湮灭

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.

[b:Roadside Picnic|331256|Roadside Picnic|Arkady Strugatsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1173812259l/331256.SY75.jpg|1243896] with added metaphysical nonsense.

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.

it's the journal of a biologist exploring an area where things are Wrong and Strange. if that sounds like an enjoyable read to you it probably will be

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.

Read the full review here.