Just finished the second of Jeff VanderMeer's books in the Southern Reach series: Authority. It follows on from Annihilation (which was made into a film directed by Alex Garland).
For those who haven't come across the book or film before, Southern Reach is a government agency which manages expeditions into Area X, a swampy area on the coast which has been blocked off by the military. The first book dealt with the events of an expedition into Area X (he said, without spoilers).
The second deals with the agency and the main character is a government 'fixer' sent in to sort out the underfunded and understaffed government body and was just as good as the first. Although 'office politics in the face of potential ecological catastrophe' doesn't sound too attractive, VanderMeer does a great job of slowly increasing the tension and strangeness.
Difficult to describe either book in a niche: eco-horror, maybe? VanderMeer is classed as an author in the New Weird, so if you like China Miéville, or even Pan's Labyrinth, you might want to try this.
Two more books in the series: Acceptance and Absolution.
For those who haven't come across the book or film before, Southern Reach is a government agency which manages expeditions into Area X, a swampy area on the coast which has been blocked off by the military. The first book dealt with the events of an expedition into Area X (he said, without spoilers).
The second deals with the agency and the main character is a government 'fixer' sent in to sort out the underfunded and understaffed government body and was just as good as the first. Although 'office politics in the face of potential ecological catastrophe' doesn't sound too attractive, VanderMeer does a great job of slowly increasing the tension and strangeness.
Difficult to describe either book in a niche: eco-horror, maybe? VanderMeer is classed as an author in the New Weird, so if you like China Miéville, or even Pan's Labyrinth, you might want to try this.
Two more books in the series: Acceptance and Absolution.
