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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
More like three loosely connected novellas than one big book. Loved the first two, really did not like the second one unfortunately.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
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
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-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:
Yes
*DNF at 300/450 pages.
I literally don't know what this is or who it's for.
I LOVE the Southern Reach Trilogy. I think Annihilation perfectly melds eco horror, cosmic horror, and sci-fi so exceptionally well. And I also thoroughly enjoyed Authority, and Acceptance was a ice ending though some of it went over my head though I think would make sense more when I re-read the series.
SO I say all that to say I was so excited to get back into this world, and I could not be more disappointed. Split into three interconnected parts, they tell a prequel story as to the origin of Area X.
The first part is sort of found footage, but it's done SO badly where it just ends up being needlessly confusing. There were nice enough horror elements though, but they should have just been told first person through one of the biologist's perspectives a la Annihilation.
The second part is similar to Authority where we'll following an agent from Central as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on. The writing was significantly more palatable in this part and I thought the overall story arc was nice even though I truly had no reason to care about the character at all, couldn't remember any mention of him in the series. but if the WHOLE book has just been this part, cutting out the other two completely, I would have maybe given this a 3.
But I absolutely gave up upon reaching the third part solely due to the narration. Who in the ever loving fuck approved for this part of the novel to have "fuck" approximately a billion times each page, breaking up sentences left and right and making it so unnecessarily hard to read. Like literally who in the world would have signed off on this. I can't imagine anyone would find this an enjoyable reading experience and it completely sours the other two parts because now I feel like I haven't gotten the full story that I was meant to have but I'm at peace with that and I'm going to act like this book never existed.
The original trilogy, in my opinion, explores Area X in a comprehensive, holistic way. Annihilation has us exploring inside Area X as an outsider, Authority has us understanding Area X from the outside but AS an insider, and then Acceptance has us going back inside Area X with an insider's knowledge. Through these three books we get a complete understanding, though necessarily still ambiguous.
There doesn't need to be any more exploration or understanding. The more that gets revealed and the more we understand it, the less scary the other books, especially Annihilation become.
I hate to be a hater, but literally I don't understand what purpose this book serves that is at all complementary to the main trilogy.
I literally don't know what this is or who it's for.
I LOVE the Southern Reach Trilogy. I think Annihilation perfectly melds eco horror, cosmic horror, and sci-fi so exceptionally well. And I also thoroughly enjoyed Authority, and Acceptance was a ice ending though some of it went over my head though I think would make sense more when I re-read the series.
SO I say all that to say I was so excited to get back into this world, and I could not be more disappointed. Split into three interconnected parts, they tell a prequel story as to the origin of Area X.
The first part is sort of found footage, but it's done SO badly where it just ends up being needlessly confusing. There were nice enough horror elements though, but they should have just been told first person through one of the biologist's perspectives a la Annihilation.
The second part is similar to Authority where we'll following an agent from Central as he tries to figure out what the hell is going on. The writing was significantly more palatable in this part and I thought the overall story arc was nice even though I truly had no reason to care about the character at all, couldn't remember any mention of him in the series. but if the WHOLE book has just been this part, cutting out the other two completely, I would have maybe given this a 3.
But I absolutely gave up upon reaching the third part solely due to the narration. Who in the ever loving fuck approved for this part of the novel to have "fuck" approximately a billion times each page, breaking up sentences left and right and making it so unnecessarily hard to read. Like literally who in the world would have signed off on this. I can't imagine anyone would find this an enjoyable reading experience and it completely sours the other two parts because now I feel like I haven't gotten the full story that I was meant to have but I'm at peace with that and I'm going to act like this book never existed.
The original trilogy, in my opinion, explores Area X in a comprehensive, holistic way. Annihilation has us exploring inside Area X as an outsider, Authority has us understanding Area X from the outside but AS an insider, and then Acceptance has us going back inside Area X with an insider's knowledge. Through these three books we get a complete understanding, though necessarily still ambiguous.
There doesn't need to be any more exploration or understanding. The more that gets revealed and the more we understand it, the less scary the other books, especially Annihilation become.
I hate to be a hater, but literally I don't understand what purpose this book serves that is at all complementary to the main trilogy.
I was excited to revisit Area X, as Annihilation is one of my all time favorite books and was my first foray into weird fiction. Absolution consists of a few different narratives. Part 1: Dead Town follows the first group of biologists to study the Forgotten Coast’s wildlife, 20 years before the border came down around Area X.
Part 2: False Daughter follows Old Jim, a washed out operative from Central investigating those biologists and a mysterious figure, the Rogue, involved in their deaths - “both natural and unnatural.”
Part 3: The First and the Last then follows the first expedition into Area X through Lowry (from Acceptance), nearly half of whose narration is nonsensical obscenities. Lowry, oh Lowry… Jeff sure did commit to the bit of a cussing coke head confronting the horror of Area X. It was… not easy to read. I could’ve done with ~200 less “fuck”s.
Absolution was creepy, enthralling, and a wild ride. Exactly what I’m looking for in a followup to the Southern Reach trilogy. Lowry’s part of the book almost made this rating three stars - but then I remember the eerie dread of Dead Town and several thrilling moments from False Daughter… and I concede that I still loved it. Even Part 3 had its moments of eldritch horror that felt a lot like Annihilation.
Absolution leaves many questions unanswered - but that was always the appeal of Area X. I look forward to rereading the series and picking apart some of its riddles.
My thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC!
Part 2: False Daughter follows Old Jim, a washed out operative from Central investigating those biologists and a mysterious figure, the Rogue, involved in their deaths - “both natural and unnatural.”
Part 3: The First and the Last then follows the first expedition into Area X through Lowry (from Acceptance), nearly half of whose narration is nonsensical obscenities. Lowry, oh Lowry… Jeff sure did commit to the bit of a cussing coke head confronting the horror of Area X. It was… not easy to read. I could’ve done with ~200 less “fuck”s.
Absolution was creepy, enthralling, and a wild ride. Exactly what I’m looking for in a followup to the Southern Reach trilogy. Lowry’s part of the book almost made this rating three stars - but then I remember the eerie dread of Dead Town and several thrilling moments from False Daughter… and I concede that I still loved it. Even Part 3 had its moments of eldritch horror that felt a lot like Annihilation.
Absolution leaves many questions unanswered - but that was always the appeal of Area X. I look forward to rereading the series and picking apart some of its riddles.
My thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the ARC!
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like many people, when Jeff VanderMeer announced "Absolution" so long after the conclusion of one of my favorite book trilogies, I was enthusiastically on board for whatever he wanted to write.
That said, having sifted through the reviews like someone panning for gold, I was shocked to see a lot of people were dissatisfied with this offering — if you were one of those people, I can understand why, but for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two sections of the book. The third was ... difficult to say the least but I think it was an interesting choice.
"Absolution" does feel like three novellas woven into one book, with the first two sections focusing on "Old Jim," a Central operative who was devastated by the mysterious disappearance of his daughter and brought back into the fold to investigate the Forgotten Coast months before the Biologist/Ghost Bird's expedition. While obviously Annihilation was my favorite book in the series, I liked the spy elements of "Authority" that are heavily featured in this book. I think the clash of science vs supernatural is always fun to play around with and that's where "Absolution" lands — in a territory that seems familiar to the reader but keeps getting stranger and stranger.
VanderMeer is a master of writing about the natural world but in this book, building creepy tension is his superpower, because there were several moments especially in section two that made my skin crawl. It was also fun for me to try and recall the order of events leading to Annihilation, especially based on what we learned in "Authority" and "Acceptance" ...there's a character who appeared in "Absolution" that made me go "oh!" with recognition.
That said, the third section is most people's least favorite and it's not hard to understand why. Mild spoilers, but the section is told from the POV of Lowry, everyone's least favorite eventual Central boss slash madman. Although the sheer amount of f-bombs on the page was enough to make me roll my eyes, I don't think the section was written this way for shock value like a more amateur writer would do. Lowry has always been rude, and vulgar, and the direct contrast of Lowry with Old Jim was jarring but I think this section 1) served to further the ties about the white rabbits and 2) fill in some plot holes we weren't going to get from other characters.
That said, having sifted through the reviews like someone panning for gold, I was shocked to see a lot of people were dissatisfied with this offering — if you were one of those people, I can understand why, but for me, I thoroughly enjoyed the first two sections of the book. The third was ... difficult to say the least but I think it was an interesting choice.
"Absolution" does feel like three novellas woven into one book, with the first two sections focusing on "Old Jim," a Central operative who was devastated by the mysterious disappearance of his daughter and brought back into the fold to investigate the Forgotten Coast months before the Biologist/Ghost Bird's expedition. While obviously Annihilation was my favorite book in the series, I liked the spy elements of "Authority" that are heavily featured in this book. I think the clash of science vs supernatural is always fun to play around with and that's where "Absolution" lands — in a territory that seems familiar to the reader but keeps getting stranger and stranger.
VanderMeer is a master of writing about the natural world but in this book, building creepy tension is his superpower, because there were several moments especially in section two that made my skin crawl. It was also fun for me to try and recall the order of events leading to Annihilation, especially based on what we learned in "Authority" and "Acceptance" ...there's a character who appeared in "Absolution" that made me go "oh!" with recognition.
That said, the third section is most people's least favorite and it's not hard to understand why. Mild spoilers, but the section is told from the POV of Lowry, everyone's least favorite eventual Central boss slash madman. Although the sheer amount of f-bombs on the page was enough to make me roll my eyes, I don't think the section was written this way for shock value like a more amateur writer would do. Lowry has always been rude, and vulgar, and the direct contrast of Lowry with Old Jim was jarring but I think this section 1) served to further the ties about the white rabbits and 2) fill in some plot holes we weren't going to get from other characters.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes