Authority by Jeff Vandermeer, In which I have a problem with Authority

Authority is less engaging than Annihilation, but it has a better story.

            Annihilation has a simple concept that provokes the imagination. Authority, perhaps by virtue of being a sequel, has the obligation of having a harder to explain the premise.

            John Rodriguez, or Control, is the new director of Southern Reach, the organization which is in charge of monitoring and explaining Area X. The organization has decayed significantly since Area X popped into existence, setting the stage for an interesting setting along with posing some very cogent questions in this day and age. How do you solve a problem that no seems to care about? Should you even try?

            Like Annihilation, this book brings up questions about climate change and humanity vs Nature and our own role in society and the role of human beings in the existence of the earth.

            But where this book shines are with its characters. In Annihilation, Southern Reach was a malevolent entity of unknowable motives, who had sent hundreds of people to die horribly in some insane and unknowable ploy. In Authority, though, Southern Reach is an understaffed, underpaid, division of the government who have essentially given up. Despite this, they are the subject of rampant surveillance and paranoia, made only worse by the spiraling feuding within the organization.

            It is, I feel, a perfect metaphor for those parts of the government who have been defunded and forgotten, left to atrophy and there’s something fascinating about how the different heads of the different departments have been affected by this. The character of Wimby is fantastic. The character of Cheney is fantastic. Annihilation is like a Twilight Zone episode, in premise and execution. It was fast paced and full of tense scenes and disturbing revelations.

            Authority feels toned down from that. And I like it so much better, because of that. It’s slower and more careful, with a lot less action and a lot more world building and character building. And because of that, it feels unique and more real to me. Annihilation also had a very interesting setting that connected with me because I hiked through those swamps when I was smaller and younger. Authority also connects with me on a similar level, I remember a lot of government facilities like the one described in this book, from the town hall of hometown and from hospitals and libraries that me and my family visited.

            I think “creepy everglades” is a setting that isn’t done enough, and I don’t think Authority is as creepy or cool as it’s predecessor. But I prefer its lax tone and I like that it is so much longer than and I like that things are not

            My one problem with the book is this. I find the feuding between Control and his assistant director, Grace, to be aggravating. This is a personal issue of mine, I dislike media revolving around these kinds of frustrating relationships, it makes me feel anxious and embarrassed on behalf of the characters. Grace is sympathetic to some point, and her actions understandable.

But there’s only so much strained dialogue between her and Control you can read before you wish that one of them would just admit the other is being difficult for the sake of it. They are in a situation in which they need one another, and it would be nice if at some point Control at least tried to genuinely empathize with her. Instead, there’s a tenuous, faux-professionalism that grates on my nerves in certain scenes.

It reminds me heavily of the frustration that we experience in our own jobs and lives that it feels too raw. It works well with the themes of the book and it feels honest and intended, but I just wish it wasn’t there. It indicates a specific kind of hopelessness that I find difficult to enjoy in media. And I don’t think that’s a problem with the book on a structural level or a story level but a something that falls on me. Still, I think I might prefer the clinical existentialism of Annihilation to this, which feels more personal and real.

Still, the book is nothing if not interesting and exceptional. Most of the characters are suffering from some sort of delusion and I really wished, even though the book was sizable, that you got to spend even more time with some of Control’s subordinates (Cheney in particular). Control is a more interesting character than the biologist was, but her personality becomes more defined and less nebulous in this book, as the two of them interrogate one another. The conversations that they share are some of the best parts of the book.  

Overall, the book was definitely Great.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day! Next up I will be doing some graphic novel reviews with "Through the Woods" by Emily Carroll and "Soupy Leaves Home" by Cecil Castellucci and Jose Pimienta.