Travis
I really wanted to like this; the premise and story itself were great. But the endless quips, non-sequitur side anecdotes, and rambling analogies that go on and on and on really got old after a bit. It's like the author has a case of Ryan Reynolds syndrome combined with a huge helping of Peter Jackson “throw everything I can possibly think of into this” lack of restraint. It's funny stuff, but about half of it could've been cut out and the book would be more streamlined and better paced. We get it, Catherynne, you're witty. Just dial it back a notch.
If this doesn't sound like something that would bother you, then by all means you could absolutely love this book. And in that case I'd like to recommend the audio version. The narrator is fantastic. Heath is a perfect fit for this kind of silly story, and handles the many alien voices, accents, and dialects very well. Enough so that it made the more rambling bits a little less annoying.
Not being too familiar with England, I didn't get a lot of the English-specific references, but I liked it. Neat premise with a theatrical touch I didn't expect going in.
Gets really weird, but it's fascinating from a philosophical standpoint. Has some similarities to Seveneves by Neal Stephenson re: genetics and evolution.
A way better continuation of the conspiracy mythology than what they went with for the season 10 event series of the show.
Fantastic mix of Seveneves and Hidden Figures, and the audio version is by the author herself. Highly recommended!
The story was just kind of meh, but I didn't mind because it was short and the setting, premise, and characters were all interesting enough to keep me into it through the end. It made me want more hippo adventures from the characters, particularly Archie and Adelia. High marks for having diverse characters as well!
The writing isn't great, and the ending is tied up a bit too easily/cleanly, but the story, characters, and themes are so interesting that it more than made up for it. There's some fascinating speculative philosophical issues this book explores that I just loved thinking about.
Long and dense, but a fascinating level of scientific detail. I really enjoyed the thought-provoking ideas about what future evolution of humanity could be like under post-apocalyptic conditions. Well worth the effort.
I really liked it, great character development throughout; you're never really sure what to think about any of the characters. And the ending was like an episode of The Twilight Zone. Disturbing and unsatisfying, but also appropriate, like it's the only way it could have ended.
I liked it, but it's slow; very obviously a prelude, with the intended payoff to come after reading the rest of the trilogy. That said, the character of Kvoth, intrigue, and foreshadowing were interesting enough that I'll def read the next book.
The premise and plot were incredibly intriguing, but I kept waiting for some revelation or tidbit of information that would make some kind of sense and it never came. I'm sure that's the point, but there's only so much obfuscation and abstraction one can take without some tiny bit of clarity to keep the interest up. The best kinds of carrot on a stick answer questions while raising new ones. Every time Annihilation had the opportunity to provide answers, it pulled back. Again, I'm sure that's by design, but it's because of this that it failed to really grab me. There's so much opportunity in Area X, I want to learn about it and the Southern Reach. I'm hoping the second book will provide more answers than this one due to the fact that it's from the perspective of the Southern Reach instead of the explorers themselves. If not, I may not finish the trilogy.
This was pretty disappointing after the wonderful Ready Player One. It felt much more pandery and unoriginal, with nerd references thrown in willy-nilly without any real reason for them to be there. It's basically a sadly predictable cross between The Last Starfighter and a young gamer's fanfiction fantasy that validates all the endless hours of playing games he does. It would probably be better if the main character were more likable, but his short temper makes him really hard to care about and none of the other characters manage to avoid being stereotypes and don't make themselves stand out as people I should give a damn about. It gets better in the last few chapters as the invaders' intentions are revealed, and even ends on an intriguing premise for another story, but it's far too little too late. My recommendation? Just skip this and read Ready Player One instead. It feels more fresh and interesting, and is less lazy about it's nerdy references.
Didn't like it as much the second time around. The main character was a bit annoying; at one point she herself says admits she acts like a twit a lot of the time, and I agreed. The story and premise are still really interesting.
I listened to the audio version this time, and have mixed thoughts on the narrator. She was good at the voices and accents, but everything she read that wasn't dialogue was done in the exact same cadence. I noticed it pretty early on and it was very distracting. It was so bad that by the time I got to the halfway point that cadence started to bleed into the way I was reading the print book I was reading at the time.
Disappointed I didn't care for this as much as I remembered; still don't plan to read the sequel. But there was enough about it I enjoyed that I'm glad I went back to it all the same.
This book starts out with a bang and gets really interesting really quickly. Unfortunately, it gets pretty boring about halfway through.