the same standards as VanderMeer's Borne, it's still much better than the bizarre Annihilation. I love VanderMeer's range as a writer and really enjoyed this one.