Annihilation: Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 1 (edició 2014)

A weird and frightening Sci-Fi adventure that reminded me of the stuff I used to read in Omni Magazine. A real "Through the Looking Glass" experience. ( )

This is a supremely weird book. Four women, known only by their professions (psychologist, surveyor, anthropologist, and biologist, who is our narrator) form an expedition into the strange realm of Area X. Previous expeditions had committed suicide, or killed each other, or returned without much memory and then died of cancer shortly thereafter. The biologist arrives full of curiosity, determined to figure out the area's secrets. Soon she starts to learn strange facts about the flora and fauna of the area, coming tantalizing close to understanding it all. Then she decides she's completely fine with not knowing. Which is kind of disappointing. So in short, I have absolutely no idea what happened or what it all means and maybe it's covered in a later book in the trilogy but frankly I'm kinda meh on the whole endeavor. It did employ intricate description and I definitely could picture the words in the tower, the detritus in the lighthouse, all of it. But in the end I just couldn't follow enough of the plot to inspire me to continue the series. ( )

Wow. A fun, fast read. Vandermeer has created an eerie world where something very strange has happened and everyone has secrets from one another. As I read "Annihilation" I was reminded of wine-tasting. I have not yet (perhaps never will?) be able to discern the various components of a given kind of wine ... which fruit, which overtones, what kind of finish, with hints of ... you get the picture. But with "Annihilation" I was reminded of a variety of different stories and possible influences. Lovecraft is a fairly obvious one -- both his imagination and his light-on-dialogue style. I was also reminded of the island in the TV series "LOST", and the strange things that occurred there. The creepiness of the personal transformations that occur in the story reminded me a lot of the novel "The Ruins" by Scott B. Smith. And the transformation taking place in the landscape itself reminded me of "The Crystal World" by J. G. Ballard, a tale of a strange (but different) conversion of the terrain from normal to abnormal.

I must confess, even the design of the book hooked me. An interesting cover, interesting graphics within the cover, and a length to the book that promised I wouldn't have to invest too much reading time before I determined whether it was worth staying with.

I'm looking forward to the next two books in the trilogy. Here's hoping we aren't left hanging when the last book comes out. We want our questions answered! ( )

Absolute brilliance. ( )

Well damn! This was amazing, and kind of insane. The entire book was fantastic, creepy, claustrophobic, atmospheric and even emotional. But the climax was absolute perfection. So well written. I didn't know this was a trilogy going in but I am really excited to read the next installment. ( )