MCD
Absolution: A Southern Reach Novel
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Locus Awards Finalist
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2024:
The New York Times, The Washington Post, New York magazine, Time, Kirkus, Literary Hub, Goodreads
The surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach series--and the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.
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 bestseller 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, Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. There are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.
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Book Details
ISBN:
9780374616595
EAN:
9780374616595
Binding:
Hardcover
Pages:
464
Authors:
Jeff VanderMeer
Publisher:
MCD
Published Date: 2024-22-10
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The Old Jim part of the book is a fun read, a lot like reading the other books. If you are into puzzles, and if you have read the other books recently you will get more out of it as there are some connections with the other books, potentially some time travelling animals...The Lowry part is very polarizing and I am one who does not enjoy the first part which is resplendent with the "F" word to a degree which is unsurpassed in my experience. This calms down after a while and then there is a sort of shoot-out of a climax, after which things get proper weird.I would say that you don't really need to read this unless you are a completist or Vandermeer cultist. It doesn't add anything essential, IMO
I worked and reworked my way through the trilogy many times...ten years later..there's more!I was worried that this installment would ruin the magic with exposition. Thankfully, Absolution left me feeling durably weirded out and gratifyingly queasy, just like the first three.Some really interesting viewpoints and chronology going on with echoes, duplications and imitations galore. Even the narrative is contaminated. The whole 4 book storyline teases potential analysis but never ceases to march is way into pure madness.Delicious.....110% recommended if you loved the first three.
The first two novellas are amazing. The third is unreadable when every third word is f***
Ultimately I was disappointed in this, especially considering Annihilation is my favorite book and I recommend the Southern Reach series to everyone I can get to read it.With Absolution, I WOULD recommend reading the first two novellas in this story.... but maybe stop there.This book took a while for me to get into. I finally found a "book club" discussion on YouTube that helped me enjoy the Dead Town and False Daughter sections MUCH more. I was really cruising along, enjoying the story. Then I reached the third novella in this, and came to a screeching halt. I was so excited to read Lowry's story but when every other word is a swear, it's just too jarring to read. The pace was SO disjointed because of the profanity, it took away the readability. Not to mention it was just unnecessarily vulgar. Especially immediately following Old Jim's story, which felt much like Control's, this sudden change was unexpected and unwelcome. Maybe I'll come back and wade through Lowry's story another time.
I should have known. I did know. The first three books in this series meandered along, and never really explained anything that was happening at all. Guess what - this late sequel is more of the same; if you come into this expected any of it to finally make sense, you'll be sorely disappointed.
