Unicestwienie

by Jeff VanderMeer

Paperback, 232 pages

Polish language

Published April 28, 2014 by Otwarte.

ISBN:: 978-83-7515-293-7
ASIN:: 8375152935

(271 reviews)

Powstała po tajemniczym Wydarzeniu Strefa X rządzi się własnymi, nieznanymi ludziom prawami. Członkowie jedenastu pierwszych ekspedycji do Strefy umierali, popełniali samobójstwa lub zabijali się nawzajem. Ci, którzy przetrwali, nie pamiętali, jak przebiegał ich powrót. Dwunastą wyprawę tworzą wyłącznie kobiety. Czy im uda się odkryć tajemnice Strefy? Jakie sekrety kryje niezwykła flora i fauna tego miejsca? A może to ona je stworzyła i nim rządzi? Jedno jest pewne: Strefa X wpływa na ludzkie umysły i zmienia każdego.

Unicestwienie, pierwsza część nowej trylogii Jeffa VanderMeera, to obowiązkowa pozycja dla miłośników klasycznej fantastyki – książek Silverberga, Harrisona, braci Strugackich i Lema – oraz dla fanów literatury grozy najwyższej próby.

Wciągająca opowieść o spotkaniu z Nieznanym, które zamienia się w spotkanie z samym sobą. Historia, która stawia pytania o tożsamość, relacje z innymi i własne ograniczenia. To podróż w głąb Strefy X i w głąb psychiki głównej bohaterki.

5 editions

Yuri Krupenin reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'GoodReads'

2 stars

В который раз сталкиваюсь с удивительным эффектом: книга, легшая в основу фильма, будучи прочитанной после просмотра, воспринимается в лучшем случае как школьное сочинение по мотивам собственно фильма.

Предвзятость восприятия, возможно, но если пытаться судить о качествах книги объективно, то картина не становится приятней - стиль изложения вызывает сомнения в том, родной ли английский язык для автора (я посмотрел, кратко: да, но с некоторыми оговорками), декорации будничны (Зона имени Аркадия а также Бориса, сценарий 235/Б), происходит ничего.

moving to outside.ofa.dog reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'LibraryThing'

5 stars

VanderMeer's use of negative space is stunning. I spent the first couple of chapters frustrated with omissions but it quickly became clear that they were both deliberate and masterful. I'm not quite sure what this book is, but I know I loved it.

Unruly Stacks reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This was a quick read, and wasn't what I expected, which is less a critique than a simple fact. What it WAS was... complex, sure, cerebral, okay, but also a stilted narrative from an equally stilted character. A touch off-putting.

meeg reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Be warned this audiobook narrator is terrible, BUT this story is amazing. I got such Lovecraft vibes from the ending and really enjoyed the blend of suspense + scifi, and I'm really excited for book 2!

loppear reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on Goodreads

3 stars

Intriguing quick horror of the unseen and deceiving, mostly. Kinda scattered, however.

betty reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

What if: Lovecraft, but instead of the dark secret at the heart of madness being racism, it was ECOLOGY?

Which is dismissive, but I actually think it's pretty impressive. Lots of people try to write modern fiction in Lovecraft's mold, but if you leave out the creeping Victorian fear that racial superiority might not be within their possession, it comes off a bit toothless, and if you put it in, then uh. You're super gross.

So I think substituting in ECOLOGY is kind of clever?

OTOH, I don't really like Lovecraft that much.

Tom Goetz reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Odd mashup of blair witch, Cloverfield, and ...

matt reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A bit disappointing, I wanted to like this more.

It wasn't bad per se, it just wasn't very well written and didn't have enough oomph to overcome that. Maybe it'll make a better movie, because it already reads a bit too much like a screenplay.

On the one hand, it didn't make any mounting sense of dread. The weirdness of Area X was not very subtle "This is the weird place, weird things happen". The mystery of the crawler and the tower/tunnel were just sort of there, they didn't build to anything. I hate to compare it to something so different, but you can't have a deep stair case to nowhere without recalling House of Leaves which really emphasizes the lack of physiological weirdness VanderMeer brought to the table.

The narrative elements in the biologist's voice were not believable. I imagine that the aim was to present a detached, scientific …

Laura Lemay reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I am a huge sucker for The Weird, and I so wanted to like this book. Soooooo wanted to. But it feels very self-consciously weird to me, and somewhat familiar — The TV show Lost had the same kind of “and here is the bizarre thing we will just throw at you with no explanation.” Lost had the hatch; Annihilation has the tower (or tunnel). Lost has a smoke monster, Annihilation has the Crawler. Lost has a lighthouse, Annihilation has…a lighthouse!

The bigger problem I have is that the narration is so flat. The first-person narrator is a scientist (“the biologist” is her only name in the book), and it’s emphasized throughout that she is scientific, logical, detached, that this has been a problem for her in her relationships. The narration and descriptions throughout the book are, therefore, always straightforward, fact-based, logical, and detached. It’s a technique, and I admire it from a writing craft point of view, but it kept me from being really drawn into the book. I like my Weird to be more richly described, more heavily adjectivy, more over-the-top florid. (yes I am a huge Lovecraft fan)

I will probably read the next book in the series because there’s a lot that is set up and not explained in this one, and I’m curious enough to want to find out where it goes. And maybe the next book will have a different narrator.

Robin reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It's strange, but interesting. I'm hoping that the next book makes sense of some of it.

Jamie reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

The rest of the trilogy could turn this into 5 stars depending on what vagueries are resolved. It's original and absorbing but my suspension of disbelief was strained. Also, the adjective 'brackish' stands out; should be allowed one use per volume.

tjrourke reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is the first fiction I read by Jeff VanderMeer; I had read and enjoyed his writer's manual Booklife, and when I saw this book as the i09 book club choice earlier this year I figured it was worth a look. I'm glad I did.

In some ways, this book is a slight throwback. It's told entirely from inside the mind of the narrator, a biologist discovering a mysterious area along with a handful of other women chosen for their backgrounds and their skills. It's mostly narration, like books from good old-time adventure writers like Edgar Rice Burroughs or Robert E. Howard. Those stories tended to read like a newspaper account sometimes, but Annihilation reaches out and engages you right off the bat.

I highly recommend this novel for its depiction of a woman of science with attachment issues striving to understand how the place she explores is changing …

Michael @ Knowledge Lost reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

A section of America has been cut off from the rest of the continent; this has been dubbed Area X. While no one has been too sure what caused Area X to be cut off, a clandestine government agency called the Southern Reach keeps sending expeditions to this new ecosystem, to study the last vestiges of an untouched environment. Eleven expeditions have gone to this abandoned and unspoilt stretch of US coastline, eleven catastrophic failures. Four women known only by their disciplines: surveyor, anthropologist, psychologist and biologist are preparing for the twelfth expedition; will they find the answers to explain Area X, this enigmatic and frightening ecosystem?

Annihilation is the first book in the much talked about Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer; a short 200 page novel that packs a huge punch. The reader is thrown into this world and soon finds themselves with many questions; however the answers will only lead to more questions and so you will find yourself in a spiral of tension and excitement. Think Cormac McCarthy meets James Smythe; you have this thrilling and complex novel that sees four women and their impending doom.

I am hesitant in talking about this book too much because everything is shrouded in mystery and deception. I don't want to give too much away but I can say that Annihilation, on the surface, is a thrilling science-fiction novel. However as you dive deeper into the plot you will soon discover that this is full metafictional and psychoanalytical allegory that leads to a whole new type of exploration for those interested in critical reading. This is so annoying because I want to talk about this book but I don’t want to give anything away.

I have had similar issues reviewing The Explorer by James Smythe, I want to say so much more about this book but I want people to discover it for themselves. I am desperate to read Authority, followed by Acceptance but I know that reviewing them is going to be even more difficult (much like The Echo). Do yourself a favour, go out and pick up a copy of Annihilation if you haven’t done so already, but trust me when I say you will need the other two books in the Southern Reach Trilogy.

This review originally appeared on my blog: literary-exploration.com/2014/12/09/annihilation-by-jeff-vandermeer/

Steen Christiansen reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Engrossing fantasy/weird fiction novel that really does away with genre markers. Explorers investigate a strange area known only as Area X. Along the way, boundaries between life, nature, humans, and reality are blurry and morph into each other. The storytelling is a marvel of creating suspense and mystery of Area X, while deft enough to not make the end underwhelming.

Gossamerchild reviewed Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach, #1)

Review of 'Annihilation' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

I LOVED the book, and HATED this audiobook. I can't even, I am so disappointed. The reading was so bad I lost concentration and doubt I picked up anything new. So my suggestion is-read the book in print first.