Science Fiction Annotation: Annihilation

Author: Jeff VanderMeer
Title: Annihilation
Genre: Science Fiction
Publication Date: February 2014
Number of Pages: 195
Geographical Setting: Area X, an area that borders on a large body of water, and which has been reclaimed by nature.
Time Period: Unspecified
Series: Southern Reach Trilogy
Subject Headings: Science Fiction, Adventure Fiction, Suspense Fiction
3 terms that best describe this book: Dark, Suspenseful, Engrossing

Plot Summary: The first installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy introduces readers to Area X, a portion of land that has been separated from the rest of the continent since strange occurrences began happening. Jeff VanderMeer gives us access to this new, dark world through his descriptive style. A group of five women (an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist, a biologist, and a linguist) participate in an expedition of Area X. This expedition is the twelfth to enter Area X, and this particular expedition is tasked with further mapping and exploring the area for as long as they are able. They are to make observations within their notebooks, and Annihilation is written from the perspective of the biologist’s notebook. It follows the group’s initial decisions, as well as its eventual downfall, all while detailing the strange occurrences happening around them.

Appeal:

Tone/Mood: “Tone may disorient (or reorient) readers” (p. 229). There’s a portion of the story where you realize that the biologist is not a reliable narrator, and that she has been emphasizing certain points and downplaying others in her story to reflect herself and her choices in the best light she sees fit. When the reader hits this point, it can be disorienting - were certain descriptions accurate? Did interactions with her group actually occur? Was there ever a linguist?

Frame/Setting: “Setting is crucial and invokes otherness of time, place and/or reality. Both the physical setting of the story and the inherent technical and scientific detail create this essential frame” (p. 226). This is achieved by not telling the reader when the story is set - is it present day, past, future? The reader is unsure. Hints are given, like when discussing the type of technology used in Area X, and how it hasn’t been “updated” to meet current levels of technology but instead is a more primitive form.

Story Line: “Authors take a precept, perception, or idea and explore it, often in a setting outside our own world or in a future time, but certainly out of everyday contexts” (p. 226). Annihilation’s storyline occurs in an undefined time frame, but one that might indicate that it is nearer to present day. The idea of a banned zone, contaminated by something unknown is explored in great depth - what happens when humans encounter something they may have helped cause, but aren’t sure how to stop it from spreading?

Style/Language: “Science Fiction offers a range of styles and language crafted to suit the story line and to reinforce the intellectual and speculative nature of the genre” (p. 226). Annihilation achieves this with descriptive paragraphs of Area X and its inhabitants in language that flows and visualizes well. Obscure language is not usually employed, and if it is, further description is given so if the reader is unfamiliar with the term they can still interpret the meaning.

Characterization: “Science Fiction focuses on ideas and setting.The moral, social, and philosophical questions considered in the genre are woven into the storyline and are often pursued through the action, situations and events rather than through the characters” (p. 229). This is true in that one gets the sense that the biologist - the one ‘telling’ us the story - is merely giving voice to the experiences of Area X. The focus is not on the biologist, though we do get glimpses into her childhood and life before coming to Area X, but all of those experiences then weave back into the story of Area X. Further, the Southern Reach Trilogy focuses more so on Area X than it does the biologist. While we see the biologist in further installments, she is no longer the narrator.  

Pacing: “Pacing is usually determined by the amount of action” (p. 230). This novel is short - less than 200 pages - and it seems to fly by. There is more world building as opposed to physical action in this particular novel, but even so the pacing doesn’t seem too slow.

3 Relevant Works and Authors:

Dead Mountain: The true story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident by Donnie Eichar Dead Mountain follows the events leading up to and following the Dyatlov Pass incident in 1959, where nine individuals died on a hiking and skiing trip from questionable circumstances. There is much mystery still surrounding their deaths, and this mystery and tone are similar to that of Annihilation.

Starfish by Peter Watts The first in the Rifter series, Starfish is a science fiction work that follows workers in their dark, suspenseful terrain on the ocean floor. The suspenseful tone and the setting of misunderstood terrain make this a good match for those who enjoyed Annihilation.

Dark Matter by Blake Crouch Jason Dessen, quantum physics professor, find his life turned upside-down when he is kidnapped and finds himself in a parallel universe. In his attempts to return to his original plane of existence, he has to encounter further universes, with mixed results. Though faster paced than Annihilation, this speculative fiction offers a different type of other-worldness that readers should enjoy.

My Take: While I do enjoy science fiction from time to time, I have to be in the right mood for it. I didn't think I was in the mood for science fiction when I started Annihilation, but I still managed to fly through it. I kept reading more and hoping for answers. I have yet to get to the other two books in the trilogy, but it's something I'm looking forward to.