"In the second volume of the Southern Reach Trilogy, questions are answered, stakes are raised, and mysteries are deepened. In Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer introduced Area X--a remote and lush terrain mysteriously sequestered from civilization. This was the first volume of a projected trilogy; well in advance of publication, translation rights had already sold around the world and a major movie deal had been struck. Just months later, Authority, the second volume, is here. For thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X has taken the form of a series of expeditions monitored by a secret agency called the Southern Reach. After the disastrous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the Southern Reach is in disarray, and John Rodriguez, aka "Control," is the team's newly appointed head. From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the secrets of Area X begin to …
"In the second volume of the Southern Reach Trilogy, questions are answered, stakes are raised, and mysteries are deepened. In Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer introduced Area X--a remote and lush terrain mysteriously sequestered from civilization. This was the first volume of a projected trilogy; well in advance of publication, translation rights had already sold around the world and a major movie deal had been struck. Just months later, Authority, the second volume, is here. For thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X has taken the form of a series of expeditions monitored by a secret agency called the Southern Reach. After the disastrous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the Southern Reach is in disarray, and John Rodriguez, aka "Control," is the team's newly appointed head. From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the secrets of Area X begin to reveal themselves--and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he's promised to serve. And the consequences will spread much further than that. The Southern Reach trilogy will conclude in fall 2014 with Acceptance"--
"In the second volume of the Southern Reach trilogy, Area X's most troubling questions are answered... but the answers are far from reassuring"--
I was definitely engaged in the beginning. The confusing nature of the first book gave emotion to the investigation of Area X. This second book also ended well, a nice cliff-hanger toward the final story. But in the middle I got lost twice.
In plot, you can have confusing or dream-like parts. Similarly in the text, you can get poetic. VanderMeer tries both at the same time, walking a thin line. Of course I think this is done on purpose, mirroring the border line of Area X, amorphous and drifting. But when I as a reader cross it, this means I have lost communication. I then have to skim past words until I can pick up the narrative again.
I will continue on to see how the trilogy ends though.
As vivid and animated "Annihilation" was, this novel was dragged-out text of boredom for the first two thirds. Despite this, I think the last few chapters are worth the trouble, and the overall experience is alright.
It's oddly refreshing to come across a book and realize I can't neatly fit it into a specific genre. Like yes, at it's core this is basically a mystery, but this is no Agatha Christie novel. There's no point to paying attention to every single passing detail and comment so you can figure it out before the big exposition reveal at the end. Because there are no explanations, and that's exactly the point. Is it horror? There are some spooky bits that are definitely supernatural, but everything is played so straight without a hint of camp that it doesn't exactly hit the right tone that you'd expect, and there's so much other stuff happening in between that that label doesn't really stick either. It's kind of its own thing.
This book felt like puzzle where you're intentionally not given all the pieces and you're meant to extrapolate between the gaps, …
It's oddly refreshing to come across a book and realize I can't neatly fit it into a specific genre. Like yes, at it's core this is basically a mystery, but this is no Agatha Christie novel. There's no point to paying attention to every single passing detail and comment so you can figure it out before the big exposition reveal at the end. Because there are no explanations, and that's exactly the point. Is it horror? There are some spooky bits that are definitely supernatural, but everything is played so straight without a hint of camp that it doesn't exactly hit the right tone that you'd expect, and there's so much other stuff happening in between that that label doesn't really stick either. It's kind of its own thing.
This book felt like puzzle where you're intentionally not given all the pieces and you're meant to extrapolate between the gaps, but some of those gaps are pretty damn big and leave a lot to the imagination. It's also a book that you could power through, focusing only on the scenes with dramatic action, but you'd be doing yourself a disservice; this is a book that asks you to be patient and read between the lines. Some people might find that frustrating, but it was a fresh take on telling a narrative and it almost felt like it was refusing novel-writing conventions on purpose.
Independent of the plot, i really enjoyed the characters and their dynamics. The protagonist, who calls himself 'Control' (and ironically has no control over 99% of the things that happen to him) is tasked with coming in as a new director of a clandestine government agency. But when he introduces himself with this codename to his new second-in-command assistant director on like the first page she responds something to the effect of, "You want me to call you 'Control'? Why, because you don't have any? Fine, call me 'Patience' then," and their relationship is just consistently antagonistic from that point on, which I found really amusing. Then Control's mother who's some kind of deep-state spy shows up, there's the biologist from the first book, a bunch of whackjob government office workers; for a book with not a ton of dialogue, the cast still managed to stand out for me.
Very different vibe from Annihilation, as many people warned me going into it, but I'm almost kind of glad for it. It was interesting revisiting this setting from a different perspective and tone.
It took me a few weeks to read Authority whereas I got through Annihilation very quickly. In retrospect I would've enjoyed this more if I read it quicker and got more immersed in it as a result. I did enjoy Annihilation more, for the most part. Much of Authority involved spending time with the unlikeable Control with a growing sense of things not being quite right. It's interesting, weirdly bureaucratic and the ending is excellent. Definitely going to read Acceptance now.
A much tougher read than Annihilation. You only really understand the scope of what's happening in the last 50 pages or so. Up until then, you're wading through bureaucracy and childhood trauma with only the occasional glimpse into something more sinister. I think it works? The character's quite twisted-up inside and his defenses are always up, so it makes sense that the story would be so dense. But I can't be sure. It warrants re-reading.
All the mystery of the first novel, plus office politics. I envy VanderMeer's writing style. He provides enough detail to give his worlds vibrant life, but does it in a way that's also ruthlessly efficient. There's an element of poetry to his prose, where every word is given weight and delivered for maximum impact.
Authority's main character, Control, is a man who's been playing the subterfuge game for a long time, and who's experienced enough failures to make him cautious in some regards and reckless in others. VanderMeer seemed to revel in Control's inner thoughts, with every statement and movement made by other characters subject to Control's analysis.
It's impossible for me to think of this book just on its own merits and not couched in the fact that I read this after ripping through Annihilation in a day, hoping for more half human monsters stalking through reeds. Even though I knew it was completely different, even though I finished VanderMeer's Ambergris earlier this year where every book is vastly different from the previous one, I was disappointed as I was reading. I was always holding my breath for that sharp turn back into waxing poetic about the eerie flora and fauna of area x.
But if I put aside the fact that it did not drip feed me more of exactly the same (which I desperately want, annihilation was too short!!!) it was a slow, creeping, itchy book, and it was good. Where annihilation was like panicked ripping through a wall of vines to see what is …
It's impossible for me to think of this book just on its own merits and not couched in the fact that I read this after ripping through Annihilation in a day, hoping for more half human monsters stalking through reeds. Even though I knew it was completely different, even though I finished VanderMeer's Ambergris earlier this year where every book is vastly different from the previous one, I was disappointed as I was reading. I was always holding my breath for that sharp turn back into waxing poetic about the eerie flora and fauna of area x.
But if I put aside the fact that it did not drip feed me more of exactly the same (which I desperately want, annihilation was too short!!!) it was a slow, creeping, itchy book, and it was good. Where annihilation was like panicked ripping through a wall of vines to see what is behind in real time, something breathing down your neck, authority was a slow, itchy burn of papers being read on what was found behind those vines from the vantage point of a disinterested office superior, something still breathing down your neck.
I was never totally sure if the characters were acting on their own, or if maybe they were area x's creatures. The mysteries of previous expeditions being laid out, answering some things and creating lots more questions, over the MCs week at the southern reach were immensely satisfying in a way that was completely different from experiencing them first hand, with a dissasociated floating instead of a sense of urgency. If you go in expecting this to be Annihilation (it's hard!!! Annihilation was so good!!!!) you will probably be disappointed. Let this be its own weird creature and sit and swirl in its own tank instead.
Wow. This book has a very different mood from the first in the trilogy, but just like it it sucked me in from a slow and uncertain start to completely taking over head for a few days after I finished it. I love the simultaneous vividness and vagueness of the thing that looms over this trilogy's world, and the endless ambiguity of who "should" prevail through the whole story. Looking forward to the final book.
Continues the self-doubt of exploring a nearby unknown in continuity with the first book but from a fresh perspective. Drew me along nicely but TBD whether we're going anywhere.
I think the way this book could have been improved was to chop out the first 2/3 of it, and then add the remaining bits to either the end of the first book or the beginning of the third. Perhaps this was a flaw as a reader, but I simply did not care about most of this book. The ending was fantastic, and reminded me why I enjoyed the first book so much. But so much of the book dragged...I'm hoping the final book can recover it for me. My overall suggestion would be to read all three together. Perhaps that would make it less annoying.