‘Annihilation’ by Jeff VanderMeer is a bit of a mixed
bag of a book.
The story is very interesting and the setting absolutely intriguing. The story follows the “twelfth” (sorry about the quotation marks there. It does rather give away that it isn’t really the twelfth expedition, but on the other hand that makes no difference to your enjoyment of a book about people entering a classified area) expedition into Area X, a classified and unknown area that was reported (by the first expedition) to be a beautiful new Eden.
We're given the story from the point of view of the biologist (the only remaining member of the expedition - don't worry I'm not giving anything away, she tells you that everyone else dies within two days at the start of the book) at the end of her experience as she recollects her time in Area X. Unfortunately the biologist is an unsympathetic character who is unemotional and detached, leaving you wishing Jeff VanderMeer had written the story from a third person perspective and given us insight into some of the other (and more interesting) characters that are also on the expedition. As it is we get quite a dry description of an exciting story, it's like reading the crime scene report of a shootout rather than the pages of a thriller. But what IS there grabs you and doesn't let go. Just view this book as an opening prologue, and let's hope the others grow in strength. The remaining parts of this trilogy are also to be published this year and as it's not long to wait I'll definitely pick the next one up, as Area X is such an intriguing place, I've just got to know more! Let's just hope that John Rodriguez (the main character in the second book) is a lot more compelling and sympathetic.
The story is very interesting and the setting absolutely intriguing. The story follows the “twelfth” (sorry about the quotation marks there. It does rather give away that it isn’t really the twelfth expedition, but on the other hand that makes no difference to your enjoyment of a book about people entering a classified area) expedition into Area X, a classified and unknown area that was reported (by the first expedition) to be a beautiful new Eden.
We're given the story from the point of view of the biologist (the only remaining member of the expedition - don't worry I'm not giving anything away, she tells you that everyone else dies within two days at the start of the book) at the end of her experience as she recollects her time in Area X. Unfortunately the biologist is an unsympathetic character who is unemotional and detached, leaving you wishing Jeff VanderMeer had written the story from a third person perspective and given us insight into some of the other (and more interesting) characters that are also on the expedition. As it is we get quite a dry description of an exciting story, it's like reading the crime scene report of a shootout rather than the pages of a thriller. But what IS there grabs you and doesn't let go. Just view this book as an opening prologue, and let's hope the others grow in strength. The remaining parts of this trilogy are also to be published this year and as it's not long to wait I'll definitely pick the next one up, as Area X is such an intriguing place, I've just got to know more! Let's just hope that John Rodriguez (the main character in the second book) is a lot more compelling and sympathetic.
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