Annihilation, by Jeff Vandermeer

The story setting of Annihilation gives a terrifying feeling for the readers at the first glimpse they look at it. The world in the story is cut off from our modern society, because of a mysterious contamination. By this way, a biologist who enters this strange world realizes that she is put on a mission. She has to find out what happened to previous explorers with other females together in Area X. What happens later is not a surprise for me. The situation becomes strange and dangerous. As time goes by, she begins to be confused about the mission and her own experience in this world.

One special aspect of this novel is the author, Jeff Vandermeer, concentrates on personal experience, perceptions, and reliability of the leading character, the biologist. It is so difficult for her to distinguish which memory is true and which is unreliable. It is also hard for me to choose which memory from her I should trust. There are too many uncertainties in this book. It is really a satire that sociability, an important skill that human beings have trusted and applied for thousands of years, become what causes life-threatening danger in Annihilation. It can prevent us from seeing what is really happening around us. It is not a helpful tool all the time.