A book review of Annihilation that grapples with trippy concepts, forgotten movie memories, and the question of whether to continue the series.
I just finished reading Annihilation, and I have this funny story about how I ended up with it. I was browsing through lists of popular books from the last five to ten years, trying to make sure I'm always reading the really high-rated books. Not that there aren't a lot of highly rated books out there, but I mean the ones that consistently do the best over time. Annihilation kept popping up, and when I read the description, I thought it sounded very interesting, very trippy and cool. So I dove in.
Here's where it gets weird. About a quarter of the way through, I realized I'd actually watched the movie. You know, the one with Natalie Portman? I was reading and thinking, "Why does this seem so familiar?" But here's the thing: I watched it so many years ago that I'd also kind of forgotten what happened. So I kept reading with this strange sense of déjà vu hanging over the whole experience.
In a very quick nutshell, the book follows expeditions into an area in the United States called Area X. They've sent various expeditions before this one, and this particular story focuses on the 12th expedition. Essentially, the expeditions never really go well. They're trying to gather information, so they're sending scientists. The team is structured kind of like how you'd assemble a Mars mission: there's a psychologist, a biologist, an anthropologist, a couple of different facets of science represented.
The concept is intriguing. There's this mysterious, potentially alien place that defies normal understanding. It touches on themes of magic and reality and science intersecting in weird ways, which actually reminds me now of The Life Impossible in terms of how it blends those elements. I don't know why I keep getting drawn to these books.
Here's my problem: there are just too many things missing from the story. I wanted to know more about what they're trying to find, why they're trying to find it, why these expeditions are happening in the first place. The details around the actual place itself, the people involved, the characters, it all feels too sparse. It's quite a quick story, and I feel like they're trying to build this intriguing world, but they just don't give you enough.
I really do like the concepts that they touch on in the book, but I feel like they just don't take it far enough.
While I was reading it, I wasn't exactly gripped by it, and by the end, I just felt kind of disappointed. I thought more was going to happen. I thought there were going to be more answers.
Now, I know there are more books in the series. And I feel like I should probably, for reviewing it and judging it in this way, read them to see how the story evolves. But I'm also just not that invested in it. That's the real issue. Do I want to commit to more books when the first one left me feeling this way?
I should probably also watch the movie again, because I genuinely do not remember what happened in it. The whole thing is very trippy, I remember that much. Maybe seeing it again would give me a different perspective on the book.
Look, Annihilation is obviously a very highly rated book over time. There's clearly more to it than just the first book. But I'm left wondering if I want to continue. Was I invested enough to keep going? I'm genuinely not sure.
I'd love to know what you think about Annihilation and the whole series. Did it grip you in ways it didn't grip me? Did you find enough answers in the subsequent books? Or did you feel the same way, intrigued by the concepts but wanting more depth?
