Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy (ANNIHILATION, AUTHORITY and ACCEPTANCE) is one of the greatest works of speculative and downright chilling fiction ever created. The first book was turned into one of the best sci-fi/horror movies of the past few decades and starred Oscar winner Natalie Portman. Oh, how I wish they would film this entire series!

Now, 10 years after the third installment released, VanderMeer brings us the surprising fourth and final story in the saga, ABSOLUTION. In an attempt to bring closure to this epic series, we visit the past, present and future in another mind-blowing and extremely unsettling novel that takes us closer than ever to the answers that lie within the surreal and unexplainable Area X.

"The finale of ABSOLUTION is something to experience. The team that is sent in this time reminded me very much of the gung-ho space marines from James Cameron’s film, Aliens... I didn’t want this novel to end, and it was the cause of more than a few sleepless nights."

We begin 20 years before the official naming of Area X and revisit an ill-fated expedition made by a group of mostly female biologists. It was examined by an operative codenamed Old Jim for the Central group that was behind the exploration of this territory. Before the team either was eliminated or lost their minds, they captured data and visions from the area that formed the basis of the long-term study. The biologists came upon a desolate and abandoned location they called Dead Town, which might resemble a place following a world-ending event. It leads them further into an area where nothing seems to make sense, and everything is deadly and wants to kill them.

The least of these are the odd and deadly rabbits, so ravenous and crazed with hunger that they begin to eat up entire meadows of flora and fauna. The only thing that stops them is a team of killer alligators, mutated well beyond the size and ability of any previously seen on the planet. The lead gator, Tyrant, comes to represent the territory and becomes an almost sentient-like being. Amidst the various horrors the team faces, their generator has been destroyed, and they find themselves infiltrated by an unknown entity that comes to be known as the Rogue.

This experience is studied fiercely by Old Jim prior to his own mission that takes place a mere 18 months before Area X. He will be accompanied by a very small team that includes his daughter, Cass. Central has sent them to uncover the existential threat that already has taken down the SS&B group, short for Séance and Science Brigade. In addition to the biologists and medics who have explored the area, there is purported to be a team of psychics located on a submarine somewhere well beneath this strange territory. Old Jim and Cass believe they are prepared for what they are about to encounter when in reality it will be nothing like they ever imagined, and full of deadlier and more aggressive threats than prior explorers have faced.

Old Jim does not trust his leaders, Jack and Jackie, and begins to think he is doomed. Cass and especially Old Jim face surreal, almost psychedelic-type forces that attack both their minds and sense of reality --- a circumstance that may do long-term, if not permanent, damage to them. The Rogue is at the top of their list and seems to have bonded with Tyrant to make quite the formidable duo. Old Jim barely survives but uses what he experienced for the last third of the novel. Another mission is now set in the future one year after the border came down.

The finale of ABSOLUTION is something to experience. The team that is sent in this time reminded me very much of the gung-ho space marines from James Cameron’s film, Aliens, who had no idea what foreign, alien forces they were about to encounter and quickly became the prey instead of the hunters. Area X has consumed nearly every living person who has set foot in it, and Old Jim fears this pattern may continue. That is unless they can find the speculated “off switch” that might simply shut down the entire area. I didn’t want this novel to end, and it was the cause of more than a few sleepless nights.