6.78k reviews for:

Authority

Jeff VanderMeer

3.56 AVERAGE

iamjoejoe's profile picture

iamjoejoe's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

DNF'd. The change from first person to third person was an odd choice. Furthermore it seems that the story is focused on the government side of Area X instead of Area X itself. I've lost interest, unfortunately.
mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
dark mysterious slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A great sequel to Annihilation that is something I wouldn't have thought of. A great shift of perspective that answers so many questions just by asking more and more.
challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

legalizedmischief's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 15%

So, so boring. 
dark mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
mysterious reflective slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book was mostly boring. There were some very memorable scenes and an interesting idea, but it felt very poorly executed to me.  It really seems like a cool short story expanded out to the length of a novel, but none of the parts added to fill it out are interesting in any way.

Annihilation was an interesting read, and I can see how this book carries forth the themes and ideas from that book.  However, Authority manages to exacerbate all the more annoying parts of Annihilation in doing so.
mysterious reflective slow-paced

Felt like I got whiplash reading this after Annihilation. A very slow and then very fast unraveling of Southern Reach and the MC.