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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Wowowe very mysterious
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The author is very good at building a compelling atmosphere and good tension. A little surreal too.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
My friend Kyle wrote his Honours long essay on Annihilation last year, and was kind enough to lend his copy to me.
Sometimes, a setting feels more like the main character of a story than the characters in it. In this case, it feels almost as if Area X itself is the main character, and the biologist is less of an individual than an allegorical representation of humankind's need to catalogue and categorise nature, which is inherently messy and full of contradictions and unknowability if we break it down far enough. (E.g. quantum dynamics etc.) Thus, VanderMeer's characterisation seems a bit flat to me. Granted, I don't think that was what he was trying to achieve, but in my view, a story needs more dynamic character work and interconnected relationships in order to be more compelling to read.
Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Annihilation. This idea of being compromised by spores seems similar, to me, to the way the Yeerks from the Animorphs books trouble normative conceptions of personhood and humanness. Also consider how so much of the person you think of as you is in fact a bacterial colony.
We tell stories to ourselves, about ourselves, and this is how we make sense of the universe. Because this book unsettles those stories so well (despite its rather two-dimensional characterisations), I give Annihilation 3.5 stars.
Sometimes, a setting feels more like the main character of a story than the characters in it. In this case, it feels almost as if Area X itself is the main character, and the biologist is less of an individual than an allegorical representation of humankind's need to catalogue and categorise nature, which is inherently messy and full of contradictions and unknowability if we break it down far enough. (E.g. quantum dynamics etc.) Thus, VanderMeer's characterisation seems a bit flat to me. Granted, I don't think that was what he was trying to achieve, but in my view, a story needs more dynamic character work and interconnected relationships in order to be more compelling to read.
Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Annihilation. This idea of
We tell stories to ourselves, about ourselves, and this is how we make sense of the universe. Because this book unsettles those stories so well (despite its rather two-dimensional characterisations), I give Annihilation 3.5 stars.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced