Absolution - The Library of the Uncommons

Audiobook

English language

Published Oct. 22, 2024 by Fourth Estate.

ISBN:: 978-0-00-872601-0

Ten years after the publication of Annihilation, the surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer’s blockbuster Southern Reach Trilogy.

When the Southern Reach Trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-page New York Times story before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestsellers list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature.

And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been …

Ten years after the publication of Annihilation, the surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer’s blockbuster Southern Reach Trilogy.

When the Southern Reach Trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-page New York Times story before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestsellers list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature.

And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast—before Area X was called Area X—had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world after Acceptance? How crazy would they seem?

Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, there are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.

4 editions

TomeAlone reviewed Absolution by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach (#4))

None

3 stars

Oof. Finally done with this disappointing Southern Reach series. What started out so strong and mysterious ultimately ended up being a waste of time. The first book was great. Loved it. Then, the second felt like it was written by someone who’d never met another human being in his life. The third couldn’t make it back from that abyss, though it tried and was marginally better than the second. Finally, the fourth book took a few tentative steps right direction, though not nearly enough.

I really disliked the first story, Dead Town. The second, The False Daughter was the strongest, with something even resembling a plot and characters approaching some kind of realism. The third story, The First and the Last, which ended up being interesting-ish, was written in such a grating and irritating voice that I almost bailed after a few pages. It’s really, really …

Oof. Finally done with this disappointing Southern Reach series. What started out so strong and mysterious ultimately ended up being a waste of time. The first book was great. Loved it. Then, the second felt like it was written by someone who’d never met another human being in his life. The third couldn’t make it back from that abyss, though it tried and was marginally better than the second. Finally, the fourth book took a few tentative steps right direction, though not nearly enough.

I really disliked the first story, Dead Town. The second, The False Daughter was the strongest, with something even resembling a plot and characters approaching some kind of realism. The third story, The First and the Last, which ended up being interesting-ish, was written in such a grating and irritating voice that I almost bailed after a few pages. It’s really, really bad. Possibly the worst I’ve read, and I’ve read both Ready Player One and Armada. And so much of the experience is filtered through the character’s heavy drug use, so there is nothing to hold onto. Just endless weirdness. And, of course, nothing is resolved and nothing of value is added to the setting.

I mean, the first book sets up this wonderful and scary mystery that is compelling and fresh and weird. And then the next three books just end up farting around aimlessly in their own gassy discharge. A literary Lindelof. Nothing happens and there is no reward for reading all four books. You can set up all the weird puzzles you want, man, but if you’re unwilling to offer any payoff, you’ve just wasted everyone’s time.

If someone was going to give the series a shot, I’d say read the first book and stop there. Let your own imagination run wild from there. Because there is no satisfaction in this one.