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Synopses & Reviews
Ten years after the publication of Annihilation, the surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer's blockbuster Southern Reach Trilogy.
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 bestsellers 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,
there are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more
questions, and profound new surprises.
Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge
into unique and fertile literary territory. It is the final word on one
of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our
time.
Review
“Eerie and evocative….VanderMeer's horrifying declaration of the impossibility of knowing the other is a knockout.” Publishers Weekly
Review
“An extension of a genre-busting narrative, maintaining and complicating its vibes.” Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2024:
The New York Times, 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.
About the Author
Jeff VanderMeer
is the author of
Hummingbird Salamander, the
Borne novels (Borne,
The Strange Bird, and
Dead Astronauts), and
The Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation,
Authority, and
Acceptance), the first volume of which won the Nebula Award and
the Shirley Jackson Award and was adapted into a movie by Alex Garland.
He speaks and writes frequently about issues relating to climate change
as well as urban rewilding. He lives in Tallahassee, Florida, on the
edge of a ravine, with his wife, Ann VanderMeer, and their cat, Neo.