Annihilation Book Group

Decorah Public Library is hosting a discussion of Jeff VanderMeer’s groundbreaking book Annihilation in advance of VanderMeer’s visit to Luther College on April 22. The discussion will take place on Thursday, April 17 at 5:30 at the Pulpit Rock Event Room. Andy Hageman, English Professor at Luther College, will lead the discussion.   

Annihilation, a Nebula award winner, opens the Southern Reach Trilogy with the 12th expedition to explore Area X. Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer.

The 12th group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers―they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding―but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything. 

VanderMeer’s work blends climate collapse, environmental evolution, science fiction and horror to take readers to new and unexpected places. Decorah Public Library has copies of the book available for participants. The group is free to join and all are welcome.   

For more information, please contact Zach Row-Heyveld at Decorah Public Library – zrow-heyveld@decorahlibrary.org or by calling 563.382.3717.