‘Annihilation’ Book Review

Area X has been locked away from the world for decades. Every few years, the Southern Reach Project send in a group of people to survey the land. Most of the time the expeditions do not make it back. This year, it is a group of four women who have to survey and map the terrain.

If you are like me, and character exploration is your favorite thing about reading, ‘Annihilation‘ will not be a book that you come out of loving. The way the character development is done by the author is very creative. We are never given a name of our narrator, as this is their account of their time in Area X, they are not supposed to get personal with the other team members. It was interesting but I never felt a strong connection with the narrator.

At first, I thought this atmosphere was going to be great because the nature writing was so good, but then I began to ask questions. Why is Area X a thing? What caused it? What is the outside world like? Is it a dystopian society or the world as we know it? We do get some answers but nothing in great detail. This book, as it is an account, would make sense if someone in the book universe was reading it but for someone in our real world it can be confusing. Other than that, the author did a great job at really putting the reader inside Area X.

The writing was my favorite part of Annihilation. As stated before, the nature writing is superb. We really get to see how lush but almost claustrophobic Area X is. If you are someone who enjoyed the writing of ‘Where the Crawdads Sing’, you will probably like the writing here even if the genres are completely different. This reads like a nonfiction as this is the character’s account of her time in the area. I really was not expecting that and it was something different for me in the science fiction genre.

On paper, the plot sounds like something I would enjoy. The character work was not there though, so therefore, I did not care what was happening to the characters and that meaning the plot became irrelevant to me.

If you are like me, and character exploration is your favorite thing about reading, ‘Annihilation‘ will not be a book that you come out of loving.The character development was done in an interesting form but I never felt a strong connection with the narrator. At first, I thought this atmosphere was going to be great because the nature writing was so good, but then I began to ask questions.Other than that, the author did a great job at really putting the reader inside Area X. The writing was my favorite part of Annihilation. I really was not expecting that and it was something different for me in the science fiction genre. On paper, the plot sounds like something I would enjoy. This was a good book but I am not rushing to pick up the next ones in the series.

3 out of 5 stars.

‘Rule of Two’ Book Review

(Since this is a sequel, I am only going to give the description of the first book in the series.) Des lived a rough life, the son of a miner, that was the life destined for him; to be just like his father. Des has always dreamed of escape, to see the galaxy. He finally gets the chance when he gets into serious trouble and must go on the run. He gets sent to war; he joins the ranks of the Sith army to fight against the Republic. All his talents show in this field and the higher ups know that he is destined for far greater things as the role in the Sith empire. Des does not believe the teachings he is given at the Sith academy and goes against it all to find his on role in the galaxy.

I am stunned by this one. In the review for first installment in the series, I will leave a link below, I said that the authors know how to develop a character. In this one, absolutely not. The problem for me was that I had no connection to Zannah, whatsoever. She is the character that is getting the most page time, but I felt like her actions were random and she was one dimensional. I did not hate her, but I did not know enough about her to care. Bane is the one who carried the first book and his development in that was excellent but in this one that is just not the case.

‘Rule of Two’ is not as atmospheric as the first novel but we did get to explore some new worlds. I really liked one of the planets, it seemed to be inspired by Italy by its politics and a few other hints. We also got to see some places that anyone familiar with Star Wars would know, like Coruscant.

The writing was typical. It was fast and easy to read, I thank God for that because I do not know if I could have gotten through this book otherwise.

I really liked how this started off exactly where the previous book left off. That makes it easier for the reader to adjust and remember the events of the previous story. Again, I felt like the plot was all over the place much like the actions of the characters.

This was a disappointing read as I have loved and enjoyed all the other books that I have read from this author. Bane is the one who carried the first book and his development in that was excellent but in this one that is just not the case. ‘Rule of Two’ is not as atmospheric as the first novel but we did get to explore some new worlds. The writing was typical. I really liked how this started off exactly where the previous book left off. Nevertheless, I will continue the series and my journey of reading every Star Wars book in chronological order.

2 out 5 stars.

My review for the first book: https://izzyreads.blog/2021/05/15/path-of-destruction-book-review/

‘Horus Rising’ Book Review

The empire of man has been expanding and crusading for nearly a thousand years, but it is finally coming to an end. The emperor has returned to earth and has left the war in the hands of his Warmaster to tie all the loose ends.

We focus on Loken, who is a newly appointed captain in the military, and then a few remembrancers, who are put in place to show the war through their kind of art rather it be photography, poetry, or some other format. This was interesting getting to have the interviews between Loken and his remembrancer, Mersaide, we really got to see him come to terms with the war and overall develop as a character as he was thinking back on his past actions. It was a great way to show development.

Abnett did a great job at putting the reader into the setting. His writing was very descriptive and atmospheric. I did not expect this writing style for a book that is based on another form of media. Each planet that the soldiers or remembrancers visited was unique and they never felt repetitive.

As stated in the section dedicated to the atmosphere; this book had a descriptive writing style that never felt like it was too long or too much on the page for the reader to grasp. the pace of the story was quick, and it is hard to believe that the book was over four hundred pages in length. I would pick up a book by Dan Abnett again in the future simply for his writing style. It is perfect for the fantasy and science fiction genres.

The plot was where this was lackluster for me. For the first thirty percent of the story, I had no idea what was happening. I started taking notes from there and to my understanding we are following a captain who is unsure of what he is fighting for and coming to terms that the empire might not be all that it is made out to be. I think he is too intelligent for his position, at least from my understanding of the story. I did not connect with this plot. At first, I thought it might be because I have never played the video game series that this story is based on, but I read other reviews to find out that it does not matter if you have played the game or not. So have at is as you will.

Abnett really knows how to develop a character and have the development shown in a unique way that is intriguing to the reader. He can also drop the reader right onto an alien planet and make them feel like they have seen that place before. The plot had themes of war, religion, or lack thereof, and coming to terms with what one believes in. Sadly, I could not get into the story. This was another average read for me which seems to be a theme with the books on my TBR this January.

3 out of 5 stars