Annihilation

Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 1

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick

Length: 6 hrs

Publisher's summary

The first volume of the extraordinary Southern Reach trilogy - now a major motion picture written and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina) and starring Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac.

For thirty years, Area X has remained mysterious and remote behind its intangible border – an environmental disaster zone, though to all appearances an abundant wilderness. The Southern Reach, a secretive government agency, has sent eleven expeditions to investigate Area X. One has ended in mass suicide, another in a hail of gunfire, the eleventh in a fatal cancer epidemic. Now four women embark on the twelfth expedition into the unknown.

©2014 Jeff VanderMeer Creative, Inc. (P)2014 2014 by Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A tense and chilling psychological thriller about an unravelling expedition and the strangeness within us. A little Kubrick, a lot of Lovecraft, the novel builds with an unbearable tension and claustrophobic dread that lingers long afterwards. I loved it." (Lauren Beukes, award-winning author of Zoo City and The Shining Girls)
"Original and beautiful, maddening and magnificent." (Warren Ellis)
"One of those books where it all comes together - the story and the prose and the ideas, all braided into a triple helix that gives rise to something vibrant and alive. Something that grows, word-by-word, into powerful, tangled vines that creep into your mind and take hold of it. Annihilation is brilliant and atmospheric, a novel that has the force of myth." (Charles Yu, author of How to Live in a Science Fictional Universe)

"A contemporary masterpiece." ( The Guardian)

Disturbing

A disturbing read. A touch of Stephen King mixed with a fresh unsetling story. The narrator stumbles on few words but does a good work otherwise.

perfect for lovers of sci-fi/lovecraftian horror

loved it from start to finish. one might find it a tedious read (long descriptors and flashbacks) but it is the first book in the series and presents itself as an adequate world builder. my favourite part was the narrator's encounter with (from a literary standpoint) what could be described as the story's "antagonist" - literary surrealism at its finest. it doesn't answer all the questions you would encounter during the reading, but it does give you nuggets to come up with your own theories.

tedious and scattered

overcomplicated, scattered logic and thought profession made it hard to follow and siimultaneously it was tedious and not enticing. the speaker was dry but this may be due to a very dry narrative
at no point in the story did I have a clue what was happening and what was revealed was spoonfed to the audience

Creepy and thought provoking

It was very unnerving. The protagonist isn't a very likeable character. But that is intentional. Open-ended and thought provoking. Read of you like forming your own conclusions.

Soulless, but good.

Interesting story. The Biologist is probably the least likeable character ever created. The narration fits her, although a lot of times felt like listening to an artificial voice, like Alexa or the Google Translate voice. Also, she pronounces the word "detail" in such a wierd way (-dettaele-) that it will haunt me for my life.

Didn't like the narrator

The narrator has a very odd way of reading which made the story quite hard to follow. Her intonation was all over the place, yet her pace and volume stayed the same, even in dramatic or suspenseful moments. The overall effect was one of emotionlessness. I am not sure if this was a conscious decision on her part (given that the protagonist is a scientist writing an expedition journal this would make sense) but it didn't work for me at all.

A good book

Great narrator,very good book,it goes under your skin,i’ll read the others,there’s only one thing i would have chosen differently,the author could have been more descriptive ,seems to me kind of on purpose just to make you wanting more.

Compelling story

The book is beautifully written, I listened to in one single session. It was interesting but sometimes the author lingered too long on the main characters thoughts and memories, instead of moving on with the story. Maybe I’m just impatient, but for me it was a lot of the main character just thinking. I’m still glad I read it and would recommed it to others. It is a compelling story.

Lento y metódico, pero imparable

Entendería perfectamente si alguien cree que es aburrido y muy lento, pero a mí me pareció que mantiene una intriga excelente, que nunca desaparece. Éste es un libro de espíritu científico, más que fantasioso, y como tal, se enfoca más en el método y el análisis que en la conclusión a la que llega. Sin embargo, una gran parte de la historia es intensa y el suspenso se mantiene aún después de terminar la última página. Lo recomiendo ampliamente pero no le va a gustar a todos.

Very surreal

Really good, but get ready for some surreal and confusing story. It's completely different from the movie.