Annihilation: A Novel (Southern Reach Trilogy, 1)

Rating: 3.5 Stars Imagine, if you will, that you are lost within an alien landscape. You do not know whether you have left this earth or crossed through an alternative dimension, or whether you yet remain in a strange forgotten corner of the world. The only thing which connects you to the rest of humanity is a journal. A journal of a woman whose name you do not know, whose life is slowly unfolding as you turn the cracked and brittle pages, and whose fate will yet remain a mystery at its close. Annihilation is a strange, disquieting and eerily beautiful novel which takes the reader on an expedition into Area X; where those who enter leave changed, if they leave at all. This is a tale of discovery and quiet observation, a preternatural mystery which should be slowly savoured until you are nothing but lost in the wilds of VanderMeer’s imagination. - Annihilation follows the expedition of an unnamed protagonist, the biologist, as she journeys into Area X, a mysterious and extensive partition of land under an apparent imposed quarantine. Previous expeditions have entered but all have returned altered, if they returned at all. Together with a psychologist, an anthropologist and a surveyor, the twelfth expedition makes its way into this strange and mystifying land only to find that danger is as likely to come from within as without; no one remains the same in Area X. With towers that spiral into the earth, strange cries in the night and creatures straight out of a fever dream, finding a way home might be the least of their problems. - Annihilation is a quiet flight of (science) fantasy across uncharted territory; a novel which slowly draws you into a world of sinister discovery. Area X is a vast and mysterious zone which takes on an almost alien appearance; its utter unfamiliarity creating a heady and foreboding atmosphere which weighs heavily throughout. VanderMeer’s writing is effortlessly engaging, leading the reader one step at a time into this strange, hypnotic and almost hallucinogenic world which, whilst not overtly involved, rides a line of tension from beginning to end. Throughout the novel Area X appears overwhelmingly large, but despite this impression the narrative remains confined to a comparatively small zone which the expedition is reticent to leave. Whilst the necessity for staging the narrative in this relatively small area is somewhat apparent, my own imagination was straining at these invisible borders, desperate to discover more of the land and its utterly strange inhabitants. But if it was a ploy to make me want to read book two, it worked! VanderMeer has set me on a voyage of discovery which I am determined to see through. Our unnamed protagonist is a thoughtful, analytical woman whose perspective of quiet observation and discovery make her an engaging character. Whilst this works in the favour of the biologist, we gain little perspective on the supplementary characters beyond her observations. Her tendency to watch rather than communicate means we never establish any meaningful connection to the other members of the expedition and care little for them when events conspire against them. This does, however, add to the air of mystery and tension; anyone is capable of anything, everyone is disposable and no one is safe. VanderMeer’s first foray into Area X is a beautiful, subtle and incredibly atmospheric read which resonates with a sense of the unknown and the unknowable. His lyrical writing is saturated with the strange, forming a sinister and other-worldly tale which becomes increasingly difficult to put down. Whilst I would have preferred a little more action throughout the narrative and a more climactic, defined conclusion, the story remained absorbing throughout and the beauty of VanderMeer’s writing more than made up for it. This is a tale of quiet enjoyment. Of the strange. Of dreams and of nightmares. - If you like your science fantasy subtle and eerie, and wish to venture into the unknown, then Annihilation might just be the book for you. This is a novel which diverted all of my expectations and still managed to impress. Jeff VandeerMeer may be a new addition to my bookshelves but I imagine he’ll be there to stay.

This is not science fiction, this is on a par with the feelings I get reading Edgar Allen Poe. Wow. This is another extraordinary, brilliant tale from Jeff VanderMeer. What a mind! What a brilliant and strange museum of dystopian artefacts he has there, and this tale assembled via outstanding prose, assured pacing, exquisite timing, all leading you slowly from science-suspense into a horror most profound. I was impressed from page one, and before page 3 I was completely enthralled and helplessly captured. Thereafter, I was possessed. The mere fact that anyone would choose to enter Area-X after so many deaths, so much insanity and horror, speaks to our mindset and culture today. VanderMeer immerses us in this travesty we call modern life and watches as we drown. I recognise about halfway through that what I'm feeling reminds me of how I felt as a teen, reading Edgar Allen Poe. - images from the upcoming (and very different) movie "Annihilation" (2018) trailer here There are so many aspects of how VanderMeer has constructed this tale, from the intentionally unnamed characters, the unreliable history of previous expeditions, the imposition of hypnotic distortions of perception, the almost biblical poetry of The Biologist's progressing insanity, the surreal sounds and images, the tension and mistrust of the team, and the growing realisation that all will go terrifyingly wrong, trapped with no way out. Incredible. The Biologist's past makes her both the perfect narrator, relating her experiences and her past with scientific rigour, yet so personally and intimately entangled in the present and the past that we feel ourselves in a fever-dream along with her. Wow! There is no way to review this book in one, or ten, or a hundred pages. This book must be lived, this book must be absorbed, this book must be allowed to colonise you. Impressions, quotes and notes as I read: 12% - from the living words on the walls of the "tower" - “Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead to share with the worms that gather in the darkness and surround the world with the power of their lives while from the dim-lit halls of other places forms that never could be writhe for the impatience of the few who have never seen or been seen …” 17% - quotations - Looking for hidden meaning in these papers was the same as looking for hidden meaning in the natural world around us. If it existed, it could be activated only by the eye of the beholder. - At the time, I was seeking oblivion, and I sought in those blank, anonymous faces, even the most painfully familiar, a kind of benign escape. A death that would not mean being dead. - There are certain kinds of deaths that one should not be expected to relive, certain kinds of connections so deep that when they are broken you feel the snap of the link inside you. 24% - my note - Seriously brilliant and weird. Through the lines of text on the walls, VanderMeer induces an unfocused foreboding in our minds... - from the living words on the walls of the "tower" - ... in the black water with the sun shining at midnight, those fruit shall come ripe and in the darkness of that which is golden shall split open to reveal the revelation of the fatal softness in the earth … 67% - from the living words on the walls of the "tower" - ... but whether it decays under the earth or above on green fields, or out to sea or in the very air, all shall come to revelation, and to revel, in the knowledge of the strangling fruit and the hand of the sinner shall rejoice, for there is no sin in shadow or in light that the seeds of the dead cannot forgive … - There shall be a fire that knows your name, and in the presence of the strangling fruit, its dark flame shall acquire every part of you. - There shall be in the planting in the shadows a grace and a mercy that shall bloom dark flowers, and their teeth shall devour and sustain and herald the passing of an age … That which dies shall still know life in death for all that decays is not forgotten and reanimated shall walk the world in a bliss of not-knowing … - Assimilator and assimilated interact through the catalyst of a script of words, which powers the engine of transformation. Definition: Dystopia "imaginary bad place," 1868, apparently coined by J.S. Mill ("Hansard Commons"), from Greek dys- "bad, abnormal, difficult" (see dys- ) + utopia. Related: Dystopian. Reader "Ali" asks this question of VanderMeer - The collapse of the anthropocene is a theme in your works, but they also hold out potential for a transformed human agency. Grotesque shifts still leave behind a residue of the human. Annihilation is on this track with the biologist's contamination. Do these transformations relate to your sense of human (d)evolution? What is gained or lost by leaving behind individual consciousness for something more rhizomatic? Jeff VanderMeer replies Thank you for the truly great question, Ali. To me, this is the essential theme of our time, and it's not about giving in or checking out. It's about adaptation to what's coming. Of course, I'm coming at it from a kind of fantastical point of view. No matter how I deploy science or specific detail about our real world, I'm still somewhere between the real and the metaphorical in these explorations. In part to get the distance to explore modes of thoughts, and in the absence of being able to imagine being truly not-human, to get as close to that as possible without marginalizing that state of being as horrific. I suppose I don't see it as leaving behind individual consciousness as being in greater harmony and collusion with the contamination we already experience but that is invisible to us, and to also thereby better understand that we do not in fact stick out from our landscape, but are part of it. This is something we've forgotten over the last centuries, and the farther we get away from understanding this, the farther we get from long-term solutions to questions like...What do we contribute to our biosphere? Why do we privilege human-style intelligence to the exclusion of all else? Why do we see as strengths those things that are actually now weaknesses in ourselves as a sustainable species on Earth? This doesn't even get to the question of being able to see our environment with a fresh eye--so that we no longer think in terms of being stewards or despoilers but some other philosophy altogether. And this in the context, too, of not bringing with us the old "culture creatures" as Schama puts it in his book Landscape and Memory. That we might see with clear vision but also perhaps with a hint of awe just how thoroughly we live on an alien planet that is full of wonders we're only now beginning to understand. And of which we are at times the most mundane

Like many reviewers on here, I was drawn to Annihilation because of the captivating movie trailer. Impatient for the movie, I decided to give Annihilation a read, feeling rather excited that it was part of a three-book trilogy. The first third of the book really did grab me. I was impressed by the concept of the book. I was beguiled by the mystery, and I felt compelled to keep reading so that I could gain answers and discover the secrets of Area X. The book is also nicely written. Very vivid, too. I read this book quickly. (Let’s be fair, it is pretty short!) Unfortunately by the halfway point, I felt my interest in the book waning. There was just something missing. Instead of progressing, the story became rather stagnant. I even felt like I was also trapped in Area X, feeling very clueless about it all. Perhaps that’s the author’s purpose? I don’t know. I also felt a lack of empathy for any of the characters to the point where the biologist (narrator) was the only necessary character. For me, the book had no resolution. It provided me with none of the answers I sought and that was extremely unsatisfactory. With that said, the book wasn’t all bad. The science and the world of Area X is breathtakingly beautiful. I am hoping that the film deviates from the book and provides the audience with a much clearer plot, and also, those all-important answers. I’m really not sure whether or not to read the next instalment in this trilogy. Part of me wants to, because I actually still yearn for answers. But the other part of me thinks that the next two books might be as disappointing and confusing as this one.

I bought this book after learning that Alex Garland is directing a movie version - being a fan of his work, I thought I'd give it a try. This is a difficult book to review. Not because of spoilers, and maybe that's the point. I've seen a few comparisons to the TV show 'Lost', and I can see why. A mysterious land, an ambiguous ending, a story which seems to be always on the verge of but also always stopping short of giving you the answers you want. The writing style is also a little strange, no contractions, as far as I could see. But I found it utterly compelling. I'm not even sure why. Maybe it was just the writing style or the premise. There's an 'other worldly' quality to the whole thing. I also didn't mind the (relatively) ambiguous ending. The author gives you enough to come up with your own ideas and theories, without putting it all on a plate for you. I get that some might find the lack of answers frustrating or a cop-out (hence the Lost comparisons), but I really didn't, and I'm definitely going to read the sequel. Please hit ‘like’ if you found this review useful!

Blimey this was a creepy read! Really really good – after I finished it late last night it played on my mind for quite a while and sleep didnt come easy.. the sign of a good book as far as I am concerned. We follow a group of women on an expedition to explore “Area X” – told from the point of view of one of them, the Biologist, the story creeps up on you, slowly building the tension as she tries to unravel the mystery that is this beautiful and yet dangerous place. This is so cleverly constructed – for a start none of the characters have names, they are known simply from their job title within the group and for some reason this sets you on edge immediately – like the place they are investigating they have no anchor. You may think this makes it hard to relate to them, but strangely it makes them very very real, even if it is hard to get a sense of any of them bar the narrator. Seen solely through the eyes of one, the others take on an almost mystical quality, very much like Area X itself, where both everything and nothing could be real. Speculative fiction at its best for sure – it is very hard to review to be honest, I would hate to give anything away, it is almost impossible to put down once you start. Another reviewer (writer J Lindoln Fenn) called it “So addictive the FDA should investigate” and that covers it nicely. Add to that Stephen King calling it “creepy and fascinating” and there you go. I would agree with both of those sentiments and add my own – Beware reading this one in the depths of night, you will almost certainly start jumping at shadows. The descriptive prose is beautiful and deadly, setting the reader up for some genuinely scary moments and also some thought provoking ones. The Biologist herself is an appealing yet often unlikeable character and by the time I got to the end of it I was covered in goosebumps. That probably says it all. Never have I been so pleased to have the next two books in the “Southern Reach” trilogy to hand already – I have started Authority, in fact did so first thing this morning and so far it is absolutely living up to the promise of Annihilation. Can I hope that the author will eventually answer all my burning questions about the nature of Area X? We’ll see – watch this space (although I’m not going to tell you!) Highly Highly Recommended for fans of creepy, clever and addictive stories. **source Purchased Copy**

Sections of this novel are among the most thrilling and propulsive I've ever read - sadly about half, the constantly interspersed "before the expedition" depictions of the home life and relationship of the protagonist were utterly, numbingly dull, and contributed to my taking long spells reading other novels before completing this one. Sure, they provide balance to the otherworldliness - but I couldn't help but feel if we'd had about a tenth as much we'd still have had that contrast, and a much better book. Nobody is reading the novel to learn about the biologist and her husband. Everyone is here for the true lead character: the fascinating and mysterious Area X.

It's not often that I get to the end of a book and don't know what to think or feel. Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation, the first part of his Southern Reach Trilogy, achieves that, in a good way. Annihilation is a tricky book to describe. It's probably fantasy, maybe horror, with what looks like a contemporary setting. Narratively, it's the story of an expedition into the mysterious Area X, a part of the world where the normal rules of reality don't apply. Sent to explore the area, the expedition has its own strange rules meant to combat the madness of Area X. Except those rules are themselves disorienting and dehumanising. The story is told through the unreliable narrative of the expedition's nameless biologist, and portrays her response to the bewildering nature of Area X and the disintegration of the people around her. Or possibly her descent into madness. Or possibly both. It's hard to tell. And along the way, she gets to grips with her own identity and sense of purpose. I'm told that H P Lovecraft's horror writing created stories in which even smart people could convincingly be over-whelmed and destroyed, because the forces arrayed against them were just too much for anyone to cope with. That's how Annihilation feels. The biologist is smart, but from the outset Area X is so strange that there's a real tension around whether she can survive the expedition, and how it will affect her. If you watched any of the TV show Lost, you'll probably remember hitting a point where you realised that the island just didn't make sense, and probably never would. Annihilation is like that, except that it feels like the lack of coherence is a deliberate ploy by the author, not the result of a TV production throwing madness at the screen and praying that it would make sense. To misquote a speech from one of my favourite films, feeling messed up doesn't mean that you're messed up. Feeling messed up is a sane response to a messed up situation. That's what this book portrays, and it evokes it incredibly well. Annihilation isn't hard work in the sense of being dense or massively long. But its strange natures requires a willingness to let go of your assumptions about how a story will pan out and how a fantastical world will be presented. It's fascinating. It's dark. It's something I want more of, and I don't even know why. If you like weird things, then give it a go.

orces unknown have severed Area X from the rest of the land, removing its human life, replacing it with jungle. Eleven expeditions have ventured into Area X, all of which have ended in disaster and violence. Annihilation follows the twelfth into the unknown. The team comprises four women - the Psychologist (the leader), the Anthropologist, the Surveyor and the Biologist (our narrator). There was a fifth but the Linguist had turned back at the last minute. She was the wise one. While heading towards the known - a lighthouse on the abandoned shore - the four come across the unknown - an uncharted tunnel or, as our Biologist prefers, an inverted tower. Both fascinated and repulsed, the Biologist feels its walls pulse with life, its organic surface etched by letters forming an endless sentence. From this moment, the expedition begins to lose its grip on what may or may not be real, further compromised by the mindgames played by its team members. Annihilation is a short novel but it is packed full of atmosphere, mystery and dark wonders. As an introduction to the Southern Reach trilogy, it works perfectly, opening up to us this sinister, uncertain world, containing the unknown and the familiar, but all distorted and strange. Intensifying the mystery and mood is the fact that none of the characters are named. Also, the reliability of our narrator is a mystery in itself. Annihilation is an engrossing, beautifully written and imagined read, often feeling as thick with atmosphere and foreboding as the reeds through which the Biologist struggles. At times it is very frightening and I thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle of what might lie in the inverted tower as well as the significance of the lighthouse and its lost inhabitants. The descriptions of the environment are deliciously creepy. And what caused Area X in the first place and why have so many expeditions ended in inexplicable disaster?! Alongside this story of the twelfth expedition are clues to the fate of the previous mission, an expedition that holds a special fascination for our Biologist. Many questions are raised about Area X, its explorers and the society that sends these expeditions in, one after another, and when Annihilation ends it left me desperate for Authority, the second part of the series. While I would have much preferred the story to have been self-contained in one large volume, at least there is the satisfaction of knowing that all three books are released in 2014. I can't wait.