Authority feels like it spins it's wheels most of it's 300 page length, unsure where it wants to go. Unfortunately, the main character, Area X itself, is no longer at center stage. What we get instead is a much more tedious and pointless office drama, designed mostly to build the backstory of character that I simply couldn't summon interest in. In Authority, we are wedged into the internal thoughts of the new director of the Southern Reach, Control, as he navigates the mystifying research of Area X that has accumulated over the past thirty years, and as he navigates tumultuous new relationships with other employees, who appear to be broken and changed by the process.
It's a sin that nothing of note happens within the first two thirds of the book. Most of the information gleaned during this time is a rehash of information we already knew from the first book, with flavor thrown on top as a consolation prize. Authority has a really bad case of middle book syndrome, as I'm certain that he felt much of this was necessary to support the concluding novel. VanderMeer's prose does the novel no favors either. Everything is couched in the same clumsy ambiguity; Control supposing a certain theory and immediately following it with "then again, maybe not", describing environments with opposing adjectives. This type of writing hits like a middle school student trying to write with depth for the first time. Certainly this is the worst his prose has been across the work that I've read.
The action does pick up in the final third of the novel and there are some interesting reveals, but importantly these are all predicated on knowledge that you must already posses from the first book. In no way would this book be satisfying on its own. I'm not saying that sequels must always stand on their own completely, but Authority is badly dependent on it's prequel to manufacture any kind of intrigue.
With all of this said, by far the worst thing the book did was make me ambivalent about subsequent books in the series, and the narrative of Area X as a whole. I regret journeying past the first book. In hindsight I feel like I was satisfied with what Annihilation offered, and though I'm sure if this novel had been better executed I might've changed my apathy, I don't feel like any follow up is truly necessary. Which in my opinion is a good thing.
BigEnk
