Teodor

Teodor asked Jeff VanderMeer:

Annihilation and Authority both take distinctly different genres as starting points. It certainly seems to be a more 'controlled' approach than, say, City of Saints and Madmen, which gleefully and deliberately plays around with various genres, styles and voices. Do you think that you're at a point in your career when such 'fine-tuning' is the next logical step?

Jeff VanderMeer Thanks for the interesting question...I don't think there's much of a parallel. City of Saints & Madmen collected a series of connected stories. The better parallel would probably be Veniss Underground, which is also an early book of mine and has a very structured approach. However, within both Annihilation and especially Authority all kinds of other things are being riffed off of in the text, so I'm not sure that's a great parallel either. In any event, both Annihilation and Authority follow one specific character with great intensity, so whatever's in the novels is in a sense dictated by the characters.

More Answered Questions

Christopher Walborn

Christopher Walborn asked Jeff VanderMeer:

Authority has two sections that seem to be a nod to Roadside Picnic: the "Maybe they called it a holiday retreat" passage on pg 37 recalls the passage from which the novella gets its name, and the image of military vehicles on pg 189 echoes an image from Stalker. Were these conscious nods? There were also echoes Lem's Solaris. Are these Eastern European writers touchstones for you? I'm looking forward to September!

Muldvarper

Muldvarper asked Jeff VanderMeer:

Are your books representative for your everyday perception of things, or do you have a completely seperate state of mind for work? (Do you go in to trance?)

Brian Salyards

Brian Salyards asked Jeff VanderMeer:

I often look at the world and wondering how an intelligent being from "somewhere else" would view things. I find this enjoyable and based on your writing I would imagine you do too. When I voice my observations people look at me like I am an alien. Reading your work makes me think in even newer and weirder ways. Thank you. And, in your opinion, what is the true value of weirdos in modern society?

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Jeff VanderMeer

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