Jeff VanderMeer, Annihilation

I've come to the conclusion that science fiction might not be for me. I'm in favour of the genre's close cousins, dystopian, fantasy and speculative, but what I regard as proper science fiction - futurist technology and extraterrestrials, is a big nope. Though I quite like film and tv about this sort of thing, it doesn't appeal to me in literature.

Therefore, I'm in some ways the wrong person to review Annihilation, as I don't have have an appreciation of this sort of thing, but I always strive to be honest and document my personal response to a book. So take my feelings towards science fiction as a caveat, if you are a fan of science fiction Annihilation maybe right for you, but as a tentative foray into the genre, it left me cold. 

 

The Plot: A biologist, an anthropologist, a surveyor, and a psychologist have been sent by Southern Reach to explore Area X. This is the 10th expedition, the others have failed, former participants have vanished completely or returned mentally disturbed and terminally ill. Written as journal entries by the unnamed biologist, it soon becomes clear that Area X has a swift and deadly effect on the group, and few, if any, will be leaving alive. 

Rating: 2/5 (like I said this is a personal reflection, I'm sure many science fiction fans will love this).

*warning contains spoilers*

Robert Harris, Pompeii

Robert Harris is best known for Fatherland, a novel about an alternative reality in which Hitler won the war, but he has also written loads of other historical fiction.

I'm sure most people have heard of Pompeii, the Roman city which was devastated and then preserved when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. Harris' novel imagines the days leading up to the event with both fictitious and real historical figures.  Pompeii is the first in a trilogy.

The Plot: Marcus Attilius Primus arrives in the Bay of Naples to take charge of the aqueduct that supplies water to 9 towns in the area. A drought and a corrupt millionaire, Ampiliatus, makes Attilius' job all the harder. Will Attilius be able to read the warning signs in time and escape Pompeii before ash and lava engulf him and the town?

Rating: 2/5  
full review under the cut