It begins simply enough. A boy named Jonathan receives an inheritance from his mysterious grandfather: a run-down old mansion. Then the weirdness begins—and continues for over 600 pages.

I’ve loved VanderMeer’s writing since I first picked up the Area X Trilogy. Since then I’ve devoured Borne, Strange Bird, and Dead Astronauts. What sets this book apart is the intended audience: young adults. I couldn’t quite imagine how VanderMeer would successfully adjust his experimental prose and mind-altering visions to reach teens. But he did.

To connect with young adults, VanderMeer shifted his style but not his vision. The experimental disintegration of his prose that was featured so prominently in Dead Astronauts is gone, replaced by an extra dose of wackiness. At times I wondered if he met Terry Pratchett, still alive in some alternate universe!

A Peculiar Peril is a book of multiple universes, alternate earths, mysterious doors, cosmic creatures, Alice-in-Wonderland style twists, and funny little butterfly-like creatures that look like deer and taste like …

The warning on the back of the book is apt: “This book is not normal.”

VanderMeer, Jeff. A Peculiar Peril. Macmillan Publishing Group, 2020. The Misadventures of Jonathan Lamshead 1.