
Annihilation
Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 1
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Narrated by:
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Carolyn McCormick
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By:
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Jeff VanderMeer
A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM ALEX GARLAND, STARRING NATALIE PORTMAN AND OSCAR ISAAC
The Southern Reach Trilogy begins with Annihilation, the Nebula Award-winning novel that “reads as if Verne or Wellsian adventurers exploring a mysterious island had warped through into a Kafkaesque nightmare world” (Kim Stanley Robinson).
If J. J. Abrams, Margaret Atwood, and Alan Weisman collaborated on a novel … it might be this awesome.
Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; all the members of the second expedition committed suicide; the third expedition died in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another; the members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within months of their return, all had died of aggressive cancer.
This is the twelfth expedition.
Their group is made up of four women: an anthropologist, a surveyor, a psychologist—the de facto leader—and a biologist, who is our narrator. Their mission is to map the terrain and collect specimens; to record all their observations, scientific and otherwise, of their surroundings and of one another; and, above all, to avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.
They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life-forms that surpass understanding—but it's the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.
Cover artwork © Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.
©2014 Jeff VanderMeer (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















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What makes a good audiobook series? There are as many answers to this question as there are listeners. For some, it might be epic battles. For others, it might be ongoing romantic twists and tensions. For still others, it might be elongated character studies or an in-depth analysis of a particular time and place. But the universal element of a truly great series is that it sticks with you long after the last word. These are our favorites from every major genre.

Editor's Pick
Perfect if you want something weird
"This is my one pick that I feel I need to stand up for, because if you check the title page you’ll see some mixed reviews. Annihilation is profound literary sci-fi that doesn’t fit any formula. So a lot of people looking for the same old story might not find it here, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t an amazing series. It will blur your sense of reality and make you question the alien nature of language itself."
—Michael D., Audible Editor
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I highly recommend Annihilation. I found Carolyn McCormick's reading of the book a little monochromatic but it's certainly not bad and there are moments where the placid tone she uses really works in the novel's favor.
A Strange, Surreal Delight
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I need to listen to that last chapter again.
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I have a feeling that this is the type of trilogy that will only be understood as complete set, each book revealing more and more and hopefully ending up with a full picture of what the f is going on. That being said, I am sure tantalized to read more.
I'm suppressing the urge to gobble up the second installation right away because I have to wait til September for the final book. Trying to space it out so that I get to savor this trilogy.
Would make a great film.
can't wait for the rest of the trilogy!
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Merely not a fan of this story telling method.
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Potentially Great, Overall Meh
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This is a novel of weird fiction.
The strange takes precedence over character.
The bizarre is more important than plot.
It is written with the intention of unsettling you, feeling as though the world is just to the left of where you thought it was before. Nearly every decision Vandermeer makes in this novel is done to unsettle the reader in this way.
For example, the novel is almost entirely absent proper nouns. Characters are called by their job title, such as "anthropologist" or "linguist." If there is a restaurant in the novel, it is a restaurant. It is not Jake's Chinese BBQ.
There is a plot, one I find deeply disturbing, but if you are expecting a whiz-bang revelation that neatly ties up everything, you're looking for a mystery or a thriller, not weird fiction.
The narrator of the book has perfectly adapted herself to the alien beauty of Vandermeer's prose. Like the character whose words she reads, she can at times seem to be distancing herself from the very wonders and horrors she is relating. Those who fault her performance in other reviews I again hold do not understand weird fiction, and this novel. Did you want her to hoot and scream at every shock and peril like a bad actor?
You might say I am being elitist. Perhaps I am. Or perhaps the weird novel is simply not something that can find a wide audience. After all, the most famous purveyor of the weird, HP Lovecraft, has really never seen a successful translation of his work to any medium other than the role-playing game.
So if you find yourself gaping in wonder at the beauty of a dead leaf on a rainy sidewalk, if you would watch in fascination as the spider drained the trapped fly, if you consider the contemplation of your own death a sort of mental pushup which leaves you stronger than you were before, then perhaps this novel is for you.
If you have no fascination for the macabre, then move on friend. There are plenty of other books in the world, and you can leave the wonder of the weird to us...
Possibly Greatest Weird Fiction of 21st Century
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Loved it
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if you do want to read the whole series be aware that audible does offer all three for a single credit
Surprisingly Deep and Thematic, but Avoid the Sequ
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Exploration and Sci Fi Lovers Will Enjoy This
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3 and a half to 4 maybe 4 and a half.
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