Absolution

The Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 4

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

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.

©2024 VanderMeer Creative, Inc. (P)2024 Blackstone Publishing

First half great, the second a ***swear fest

I love the trilogy and was excited to read more. But couldn’t keep listening due to the crushing first-person POV in the second half and the over over over use of one word.

Loved it!

The Southern Reach trilogy has been one of my favorite book series since I initially read it 6 or 7 years ago, so I was ridiculously excited to learn that VanderMeer was writing another book in the series. At first I was a little skeptical when I heard that it was going to be a prequel, but I was not disappointed.

The book is separated into three sections, each of them functioning as a somewhat self-contained but related story. Each section was amazing, the prose was beautiful, and though the beginning of the third section was extremely hard to get through on my first listen (the sheer concentration of variations on the f-word is… remarkable, and I don’t usually mind heavy swearing), I’m glad I stuck with it, because that section ended up being one of the most beautifully deranged and disquieting things I’ve ever read.

If you’re looking for clear cut answers for any of your burning questions from the original trilogy, this book will not give you that, but I’ve come to expect that from VanderMeer’s writing. I liked this book so much that I went back and re-read the original trilogy and now I’m listening to this one for a second time.

Oh! And the narrator goes all out for this book, especially in the third section. I highly recommend this audiobook.

If you’re looking for answers to the original 3 books, you won’t find them here…

I really enjoyed the first 3 books of the Annihilation series when I checked them out after watching the movie and finding it kind of lacking in an ending.

Of course the books didn’t offer much in the way of answers either…I still enjoyed them but I really wanted an answer to the nature of Area X…so when I saw this book pop up on Amazon I got really excited thinking finally Jeff is going to explain everything that is happening…

Hahahaha wrong! It’s just another 14 hours of a meh tasting word salad where he throws nearly every word in the dictionary at you to describe the color blue lol. There’s no answers to be found here, just more and more questions…I doubt I would buy a 5th book…

You’ve been warned 😜👍🏻

crazy trip

This is a manic, drug-fueled fever dream of a read. Very chaotic. I did not enjoy it and couldn't wait for its frenzy to end.

More questions than answers

Is the book good? Yes, but you won’t get any more answers here. The two separate main characters were both enjoyable in their own way despite the… colorful introduction of the second.

Absolutely

Absolution is the first audiobook I’ve listened to back-to-back. I love the original trilogy and found this to be more of the same. Satisfying yet incomplete. Fantastic narration. Favorite audiobook in a long while, and I plan to revisit the trilogy next of course.

I will not get in the barrel!!

I got in the barrel like a good barrel boy. Dammit commander thistle!
Absolution manages to both terrify and enrapture. The words and imagery stay infested/invested in your mind along the strange alien journey of AAX

Is this a ride I want to go on?

Loved the initial trilogy. Was so excited for this new book, but feeling pretty disappointed. The first part didn’t feel very compelling, and I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get through the last third of the book. I have nothing against the f word, but this is like nails on a chalkboard. I’m not getting anything out of it. I’m trying. I have loved Jeff Vandermeer in the past.

The rabbit hole is a möbius loop

One of the best modern authors. Every new book adds another layer of complexity to the series in dizzying ways. Absolution has the feel of an extended episode of the X-files written by Stephen King while high on dmt.

Second best of the 4

Exceeded already high expectations - returns to the surreal fever dream horror of Annihilation without clumsily relying on any of the previous books, while somehow building and relating to all of them. 10/10