A review by droggelbecher42
Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Unfortunately I did not enjoy this one as much as the first book in the trilogy.
Like other people have mentioned Control is a less compelling character than the biologist.

On top of that I just found the southern reach agency less interesting than actually being immersed in the atmosphere of Area X like in the first book.
The slow pace of the book wasn't necessarily a problem for me but I found
the sudden climax of the Area X expending/Control fleeing quite jarring. Felt very abrupt, although I suppose that might have been intentional.

It felt like a bit of filler book between book one and three, setting up a lot of things, but not really coming to satisfying conclusions.

I still enjoyed aspects fo the book and really enjoyed some scenes e.g.
Control finding Whitby in the attic of that room. Any of the interrogation scenes with the biologist were fun
. Also I'm excited to reread Annihilation at some point while having the knowledge from Authority.

Definitely will be reading the third book soon and I'm hoping that the third book finally answers some questions while still focusing on the weirdness of Area X.
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