I started to read this because of the film of the same name. I would have to say this one of those eerie novels set in a landscape that is both familiar and undergoing a transformation due to an outside agent. The protagonist is part of another expedition, there have been others, into a zone which being altered by something completely alien. The author does not tell the reader exactly how this has transpired and in this sense, the book has echoes of the Strugatsky brothers "Roadside Picnic". Having completed the first book in the series, I intend to read the next two. If you enjoy weird speculative fiction, then this one is for you.
First of all, there is no other book I‘ve read before with such an interesting mixture of genres, from fantasy, science fiction, thriller and criminal novel to horror.
Annihilation is a thrilling beginning, introducing some main characters, in a mysterious and disturbing story.
Authority shows more background, more main characters and develops the big dimension of the whole story, but it has some length while staying inside the heads of the protagonists and developing the story without recognizable direction. It‘s not clear whether the narratives and thoughts are important for the story, for the reader, or just for the protagonists, which is a genius move to give more weight to the fictional characters leading the way. The reader is only a guest, only an observer. Which corresponds to the story narrated.
In Acceptance, lastly again more action, more weirdness, and a kind of resolution.
The whole story is confusing, full …
First of all, there is no other book I‘ve read before with such an interesting mixture of genres, from fantasy, science fiction, thriller and criminal novel to horror.
Annihilation is a thrilling beginning, introducing some main characters, in a mysterious and disturbing story.
Authority shows more background, more main characters and develops the big dimension of the whole story, but it has some length while staying inside the heads of the protagonists and developing the story without recognizable direction. It‘s not clear whether the narratives and thoughts are important for the story, for the reader, or just for the protagonists, which is a genius move to give more weight to the fictional characters leading the way. The reader is only a guest, only an observer. Which corresponds to the story narrated.
In Acceptance, lastly again more action, more weirdness, and a kind of resolution.
The whole story is confusing, full of riddles, and the complexity of the different perspectives of the main characters that are developed is sometimes overwhelming. But these perspectives, which are narrated and developed in parallel, enhance the strangeness of the situation the protagonists are in.
For me, there were too many main characters and too many ideas, which were shown in only touching some. Perhaps fewer ideas and characters, and rather more development, would have been more comfortable. But the confusing is also crucial to this book. So, in my opinion, it’s a good but not that easy read.
