Tag: Audiobook

Review: Authority

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Title: Authority
Author: Jeff VanderMeer
Pages: 341
Series: Southern Reach #2
Release: May 6, 2014
Audio Narrator: Bronson Pinchot

As I continue my Southern Reach trilogy reread, I revisited Authority for the first time in a decade. This time, I experienced it in audiobook form. Initially, Bronson Pinchot took some time to grow on me as a narrator, but I ended up really enjoying his character voicing and overall narration style.

While the main thrust of the book is an interesting character study of Control, a new Southern Reach employee with considerable baggage, the book suffers from being on the outside of Area X looking in. The Southern Reach campus feels reminiscent of the Lumon Building in Apple TV+’s “Severance,” but its oddities struggle to measure up to the true uncanniness found within Area X.

★★★★

Review: Annihilation

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Title: Annihilation
Author: Jeff VanderMeer
Pages: 195
Series: Southern Reach #1
Release: February 4, 2014
Audio Narrator: Carolyn McCormick

In anticipation of Jeff VanderMeer’s 2024 return to Area X with Absolution, I decided to journey back to the book that started it all. I credit Annihilation with reigniting my love for speculative fiction as an adult, after seeing its bright green, tendrilled cover on an end table at Barnes & Noble a decade ago.

This time, I listened to the audiobook, beautifully narrated by Carolyn McCormick. The book is just as creepy and mysterious as I remember, and McCormick’s mellifluous voice adds another layer of intrigue to the plot.

I’ve yet to encounter another book that captivates the imagination quite like Annihilation does – a compelling mystery, a brilliant setting, and vivid descriptions of nature in its most unsettled form.

★★★★★