“You did not want to be there. You didn’t want to be anywhere, ever again.” (*Quote from early copy of the book.)

"Annihilation" is tied with "American Psycho" as my current favorite book, except that "Annihilation" is the one that I feel comfortable recommending to people that I barely know. The Southern Reach Trilogy is a masterpiece of environmental fiction infused with cosmic horror, and Jeff VanderMeer is a brilliant author. He makes it look effortless even though we all know it isn't. When I found out there was going to be a fourth installment in this series I was SO excited, and almost immediately I saw it pop up on Netgalley and requested it. I couldn't believe I managed to get the approval. (Maybe it was just the luck of the timing.) And look at that cover! I was so eager to return to Area X and all of its horrors. I'm not going to spoil anything big for you because that's not my style, but I will say that for the most part I was very happy with this book. It wasn't quite the satisfying conclusion I was hoping for, but the experience was thrilling.

Here’s the thing. The novel is divided into three sections and here's how I rate each of those individually:
Book 1: 5 stars. Everything I wanted, absolutely incredible.
Book 2: 4 stars. A bit confusing, but still pretty damn good.
Book 3: 2.5 stars rounded up to 3. Tough to understand in places, but with a couple of wild moments that made up for that.

20 years before Area X, we finally get to find out what happened to the first group of Biologists that studied the land. The different sections of this book jump around in time a bit, but without question Book 1 was my favorite. It had horrifying natural anomalies that were so satisfying. (How does VanderMeer come up with this stuff?!) He can make you feel fright in ways you had never considered before. You'll be afraid of nature, afraid of your own body. Strange combinations of both at once. There was a scene in Book 2 involving Centipedes that absolutely made my blood run cold. (But it didn't just involve Centipedes, it was also psychological. I can't wait for more people to experience it and be messed up like I was.) VanderMeer is so good at writing from the perspective of a person losing their mind in real time.

This book alternates between satisfying horror and beautiful prose. You'll be admiring the scenery one second and then completely unnerved the next. And I love the themes. The cruelty of nature, the cruelty of humanity, the fragile beauty of both. It’s sad, it’s disturbing, it’s beautiful. This is a great addition to the series. Haunting and disturbing imagery, gorgeous language. Characters that feel like you know them off the page. A sense of deja vu that you can’t put your finger on. (And perhaps you don't want to.)

I liked the main characters in this one. "Old Jim," while a bit standoffish from the reader, had a sort of sentimental quality to him that made him intriguing and both the visual and auditory imagery of the piano was really cool to think about. Cass was very likable as well and I would read an entire book that was just about her. Dare I say, though, that I was personally more invested in the environmental setpieces overall than the people populating them. (I've been a big fan of that lighthouse since the beginning.)

I highly recommend reading at LEAST “Annihilation” before reading this one, though it would probably be best to read the full trilogy first. VanderMeer calls back to previous installments without shining a spotlight directly on the references. Sidenote: I recently played the game “Control” and Central in this book series reminds me a lot of the Federal Bureau of Control. It's always fun for me when one thing I love makes me think about another thing that I love, and then the two sort of blend together.

At around the halfway point things began to get extra complicated and he lost me just a little bit. I really had to focus on what was going on. Then eventually I got to a point where I had no idea what I was reading, honestly, and I couldn’t follow it at all for several chapters. (Definitely a "Me" problem.) The prose was still lovely, though!

But then came the last 70% or so, told from the perspective of a character that’s supposed to be kind of obnoxious and also on very strong drugs. So every other word is “fuck,” (literally) which doesn’t bother me in real life but it’s a pain in the ass when I’m trying to read and follow a character’s thoughts. After the smooth and poetic language of the novel up to this point I felt like I was following up a high quality meal with a bag of licorice. It was SO confusing. (Luckily this narrative style didn't finish out the ending.) Honestly, I got some answers to my question by reading other people's reviews. Sometimes I can rely on other readers to explain things much better than I can! (And I appreciate that.)

VanderMeer remains one of my favorite authors. Even when I hit a few snags near the end, he still brought me back and amazed me with his ability to horrify and craft a gorgeous image. I plan to revisit the first three books soon. There were so many vivid and beautiful (and horrifying) moments throughout this novel and I will remember parts of this book forever. (They are burned into my brain, like the glowing words on the wall of the sunken staircase.)

Thank you so much to Netgalley and to the Publisher for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own. I feel honored to be among the first readers for this one.

TW: Animal harm (graphic), Cannibalism

A well written prequel for the Southern Reach Trilogy.
Great writing again and very good stories to the whole universe that the author created.
After ten years it was great to get back to this kinda story.

4/5 stars
Recommended if you like: The Southern Reach trilogy, eco horror, spy flicks, mind control

This review has been posted to Goodreads as of 6/23 and will be posted to my review blog 7/11 and to Instagram 7/20.

This was one of my most anticipated books of the year. I read Annihilation a few years ago and absolutely loved the weirdness of it. I loved the rest of the Southern Reach trilogy as well, particularly Acceptance, and so was eager to see what VanderMeer had in store for this book.

Absolution reads more like Authority than like Annihilation and Acceptance, but it still stands as a different form of storytelling from the other three books (much like each of the others tells their stories differently from the other two books). We get to know some more about Central and the kinds of things going on in the background, even before Area X became known as such (but with all that terroir, can Area X really be said to have never been Area X?). And Central plays a much bigger role than you might think, even based on the hints dropped in Acceptance.

The first story in this book, taking up maybe the first 1/3, is about an expedition of biologists who came to the Forgotten Coast for research 20 years before Area X took over. It's told from Old Jim's (from Acceptance) point of view, though Old Jim wasn't actually there when the biologists were. Like most expeditions to the area, as we know, it doesn't go well for very long. Even then there are odd goings-on on the Forgotten Coast, made all the worse by an underlying Central experiment (or experiments).

This story definitely felt the most similar to Annihilation but it still lacks the overall inching creepiness that that book has. I did enjoy the breakdown of the expedition and the way it coincided with both environmental and human-made events/objects. It was definitely interesting to see how the Southern Reach's influence permeated even then and helped result in part of that breakdown. It was really fun to see some of the stuff discussed in previous books come out on the Forgotten Coast.

The second story took up the bulk of the book and focused on Old Jim....who was not as native to the Forgotten Coast as one might think. Old Jim actually worked for Central and was sent there on a mission disguised as retirement by none other than Jack and Jackie Severance. Poor John never knew just how deep his family's connection to the Forgotten Coast ran. Old Jim's story reveals a lot more about Central than what was previously known, and we also get to see more of the Seance and Science Brigade (forget poor John, poor Saul).

I think Old Jim's story is my favorite even if it did feel more like Authority (my least favorite of the original 3, though I still like it). Old Jim teaches us a lot about Central and, more specifically, about the mind control and the breakdown of Central that we see come out more in Authority. And man, there is a lot of mind control going on. Or at least attempted mind control. While the hypnosis is never truly hidden in the other books, Old Jim has a different view than the Biologist, Control, Gloria, or Ghost Bird, and thus we get to see just how much hypnosis and mind control are used. It's insane. And really goes to show that no one really had a chance.

I also liked Old Jim as a character. He's clearly in a bad place and has been used badly by Central besides, but as the story unfolds, he develops more as a character and comes into this kind of gruff fatherly role that wants to know what's going on and wants to be on the right side of things. Old Jim can't help the situation he's been forced into, but he can certainly open his eyes and ears to what the Forgotten Coast is trying to tell him and do the best he can. 'Cass' is a fun character too and I liked seeing how she and Old Jim got along, and then later how she came back into things. I did so want to see more of Saul, Gloria, and Charlie though.

The final story in the book focuses on the first expedition into Area X after it becomes known as Area X. More specifically, it focuses on Lowry, my absolutely least favorite character in the entirety of the series. I even like Henry and Suzanne more. Even Jack and Jackie. Lowry, perhaps no surprise, is just as terrible in the first expedition as he is when we meet him in Authority and Acceptance. He's mean, he's vulgar, he's self-centered, and he's got nothing particularly going on in his brain except curse words and a desire to have sex and do drugs. Just the kind of guy you'd want on a mission into Area X. Not.

I'm sure Lowry got messed with by Central, but the fact of the matter is, I'm not sure his brain was screwed on straight to begin with, and I'm 100% certain he's only on the expedition because of the Severances. I did not like being in Lowry's head and wasn't a fan of the cursing, the latter of which is saying something. That being said, we do finally get to see what Area X was like after the border came down, and we get more insight into the other side of things with Old Jim -- the side where Jack Severance holds the strings and knowledge. I did like piecing together more of that puzzle, as well as getting some more Easter eggs to the other books (I'll reiterate, poor John. Poor Saul, poor Old Jim, poor 'Cass'). That being said, Area X is still not weird enough for me. I want insane levels of weird, and this is only somewhat disturbing levels of weird. (but also, wtf Whitby. I'm going to need a Whitby book à la Dead Astronauts)

Overall this was an interesting addition to the trilogy and provided some new information about the Forgotten Coast and the inception of Area X. I wasn't sure I'd like Old Jim, was pleasantly surprised; knew I didn't like Lowry, was not surprised. I definitely wanted more Area X weirdness than I got and less Area X explanations than there were (thankfully not much is explained still, but it went in a direction I'm not sure I like). Interesting though.

In Absolution, Jeff Vandermeer returns to the world of the Southern Reach trilogy after more than a decade. The Southern Reach trilogy, especially the first volume Annihilation, is one of my all-time favourites and so I approached this new volume with a mix of enthusiasm and slight trepidation. And it was a very interesting read.

The main allure of Area X and the Southern Reach trilogy to me has been the sense of mystery - the fact that the more we try to find out, the more questions we end up with, much like our relationship with nature in its many manifestations. This powerful theme is carried by Jeff Vandermeer's beautiful, evocative and atmospheric writing.

Absolution is once again an extremely well-written book, Vandermeerian in every way. Timeline wise, it is a prequel to the events of the Southern Reach trilogy and consists of three novellas, vignettes if you will, of how Area X evolved. However, it does not give away any definite answers, consistent with the theming of unknowability.

The first section "Dead Town" discusses the field experiments of a group of biologists pre-Area X (or is it? Read to find out and decide for yourself!) and the eerie happenings that defy scientific explanation. It is very different from Annihilation where the central protagonist, a biologist, remains an excellent character for me, but also has some descriptions which rekindled memories of that exceptional book.

The second section "The False Daughter" is about Old Jim (remember him from Acceptance?) working on a covert mission while simultaneously dealing with personal challenges. Until inevitably, things start to go awry, the professional and the personal coalesce as does reality and illusion (or is it?) in an indistinguishable whole. This was the most fascinating of the three sections for me and had an excellent conclusion.

The third section "The First and the Last" is about the first expedition to study Area X. In the Southern Reach trilogy, we had some hints about the fates of previous expeditions and here we get to see the team members venturing into this unknown frontier, without the benefit of previous data. The excessive profanity from one member of the expedition, while possibly consistent with character, was very jarring to me but otherwise I liked reading about their investigations and drawing parallels to the later expeditions, such as the one in Annihilation.

Absolution, much like the Southern Reach trilogy, is greater than the sum of its three parts for me. It serves as an intriguing prequel which gives insight into how Area X might have come to be while leaving plenty of room for theories and mystery. Area X remains fundamentally unknown to me and this I accept, as I did at the end of the aptly titled third volume of the Southern Reach trilogy.

A very good Vandermeerian title, recommended, but perhaps not as the best entry point to his work or the world of Area X. I recommend reading the Southern Reach trilogy first to get the most out of Absolution. That being said, if one is curious about Southern Reach, this could be an interesting book to sample Vandermeer's writing, worldcrafting and theming and then go back to the Southern Reach trilogy and read all the books.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the eARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Surprise! Welcome to the fourth book in the Southern Reach trilogy. Yes, the one that no one asked for, I guess. But maybe everyone wanted to know how Area X began and this book….will not really tell you that. Sorry.

I read the three Southern Reach books years ago, when they first came out, and one after the other. I didn’t reread now, and maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I had, but that was way more time and effort than I was willing to put in…I liked the books, especially the first one, but they are not all time favorites, and I never saw the movie adaptation (and didn’t really want to.)

So, here in ABSOLUTION, there are three different stories. The first two involve an operative from Central called Old Jim. In the first he is reviewing information and documents from a mission that took place twenty years before Area X “went active,” if that’s a good way of putting it. In the second, it’s eighteen months before, and Old Jim is actually there.

In the third section, the action shifts to a military man named Lowry, and it is now one year since the border came down (I have no recollection of the time frame in the three earlier books.) Old Jim definitely comes up, in passing.

I enjoyed the first two sections, less so section three, but, again, I think I’m so far separated from the original three volumes I can’t really be a fair judge as to what this book adds, if anything, to the narrative as it existed before this was published. It’s all prequel, so I guess it’s just backstory. Perfect for fans, but not a good jumping off point. So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish?

I am sure this will be a reread in a few months, along with the first 3 books in this series, because while this book offers new information and perspective on what happened in the first 3 books, I am sure I missed some details in those books. So far, this may be my favorite of the 4, even though I am still not quite sure I understand what all happens in these books. I especially like the spy thriller elements in this one.

I loved this books and it's characters so much! It had something I wasn't expecting from the beginning (I'm not going to give any spoilers!) of this book but it was so so good!

Area X returns! Jeff VanderMeer’s thrilling and mind bogglingly obtuse Southern Reach trilogy gets a surprise fourth edition, a prequel collection of three novellas which each chronicle an “expedition” of their own. Absolution offers some answers and many new questions for fans, and continues the series’ Lovecraftian horror vibes in a very satisfying manner.

The collection begins with “Dead Town”, the shortest of the three. Taking place twenty years before the Border came down, this chronicles the visit of a group of biologists to the Forgotten Coast, where their field research is interrupted by a series of bizarre events and a mysterious figure they call “the Rogue”. “Dead Town” is written in a fairly detached manner, maintaining the wonderful and maddening prose VanderMeer is known for in this series while opening up some startling new avenues into the setting of the “conditions” for the origin of Area X.

The meat of the collection comes with the large middle section “The False Daughter.” This follows the character of Old Jim (who readers will remember from a particularly horrific piano scene in Acceptance) on a secret mission on the Forgotten Coast to gather more information on “the Rogue” by infiltrating the infamous Seance & Science Brigade. This story has more of a direct prose to it as we experience the thoughts of Old Jim as he tries to deal with the disappearance of his daughter while experiencing bizarre occurrences, dreams, and visitations throughout his mission for Central. Old Jim’s voice and character grow throughout this story with the reader and the melancholic tone of dread ramps up slowly before the inevitable climax. Old Jim will surely become a new fan favorite character to theorize about!

The final story, “The First and the Last”, is probably also the most anticipated by fans: the story of the first expedition after the Border came down from the point of view of Lowry. This story ramps up the horror and weirdness as Area X is in full bloom and Lowry’s profanity laden, whimsical descriptions of the events happening to him and his team turn the narrative to the batshit insane. This is probably the strongest story, mostly because it’s so off kilter and should be everything fans would have imagined from the fabled first expedition.

Taken on its own, fans won’t find too many obvious answers from Absolution, but when considered as a whole volume of four novels, there’s enough context here to use the new information to formulate many new theories for fans, which is the genius of VanderMeer and this series. Lovecraft often wrote around much of the explicit details in his horror by having his characters witness it and immediately lose their minds; VanderMeer prefers a slower burn with his descents into madness. Not a single character in this series may be considered a reliable narrator, but we are continually given new avenues into madness through his characters as they experience the unknowable place out of time that is Area X.

Now, get ready to read all four books again to piece all those threads together. Thanks, Jeff!

**I was provided with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley.**