Publication Date: Feb 2014

Synopsis:

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

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What To Expect:

Annihilation is a science fiction horror novel following the twelfth expedition into Area X, a mysterious stretch of maddening wilderness. You can expect a tense and unsettling atmosphere, an unreliable narrator, and twisted natural phenomenon.

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Content Warnings:

Language: Moderate – Scattered strong swearing throughout

Sexual Content: Closed door – References to marital intimacy

Violence: Moderate – Death and suicide; gun violence; some descriptions of blood/gore, not overly graphic

Substance Use: Mild – Mentions of smoking and alcohol

Prejudices: None

Religious Themes: Brief mentions of religion. No religious themes.

Other Topics: None

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