Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Ambergris

By: Jeff VanderMeer
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot, Cassandra Campbell, Oliver Wyman
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $23.36

Buy for $23.36

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

From the author of Borne and Annihilation comes the one-volume reissue of his cult classic Ambergris Trilogy.

Before Area X, there was Ambergris. Jeff VanderMeer conceived what would become his first cult classic series of speculative works: the Ambergris trilogy. Now, for the first time ever, the story of the sprawling metropolis of Ambergris is collected into a single volume, including City of Saints and Madmen, Shriek: An Afterword, and Finch.

©2020 VanderMeer Creative, Inc. (P)2020 Blackstone Publishing

What listeners say about Ambergris

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    188
  • 4 Stars
    67
  • 3 Stars
    21
  • 2 Stars
    12
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    190
  • 4 Stars
    44
  • 3 Stars
    10
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    1
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    158
  • 4 Stars
    62
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    6

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Hits different

This book just hits different. It’s format is different. I didn’t feel like things got bows as much as they got more questions. So much is left for us to decide after the fact. But I loved every minute of it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Can’t recommend enough!

It’s a long listen but it’s worth it, as you discover the amazing city of Ambergris and the strange and thrilling stories that bring it to life.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful & Imaginative

The whole Ambergris trilogy was fantastic. Each book is distinct and unique but the over-arching plot and story of the city is always present.
Ambergris is a beautifully crafted world with a very deep history. I couldn’t put the books down and wanted more stories from Ambergris when I was finished.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Deus ex mushrooma

Imagistic, vivid, vulgar, and artistic, this author's weak narrative is partially hidden by the spectacle of the imagery. I could not like or empathize with a single character, mostly because the reader isn't given any real reason for the loves or resentments, they are just dramatically and vividly displayed; kind of splatted there like... well, I am not the author. Extremely good and detailed imagery and feel, but what's described is rarely important to the narrative. If you enjoy looking through an extremely detailed kaleidoscope for hours, then you might like this series. It's not to my taste.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Epic

The series starts out slow giving a history of Ambergris and I started to get a bit bored, but stuck to it. So glad I did. The history build a base to this crazy city and each story after builds and builds. Loved it. Ends with a noir style story to cap it off.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Unexpected and Excellent

Unexpected and quite excellent, Ambergris is a a fabulous fever dream of a book; a wild ride that I enjoyed immensely.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

interesting point of view story telling

I really enjoyed the way the story was written, detailed and intricate world created. Switching point of views and times, the story truly comes to a head at the end, but despite the glory that should be there, I felt ultimately unsatisfied, which perhaps was the intention of the author.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Ambergris is a New Weird metropolis worth visiting

This collection includes most of the AMBERGRIS-related fiction by Vandermeer. A few bits are missing, but mostly they would be difficult to make work in this medium. Check out City of Saints and Madmen for the rest. Still, Shriek, the middle story, told in dueling first person, is fantastic as read, and the fungal-punk noir of Finch is well suited to hard boiled narration, even from an omniscient perspective.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very Good

I read it a second time the next week. I really hope there will be more stories set in this universe.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Genius

Jeff VanderMeer is a genius of eco-horror. It’s as Lovecraft and Poe combined their writing powers and sent them as a gift to a kind and talented contemporary of ours.

Narration on this series is out of this world. I rarely enjoy the narrators’ craft so much - all folks on Finch and City of Saints, City of Madmen are incredible voice actors, each in a special way, capturing the heart and soul of a careening historian, a mysterious indigenous spy, and a tough noir detective.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!