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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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:
Complicated
I really liked the Southern Reach trilogy when it was "completed" but hadn't followed that up by reading anything else by Jeff VanderMeer since. I was interested to go further in the story but ended up being left cold.
There are three main parts to the book. I read the first part and started the second. The first part of the book takes place before the Southern Reach trilogy (sort of). A guy named Old Jim is reading about a group of biologists that went to what would become Area X to do field research, only to find that things were getting very strange. Old Jim is reading this years after the events described but I felt like I was back in time with the biologists with the eerie sensation that I was seeing into the past but unable to change it. There are creepy rabbits and also an alligator called The Tyrant that number among some of the dangers that the biologists face. But they also have some awareness that their reality is tenuous. This seems to correspond a bit to "Annihilation" with that book's unnamed biologists and the way that the team in that book had to come to grips with an unknowable reality.
The second part of the book seems to correspond a bit to "Authority", the second book in the series. Old Jim is more in the present in this part. He's a spy, some sort of operator, but he's sort of been put out to pasture. A missing daughter gives him a sense of urgency as he tries to parse the past. I just was not in the mood to read another character who continually second guesses everyone and everything in an effort to get behind smokescreens and understand the truth that no one wants him to know. It wore on me and I decided to stop.
But first I checked out the third part of the book in case things changed again. In this part, the narrator has so many F---s to give that he spews dozens of them all over the page, multiple times per sentence, and it seems that most of this part of the book is written in this manner. I have no particular issue with this word, but I got exhausted reading it so f-----g much. I decided that my decision to quit had been validated.
There are three main parts to the book. I read the first part and started the second. The first part of the book takes place before the Southern Reach trilogy (sort of). A guy named Old Jim is reading about a group of biologists that went to what would become Area X to do field research, only to find that things were getting very strange. Old Jim is reading this years after the events described but I felt like I was back in time with the biologists with the eerie sensation that I was seeing into the past but unable to change it. There are creepy rabbits and also an alligator called The Tyrant that number among some of the dangers that the biologists face. But they also have some awareness that their reality is tenuous. This seems to correspond a bit to "Annihilation" with that book's unnamed biologists and the way that the team in that book had to come to grips with an unknowable reality.
The second part of the book seems to correspond a bit to "Authority", the second book in the series. Old Jim is more in the present in this part. He's a spy, some sort of operator, but he's sort of been put out to pasture. A missing daughter gives him a sense of urgency as he tries to parse the past. I just was not in the mood to read another character who continually second guesses everyone and everything in an effort to get behind smokescreens and understand the truth that no one wants him to know. It wore on me and I decided to stop.
But first I checked out the third part of the book in case things changed again. In this part, the narrator has so many F---s to give that he spews dozens of them all over the page, multiple times per sentence, and it seems that most of this part of the book is written in this manner. I have no particular issue with this word, but I got exhausted reading it so f-----g much. I decided that my decision to quit had been validated.
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Absolution builds upon and then executes an outstanding ending to The Southern Reach Series. It is advised to read the three previous books in the series before Absolution.
I was surprised by the 1st section of the book, I was surprised by the second, and I was surprised by the third most of all.
The first section struck me as an odd way to start off a conclusion to a series. Though, it takes us as far away from the first book in the series, Annihilation, as any other part in the series.
The second section focuses on a preexisting but little explored character in the series to date. Given the character's brief arc in the third book in the series, Acceptance, this section felt charged with anticipation for me and it paid off in every way I could imagine.
The third and final section of Absolution was initially the most challenging part of the whole series for me until it subtly shifted into one of the funniest horrific things I've read to date. The arc of the closing section delivers a few huge pay offs before reminding us why the Southern Reach Series was so haunting, beautiful, challenging, and delicious (like 'slow cooked pork just falling off of the bone') from beginning to end.
I was surprised by the 1st section of the book, I was surprised by the second, and I was surprised by the third most of all.
The first section struck me as an odd way to start off a conclusion to a series. Though, it takes us as far away from the first book in the series, Annihilation, as any other part in the series.
The second section focuses on a preexisting but little explored character in the series to date. Given the character's brief arc in the third book in the series, Acceptance, this section felt charged with anticipation for me and it paid off in every way I could imagine.
The third and final section of Absolution was initially the most challenging part of the whole series for me until it subtly shifted into one of the funniest horrific things I've read to date. The arc of the closing section delivers a few huge pay offs before reminding us why the Southern Reach Series was so haunting, beautiful, challenging, and delicious (like 'slow cooked pork just falling off of the bone') from beginning to end.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Had some cool stuff. I liked the addition to the universe of Area X. I just didn’t really enjoy myself for large swaths. Barrel man was cool, would read a whole book about him.