I read Annihilation based on all of the glowing BookTube reviews and thought i was being punked or something. It's all vibes, no substance. The characters were bland and the plot has absolutely no payoff like you said. I read Piranesi immediately after and almost dnf'd after thinking "oh boy, here we go again" in the first few chapters. I'm so glad that I didn't because that book is what Annihilation is trying to be and ended up being an easy 5/5

Awesome video Jonathan! I’ve been wanting to try Annihilation. I really enjoyed the movie, but I’ve heard his writing is an acquired taste.

I'm starting forever peace today when i get home. Joe Haldeman, hugo+nebula, how could it be anything but great 👍

Greg Egan is the goat of "advanced scifi". I keep reading the newest award winning scifi and nothing is on that level conceptually

As always, enjoy your videos, but I won't add any of these to my already long backlog. I do second the reference to 'roadside picnic' and also, Andrei Tarkovsky's 'Stalker', inspired by that book. Both are excellent.

I enjoyed pushing ice. Sort of like a remake of rendezvous with Rama. I will say that I wasn’t a huge fan of all of the characters. some of the drama got tiresome

I kind of actively dislike annihilation. I don’t say that about many books. I’m the other hand. I thought the movie was decent. Something about the style of writing. The story itself I thought was engaging.

Not a fan of annihilation. I thought it was pretty bad actually. On the other hand, I thought the movie was decent.

I think what I loved about the Southern Reach trilogy and Semiosis were the bizarre and extraordinary non-human "characters". The plants and plant communities in Semiosis were absolutely fascinating. Can't really say anything about the Southern Reach without being spoilery.

is this like Battlestar Galactica type plots?

Even if you had enjoyed Annihilation I would recommend skipping the other two 😅

might have to buy that annihilation book solely for the cover

You have to read the whole trilogy to understand the story in southern reach

I'm at book two now. The first book was absolutely a page-turner. I love the depiction of space civilizations, the heroic tale, and how aliens are so 'alien' (i.e. the most powerful known space empire being a hegemony of giant clams & the main antagonist being a moon-sized crystal). I also like that the book is not as depressive and full of suffering as other modern space operas. It's actually light and humorous.

I just got Chasm City by Alastair Renyolds at a library sale 😀 i haven't read anything by him yet.

I finished the annihilation trilogy out of a sense of completion but I didn't overly enjoy it. And there was no final resolution to speak of. I wouldn't recommend reading either the second or third book to anyone. The film is arguably a better experience than the first book too. Jonathan, if you haven't already done so, could you do a top ten (or 5, or whatever) of your fav Alastair Reynolds books? I loved House of Suns and the second book in the Revelation Space arc. Does anything else reach those heights?

I loved hearing you weigh in on these! I’ve heard lots of praise about Annihilation and would like to give it a shot. Roadside Picnic didn’t emotionally grip me, but the strange concept is still a good pitch. Great video!

Possible new Scufi classics! I did really dig Annihilation.

I might disagree with many but I absolutely loved the Southern Reach trilogy as a whole. I was so invested I couldn’t put it down and it felt like I was reading a single novel split in three parts. I can’t wait to read the fourth instalment: Absolution. I haven’t read Roadside Picnic yet but I can see the influence of HP Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space. After that I went straight into Borne and it was ok but not close to Area X trilogy.

I might disagree with many but I absolutely loved the Southern Reach trilogy as a whole. I was so invested I couldn’t put it down and it felt like I was reading a single novel split in three parts. I can’t wait to read the fourth instalment: Absolution. I haven’t read Roadside Picnic yet but I can see the influence of HP Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space. After that I went straight into Borne and it was ok but not close to Area X trilogy.

Personally, I absolutely loved the Southern Reach trilogy, but I understand it's not everyone 's cup of tea. The second and third part will give you some answers, but not all of them. A lot is open to interpretation and I really like that. Current books and movies tend to overexplain a lot which usually really annoys me. If you like the cosmic horror of Lovecraft with a pinch of David Lynch, you might want to give the sequels a try.

Hope that someday you will talk about Gene Wolfe's Solar Cycle. Or maybe not, because it blurres the line between sci-fi and fantasy. In this case a discussion about sci-fi as a genre, opposed to fantasy, would be nice. And what sci-fi is for you.

I really appreciate that when you critique a book, you critique the prose as well. So many reviewers never mention it! I'm not sure why this is- it's a very important aspect of the reading experience for me. I mean, it's writing - it's a BOOK- prose is the main tool with which a story is told. I find it really hard to enjoy a great plot if the writing is bad. I'd love a video on your favorite books with the best prose!

Love your vids!! Do you have any recommendations for a read aloud to middle school students?

Hey Jonathan, glad you’ve decided to cover some modern SF. I’ve been exploring some classic SF in my past few TBR books…currently struggling a bit to make my way through Starship Troopers. Next up is Children of Time! I’m pumped to get into modern SF!!

With the southern reach books, I lost interest in the second book. And I kept finding typos in both and I could not tell, if it was on purpose or not. I never read the third one.

Annihilation was amazing, but the two next books in the series were a complete waste of time.

Annihilation didn't work for me even though I loved the film.

man this is a great list of stuff...Dragon's Egg is great too. Never tried Adrian Tchaikovsky...heard he is an effing downer and a drag. I don't have time for a lot of negativistic sad crap.

yes, blindsight is absolutely brilliant.

God bless you Mr Rosewater is my favorite.

Southern Reach Trilogy will give you the backstory/answers you're looking for.

Pushing Ice wascan easy 5 star for me while Annihilation got 2 stars. Would have gotten a DNF if it wasnt so short and an audio.

I didn’t like Annihilation. Actually preferred the flashbacks to the main story. Semiosis and Pushing Ice are both on my TBR.

👍👍👍🚀📚🤖🐲

Hyperion and the fall of hyperion literally arrived today. I'm so excited to read them, but I fear a little because people say the sequels get worse. Hyperion sounds like something that could one my favorite things ever

Snowpiecer is a comic book I believe.

Annihilation can be considered a prolog. i don't know how all three books were published but they should all have been one volume. a great many plot threads are developed and woven into the last two books. i really don't understand how you could just stop there. a lot happens back at the 'headquarters' and much 'tradecraft' is used to manipulate the soldiers and agents that are used by the Southern Reach as basically laboratory instruments. even the results of the investigations become too disturbing for the agency heads to process and they flee to greater remove and hope to retain some control. the intersection of the intelligence agency and unknown incursion with 'National Security 'implications is similar to the X-Files or the Dark Matter series. this incursion is too big and slow and weird for them to handle. they keep jumping back and widening the perimeter, horrified at the inexorable expansion in slow slow motion, or is it? there is another book in the series due.

Always interesting to hear your thoughts even when we don't agree. I'm sad you didn't enjoy several of these (as i loved all 3) but thanks for giving them a chance and also explaining what exactly didn't work for you. Thoughtful negative reviews are always helpful.

my favorites of his are Breakfast, Dead Eye Dick, and Galapagos

I enjoyed both Pushing Ice and Annihilation. Guess if Semiosis is in the same crowd with them I should check it out.

I heard annihilation on audio. The speaker was eerie

I tried to read Annihilation, but it didn't work for me.

need to read Annihilation and semiosis, love those covers. i heard alastair reynolds has various "sagas", is pushing ice a good standalone to start with him? thanks for the vid bro

That's what I meant when I said Annihilation was just bad scifi in the author's pursue, respectable as it is, of "higher art". I don't think the genre allows for "look, there was very weird stuff going on, but I, the author, doesn't know why either". Perhaps he provides more information in the next two volumes, but, alas, I will never know.

actually I got the entire annihilation trilogy but for some reason never got around to reading it. Now that obama has endorsed it guess I could take a second look but might just see the movie instead. it's too bad when you read a novel and find out †hat's it's totally spoiled by bad writing despite being full of interesting ideas. As for reynolds I know he's incredibly popular and his stuff is hard sci-fi which I love but so far he sounds a little too space operaish for my taste right now. Be well.⚛

I remember when you asked the Discod server for what book next and Semiosis got the nod. Obviously you now have to go back and see who voted for it and in future requests they each only get a half vote. 😀

You know it's been a long time since you've read Annihilation when you noticed "10th anniversary editions" at the bookstore 😂 I've had a strange relationship with Vandermeer; I loved Annihilation and the other Southern Reach books were good, but I've DNF'd two of the other books I've tired of his. You are spot on about it being a "vibe book," it didn't match for the other two.

If you didn’t LOVE reading Annihilation I would recommend skipping the 2 follow ups. I thought they were good, but not on par with book1. And you won’t get the answers you’re looking for. 😂

🧊 Oh, some bangers in this set! I absolutely adored “Pushing Ice” and “Semiosis”. I’ve been meaning to read the next one in that latter series. These two were both 5⭐️ for me. Now I want to reread them 😁 I do love me some character work in my books. As for “Annihilation”, well, I did not get on with that book at all, 2⭐️ according to my 2016 review.