Borne

Borne is set in an unnamed ruined city dominated by a gigantic bioengineered flying bear called Mord, a creation of a collapsed corporation known only as the Company. Rachel, a scavenger, discovers a small organism clinging to Mord's fur and brings it home to her partner Wick, who synthesizes biotech organisms for survival and barter. The creature, which Rachel names Borne, grows rapidly and proves to be something unprecedented, capable of changing shape, absorbing knowledge, and forming genuine emotional bonds. VanderMeer uses the novel to examine parenthood, identity, and moral responsibility in a world where biotechnology has run entirely beyond human control. One of the more original post-apocalyptic novels of recent years, less interested in how civilization fell than in what kinds of attachment are still possible in its ruins. Signed by VanderMeer on the title page.

Hardcover. First Edition, First Printing. Octavo, gilt-stamped cream-colored boards. New York: MCD Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2017. ISBN: 9780374115241. #10645.
Fine in fine dust jacket.