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A review by moonbeam513
Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer
4.0
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!