Jeff VanderMeer Talks Noir, Suspense, and His New Eco-Thriller With Meg Gardiner ‹ CrimeReads

His work includes The Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation), Borne, and Dead Astronauts. I first met him in London with his wife, Ann VanderMeer, a Hugo and World Fantasy Award-winner and his co-editor of the anthologies The Big Book of Science Fiction and The Big Book of Classic Fantasy. Since then, we've reconnected at the Texas Book Festival and over tacos in Austin. VanderMeer is an author I can count on to give me both heart-pounding anxiety and a breathless dose of exhilaration. His new thriller, Hummingbird Salamander, pulls readers into a surprising, heartrending, and riveting story. I got the chance to catch up with him over email to talk about the novel, writing about the environment, and his immersion into genre.