Book #257 of 2017:
Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Southern Reach #1)
This was an unsettling sci-fi tale of delirium and paranoia, but there was a bit too much unresolved ambiguity for me to truly love it. The narrator is exploring an environment that’s known to warp perception and impede clear thinking, and that’s even before she gets exposed to a hallucinogenic plant spore or realizes the extent to which her shadowy government commanders have hypnotized and conditioned her. The resulting story is well-told and creepy, but I would have liked just a little bit more clarity in what was really going on. (There’s a movie adaptation coming out soon, so it’ll be interesting to see how these ambiguities are handled on the screen.) This is only the opening volume of a trilogy, but I’m not sure at this point whether I feel like reading any further.
★★★☆☆
The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 
Leave a comment