A powerful child falls from the sky, mute and unable to talk; he finds family with a captain who craves for the feeling of belonging again. Set up in a Space Operatic way, The Vanished Birds tells us a story of many things but mainly lost/gained family while sprinkling in corporate commercialism. All spun in mysterious metaphysical prose.

1) From a fully digitized earth, to fully lived space stations, towards traveling spaceships to outer fringed worlds; the world building in TVB is nothing short of amazing.
2) Character development was fully realized. Each person in TVB gets the reader to feel a range of emotions and that can be hard to do given the many POVs that are given.

I rarely find myself dipping into the world of science fiction but when I do. I love to find stories such as The Vanished Birds. Stories that takes our current society and gives the reader a true glimpse of what we can expect in the future should we continue to go the route we are heading. For a debut novel, this author Simon Jimenez does an extraordinary job and I’m ready to get lost in more of his words.

I don't know exactly what I was expecting going into this book, but I could have never predicted what I was going to get out of it.  Absolutely beautiful and lyrical in it's writing, The Vanished Birds tells a story unlike any other I've ever read or heard.  It begins in a farming village and takes you throughout space and time.  Knowing it was classified as science fiction didn't prepare me for the overall vastness of this book. The depth of character and emotion was at times heartwrenching but relatable, even when the environment was unlike anywhere I'll ever be in my lifetime. 

Simon Jimenez is extremely talented at creating a world unknown to ours, without having to spend time going into the details of the differences. The setting unfolds through the immersive and intricate storytelling. I highly recommend this book, even to those who don't normally prefer this genre. The beauty in the humanity is worth it alone

Ahoy there me mateys!  I received this sci-fi eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  So here be me honest musings . . .

the vanished birds (Simon Jimenez)

Title: the vanished birds

Author: Simon Jimenez

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine Del Ray

Publication Date: TODAY!!! (hardcover/e-book)

ISBN: 978-0593128985

Source: NetGalley

This is certainly an excellent debut novel even if the third part of the book didn't work for me.  The book follows three people - a ship's Captain (Nia), a scientist (Fumiko), and a mute boy who falls from the sky.  Eventually the lives of all three of these people intersect and changes the world.

This really was a hard novel to classify so if any of this sounds interesting give it a shot.  Though the three characters are the overall focus, the plot is not a straightforward one.  In fact, the beginning of the novel showcases a minor trading planet and the life of one of its residents.  How this section unfolds is beautifully written but the true significance of the setting doesn't manifest until much later in the novel.  This novel is not full of action and battles like a lot of sci-fi.  Instead it deals with large ideas, interpersonal relationships, and the consequences of choices interacting with the passage of time.

Part one features the introduction of all three characters.  Ye have Nia who be a ship's captain (Arrr!) who runs an interstellar shipping route.  The main problem is that time for her be relativistic.  A trip that takes months for her is years or decades for the rest of the world.  Consequently she is rather closed off and focuses on the moment.  Fumiko is a brilliant designer baby whose talents literally open up the stars.  However the choices she makes in terms of her career have long term impacts both professionally and personally.  The boy is rescued from a crash as a sole survivor.  He ends up being the linchpin between Nia and Fumiko.  This section introduces the history of Earth, the pasts of Nia and Fumiko, and sets up the mystery of the boy.  It was spellbinding.

Part two deals with the boy at the center.  This section primarily takes place on Nia's ship and the worlds she is trading with.  This part deals the most with interpersonal relationships and the ideas of found family.  The ship's mission is fascinating and witnessing this time period is lovely.  It feels quiet and contemplative but was never boring.  Ye get answers to the mystery of the boy and watch him grow and mature.  His very presence changes everyone around him for the better.  I grew to love both him and the other ship's occupants.

Part three is where this book started to fail me because the plot took an abrupt left turn.  Up until then I would have given this book five stars.  In this section, the boy becomes a political and monetary weapon.  I felt that the entire book was believable and beautifully executed until part three's very first sentence.  Then the confusion began.  Corporation politics is the focus and the choices they make regarding the boy were absolutely mind-boggling and strange.  The events that happen to Nia and Fumiko were equally perplexing.  There were good things in this section but overall the tone shifted and realism seemed to dissipate.

This book is compelling in that I continue to think about ramifications of the plot and writing long after completing the novel.  In fact, the review took over a week and a half to write because I was pondering how I felt about the reading experience.  Ultimately the last 10% was unsatisfying and the conclusion was horrible and I hated it.  However, up until that third section, I was completely engrossed and loving it.  I do believe that the author is one to watch and I will certainly be picking up whatever he writes next because I loved the first two parts.

So lastly . . .

Thank you Random House!

To start off this review I have to send a thank you in the direction of NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with this eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Now, to gather all my thoughts in one place regarding The Vanished Birds. This book was a pretty wild ride. As with most books, there were things I liked and things that I did not. Let’s start with what I liked.
I liked that the plot was brought back around to relate to the things introduced at the beginning of the story. I was about halfway through and wondering what the point of the first chapter or so, but it all came together in the end in a very skillful way. I also really adored the found family aspect of the story. There were a few different dynamics, but I eventually grew to love all of them. So much happens in this book that I’m really not even sure how to get into the details of it, so I’m just not going to. I think the characters were all very well developed and I cared about them all, even the terrible ones. Realistic and compelling characters is something the author did very well.
Now, I didn’t love that the beginning jumped around with all of the different people we need to meet. The book starts off with a, for lack of a better word, primitive society. We follow a boy as he grows into a man and then an elder of his community. We see him develop a relationship with someone who visits his people once every fifteen years. This part I really enjoyed, especially because it clearly related to the rest of the story. We meet the boy in these chapters and he is handed from the man we saw age to Nia, the space traveler. But then, suddenly the next chapter is about someone completely new and many years in the past. This transition was very jarring. It’s something I can appreciate now having finished the book and seeing how this was brought full circle with the rest of the story, but at the time I really didn’t care for it. This jarring transition happens again when we’re back with Nia and the boy, as they create a new space crew and the perspective becomes the writings of one of the new crew members. His writings are full of completely unneeded details that I really didn’t see how they furthered the story. I liked this character but several times found myself skimming to get back to the relevant parts. Despite these jarring transitions I found myself easily and very much invested in the characters and their adventures.
Overall. this wasn’t a perfect book, but it was one that I enjoyed. I found the characters likable and their mission exciting. I wouldn’t call it a quick read, but it was a story I devoured.

The novel starts with the birth of Kaeda, a baby born with an eleventh finger. He had always been in awe of the offworlders whose stories he had heard of from his parents. When Shipment Day finally arrived in Fifth Village in planet Umbai-V, which happened once in fifteen years, he waited for the arrival of the offworlders in bated breath. That night he met Nia Imani, captain of a time-folding ship, he was smitten by her and longed to see her again every other Shipment Day, which they did.

On her final Shipment Day in Fifth Valley, Nia was asked to deliver a mysterious boy who fell from the sky to the Umbai government, as the people of Fifth Village believed him to be an evil omen and wanted to have nothing to do with him.

After having bonded with the mysterious boy during their travel back to Pelican Station, Nia reluctantly handed him over to Umbai. She never thought she'd ever see him again, until the reknown space engineer, Fumiko Nakajima, who was responsible for creating the space stations (Pelican being one of them) that migrated humans to space, tasked Nia with caring for the fallen boy. She would need to take him to fringe space for fifiteen years (real time). Fumiko believed this boy had the special ability to 'Jaunt', and wanted to protect him from the claws of Umbai.

Will she succeed? Will Ahra be safe?

I'm a newbie to sci-fi, and I found it really challenging at first having to learn new concepts and terms. But the narration was so engrossing that the pages just flew by, as I learned about interstellar travel and what it would be like living in space. I absolutely loved the world-building - people traveling to space and adapting to new ways of living and surviving in a new place governed by a conglomerate whose interests was to serve their own.

This novel had many characters that stood out, even those who only appeared briefly like Dana and Nurse. They would have you rooting for each of them, and yes, even the unfavorable ones, although my favorites were Sartoris - his sense of humor is infectious, Ahro - his quiet demeanor grew on me, and Captain Nia - her soft spot for Ahro and her confidence as a captain. Unfortunately, I found it hard to like Fumiko, who was also a designer baby. She was cold, cold, cold.

I also enjoyed the camaraderie of Nia with her old and new crew who bonded over time. Ahra and Satoris made such a great pair! I loved reading about their time together as teacher and student; and oh those quiet, tender moments of getting to know each other between the boy and Nia were so brilliantly captured!

In 'The Vanished Birds', we get to travel in underwater tunnels, escape the dying earth in space arks to safer planets, use neurals to translate different languages instantly and get around new places, and see the other possibilities of our future, which in this book, included designer babies and living on the moon!

This novel made me realize, no matter how different our future may be from our present, one thing doesn't change, or will never change - human greed and selfishness, and our cruelty towards nature, which we continue to ravage to serve our own needs. Will we ever learn?

I want to leave my review with what Dana said,
"But a part of me still revolts against the notion that this is our basic nature; that we are, in essence, self-serving creatures. That love is an explainable construct and souls are a pretty feint to distract ourselves from our own cruel emptiness."

Hard to believe this is the author's debut novel. Looking forward to reading his future works!

Thank you NetGalley and Del Ray for providing me a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

4 out of 5 stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and Del Rey Books for allowing me to read this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Nia Imani has spent decades out of time. It may have been months for her but for everyone else it has been forever. She has watched so many people that she loves age and leave her all alone. Then one day a boy comes into her life and changes everything. She is no longer alone. She has a family. She must do everything she can to save the boy and keep her little family intact.

This was an absolutely beautifully written science fiction novel that has a bit of a fairy tale feel to it. The only reason that I gave it a 4 out of 5 was because the ending felt a little flat. I absolutely loved the concept of this story,

Building a Family in the Unlikely World of Space Travel

On a run to pick up agricultural produce from Umbai V, Captain Nia Imani, witnesses the destruction of a spaceship. The only survivor is a young boy, Ahro. He is unable to speak and bears the scars of abuse. He has one talent, he produces haunting melodies from a flute that once belonged to Nia. The crew on Nia’s ship wants to put the boy into care, but Nia can’t bear to do it. She takes the mysterious boy with her and there begins a loving relationship.

The background of the story is pure science fiction with time travel, spaceships that journey through pockets in space, and ultra modern civilizations that contrast with backward agricultural planets. However, the heart of the story is the development of the relationship between Nia and Ahro. The characters are well developed and grow throughout the story. It’s a delight to read a science fiction book with real characters that you can relate to.

The author’s prose is moving and lyrical. It draws you in and keeps you moving through the story. In addition to the story of Nia and Ahro, other characters are developed. The chapters on Fumiko Nakajima, who developed Pelican Station, are engrossing and add another dimension to the story. This is science fiction that makes you think.

I received this book from Penguin Random House for this review.

This is such a huge shift for me. Now, I'm all about some science fiction, and y'all know I adore fantasy. But this story is such an odd combo of both, and it works!

Let me explain. Most science fiction I've grown up reading is technical. The world's dying, we gotta go into space. (Check on this story.) We colonize planets and make leaps and bounds with technology, purely for survival. (Another check.) There's some big bad who's not even really evil, but with a totally different ideology. (Big ol' check.)

But the style to The Vanished Birds reads more like a beautiful fairy tale. We don't even really learn about our main characters until chapter two! Nia is portrayed in the first chapter as an ageless goddess from the skies. In actuality, she's the captain of a trade ship, running away from her past.

The boy is a pure mystery, and we keep hoping he comes into his own.

A dazzling debut novel, I give The Vanished Birds 5 out of 5 flutes.

The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez has so much potential, but it just never quite lived up to all of it for me. There were parts that I quite loved, but others that just seemed to stick out like a sore thumb. There are also moments where it goes from moving right along to dragging as slowly as possible. The language though is certainly beautiful overall and the story as a whole offers much to think about. While this wasn't quite what I was expecting, I can still say for sure that I will be keeping an eye on Jimenez's future works.

Intergalactic traveler, Captain Nia Imani, was hired by the Umbai Company to complete six cycles of crop collection from distant farming worlds. Nia's ship "Debby" folded into "pocket space" where a journey of mere months across space and time could tabulate to one and a half decades of time in a far away world. Nia, an offworlder, landed in Kaeda's family community every fifteen years to collect the harvest of dhuba seeds (seeds with a mauve patina). On Shipment Day, a great banquet was held for both offworlders and the farmers.

Kaeda saw her. "A woman alone on a bench, sitting by the fire playing the flute...the woman's breath flumed through the wooden tube...gladly mesmerizing him...the music stopped...". The connection between Nia and Kaeda could not be denied. No matter how strong, any relationship was doomed. Every fifteen years, when Nia collected the harvest, she had only aged months, not so for Kaeda. "Their fingers grazed as he took the gift...her flute...".

An odd, mute boy crash landed on Kaeda's planet. Music was the key to communication between "the boy" and Kaeda. Kaeda taught him to play the flute. He determined that the best course of action was to send "the boy" into space with Nia when she arrived, in a few months, on Shipment Day. Would this be a wise decision?

One thousand years earlier, Fumiko Nakajima was "designed" by her mother to be ugly, the goal, "to have a daughter with a mind finely honed for intellect, a prized attribute." Fumiko became an aerospace engineer and was soon hired by Umbai Associates to design a series of space stations. Periods of suspended animation had enabled Fumiko to safeguard Umbai's intellectual property and make adjustments to her agenda and Umbai's final goal.

"The Vanishing Birds", a debut work of science fiction/fantasy by Simon Jimenez explores a future world replete with genetic engineering, corporate greed, and depletion of natural resources. The many characters that populate this tome are detailed to perfection. Author Jimenez's prose had me laughing, crying, cheering and, at times, speechless. I was delighted to journey through "pocket space" with the crew of the "Debby". Kudos to Simon Jimenez!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine, Del Rey and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Vanishing Birds".

This book was different. I enjoyed the different places it went too. I liked the story of the boy and being on the ship and I also enjoyed the scientist who helped him too. Slight romances but I did like that this book talked about birds. Very different and thought provoking.

I received a complimentary galley of THE VANISHED BIRDS by Simon Jimenez for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley and Del Rey Books!

THE VANISHED BIRDS begins in an agriculture community where a young boy comes to live after a crash, waiting for a ride off planet. Nia Imani is the captain of the vessel arriving for the harvest and winds up taking the young boy in. Nia is used to living life in a very interesting way, traveling across both space and time which doesn’t allow for many lasting relationships apart from those with her crew.

This boy is a mystery and he quickly finds a way into Nia’s heart. There is something special about him and others are interested in seeing what he will grow up to be able to do. When Nia is asked to keep custody of him until he is fully developed, she cannot resist the opportunity to keep him in her life for a longer period of time, even though it means leaving almost everything and everyone behind.

I didn’t know much about THE VANISHED BIRDS going into this one apart from reading the synopsis before requesting a copy on Netgalley. I was a bit surprised that the book begins in a rather rural, simple setting with the POV being a field worker working the crop that Nia will come to harvest. It was an interesting way to introduce the advance technology that Nia employs to fold time such that she appears on the planet after many years from the farmers’ POV while in Nia’s POV very little time has passed. We also get a section of the novel which delves into the development of the space stations (all named for birds) that Nia reports back to. In some ways these sections of the book felt a bit like little novellas with minimal overlap to the main story, but the author does draw the stories all together as the book progresses.

I really enjoyed the world building and the depictions of future technologies and politics tied to the space stations. This book was a bit slow paced for me at times when the story went on what felt like tangents at the time. In the end though I can see where most of those ‘tangents’ were necessary in the bigger picture.

Overall I really enjoyed this one and thought it was beautifully written. I feel like there were some areas that could have been tightened up a bit and the ending was a little underwhelming for me after the rather grand size of the book’s build up, but overall it was a great read and one I’d recommend for SciFi fans when it comes out on 1/14/2020!

I was given a copy by NetGalley for an honest review.

I kind of hate spoilers, so there will be none here. This is a beautifully written story within a story, within a story, etc. If you love Sci-fi and a chance to really get to know all the characters, this is for you. I was a little confused at the last bit, but now believe what I read was correct and Whoa. That's all you get, please read this. It's amazing and I'm sorry I put off reading it for so long.

I've tried to get through The Vanished Birds for several days now and just can't seem to find my groove with it. I don't feel much of a connection to the characters and the pacing is just too slow for my liking. The writing itself is beautiful; it just wasn't a good fit for me.

The Vanished Birds is a modern space opera with a fascinating premise that immediately caught my eye. The novel revolves around Nia Imani, who by chance takes charge of a young boy that mysteriously falls from the sky to a farm planet that is part of her shipping rotation. This one event unknowingly sparks a huge shift in Imani's life that leads to a life on the fringe with an unlikely found family.

The Vanished Birds is smartly executed and plotted. Jimenez's writing propelled me through the story, keeping me wholly immersed as the story proceeds. The novel does what the best science fiction does - it used an entirely fictional world to highlight ongoing struggles in our very real world, like colonialism and increasing corporate power that profits on the heads of the powerless. Through Nia's relationship to her ward, Jimenez also explores familial love that exists beyond blood, and what lengths Nia will go to to save him.

If you enjoy a good space opera that takes you for a ride, definitely check The Vanished Birds. Fascinating premise, fascinating world, and characters you love.

The Vanished Birds is a challenging novel that fails to capture the readers' attention early on. That is not to say that it is a bad novel, but the transition, the chapters, they seem disjointed and do not seem to connect cohesively.

In some ways, this novel is reminiscent of Cloud Atlas. In contrast, the reader can tell that the story is about connection and that each segment relates a different time and different characters, this novel fails to be that cohesive for the first third of the book.

The novel starts in one way that seems to introduce an allegory on slavery. It is a very long first chapter, which makes it a bit daunting to follow up with and read. It follows a young man and the connections he is seeking with the people around him and the people that visit from space to collect the harvest. Then it snaps to another direction, what the synopsis is talking about, following Nia and her connection to the young man she has taken under her wing. Then the story snaps again to a different character and a different time, and at this point, it all seems disjointed. The story’s core conveys the human desire to connect with others, and it does get that across to the reader. Still, it is hard to reconcile the first three chapters having anything much to do with one another. Especially when chapter three does not seem to connect at all, it just discusses the life of the creator of the space stations. That is how she relates to the main character Nia who finally becomes the center of the story. Putting the reader in the position of not understanding the plot’s direction creates a barrier between the reader and the story, which contradicts the meaning of the story.

The novel requires a slow and measured reading for the reader to connect. The central theme of connection rings out, so the author does get their point across. However, the disconnect between the story and the reader remains. The characters lack personality, they read as static characters, and it takes a lot of time for the main character to develop her perspective. Perspective is critical here because, again, her voice lacks character; it lacks substance and personality to pull the reader in and connect to her. Overall, the characters are all bland. The author loses their voices in the story that, for the most part, seems disjointed.

The Vanished Birds is a beautifully written story of post-Earth humanity. A young man on a resource planet is infatuated with the captain of a ship that comes every fifteen years to collect the planets main export, though thanks to the physics of time travel through “the fold” it is only one year for her, a few visits encompass his lifetime. On that same planet, a young boy appears. He does not speak and the people are suspicious. The young man is an elder now and he asks the captain to take him somewhere safe. This begins the great love story of this book, between the woman and the young boy she fosters.

We learn of the woman whose brilliance created the different space centers that are the hubs of intergalactic commerce and governance. They are named for birds, long-vanished birds of earth whose beauty inspired their designer. She, too, has a love story.

When she learns of the boy, she suspects he may have the answer to some of the questions that plague intergalactic travel. The ultimate implications of this are shocking.



I loved The Vanished Birds even though more than once I was repulsed by the cruelty and inhumanity of the corporate overlords. Yes, really, the merger of commerce and government is complete and utilitarianism reigns without regard for human rights. But if that were all there were to the book, it would fail.

Instead, there is the stunning construction fo the novel in chapters that could easily stand alone as complete short stories, yet they all advance the story. The prose is beautiful and Jimenez creates a sense of place that distinguishes each of the many planets. What is most powerful though is the character development, the complexity of individuals, their dissonance of anger and guilt, the dawning awareness of who one is. It is beautifully and naturally done. Jimenez creats such a successful inter-galactic future it felt contemporaneous, as though we lived in that future time, as though it were not science fiction at all.

The Vanished Birds will be released on January 14th. I received an e-galley from the pubilsher through NetGalley.

The Vanished Birds at Del Rey | Penguin Random House
Simon Jimenez author site

I was invited to read and review this book, and though it was something I would not have requested, I decided to try it anyway.

It’s a really odd story, way outside the stuff I normally read. I enjoyed the writing and so it made the story more compelling than I find most sci-fi novels to be.

Beyond that, I can’t even describe it. Is it weird to have not enjoyed a book but still have thought it was a good/interesting story?

I have never read a science fiction novel that is so rich and colorful that it is almost poetic, but The Vanished Birds is precisely that. It packs a subtle but definite punch with plenty of sci-fi gadgetry and an emotional plot that takes the story to a whole new level.

Favorite Character: Nia Imani. Nia is a woman of few words, who quickly earns the respect of her crew with her consistency and authoritative manner. Always moving from planet to planet, her career does not leave room for personal attachments, so she goes through life with a hefty dose of detachment. She loves collecting musical instruments and writing haikus. But most of all, she loves Ahro like the son she never had. He is the one person she has let down the wall around her heart for, and she will not lose him, no matter the cost.

What I Liked About The Vanished Birds

It is beautifully written with vibrancy and flow that make the setting come alive. Every planet, moon, or station the Debby lands on is full of unique character, and I felt like I was experiencing it along with the characters. There isn’t any element of the setting that is a vague impression.

I love how the story comes full circle, starting and ending at the same place. This circle brings a level of symmetry and balance to the story, creating a satisfying feeling knowing that the story ended where and how it should. I also love the themes of sacrifice, choices, and consequences that run throughout the novel. The metaphysical manner in which they are explored in The Vanished Birds provides a depth and poignancy to the story that resonates long after you finish reading.

To Read or Not to Read

It is a beautiful journey but not a quick one. If you are ready to sit back and enjoy the ride, no matter how long it takes, this is the book for you. It has a beautiful message and setting that really should not be overlooked, as you will be missing out if you don’t take the time to appreciate the wonder of this story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A brief idea of the plot: A mute orphan ends up in the care of a captain, and they navigate the seas together, in this apocalyptic type sci-fi.

That to me, sounded amazing. But then I got about 30% of the way through and realized it wasn't the book for me. I say this a lot in my reviews. However, it's just the case sometimes. Maybe I'll try to pick this one up again in the future. Giving it 2 stars, since the only time I give 1 star is if the book is offensively bad. This one isn't. In fact, the writing and imagery is very descriptive and I loved that. But it wasn't enough to hold my interest or keep me reading.

2/5 Stars

The Vanished Birds comes out 1.14.2020.