Jeff Vandermeer does it again. This dystopian eco-horror is pure mastery.

Ten years after the publication of Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance – Jeff VanderMeer brings us back for a surprise fourth and final foray into Area X. Absolution opens decades before Area X forms, with a science expedition whose mysterious end suggests terrifying consequences for the future – and marks the Forgotten Coast as a high-priority area of interest for Central, the shadowy government agency responsible for monitoring extraordinary threats. Sweeping in scope and rich with ideas, iconic characters, and unpredictable adventure, Absolution converges the past, present, and future in terrifying, ecstatic, and mind-bending ways.

I love Vandermeer, and Absolution is another banger. The Southern Reach trilogy (now Quad I guess!) is a masterpiece, and is a lesson in storytelling to everyone. Pick this book up, I'm begging!

Absolution continues the Southern Reach series’ signature style of weird, surreal worldbuilding mixed with a metric ton of subterfuge from almost every character - the constant wrongfooting and unsettling of the reader is ever present from the previous books. I wouldn’t envy the brave soul who attempts to pick up the story here without reading books 1-3 first! That being said, those familiar with the series should be prepared (as usual) to finish the book with still more questions than answers.

This book is NOT an expose intent on revealing all the secrets of Area X; part of the beauty of this series is watching all the involved operatives grapple with a threat that is both existential and completely incomprehensible. What Absolution does instead is add an extra layer of intrigue from several new characters, while developing the background of familiar faces we knew less about. This time, we get a glimpse of life on the forgotten coast long before the borders of Area X came down, where we can start to see local events take a turn for the weird.

I don’t think this is the strongest entry in the series (I suspect Annihilation will forever hold that accolade), but I liked the new kind of story it introduces. The following of an undercover operative in pre-border forgotten coast was fantastic to read, and lets you see the environment of the coast in a brand new light. For me, the cleverest element of Absolution is the writing of a flashback story where Central clearly doesn't know what places and people will become important later in the story. Several key figures and locations simply don’t get a mention at all, which gave the story a more genuine feel with less foreshadowing.

A key letdown of the book for me was the account of the first expedition, which honestly felt out of place and shoe-horned into this story. It felt like a nod to the action-focused style of the first book, but with weaker execution and without adding much extra insight at all. My biggest gripe with this segment is the POV character it follows, whose internal voice clashed heavily with the impression I’d created of the character over the series - I found these segments to be a chore to read, and completely pulled me out of the story. I personally feel the final segment of this book would have worked better as an additional novella, rather than an appendage on book four.

Such an amazing surprise to see VanderMeer return to this series and it was just as mind boggling as I expected. It was very interesting to see periphery characters like Old Jim, Jackie and Lowry come to the fore and as always I feel I ended the book more confused than I started. It’s not an easy read but I think fans of the series beyond Acceptance were probably expecting this. It also feels like a book that likely grows upon rereads; characters like Cass were great and I already want to go back and see overlaps the books have. That said, I don’t think it was necessary and I did struggle to really enjoy parts that dragged a bit; I’ll be interested to see how I feel as I sit with it longer

Was not for me and I don't think this book was needed. Read very easily but I found my attention to be waning throughout.

Annihilation is surely one of the most striking novels of the past twenty years, introducing Area X: a
zone where unknown forces have created a sealed-off area where nature, time and physical reality
are being warped and transformed. A decade after second and third episodes Authority and
Acceptance comes Absolution, a story in three linked but stand-alone novellas.
In strand one of three a team of biologists are driven slowly insane as they venture into what would
become Area X, their disintegration retold in a diary read by Old Jim, the central character of the
second strand. In this he attempts to investigate for Control the fate of the biologists in what is now
known as Dead Town while also searching for his daughter. Finally scatological soldier Lowry takes
part in what will become the first expedition to the now sealed-off area.
Anyone expecting an answer to the questions about the origins, nature and fate of Area X will come
away disappointed. But who would? Vandermeer is the poet of the inexplicable, the horror of the
rules that govern our interactions with the world coming apart before our eyes – whether rabbits
with cameras around their necks, or boxes of walkie-talkies re-appearing after being destroyed.
Why would we expect him to show us what’s behind the curtain? Instead there’s three more stories
exploring anything from doppelgangers to over-reliance on technology. Nobody should start here,
but Absolution is a satisfying(ly) distorting mirror held up to the original trilogy. Finally there’s a
starring role for Schubert’s haunting song cycle Winterreise, which is not something every biohorror
book can reach for.
Thanks for netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Jeff Vandermeer is a master storyteller and delivers another intriguing and fascinating story, the 4th in the Southern Reach series
Well plotted, gripping.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Absolution takes the reader on a surreal excursion into the secretive web of covert experimental surveillance ‘operations’. Meticulously written to confuse the reader in distinguishing reality from fantasy, I found the content dense and at times difficult to follow.

Description:
Old Jim's daughter leaves him, then Central send him off to investigate a bunch of biologists and psychics operating on a swampy coast. His partner? A woman Central are pretending is his daughter. His handler? Jackie, the daughter of his erstwhile combat buddie, Jack.

Liked:
Really picks up in its last third. Genuinely unsettling; as always Area X is an absolute nightmare. I felt for Old Jim and 'Cass'.

Disliked:
The first two-thirds really dragged. It's purposefully obscure but that doesn't make it less of a slog - for me, it didn't feel like there were enough clues breadcrumbed around to keep me interested. There ARE a bunch of threads of weird stuff to follow, but dipping in and out at random isn't very satisfying. I should say, though, that I'm reading this out of order - I've only read Annihilation previously, and not the second and third in the series. I was hoping that since this one's a prequel, that wouldn't really matter, but I'm not sure - maybe it does.

Read This If:
You loved the rest of the series, or you’re a big Catling fan: Catling and Vandermeer are stitched together in my brain for going all out with unsettling vibes and intentionally obscure plots.

This was a very wordy story , after 3 days I had only read 30% and was no further forward. Sorry but I gave up.

To me, this was a book of three parts. I found the first part difficult to get into, but really enjoyed the second part. However, having got myself settled into the book, I then found the third section very dislikeable. I don’t object to swearing, but I found it to be too much to the detriment of the story.
I hadn’t read the previous books; this may have affected my enjoyment of the read.

Wow, what a read, dark, creepy, unfathomable. Stephen King meets James Elroy and Hunter S Thompson.

A labyrinthine, nightmarish journey. A world of fungal horrors and existential dread. Vandermeer’s prose is a toxic brew, both mesmerizing and repulsive. A relentless exploration of the human condition, pushed to its absolute limits.

A compelling read but exhausting. Not enjoyable but had to finish. A harrowing, unforgettable experience.

I started reading the Southern Reach saga thanks to the recommendation of my dear friend Manny. From the very beginning, I was completely immersed in this universe and had a constant feeling of "what the actual f*ck is happening" throughout the entire book. It's the kind of book that requires you to keep an open mind and understand that you may never fully grasp what is happening, but it's a very good kind of "WTF." The fourth book in the saga was shocking because I never expected to return to the southern reach. However, when I saw the chance to get an ARC, I went for it. Keeping in mind that I have a love for the trillogy even if book three wasn't mine fav I started the book with high hopes and loving the new editions.The book takes us back 20 years before the barrier on area X came down and 18 months before and during the first expedition. This results in a lot of timeline jumps throughout the story. So the book is divided in three parts that take lots of attention and at moments feel heavy to read. Okay I need admit I get a bit disappointed and bored at the beginning BUT I was surprised excited when I realise we kinda get answers on this book. The answers we have been craving since the first book are supplemented with even more new questions. After reading this book, I have to say that it's probably my favorite of the series so far, as it provides much-needed points of view and reveals many details. Some things that initially seemed unimportant turned out to be significant, and we were mistaken not to recognize their importance earlier. I love the flora and fauna, and I always adore the feeling of terror when everything starts to fail, and the characters seem unaware as they NOT try to leave the place. I like that this place can make you question everything, disappear, or even kill you. In the end, the most important character in this book is The area X, is what we being missing all this time and is a fascinating and terrifying place, and I'm eager to learn more about it. Jeff Vandermeer's book it is both awful and beautiful, and it's left me wanting more. Specifically, I'm interested in getting signed hardback editions of the entire series take my money Jeff!

I am all for a "WTF did I just read?" book – in fact, they’re usually some of my favourites! Sadly, this book was not the good kind of WTF for me. I bought ‘Annihilation’ (Book 1) earlier this year on the recommendation of a friend. I took the opportunity of the announcement of the surprise fourth book as motivation to finally read ‘The Southern Reach’. While I mostly enjoyed the series as a whole, I feel very strongly that the first book is monumentally better than the rest of the series.

This book is written in three parts, with the final part being my least favourite – it was almost painful to read due to the excessive use of the word ‘f**k’. I use the word all the time and am usually a big fan but goodness, did it feel overused here, in a way that detracted significantly from the narrative for me. Although all three parts had a specific and clear purpose, they were so distinctly separate that I struggled to track the overarching details of the book.

Keep in mind that my experience of this book - and the series as a whole - are on the rarer side, as it seems most people loved this return to Area X. If you’ve read the original trilogy and loved it, then I would definitely encourage you to pick this one up to fill in a few unanswered questions – but be prepared for an equally confusing experience as you learn a lot of completely new things. If you haven’t yet read the series, by all means give it a go, but keep in mind that you’ll probably feel confused throughout and not necessarily in the best way!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-ARC. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed the original trilogy. I didn't know what was happening half the time but that's one of the things that make it good, it's like you're in the story with Old Jim.

In chapter 4 is there an incorrect sentence? "this ambiguity bothered Old Jim, even has he understood that the forgotten coast had always been a reliquary for Rogues of some kind." Should has been as? Chapter 7 repeats words decayed sprang to life decayed sprang to life. Is this intentional?

Don't think I've ever read the word fuck so much as in this. It did make it feel like the narrator was on drugs though so it made sense.

I have no idea what the word twhut means so that annoyed me slightly.

A key theme of this series for me is I Have No Idea What is Going On but it is a Vibe. That theme very much continues in this three-part prequel!

There are answers here that give me the sense that I have some tenuous understanding, but this novel still leaves scope for speculation with the introduction of more questions. As with the rest of the series, I don't think it'll suit people who seek clear closure - the beauty and horror of Area X is in its mystery.

This novel is divided into three parts:

Dead Town is focused on a dossier detailing the events of a Central operation on the Forgotten Coast twenty years prior to the appearance of the Area X border. This part is the most similar to the first book in the series, Annihilation.

The False Daughter reintroduces us to Old Jim, first introduced in Acceptance, but only mentioned briefly a couple of times. This part has similarities with Authority, in that it's more of an exploration of the machinations of Central. However I enjoyed it much more than Authority, which was my least favourite of the series. I felt like Central's motivations were a little clearer and the characters and backdrop of the Forgotten Coast were more compelling. I particularly enjoyed the relationship between Old Jim and Cass.

The First and The Last is the part I was looking forward to most - an account of the ill-fated first expedition to Area X! It is from the point of view of Lowry, who is an unpleasant person to put it mildly, and unfortunately this made it difficult to get into. I'm not adverse to an unlikable main character - the difficulty came from the fact that pretty much every other word was fuck. It was just painful to read for the first few chapters, but thankfully it calms down after a while and gives way to an account of the first expedition that absolutely lived up to my expectations!

Overall a very satisfying prequel!

8/10

I had so much fun reading this, it works so well as what feels like a companion trilogy to the first three books that leans even more heavily into the horror of area X and the events that preceded Annihilation. Despite it being a prequel, this really doesn’t feel like a good entry point to the series but an additional exploration of this world’s lore, without revealing too many answers and introducing a plethora of new questions.

The first story was the most simplistic but was absolutely fascinating. Its imagery was beautifully unsettling. I don’t think I can look at rabbits in the same way now…

The second story felt the most complete. It took a bit of time for me to really get invested in Old Jim, but I really loved how his character grew and his relationship with ‘Cass’ was a highlight. This section was a slow burn but so rewarding to piece the mystery together.

The third section was wild. At first I really struggled with the PoV and the style of the narration. It was jarring, frustrating, and incredibly annoying but it was strangely addictive. I couldn’t put the book down in its final 100 pages; I genuinely think it has some of the most horrific moments in the series that I couldn’t bring myself to look away from.

Overall, while this doesn’t feel entirely necessary for the series, having just finished the southern reach trilogy for the first time, I’m so glad it exists. I could feel myself getting lost in the story, immersed in the world, and constantly confused in the best way possible. I’m already planning a reread of the series where I go full-on conspiracy board and make notes!!

I applaud the author for bringing out a book to give answers to questions raised in previous novels. However, the style was not to my liking - subjective I know. I found the prose sometimes difficult to follow and I couldn't keep track of what was happening..
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book

I have not read the Southern Reach Trilogy but as this is a prequel I thought it would be interesting. I found the opening chapters extremely boring, like reading a manual or a text book about something uninteresting. I found the writing hard going and stopped early on. This was a DNF for me and so my wife said she would read it. I will not be reading the trilogy. Teresa's review: I have not read the trilogy either so lacked context. I found it slow and confusing. It was in three parts. The first two parts from Old Jim's POV and the third from Lowry. I kept reading hoping it would come together and make sense but it didn't. The third section was disjointed with hundreds of F-bombs everywhere and was probably the worst published prose I have ever read. Overall very disappointing. This book was not to our taste but may be better if the trilogy is read first. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

The fourth novel in the Southern Reach/Area X trilogy is actually a prequel, apparently written because VanderMeer still had ideas or things to say about the conditions of Area X's establishment. I don't hate the idea in principle, but in practice it's resulted in a book that resists being read much of the time, and when it does let you in, often drags. This might be a structural issue—Absolution is a three-parter, and might have worked much better if released as a series of three novellas. Part one deals with a biological research trip to the Forgotten Coast before it becomes Area X, which ends in something called the Dead Town Disaster; part two, very reminiscent of Authority (book two in the series), is about Old Jim, who works for Central and moves to the area to try and identify the "foreign agent or entity" that caused the disaster twenty years ago; part three follows Lowry, a member of the very first expedition to cross into Area X after the Border comes down. All three stories have moments of great interest and great beauty, but they are exhausting to read one after the other. Old Jim's section is probably the easiest to read through current genre protocols—it's a twisted spy story—but Lowry's voice is impossibly irritating, obviously on purpose (he's on drugs most of the time, says "fuck" literally every sentence, and thinks far too highly of himself) but nevertheless unappealing.

VanderMeer all but demands to be read through the lenses of literary theory and eco-criticism; his books are philosophical in an academic, post-post-modern sort of way, and at its best his writing is also creepily beautiful, capable of producing vividly memorable images (a muddy field of charred rabbits; a monstrous alligator pulling a green boat by a rope in its jaws; the smell of delicious roast turkey rising from a human corpse). But when not at its best, his writing can be frustratingly oblique: you're putting in so much time and energy to figuring out what's going on, and for what? In the case of Absolution, we already have a sense of how these peoples' stories end. I'm convinced that VanderMeer is going to be one of the few literary authors who survives the current moment and continues to be read and studied far into the future, but this is not the most accessible or accomplished of his books. Again: published as three novellas, it would have been more digestible.

A unique and lauded series and author Absolution is a terrifying exploration of a grim future and possibilities.