Having read (and loved) 'City of Saints and Madmen', I had a fair idea what flavor of weirdness I was getting myself into with 'Veniss Underground'. For instance, the three portions of the book are delivered in the first, second, and third person perspectives respectively. An interesting idea, but unfortunately not interesting enough to make up for how annoying it is to read anything written in the second person perspective.

If there's one thing Vandermeer knows, it's creating locales that are strange enough to maintain your curiosity and interest while simultaneously remaining familiar enough to seem real and relatable. This is true of both the city of Ambergris (of 'City of Saints and Madmen') and the sprawling, futuristic, dilapidated metropolis that is Veniss.

Reading the first portion of 'Veniss Underground' got me hooked by presenting a vivid and enticing introduction to the city via a protagonist whose artistic plight (and resulting poverty) is perhaps a recurring theme of Vandermeer's works.

If I weren't so very captivated by the first portion I fear I would not have had the stamina to wade through the awkward prose of the second. Mind you, the actual narrative of the second portion is just as interesting as the first; it is only its presentation in the second person perspective that had me tripping over my own thoughts as I tried to read it. But I'm VERY glad I stuck with it, because it isn't until the third portion that 'Veniss Underground' really comes into its own.

The titular underground is an absurd, almost surreal place abounded with visceral grotesqueries (both literally and metaphorically speaking). There is a curious dreamlike quality to the entirety of the journey underground that only becomes more and more absurd as the protagonist presses ever forward, ever deeper into what I can only describe as some sort of strange, bio-mechanical hell.

I wouldn't readily suggest 'Veniss Underground' as an introduction to Vandermeer's works, but those who are already familiar with his wonderfully esoteric, eccentric style may really enjoy themselves here.