After a decade from the southern reach trillogy, a new piece takes us back to Area X. Written in three parts, Absolution recounts some of the strange events before the border came down as well as presenting a testimony from the first expedition to venture into the area. Gripping in its narration, Absolution is perfect for those who have read the series and those who have not, as the story stands on its own, providing answers and keeping the mystery alive. I can only describe it as alluring, with vivid descriptions of the environment and unsettling situations capable of transmitting the fear and confussion of the characters.

For someone who usually avoids reading books that are part of a series, I sped right through my reread of the original trilogy upon hearing about the fourth book, and quickly made it through this one too. VanderMeer's gripping triptych takes us back to twenty years before the Area X border comes down, then to a few months before, and then finally to the first expedition into the post-border area. Each one of the three parts has a distinctive style, and though I initially wasn't getting on with the last part - the narrative style felt slightly too much, even for the intensity of the character we were following - I still think this final book is up there with the first book as the best of the series. I will say that if you are someone who wants answers and neat endings in your books then this might not be for you, since it isn't a strictly necessary addition to the plot of the series. It won't answer a lot of questions - or any at all... However, in my reread of the trilogy I realised how much I would appreciate an adventure into the Forgotten Coast pre-border, and an insight into the first expedition, and this ended up being so fun and so compelling to read. If you enjoyed the different styles and intensity of the first three books you will enjoy this one - it definitely feels like a mix of the three - with the uncanny scientific distance of much of the first and the frustratingly beaurocratic feel of the other two. Of course it also has plenty of the vivid environmental descriptions and bafflingly sublime scenes that define the whole series. Overall, if you have read the others and are hesitant to jump into this one, I would of course say give it a go, but do be aware that you should be ready to embrace the weirdness rather than find concrete answers to the Area X mystery. I would also probably recommend this to those who have never read a Jeff VanderMeer book or to those who might have read Annihilation without reading books two and three. It really pulled me in, and like the rest of the series, sustained that intense and haunting atmosphere throughout the entire novel. I would definitely recommend that anyone slightly curious should just grab a copy and dive in (embrace the weirdness!). Thank you to HarperCollins for the review copy!

Another supremely strange, if slightly unexpected, addition to The Southern Reach trilogy. It's weird and unpredictable in ways only Vandermeer can muster. This seems to function as both prequel and sequel to the first books, it's structure split into segments which almost read like a collection of short(ish) stories set in Area X, an idea that I quickly got on board with. It is nearly indecipherable in it's plot and meaning, which I intend as a compliment: this is weird fiction after all, and it demands thought and possibly a second read to properly understand what has happened. I am a huge fan of Jeff Vandermeer and would not hesitate to recommend this to fans of the original series, and to speculative, sci-fi adjacent, fiction readers in general.

Annihilation is surely one of the most striking novels of the past twenty years, introducing Area X: a zone where unknown forces have created a sealed-off area where nature, time and physical reality are being warped and transformed. A decade after second and third episodes Authority and Acceptance comes Absolution, a story in three linked but stand-alone novellas. In strand one of three a team of biologists are driven slowly insane as they venture into what would become Area X, their disintegration retold in a diary read by Old Jim, the central character of the second strand. In this he attempts to investigate for Control the fate of the biologists in what is now known as Dead Town while also searching for his daughter. Finally scatological soldier Lowry takes part in what will become the first expedition to the now sealed-off area. Anyone expecting an answer to the questions about the origins, nature and fate of Area X will come away disappointed. But who would? Vandermeer is the poet of the inexplicable, the horror of the rules that govern our interactions with the world coming apart before our eyes – whether rabbits with cameras around their necks, or boxes of walkie-talkies re-appearing after being destroyed. Why would we expect him to show us what’s behind the curtain? Instead there’s three more stories exploring anything from doppelgangers to over-reliance on technology. Nobody should start here, but Absolution is a satisfying(ly) distorting mirror held up to the original trilogy. Finally there’s a starring role for Schubert’s haunting song cycle Winterreise, which is not something every biohorror book can reach for. Thanks for netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Just like I did when finishing the original Southern Reach trilogy, I got to the end of this book and wondered what the hell I just read. Reading any Jeff VanderMeer is a bit of a mind bending experience but there's something so incredibly compelling about his storytelling. It's so imaginative. Like China Miéville, you spend half the time marvelling that someone could think up these strange things; that they can keep this story in their head, let alone know how to write it out onto paper. The weirdness is Absolution builds, the first two thirds or the book being (relatively) straightforward, with everything only going completely off the rails in the last third. And boy howdy does it go off the rails. There are parts of this book that are deeply uncomfortable, or at least I found them to be, but never to the point where I wanted to stop reading. It's strange and malleable and skewed all wrong, but it's also wonderful and terrible and beautiful. And, brilliantly, it's never explained. I've read the entire Southern Reach series now and I couldn't begin to tell you what's going on in them. I have no idea, but I wouldn't have it any other way.