Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

“When you are too close to the center of a mystery there is no way to pull back and see the shape of it entire.”

-Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

The Southern Reach Trilogy has been on my list of books to read for quite some time. When the tenth anniversary editions came out, with these gorgeous colors and startlingly imagery, I couldn’t resist.  Eerie, dark and unsettling, Annihilation thrusts the reader past a boundary into an unknown and undiscovered world, leaving you increasingly uncomfortable as you experience the characters journeys alongside them.

Area X is a boundary that has been cut off from the rest of civilization. Creatures and wildlife that do not make sense exist on the other side. The book does not name the main characters, they are defined by their jobs: an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist and a biologist. The story follows the point of view of the biologist, a woman who has her own reasons for wanting to explore the area. The job of these women is to map the terrain of the area, make note of their discoveries and return home.

It’s not long before the women realize there’s much more going on in Area X than they were told, and some of them seem to have more knowledge about what is truly occurring than others. An already dangerous mission becomes increasingly heightened as each woman is trying to figure out what is going on and which of their companions they can trust.

This book alternates from really tense, scary moments where the characters are faced with the unknown to moments in which there is almost a stillness and quiet in Area X. Jeff VanderMeer’s descriptions are stunning and descriptive without giving too much away:

“The wind picked up, and it began to rain. I saw each drop fall as a perfect, faceted liquid diamond, refracting light even in the gloom, and I could smell the sea and picture the roiling waves. The wind was like something alive; it entered every pore of me and it, too, had a smell, carrying with it the earthiness of the marsh reeds. I had tried to ignore the change in the confined space of the tower, but my senses still seemed too acute, too sharp. I was adapting to it, but at times like this, I remembered that just a day ago I had been someone else.”

 This book isn’t long, but it’s impactful. As a reader, I’m left with a thousand questions. I have had only a sampling of answers, and I know there’s much more to come. Luckily, there are more books, so I will hopefully be able to get some of these questions answered. This book is brilliant, a stumble into the darkness and unknown. I’m in love with VanderMeer’s writing style, the claws this world and story have gotten into me, and I’m excited to read the rest of the series.