 | This article needs an improved plot summary.(October 2024) |
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| Author | Jeff VanderMeer |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Southern Reach series |
| Genre | |
| Publisher | Farrar, Straus and Giroux |
Publication date | October 2024 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 464 |
| ISBN | 978-0-374-61659-5 |
| Preceded by | Acceptance |
Absolution is a 2024 novel by Jeff VanderMeer, and the fourth entry in the Southern Reach Series . It is both a prequel and sequel to the Southern Reach Series.
The three previous books in the Southern Reach series were written and published within the span of a few months in 2014, and VanderMeer only started thinking about writing Absolution in 2017. VanderMeer claims that the idea for Absolution's plot came to him almost fully formed on 31 July 2023, at which point he wrote continuously until 31 December. He then submitted it to his publisher, who accelerated pre-production steps to shorten the time until it was released. [1]
In the days leading up to the publishing of Absolution, VanderMeer was forced to evacuate from his home in Tallahassee Florida due to Hurricane Helene, mirroring the themes of systemic environmental events in Absolution and other books in the series. [2]
A team of biologists explore the region that is to become Area X in order to study local alligators. The team then is attacked a pack of carnivorous rabbits with cameras on their back. The biologists become insane, and encounter a paranormal entity that attacks them. The government then covers up the incident.
The book then focuses on Old Jim, a local bar owners and a member of the Southern Reach agency, who is sent to investigate the expedition and a group of occultists performing experiments in the lighthouse.
Absolution received positive reviews from critics. [3] [4] The Washington Post praised Absolution, stating that despite low expectations, it maintained the same quality as the original trilogy. They note that the book managed to overcome the common issue of horror becoming less effective in longer works. [4] The New York Times generally praised the novel, stating that the opening sections were "some of VanderMeer's best writing." [3] The Los Angeles Times positively compared the horror and grief depicted in the book to the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch, [5] and the Boston Globe described the book as "maddening, haunting, and compelling." [6]
Jeff VanderMeer is an American author, editor, and literary critic. Initially associated with the New Weird literary genre, VanderMeer crossed over into mainstream success with his bestselling Southern Reach Series. The series' first novel, Annihilation, won the Nebula and Shirley Jackson Awards, and was adapted into a Hollywood film by director Alex Garland. Among VanderMeer's other novels are Shriek: An Afterword and Borne. He has also edited with his wife Ann VanderMeer such influential and award-winning anthologies as The New Weird, The Weird, and The Big Book of Science Fiction.
Thomas Ligotti is an American horror writer. His writings are rooted in several literary genres – most prominently weird fiction – and have been described by critics as works of philosophical horror, often formed into short stories and novellas in the tradition of gothic fiction. The worldview espoused by Ligotti in his fiction and non-fiction has been described as pessimistic and nihilistic. The Washington Post called him "the best kept secret in contemporary horror fiction."
Shardik is a 1974 fantasy novel by Richard Adams. Shardik is his second novel, and first of two novels set in the fictional Beklan Empire. The events revolve around the discovery, capture and military and symbolic uses made of an incredibly large bear, called "Lord Shardik" by those who subscribe to a set of religious beliefs in the novel.
Absolution is the forgiveness experienced in traditional Christian churches in the sacrament of reconciliation (confession).
Annihilation, in physics, is an effect that occurs when a particle collides with an antiparticle.
The New Weird is a literary genre that emerged in the 1990s through early 2000s with characteristics of weird fiction and other speculative fiction subgenres. M. John Harrison is credited with creating the term "New Weird" in the introduction to The Tain in 2002. The writers involved are mostly novelists who are considered to be part of the horror or speculative fiction genres but who often cross genre boundaries. Notable authors include K. J. Bishop, Paul Di Filippo, M. John Harrison, Jeffrey Ford, Storm Constantine, China Miéville, Alastair Reynolds, Justina Robson, Steph Swainston, Mary Gentle, Michael Cisco, Jeff VanderMeer and Conrad Williams.
Veniss Underground is a 2003 fantasy novel by American writer Jeff VanderMeer, following the adult lives of three different protagonists across a short period of time in the decadent, surreal city of Veniss, which is situated above a vast underground labyrinth of hovels and mines ruled over by the amoral crime lord Quin.
The Gothic double is a literary motif which refers to the divided personality of a character. Closely linked to the Doppelgänger, which first appeared in the 1796 novel Siebenkäs by Johann Paul Richter, the double figure emerged in Gothic literature in the late 18th century due to a resurgence of interest in mythology and folklore which explored notions of duality, such as the fetch in Irish folklore which is a double figure of a family member, often signifying an impending death.
Ann VanderMeer is an American publisher and editor, and the second female editor of the horror magazine Weird Tales. She is the founder of Buzzcity Press.
Laura Warholic; or, The Sexual Intellectual is a 2007 novel by Alexander Theroux. The plot concerns the relationship between Eugene Eyestones, the writer of an advice column called "The Sexual Intellectual", and his editor's ex-wife, Laura Warholic, whom Eyestones pities more than likes. This basic story provides the jumping off point for Theroux's satire of American culture.
Monster literature is a genre of literature that combines good and evil and intends to evoke a sensation of horror and terror in its readers by presenting the evil side in the form of a monster.
Annihilation is a 2014 novel by Jeff VanderMeer. It is the first entry in VanderMeer's Southern Reach Series and follows a team of four women who set out into an area known as Area X, which is abandoned and cut off from the rest of civilization; they believe they are the 12th expedition, with all previous expeditions falling apart due to disappearances, suicides, aggressive cancers, and mental trauma.
Authority is a 2014 novel by Jeff VanderMeer. It is the second in a series of four books called the Southern Reach Series. In an interview, VanderMeer stated that, "if Annihilation is an expedition into Area X, then Authority is an expedition into the Southern Reach, the agency sending in the expeditions." It was released in May 2014.
Acceptance is a 2014 novel by Jeff VanderMeer. It is the third in a series of three books called the Southern Reach Series. It was released in the US on September 2, 2014.
The Southern Reach Series is a series of novels by the American author Jeff VanderMeer first published in 2014—Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance, with the most recent novel Absolution published in 2024. The series takes its name from the secret agency that is central to the plot. In 2013, Paramount Pictures bought the movie rights for the series, and a film adaptation of Annihilation was made with Alex Garland as writer-director. The film was released in 2018. The most recent entry in the series, Absolution, was released on 22 October 2024.
Some Kind of Fairy Tale is a 2012 novel by the British author Graham Joyce. A work of speculative fiction, it won the British Fantasy Society's Fantasy Novel of the Year award in 2013, and was nominated for the 2013 August Derleth Award for best Horror Novel, and the 2013 World Fantasy Award for best Novel.
Annihilation is a 2018 science fiction horror thriller film written and directed by Alex Garland, loosely based on the 2014 novel of the same name by Jeff VanderMeer. It stars Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny, and Oscar Isaac. The story follows a group of scientists who enter the Shimmer, a mysterious quarantined zone of mutating plants and animals caused by an alien presence.
Borne is a 2017 novel by American writer Jeff VanderMeer. It concerns a post-apocalyptic city setting overrun by biotechnology.
The Silent Land is a horror fantasy novel by English writer Graham Joyce. It was first published in the United Kingdom in November 2010 by Victor Gollancz Ltd, and in March 2011 in the United States by Doubleday. It is about a young married couple who are buried by an avalanche while skiing in the French Pyrenees. They free themselves, but find the world around them silent and devoid of people.
Dead Astronauts is a 2019 science fiction novel by Jeff VanderMeer. It is a sequel to Borne but features different characters and a new narrative. It was a finalist for the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel and also a finalist for the Dragon Award for Best Fantasy Novel.