Annihilation

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (6 Points) 

Now, this is the type of horror/science fiction/alteration of humanity storytelling I'm into! Overall loved this book and it was the first time in a while where (as I listened to the audiobook retelling) I looked up from my seat working to realize that I was unsure how much time has passed and what was going on around me and was instead engrossed in the story. Which was awesome! (Well, aside from my instantaneous panic of thinking I'd listened so long that I'd missed my class when in reality I'd only listened for an hour or two.) I've never forgotten a book that has don't its job so well in transporting me into a different time and space, and I truly hope that I'll never forget this one.

To start off, this book was very inventive on how the storytelling didn't always follow a linear pattern and established that this was written in the style of a recollection, rather than a regular narrative that is constantly tracking the present moment. As a reader, we are instead present different amounts of information from the main character in flashes and recollections and it's implied that the whole story we are told is very much in the past and left me curious to know when I would uncover the narrator into the present tense as well as learn how the story ends. Quick note, this author is incredibly blunt and even surprised on occasion for some of the diction he used for describing certain scenarios. 

I also was impressed by the author's restraint when it came to personal details and character names, being as all of the characters are only referred to their expedition occupation title rather than specific names. This felt like a very dehumanizing and also freeing tactic, as the group could be viewed however the audience pleased, but is not meant to be perceived under high scrutiny or specifically memorable. It also felt planned to help the audience understand that once the team had entered Area X, they would lose much of what signified their humanity.

On the topic of the main character, the Biologist was an intriguing and semi-familiar concept. When considering the "hollow person" we discussed in A Wild Sheep Chase, the Biologist was all of the drive and purpose of the typical main character but was not embellished with human emotion and therefore feels empty in a different way. As the Biologist speaks in the past tense for much of the story and described their previous feelings or thoughts during the expedition, we gain a sense of detachment that she feels towards her past self as well as others. She even was detached from her husband, despite still loving him wholly and caring about his well being. 

As the audience, we sense that as the Biologist had begun to change at the beginning of her tale that we will eventually find the same but entirely different Biologist at the end of the story, and this alone would have compelled me to keep reading. Along with her physical evolution, it was also very fulfilling to see the character's goals evolve as well, altering from trying to study Area X to discover what has happened to it, to trying deciding to remain in the area to find any remnants of her late husband that may remain instead and further assimilate into the strangeness of that world.

My favorite aspect of the novel as a whole was the merging of science fiction alongside horror to create a unique flavor and atmosphere throughout the book. I still find the most terrifying sequence being when the Biologist finally encounters the moaning creature she and her team have been hearing since their arrival to base camp. Both it's traits for moaning that lures its prey as well as it's human-seeming origin is the perfect blend of gruesome and awesome conceptually, and heightens the uneasy feelings around many of the creatures with human-like features that are found in Area X. 

What I love the most about stories that involve the alteration or evolution of humanity is also what I think draws a lot on the concept of the loss of control, as well as the loss of what we believe makes us human. This change and growth are imperceptible to the Biologist, and there is a sense of horror in knowing that the permanent qualities we perceive ourselves to be as a species could become damaged or changed in such a way that we may become unrecognizable.