Absolution

 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.