Just when you think you know what to from Vandermeer, he goes and does something new. Something brilliantly, disturbingly, new. With the world of Borne in my head (along with Strange Bird and Dead Astronauts), I fully expected to see some Franken-hybrid made up of Hummingbird and Salamander parts.

Not so fast.

Hummingbird Salamander is less weird fiction and more psychological crime mystery. The story follows a middle aged security analyst and former body-builder who receives an odd package from her barista. As the story unwinds, her life unravels—all in the pursuit of a dead woman who is either an Eco-terrorist or a visionary.

Or both?

One constant with Vandermeer is his passion for the natural world and the dystopia that ensues when the natural world is assaulted by modernist corporations. The most frightening parts of this book didn’t arrive with the conclusion (although that was unsettling, to say the least). The dissonance comes when you see the overlap between Vandermeer’s dystopic vision and our own society.

Hummingbird Salamander is a thrill-ride with an overarching question: is it too late to change?

Vandermeer, Jeff. Hummingbird Salamander. McClelland & Stewart, 2021.