Annihilation: A Novel (10th Anniversary Edition)

By Jeff VanderMeer

Book Overview

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

SPECIAL TENTH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
With a new introduction by award-winning author Karen Joy Fowler.

The Southern Reach Trilogy begins with Annihilation, the Nebula Award-winning novel that "reads as if Verne or Wellsian adventurers exploring a mysterious island had warped through into a Kafkaesque nightmare world" (Kim Stanley Robinson).

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for years. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. Expeditions into Area X have ended in disaster or death.

In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the latest expedition. The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and the narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers--they discover lifeforms that surpass understanding. But it's the secrets they carried across the border with them that change everything.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250824044
• ISBN13: 9781250824042
• Release Date: July 2024
• Publisher: Picador USA
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.64 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 7.5"

Customer Reviews

Stunning!!

This book is amazing, much better than the movie! It's ethereal and dreamlike while invading every sense. I'm on the second book now and can't wait to be whisked away when I next have a moment to read. It does enjoy messing with your head and refuses to let go. Jeff is quickly becoming a new favorite author!

Creepy body horror and environment

The entire story has this uneasy feeling that something will happen sometime, but you don't know when. A lot of questions are unanswered which makes the story creepier I feel. I haven't read the other books yet but I hope they have the same level of suspense and creep factor.

Fantastic cosmic horror novel

I loved this book. It introduced a plot point at the very beginning that was so intriguing that I couldn't put it down. I like cosmic horror movies and this book captured that same feel perfectly. The story was completely unpredictable and fascinating. I highly recommend it. Stop here though. I started the second book in the series and it's painfully slow and dull and jumps to something almost completely unrelated. I don't know if I'm actually going to finish it or continue the series.

Great eco-science fiction.

Part climate change commentary, part science fiction, this is a modern literary classic. Vivid with great characters and a rich world with a hint of horror, this is not one to miss!

Simple yet haunting

Never have I read a book that could be so steadily paced with rich vocabulary and a plot that cannot be predicted. The action is not typical; it's more suspenseful in being unsure as the reader of what will happen next. Just as unsure as those in the current expedition. I would recommend this book.

It’s trippy, man

What a bizarre and fantastical piece of literature. Part fantasy, part science, part out-of-this-world weirdness. I think both the book and movie can be enjoyed immensely.

A Perfect Start to the Southern Reach Trilogy

I loved everything about this book. I personally really related to the protagonist and felt as though I really understood her. The plot is interesting and harrowing and I stayed up late to read this many a night because I just couldn’t put it down. The best thing is if you don’t feel like reading the whole trilogy then this works very well as a stand alone.

Fantastic but foreboding

Creepy as all heck, and one of the best-written horror stories that I've read, even though it's technically science fiction.

Smart, Creepy, and will stay with you.

Brilliant book! It is beautiful and descriptive. It is haunting. And will surely haunt you. I cannot wait to buy the other two novels to learn more about this world.