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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The Southern Reach is my favourite (weird) science-fiction series of all time, and I was veeeeery apprehensive to read Absolution, because I didn't want it to sour the 'perfect little gem-ness' of the original trilogy (Vandermeer is one of my favourite authors, but I've had misses with him, and been burned too many times already by surprise series entries that are published years after the fact).
And, well, I really enjoyed Absolution! It was very good, yes, but... I'm also not entirely sure why it exists. 😆 It adds very little in terms of world-building or extraneous narrative resolution (though from watching other reviews, it seems I missed a couple of interesting details, welp), and it essentially adds nothing at all in terms of theming (unlike, say, something like The Testaments with The Handmaid's Tale, or The Book of Dust with His Dark Materials).
I think this mostly stems from the fact Absolution isn't a sequel, it's a prequel, or rather a collection of three prequel novellas, that essentially tread the same ground – in terms of 'vibes', tone and narrative flavour – Annihilation, Authority and Acceptance do. Which was fun – again, I enjoyed this! And in a way, I'm really glad this book is a prequel that doesn't really add anything to the series deeper substance-wise, because that means it can exist in its own somewhat distinct narrative space, and not really impact my relationship to The Southern Reach trilogy. Not that I'd ever recommend this to readers who haven't read The Southern Reach either. It's just that, for me, this stands more as fun bonus material rather than an essential chapter in the story of The Southern Reach – and honestly I'm fine with that!
And, well, I really enjoyed Absolution! It was very good, yes, but... I'm also not entirely sure why it exists. 😆 It adds very little in terms of world-building or extraneous narrative resolution (though from watching other reviews, it seems I missed a couple of interesting details, welp), and it essentially adds nothing at all in terms of theming (unlike, say, something like The Testaments with The Handmaid's Tale, or The Book of Dust with His Dark Materials).
I think this mostly stems from the fact Absolution isn't a sequel, it's a prequel, or rather a collection of three prequel novellas, that essentially tread the same ground – in terms of 'vibes', tone and narrative flavour – Annihilation, Authority and Acceptance do. Which was fun – again, I enjoyed this! And in a way, I'm really glad this book is a prequel that doesn't really add anything to the series deeper substance-wise, because that means it can exist in its own somewhat distinct narrative space, and not really impact my relationship to The Southern Reach trilogy. Not that I'd ever recommend this to readers who haven't read The Southern Reach either. It's just that, for me, this stands more as fun bonus material rather than an essential chapter in the story of The Southern Reach – and honestly I'm fine with that!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-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:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
2.5 stars, I’ll round up. Im not sure why I expected this to be better. Annihilation was perfect. Authority less so. Acceptance less than that. And this is at the bottom. So if you read this backwards, it’ll probably blow your mind. Count me out for future Southern Reach books.
Well written, but I didn’t feel like it added anything to the original trilogy. It was interesting to see how the first expedition went, but being in Lawry’s head was unbearable. I did quite like the section about Old Jim, and the false daughter turning back up at the end was great.