Absolution - Tak's Reading Room

inglês language

Published 2024

(1 review)

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. …

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.

2 editions

sol2070@velhaestante.com.br reviewed Absolution

Area X 4

5 stars

(em português → sol2070.in/2024/11/livro-absolution-jeff-vandermeer-comando-sul-4/ )

"Absolution" (2024) is the fourth installment in Jeff Vandermeer's "Southern Reach" series, a book whose release date I had even marked on my calendar.

It's a prequel to the other three books, which mix surreal horror with science and ecological fiction. The first of them, "Annihilation" (2014), is the most famous, since it became a cult movie by Alex Garland.

The story revolves around a phenomenon in a vast swampy area of the USA, Area X, which causes nature to behave in a bizarre and potentially annihilating way for humans. Southern Reach is the government task force that has been covering up what is happening for decades, investigating and ultimately influencing the whole process.

The things I like most about the series are:

Ecology. The predominant symbol is environmental catastrophe and our relationship with the natural world, revealing an inconceivable dimension of nature.
Ambiguity. At …

(em português → sol2070.in/2024/11/livro-absolution-jeff-vandermeer-comando-sul-4/ )

"Absolution" (2024) is the fourth installment in Jeff Vandermeer's "Southern Reach" series, a book whose release date I had even marked on my calendar.

It's a prequel to the other three books, which mix surreal horror with science and ecological fiction. The first of them, "Annihilation" (2014), is the most famous, since it became a cult movie by Alex Garland.

The story revolves around a phenomenon in a vast swampy area of the USA, Area X, which causes nature to behave in a bizarre and potentially annihilating way for humans. Southern Reach is the government task force that has been covering up what is happening for decades, investigating and ultimately influencing the whole process.

The things I like most about the series are:

Ecology. The predominant symbol is environmental catastrophe and our relationship with the natural world, revealing an inconceivable dimension of nature.
Ambiguity. At first glance, the disaster seems horrific. But... is it really?
Psychedelic cosmic horror. Jeff writes in the “new weird” subgenre, a revitalization of the “weird” enshrined by H.P. Lovecraft, who mixed horror, science fiction and fantasy to contrast human smallness in the face of unimaginable cosmic forces. New weird is also a pun on “new wave”, the lysergic science fiction of the 60s.
Exquisitely well-constructed and fascinating characters. The extremely human perspective is never lost or eclipsed by the fantastic, on the contrary, it is a magnifying glass.
Exemplary writing. For me, Vandermeer is the best writer of speculative fiction today.

"Absolution" takes up some characters from the story who seemed secondary, showing their key role. There are three parts that mimic the three previous books. In the first, a group of scientists come into contact with the first transformations, 20 years earlier, which were already quite disturbing. The second focuses on the beginning of the investigation into the secret agency and its behind-the-scenes work with double agents, manipulation, betrayals, brainwashing, etc. The third part is the first entry into Area X, already completely deflagrated, from the point of view of a practically demented agent.

In this fourth book, there are huge doses of cosmic horror, something that in the others is more measured. It takes a while to get going, as the connections aren't obvious at first. But all the smallest details fall into place.

As much of the story is open to interpretation, this series is one that invites the most diverse theories. "Absolution" brings more raw material for us to speculate about.

It was a good hook for me to re-read the other books, for the third time.