Absolution (2024) by Jeff Vandermeer

 Audiobook Review

Absolution (2024)

by Jeff Vandermeer

   Reading the latest Southern Reach book from Jeff Vandermeer is an exercise in self-inflicted pain.  For those who aren't keep track, Annihilation and it's follow-ups were always referred to as the Southern Reach Trilogy up until this, the fourth book in the series, was published. The reach of Vandermeer's enterprise was expanded by the movie version by Alex Garland, which polarized audiences when it was released but has gone to enjoy a succesful life in the stream-o-verse- I think I've watched parts of it on three or four different streaming platforms at this point.

 So three books in what do we know about The Southern Reach- we know something is going on in there, that the something changes and transforms DNA- turning peaceful bunny rabbits into crab eating monsters and possessing the capacity to create human-like doppelgangers.  We know that the investigation is being run by a shadowy government agency, or maybe even a shadowy government agency secretly ensconced within another, larger, shadowy government agency.

   Beyond that I don't really know, and frankly, I'm kind of done caring after this, the latest episode which mostly tells the story of "Old Jim" a washed-up, alcoholic CIA agent obsessed with his missing daughter who is posted to Area X prior to the time period covered in Annihilation.   There is also a portion told from the perspective of two different members of the all-male expedition that preceded the all female expedition of Annihilation.   Like all the other books in the series, Vandermeer never makes anything explicit, leaving the reader to ponder what to make of it all.   To be fair there were some heart stopping set pieces, like the aforementioned crab eating rabbits and a late scene where the Area tricks one of the male expedition members into eating the flesh of a dead comrade- which is, contrary to the rest of the series, described in such intimate detail that I had to turn the Audiobook off a couple times to keep myself from potentially throwing up in my vehicle.