REVIEW: Authority by Jeff VanDerMeer - the sequel to Annihilation

This book is a change of pace. Compared to Annihilation, it isn't written in the first person. This book still focuses in on Area X, but it isn't in Area X.

What is Area X? It is a place where the rules of biology don't quite work the same way they do elsewhere on Earth. As a result, what is described as a "pristine wilderness" is a place of mystery, potential horror, and anomaly.

Authority follows a character with the nickname Control, coming to terms with the outcome of the most recent expedition into Area X.

Considering he is meant to be the new head of The Southern Reach output, outside of Area X, Control is a poignant moniker, but as the story continues, you get the impression that he has less and less of his nomenclature at his command.

There are some interesting sequences, and some rich descriptions, this is certainly not to the same standard as Annihilation - the Southern Reach outpost can only be described in so many terms, unlike the verdant tapestry of inspiration offered by Area X itself.

Still, there are haunting reflections into Control's former life, his feelings of solitude, and frustration at being unable to not only crack the functional structure of the Southern Reach Outpost but also the secrets of Area X.

He interviews "survivors" from previous expeditions, but nothing is really what it completely seems. Given the unreliable narration of the first book in the sequence, the feeling of this book is that nothing you're being told by the omniscient narrator is completely trustworthy, particular as we see the world through the eyes of Control.

The pacing feels broken at the start, but in the closing sequences of the story, it really does pick up, with more elaborate use of language and description - along with more happenings.

When I say happenings I refer to events that no doubt set up what is due to occur in the next couple of novels in the series.

Where The Biologist had wandered into the unknown in Annihilation, and into Area X, Jeff VanDermeer takes Control on a journey into the barely known; which provides a tale that slowly, carefully crawls toward a resolution - but the resolution and conflict doesn't ever feel completely defined.

It is like one of the early scenes in the novel - Authority deals with one thing, entering a new workspace, cleaning out the office of the person you're replacing, and trying to figure out exactly what is going on.

And, once it starts going on, it starts going on, with interesting revelations and bizarre conclusions. But that isn't all. There's also gaping holes in the plot, things that I am either missing, or are not present, or the author omits with the intention of having them remain a mystery.

If there are some interesting voids, I want to explore them, because that is where I find the fulfilment of experiencing a story.

On the merits of Annihilation alone - this is worth reading - but only just. I am very much hoping that the next story in the series is going to up the ante, because, if this was a stand alone book - it wouldn't be doing much heavy lifting in the advancement of literary works of significance. That is what Annihilation did so well.

Or perhaps I don't like the title, and its threat, because Authority in the context of this book, doesn't really describe the performance of Control as a head of the Southern Reach.