Absolution is the fourth book of the Southern Reach series, written by Jeff VanderMeer. It was released in October 2024.
Synopsis[]
"Ten years after the publication of Annihilation, the surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer’s blockbuster Southern Reach Trilogy.
When the Southern Reach Trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-page New York Times story before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestsellers list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature.
And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast—before Area X was called Area X—had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world after Acceptance? How crazy would they seem?
Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, there are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. Absolution is a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time."
Characters[]
Central (Serum Bliss)
- Old Jim
- Gloria
- Trudy
- Jack Severance
- Jackie Severance
- Cass
- Whitby Allen
- Commander Thistle
- Gus Waldron
Dead Town Disaster
- The Medic (David Sheers)
- The Mudder
- Team Leader 1 (Alexis Aguilar)
- Team Leader 2 (Kim Numi)
- The Rogue
- The Tyrant
- Man Boy Slim
- Drunk Boat
Seance & Science Brigade
- Henry Kage
- Suzanne
- Helen (the House Centipede Psychic)
1st Expedition Team Members
- James Effing Lowry (hero)
- Sky Overbeck (exped leader, naval intelligence)
- Kalliope Benner (biologist)
- Sherri Binder (archeologist, psychic)
- Samuel Bronen (surveyor)
- Marie Bukvic (psychic)
- Frank Delmas (military)
- Joanna Easterling (hypnotist, military)
- Jon Erlickson (physicist, some anthro)
- Dambeku Ferreira (military)
- Sophia Scaramutti (psychic)
- Christopher Formsby (psychologist)
- John Fu (physicist)
- Norayan Fussell (psychologist)
- Karen Hargreaves (military)
- Dan Henkel (medic, military)
- Angela Hernandez (biologist)
- Rebecca Hinojosa (biologist)
- Peng Jiamu (biologist)
- Scott Landry (medic)
- Danika Miles (military, anthro)
- Marianne Rodgers (biologist)
- Tamesha Singer (material sciences)
- Jamal Winters (medic, military)
Trivia[]
- Accompanying Absolution's release, the rest of the Southern Reach Trilogy is receiving a hardcover reprint with new covers to match Absolution's cover. The release date for these reprinted copies is July 30, 2024 and they feature new forewords from Karen Joy Fowler, N.K. Jemisin, and Helen Macdonald.
References[]
| MEDIA |
|---|
| Books Annihilation • Authority • Acceptance • Absolution |
| Compilations Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy |
| Adaptations Annihilation (movie) |