Thursday, June 5, 2014

Annihilation: X Marks the Spot to Read


Annihilation is a fascinating tale that grips you from the first chapter to the last. Jeff VanderMeer pulls the reader into the story by creating a cascade of questions about the mysterious Area X which is being monitored by the clandestine organization, Southern Reach. The opening line sets the tone and style. “The tower, which was not supposed to there, plunges into the earth…” This line presents both questions and conflicting images at the same time. We not only ask how and why is the tower there, we also wonder how a tower can plunge into the ground when normally they go up toward the sky. This dichotomy continues throughout the novel, presenting us with overt questions and stimulating us with opposing visuals.

Area X, which has been abandoned for decades “for reason that are not easy to relate,” is described in vivid detail without emotional attachment. We later learn that we are reading the journal of a biologist, one of four members of an expedition sent “to continue the government’s investigation into the mysteries of Area X.” We know by end of the first paragraph that the expedition didn’t end well because she says, “Looking out over that untroubled landscape, I do not believe any of could yet see the threat.”

 The members of the expedition are only identified by their function: the biologist, the surveyor, the anthropologist and the psychiatrist. We have to wonder why? We also learn that expedition members were not permitted to bring any electrical equipment or modern tools of their trade. They are instructed to only keep a personal, hand-written journal and they are not allowed to share any of the information they record with other members of their team. This restriction seems scientifically inefficient and questionable. All the members chosen for this twelfth expedition are women. The vague and unsatisfying explanation given is that they were “chosen as part of the complex set of variables that governed sending the expeditions.” No further information is given. Thus begins a series of questions that seem to lead to more questions as we delve into the enigmatic Area X in order to find the answers.

The questions continue as we learn that something strange and inexplicable happened to all the members of the previous expeditions. Some expeditions killed each other, others killed themselves, still others unaccountably “disappeared” from Area X, only appear home and have other problems there. And yet with as much as I have already told you, I have barely scratched the surface. Each revelation in Area X leads to multiple possibilities and more questions.

This is a must-read novel whether you’re a science fiction fan or not. It grabs your attention from the first chapter and consumes you with the craving to solve the mystery of Area X. Now that I’ve read Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, I eagerly await the release of the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy, Authority, which was published at the end of May 2014. Jeff VanderMeer’s dynamic narrative style promises future reading of a first class writer equally the likes of Steven King and Michael Crichton. This series is not to be missed!

C.L. Cohen