Synopsis:
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for years. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. Expeditions into Area X have ended in disaster or death.
In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the latest expedition. The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and the narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.
They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—they discover lifeforms that surpass understanding. But it’s the secrets they carried across the border with them that change everything.
Review:
I was sent a copy of Annihilation in exchange for an honest review.
This book is a wild ride. Did I know what was going on? No. Was I have a great time anyway? Yes. This edition comes with a great introduction by Karen Joy Fowler which sets you up for the weird and wonderful ride you’re about to have. It’s an introduction I’m going to revisit once I finished the series (as I likely will with all the intros for these editions) just so I can see how my understanding has changed.
At only 195 pages I tore through Annihilation. We follow a group of people on the expedition with the Biologist providing us with their voice through the lens of the journal they’re asked to keep throughout their time in Area X. They know as little as the reader does so it feels like you’re making discoveries in real time. The meaning of these discoveries may be hidden, but Annihilation is such a great introduction to what I feel is going to be an incredible series.
It’s less about individual wtf moments and more about a build-up of weird until you reach the end and realise that actually the whole time everything has been super weird and Area X is really a totally alien place masquerading as a piece of untamed wilderness.
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