Annihilation

I really, really enjoyed this book. Once it got it's claws into me I really could not leave it alone until I had finished it. It's captivating, hypnotic, disturbing and psychological. As I finished the book I really didn't know what the book was about - what was real, what was in the mind of the narrator. I want to go back, I want to read the rest of the trilogy, I want to understand what is going on.

At the same time I am really comfortable with not knowing, not understanding and leaving this book as a one volume series in my mind.

On one level Area X is an area abandoned by society, potentially by some ecological or man-made disaster. Expeditions are launched there to 'investigate' - what is never clear. The members of the expeditions ostensibly come from a world we recognise in a very near future or alternative history. The expedition encounters issues where it seems nature fights back and they discover a strange tunnel that leads somewhere - in many respects the tunnel reminded me of 'Heart of Darkness', the tunnel could represent the hidden recesses of one's mind. The narrator enters phallic structures such as lighthouses and underground tunnels burrowing into the earth..

One could view this as an adventure in a hostile environment, one could view this as psychological horror as the narrator delves more and more into her self. The reader is left with questions as to whether Area X actually exists at all - it is unclear where it is and how to get there. I'm intrigued where VanderMeer goes with this - Area X could be psychological conditioning by the state, it could be a genuine ecological disaster zone. I can see how this could be confusing and frustrating but for me it just worked. Throw in a few Mythos-like creatures and zany dream / mind bending sequences and you can see there is more than a nod to Lovecraft in here.

Despite her relative lack of appeal, I really warmed to the narrator - the whole book is written from her perspective in a journal format. Things happen to her and at times I wasn't really sure if she was human or not or if she had metamorphosed into something else entirely.

Wonderful book.