Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Reviewed by Ben F.
Grade 11

There was no warning the day Area X formed. In seconds, an entire coast, village, ships, and aircraft vanished behind an invisible barrier, miles in size. And then there was the door. For thirty years the Southern Reach has sent expedition after expedition through the border in an attempt to understand the nature of the area and each time has been bested as the expeditioners slowly lost all sanity; or at least, the ones who returned.The latest of these exploits, the members of the Twelfth Expedition must face a world like no other—where life is twisted, reality misshaped, and Area X rules unchallenged.

After her husband returns near-comatose from the Eleventh Expedition, a biologist decides to face Area X herself, joining an anthropologist, surveyor, and a psychologist in the hypnotic uncertainty of the Twelfth expedition. Antisocial by nature, the biologist finds herself at home in the wilds of Area X and all its strange beauty, and the group remains mentally at peace. Then they found the Tower. Like nothing the group has ever seen before, the Tower is more than a strange natural architecture. It is Alive.

Her team tearing themselves apart, and infected with a Brightness that threatens to expand her life till it shatters, the biologist must uncover the truth about her husband’s fate and outsmart the enrapturing beings of Area X.

Just like the mysterious Tower, this book is enrapturing in its vivid description of a truly untamable wild and the mesmerizing beings that inhabit it. More in tune with nature than her fellow expeditioners, the biologist is the perfect protagonist to best the hypnotic scenery and discover the disturbing truths surrounding Area X. The plot unfolds slowly, lulling the reader in with snips of dangerous beauty, a sickly-honey promise of secrets both frightful and fascinating—bringing ten questions to every answer. The thrills take their time, but no doubt; Vandermeer’s work is one of the most intriguing and suspenseful sci-fi thrillers I have come across.

Annihilation is not recommended to anyone in the lower teens given the intense themes of drama and ruptured consciousness, as well as a small amount of strong language. For those with the sufficient mental development to comprehend the novel, readers should be aware of the semi-frightening nature of this book as it explores a wilderness that fights back, and of its classification in the sci-fi and mild horror genres. Recommended to fans of Stephen King, the Jurassic Park novels, and any thriller novels.