Those tiny little details of information that illustrate how not quite right this place is. How does a tower plunge? That is one of things that make this book so great. It is one of those sentences that make you say to yourself, wait a minute. The first sentence of the novel is as follows: “The tower, which was not supposed to be there, plunges into the earth in a place just before the black pine forest begins to give way to swamp and then the reeds and wind-gnarled trees of the marsh flats.” There is mention of a linguist who doesn’t actually go on the expedition although the Biologist wishes she had her skill set when exploring the tower. There is also a Psychologist, who is also the expeditions leader, the anthropologist, and the surveyor. That is the only name that you are given in the book. Instead I am focusing on things that piqued my interest. I am not going to dissect the entire novel. Seriously, if you intend to remain blissfully ignorant before reading the novel or going to the movie, this post is not for you. If you have not read this book and want or are planning to, I suggest you stop reading here.

I recently saw the teaser trailer and the film trailer for Annihilation and decided that I should read the book again before the film releases in February. I had heard rumors, as early as 2015, that the first book in this series was going to be filmed and that Natalie Portman had agreed to be the Biologist in the film.

On August 24, 2015, I posted a review of all three of Jeff Vandermeer’s books in the Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation – Authority – Acceptance You can read it by clicking on the book titles.

Annihilation book trilogy