Annihilation: A Novel (The Southern Reach Trilogy Book 1) Kindle Edition

I debated between three and four stars, but ultimately decided on four stars, mainly because the writing is so darn good. Also, being a fan of these types of books, I felt VanderMeer had created the bones of great story, thought the fleshing out of that story was highly problematic and ultimately took what could have been a fabulous book down to merely a good story. It could have been so much more, and that, my fellow readers, is what is so deeply disappointing here. I wanted this to be a five star review, not merely three or four stars.The bones of the story are truly intriguing - a mysterious Area X along the "lost coast" (the location is never truly identified for us by VanderMeer because God forbid we name anything here because names carry something mysterious about them. Unfortunately, we are never really told what. Names and locations are meaningless? Too confining? To defining? Your guess is as good as mine) where something dramatic and alien and unexplainable has occurred. Little goes in or comes out of Area X - and what does come back out is never who or what we think it is.As I said, VanderMeer is a good enough writer that he hooks the reader early on and doesn't let go. I read all three books in the series, one right after the other, even though, in my opinion, the series remains vastly overpriced. Yet he is a very good writer and I did not want to wait to get through the series until the prices came down for each book. The first book is definitely the strongest of the three, but my feeling is that if you are going to invest time and money in the first book, there isn't much point unless you are prepared to see it through to the end of the series.Many reviewers have compared the books to the TV series "Lost." I think the comparison is apt in that the island in "Lost" is mysterious and replete with strange and unexplained phenomenon. But I think the analogy is even more apt than that. Many viewers of 'Lost" loved the ending, which I found sappy and saccharine, without any real answers to the questions I asked through-out the whole series. But many viewers became ,more attached to the characters than the storyline, so maybe they didn't care so much that no answers were really provided at the end. I did, however. I wanted real, concrete information to a show I had invested viewing over the course of many years. When I didn't get answers, I felt betrayed and let down.I think many of the negative reviews of this series reflect this same kind of sensibility. VanderMeer has engaged in the cardinal sin of many writers - getting us hooked on a story, then disappointing many readers by failing to provide a concrete, satisfying conclusion with answers to our most important questions. Yes, you can leave some mystery, but too much unanswered is never a good thing.I suspect that the author was striving to continue the mystery and lack of conclusive answers that the characters felt when confronting themselves, their motivations, each other, life, the unknown, etc. That the characters didn't fully understand themselves (ie, the mystery of their personhood) or the mystery of Area X, so why should we? I speculate here, but the author probably felt he was simply mimicking Area X in all of its grand mystery (and yes, mimicry plays a large role in the story and no, we are never really told why) and that his mimicry was important to the story.But the problem is that such an approach is never truly satisfying to a large percentage of readers. What I was hoping for (but never got) was not so much an ending like the conclusion of "Lost" where there are no real answers but we feel so in love with the characters and their relationships with each other that we are not supposed to care our questions go unanswered, but more like the ending to the series "Battlestar Galactica" in which are questions are answered, but the answers are nothing that we really expected. I wanted a refreshing and unexpected surprise at the end. Something I didn't see coming.You won't get that here. That is not to say that VanderMeer answers no questions about Area X - he does do that by the final book. That said, he just doesn't go far enough with many of those answers, nor are those answers in any way truly a wonderful and unexpected surprise.Moreover, I failed to feel strongly attached to many of the characters, who seemed "lost" (no pun intended) within themselves. Control plays a strong role in book two, but fades almost entirely away in importance in book three. A lot of times you feel like shaking the characters and screaming "wake up," but they never do, but rather remain mired in their own confused and obscure states of being. Now I get the sense that VanderMeer wants use to revel in this as being a reflection of the utlimate meaning of the human condition, but frankly, it just feels unsatisfying and makes one feel frustrated with the characters. Many times they just meander through the story and their non-stop stream of consciousness fretting and lack of clarity does drag the story down at times.Ending the story by stressing simply - aren't these characters fascinating in and of themselves and this is just the human condition, to remain an ultimate mystery to us - was deeply unsatisfying to me. Tell me what happens to Control. Tell me what happens to the Earth. Tell me the "why" of Area X. Tell me the "Why" of what happens to the biologist. Or what happens to Saul or the psychologist.Give me something new and unexpected, but don't leave me in the dark, Mr. VanderMeer.

Apparently I purchased this book in 2014. I have no memory of the event (am guessing there was a good deal on it; I had bought the other two volumes in this series as well), but I was scrolling through my Kindle library the other day, looking for something to read, and for some reason, I stopped on this cover. And I have to say, I am glad I did. I read 80% of this book in a few hours one afternoon and finished it the next day. I have not been reading so much lately and that is an unheard of speed for me. I was really into this; I wasn't stopping and checking things online. So, the reading experience was right up my alley.I will add a few other pieces of information before moving on to the substance of the review. This won a Nebula award. I am not always a fan of award-winning books (absolutely could not stand "Among Others" by Jo Walton, for example). But if you are looking for books with critical acclaim, this has it. Also, I am utterly unfamiliar with the television show "Lost" (other than knowing it exists) and other media references from some of the other reviews for this book.I am not sure how to describe this book. It is part ecological monograph, part travel/adventure novel, part personal diary, part character study, even part mystery (not in the traditional sense of solving a murder or some such, but in a sense of people being thrown into an environment they're totally unprepared for and trying to get to the root of some strange phenomena).There are four characters at the start of the novel but we really only get to know one of them, the biologist of an expedition into an anomalous area called the Southern Reach. This book is written from her perspective, in the manner of a personal diary or journal. (One could argue that her dead husband is a fifth character due to flashbacks and the like. We learn more about him than about the mission's anthropologist, at any rate.) Expeditions keep getting sent into this area and things keep going dreadfully wrong -- everyone murdered, or lots of suicides, or people returning completely changed (in terms of personality). We learn a few details of the early expeditions and of the 11th (this book is an account of the 12th), but say 4-10 are still unknown to us. I think I don't mind this. It probably would've been clutter for the author to develop and include seven additional specific outcomes, especially if they weren't directly relevant to the story of this expedition.Early on, the biologist begins to suspect something is not as she has been led to believe. (The members of the expedition received extensive training before leaving on their trip, but serious gaps in the training come to light as the story moves along.) It seems that other members of the expedition are feeling the same, and it causes cracks in the cohesiveness of their unit (which was never super cohesive in the first place -- how can it be if you are not even sharing your names with each other?).But, I don't want to get into too much plot summary. Anyway, this book doesn't have a plot in a traditional sense. There is a lot of exploration through a fascinating environment and I honestly just enjoyed reading the descriptions here, which is not often the case for me. There's not much dialogue though there is a fair amount of introspection and some flashbacks, of a sort. (The flashbacks are well done and serve to further the plot!) There is a climax but it's not the sort of confrontation you might expect at the end of a work of speculative fiction (where there are usually battles and such).The atmosphere created was wonderful. In a creepy sort of way. I also really did like the focus on a single character. This book is a good character study (albeit in weird circumstances). What might cause a person to go on an expedition from which few return? And, the biologist is a good proxy for the reader. She doesn't have all the answers (or really any of them), she is discovering them along with the rest of us. What is it that the higher-ups back home want to know about the Southern Reach? Why are they so adamant that people don't remember how they got into Area X? At the end of this book, we have started forming the questions, and hopefully in future novels we will start getting answers.Minor quibble, but at one point the biologist looks at some cells taken from a non-human mammal (a fox, I think) carcass and looks at them under a light microscope and says they are human. I don't think you could tell one mammal's cells from another using only a light microscope. You could tell cell types (neurons or smooth muscle or skin or whatever) if you were able to properly stain them. You could tell, say, a frog from a mammal (nucleated red blood cells in the frog but not in the mammal). But that is a minor point, and if there was some type of madness or neurodegenerative condition or residual effect of hypnosis affecting the biologist, it is possible she was reporting things that weren't true.Overall, I enjoyed this book very much and am looking forward to starting the sequel, Authority, this weekend!

Quick shipping. Book was fairly worn, more than I expected for "acceptable," but all pages were intact.

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'm not quite sure how to review this one, I don't think I could even tell someone what happened in the book in a clear manner. Even though I have read it and understood all that I was reading i'm really not sure what happened!The book is written from the perspective of one of a team going to explore a quarantined area. They will be the twelve party to be sent into Area X to document their thoughts and findings during the expedition. It soon becomes apparent that Area X is not what it seems. But it seems that no one can make sense of what is happening to the party. All they know is that something is going on in the tower/tunnel, and what is the drawer to the lighthouse? Will they find out before the group collapses?I liked this book no wiser than when I started really. I think to get the full enjoyment from the book it is probably best to read the whole series back to back. I would hope that by carrying on the series you get more answers than you have at the end of this book. But leaving it here makes me sceptical of whether I will come back to the series or not.It was written well, with good tension. Its one of those stories that you would find yourself craning your head round corners in a film to find out what is there before the director wants you to as you just want answers! Full of suspense but not a lot of loose ends get tied up if any.If you liked the TV series Lost, I think this book is perfect for you.

It was watching the film, which i enjoyed and recommend as an intelligent and understated bio-sci-fi, that drew my attention to the book. I didn't think watching the movie first negatively impacted on my experience of the book. In fact, I would say it enhanced it because I often struggle to lift words from a page and covert them into imagery in my mind; with the visual context already set (the movie is beautifully shot BTW), all my effort could be focused on the narrative, and what a chilling narrative it is!I managed to slot into the journalistic style within a couple pages. It is cleverly pitched, being personal but remaining strictly objective, a balance difficult to make up, so credit to the author. Also due credit is how rapidly the tension between the characters begins - no preamble required (perhaps knowledge of the movie helped?). Further genius of the writing is how the author established convincing mistrust, and a certain dislike, between the characters so early on without context or basis; bit like entering a room with four people already there where your senses are immediately triggered that something isn't right but you don't know why.Without giving too much away the book continues on this track keeping you hooked on wanting to see around the next page like the protagonist wants to see around the next corner - the reader and character are paralleled - are you her? Is she you? Then add in some personal dilemmas and game theory to boot - would you tell the team that you depend on your survival, but don't trust, about that thing? Timing becomes everything but is difficult to know when the right time is in a rapidly developing situation. Things that really matter one minute become opaque in the fog of time and escalating situation.Skin crawling stuff of paranoia and fear; like siting in a room shivering away wondering what just happened, what's in store and if you're still human... basically like coming down after a 3 day drinking session!For me the only shortfall of the book was the lack of any conclusion, and I feel like I am about to be mugged by buying the next two books in pursuit of some truth that doesn't exist.

Rating: 3.5 StarsImagine, 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.

I’ve just finished a second read through, a couple of years apart. All of the flaws I remember from the first time are still there: derivative plotting, clumsy writing, expositional development from the first-person narrator.This book has clearly been influenced by (the superior) Roadside Picnic by the Strugatskys but, where that was subtle and artful in its delivery, Annihilation feels much more staged.And yet, I do really like Annihilation. The prose is easy to read, and the ideas that are conveyed are huge and thought provoking. The biggest problem here is that Vandermeer’s vision is not matched by his skill as a writer. He resorts to having the narrator state the various possibilities for the odd goings on throughout the book, rather than allowing you, the reader, to reach those conclusions yourself. The reasons for the existence of Area X, and the position of the expedition within it, could be any number of things, or a combination of all those things. The nebulous state of the area within the invisible border (if that border even exists) demands your input as the reader, and the points at which the narrator lays those possibilities out (could be aliens, or angels, or maybe the narrator is a ghost, or crazy, or straight-up lying) detract from the otherwise excellent world-building and atmospheric story telling.That you come away from things at the end no wiser about the true nature of Area X, never mind the state of the world outside the border and the real reasons for sending expeditions in the first place, this is the true strength of the book. It’s a shame the author wasn’t brave enough to allow you to reach that point without the narrator providing glaring neon roadsigns along the way.As an afterthought, please do not watch the movie before reading the book. It’s almost unrecognisable, and it is also far weaker. That a film maker with the skills of Alex Garland couldn’t produce a worthy watch with the source material here is testament to the complexity of Vandermeer’s ideas. The movie is hardly a reflection of the book. Garland was forced to reduce it to a simplistic sci-fi with cheesy special effects. In fact, please don’t watch the movie after reading the book either. It is dreadful (although I love Natalie Portman in anything).