So, I know you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover – but, just look at how beautiful its cover is. . . . The artwork is utterly stunning. I found this spectacular edition staring up at me from a display table in Hatchards London at St Pancras. It is not what I would normally read but I could not resist the cover – odd really. Annihilation should open up Vandermeer’s writing to a much larger audience, he’s fast paced, unsettling and compelling, he’ll have you up late at night on the edge of your seat. . . .
Annihilation is equal parts psychological thriller, science fiction adventure, and dark fantasy horror. It’s a completely self-contained story, but it’s also clearly an introduction to a much broader mystery that VanderMeer will explore in the Southern Reach Trilogy sequels Authority and Acceptance.
Decades ago, an inexplicable environmental change occurred, a large swathe of land and sea, was sealed behind an invisible barrier and held under strict quarantine by a mysterious goverment agency. This clandestine agency is known as Southern Reach and they have sent 11, mostly failed, expeditions into Area X, Annihilation is the story of the 12th.
Annihilation focuses on the experiences of the four scientists who are part of the 12th expedition, none of them are named, they are identified by their roles with the expedition team. There is a minimum of character development but it is not needed, these women are trimmed back to the bare essentials and we are only told what the narrative needs us to know. The richness in VanderMeer’s work is the environment – he brings the lush overgrown ecosystems of Area X to life, hinting at terrifying invisible animals in the distance. It’s a land of transitional, constantanly changing, even overlapping ecosystems – The expedition are tasked with experiencing and then explaining Area X to the folks back home – if they make it home. <
You should all get down to your local bookstore and own it now….. 5 star review from me.
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