Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our 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 …
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our 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 a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding―but it's the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.
Library Journal Best Books of the Year, Shirley Jackson Award Winner, Folio Prive Nominee, Amazon.com Best Books of the Year, Nebula Award Winner, Nebula Awards - Nominee, Folio Prize Nominee, Entertainment Weekly Best Books of the Year, Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year
Content warning
General statements about themes and plot events
I am definitely going to come back and reread this one, because I feel there's still some tasty snacks hidden amongst the pages.
Honestly, this book was so good I'm having trouble what to talk about, so I'll just kinda free associate. The writing is amazing. The unreliable narrator is pulled off masterfully. There are scenes in the book that made me physically tense. The end was somehow both a happy ending and a sad ending, which are my favorite kind.
I could say more but honestly, you should just read the book.
Content warning
General statements about themes and plot events
I am definitely going to come back and reread this one, because I feel there's still some tasty snacks hidden amongst the pages.
Honestly, this book was so good I'm having trouble what to talk about, so I'll just kinda free associate. The writing is amazing. The unreliable narrator is pulled off masterfully. There are scenes in the book that made me physically tense. The end was somehow both a happy ending and a sad ending, which are my favorite kind.
I could say more but honestly, you should just read the book.
This book didn’t really work for me. Neither horror nor science fiction. It didn’t work as a thriller either. It needed more development. Some was there for the lead character but meeting the other characters in training would have provided connection and depth that was wanted.
The movie and the book are both interesting, although they are different enough that I'd say the movie is "based on the back cover of the book". The unreliable narrator and weirdly disorienting story telling makes it a challenge to piece out what (if anything) is real while reading, which is can be an enjoyable experience for some readers.
Also the workplace dynamics of the Southern Reach office is really suboptimal. HR should probably get involved.
I greatly enjoyed the movie, but loved the book even more.
While the movie does a great job of visually portraying everything, it just can't compare to the books and your imagination.
The book also seems to put a bit more focus on the characters conflicts with each other, and what happens between them.
It goes into such detail of the weird things happening in Area X, and all the strange happenings.
I found it less scary, and more beautiful.
Not only is everything amazingly and skillfully written, but just the goings on are beautiful as well, in my opinion.
I enjoyed the oppressive tone and writing style. Not a book for those who want sharp focussed action. Would have rated it higher my was put off by commenters elsewhere who thought the Novel was the second coming and couldn’t exist alongside the movie.
The movie was better. I think mostly because you expect movie protagonists post-The Sixth Sense to be half-spaced-out, unemotional piles of unresolved feelings that communicate only in stilted sentences.
Like its artistic ancestors, Annihilation manages the not-inconsiderable feat of linking a tale of personal strife and evolution with another story talking place on a larger, almost fathomless scale. Through our inability to comprehend the vast, we gain insight into ourselves. The biologist may not arrive at the answers she sought, but she does find answers, compelling her to continue the expedition. Which, in the end, is all any of us can do. That, or give up. To use a cliche (as I am nowhere near as fine a writer as Vandermeer), it’s the journey that’s important, not the end.
