this post was submitted on 06 Nov 2023
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Science Fiction

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Lemmy World Rules

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Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Annihilation is our second place selection for November. We decided to choose a second book for people who want to have a little more variety and want to do more than one book in a month. I am looking forward to the discussion on this one. I saw the movie when it came out but am really interested to experience the story in book form.

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[–] runningromeo@aussie.zone 17 points 8 months ago (3 children)

Really enjoyed the first book. Started questioning things in the second. By the third, I was hate reading it to get to the end.

Without spoiling it, the ending completely failed to land for me. Just a hodgepodge of incomplete ideas and loose ends... If it was just the first book they could've told other stories and built a Lovecraftian mythos around it, but instead they had to go for the 3 book deal and by the end it was just too much toast and not enough butter for me.

[–] GordomeansPhat@kbin.social 7 points 8 months ago

Are you me? Couldn't agree more. Enjoyed the first so much, kept going for some kind of resolution and got...blah.

[–] scytale@lemm.ee 4 points 8 months ago

This is why I stopped after the first book. I’ve seen a ton of people having that exact same sentiment.

[–] AcornCarnage@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

I don't often give up on books, but I couldn't finish the third. Maybe one day I'll go back, but yeah, it all went downhill after the first one.

[–] Moghul@lemmy.world 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Reading all these comments sure does make me wish I liked it...

[–] Xyz@infosec.pub 4 points 8 months ago

I actually read about 50% of it, but something about the writing style was not working for me and I was focused more on how it was written than what was written. Stopped reading it. I actually like the movie and wanted the details only a book can provide.

Anyway maybe not relevant to you but if I don't like it, I don't read it. Too many other things to enjoy rather than trudging through something I don't.

[–] Lev_Astov@lemmy.world 5 points 8 months ago

I thoroughly enjoyed that one. A different take on the Roadside Picnic genre and thoroughly weird.

[–] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 5 points 8 months ago

Nice, literally finished it yesterday. Surprised at how different the second book is so far.

I love how fuzzy and surreal everything is in annihilation.

I'm kind of interested in watching the film again, but I want to let the book settle in first, since the story and setting felt so different to me then what I remember from the film.

An initial scene with a boar basically had me reliving princess mononoke while reading, it was very surprising and wonderful.

[–] Lauchs@lemmy.world 4 points 8 months ago

I dut this book so much. The kind of book you read in the dark for the good ol' tinglies.

[–] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 4 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I loved the first book. I read it after seeing the film, which I also loved.

Both seemed like a dream of the other.

The sequels I enjoyed, but you have to enjoy the journey: there is no conclusion. Though that is a form of story telling that I quite like.

[–] caseyweederman@lemmy.ca 1 points 8 months ago

They also feel like completely different genres. Wild, surreal, uneasy.

[–] YeetPics@mander.xyz 3 points 8 months ago

I loved these books. and actually I wasn't turned off by the movie. For just 90 minutes they did a good job of touching on most of the key aspects. The visuals were pretty close to how I had imagined it from the reading, anyway. I was hoping they would make a sequel to touch on the rest of the series but I'll take what I can get these days.

[–] MoreOrLess@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Great story

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I haven't read this, mostly because when I saw the trailer for the movie I started screaming with joy in the theater because I thought Chaga (Evolution's Shore - oddly enough, by the author of the other November selection, Ian McDonald) had gotten a movie adaptation.

I did see and like the Annihilation movie OK.

So even if the book is not like the movie, I can't go in without prejudice. I was just so disappointed.

[–] tekila@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I went into it hoping to capture the nostalgia of discovering and reading SCP when I first discovered them many years ago.

Unfortunately, Even though the premise looked really cool I found myself bored after the first book and never read the rest of the series.

Are the following books different? Is the film worth it?

[–] AcornCarnage@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

The movie is good, though I felt it missed a lot of things I found interesting in the book. (Don't ask what exactly, it's been a while.)

If you were bored by the first book, don't even bother with the others.