--- title: Absolution: 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 description: Find out why "Absolution" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. canonical: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172847/absolution/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-11-13T13:09:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-03T02:28:52.325Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: 'Absolution' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 og:description: Here's why it made the list og:url: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172847/absolution/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb649525234b2c782/698a8d0816d884ceb7c440d9/Absolution-Jeff-Vandermeer.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'Absolution' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'Absolution' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 twitter:description: Here's why it made the list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb649525234b2c782/698a8d0816d884ceb7c440d9/Absolution-Jeff-Vandermeer.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 13, 2024 # Absolution by [Eliana Dockterman](https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/) ## Eliana Dockterman Correspondent  The surprise fourth installment of Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach ecological-horror trilogy (_Annihilation_, _Authority_, and _Acceptance_) is both a prequel to these works and a standalone story. Set 20 years before the original books, _Absolution_ focuses again on the Southern Reach, a secret government agency tasked with studying Area X, a stretch of Florida marsh that has been colonized by a strange presence. That presence manifests as a combination of theoretical scientific mysteries and literal oddities (in this case, carnivorous rabbits). Scientists who enter are either driven mad or transformed. Despite its title, _Absolution_ resists offering neat answers to the mysteries that remained at the end of the original series. Horror series often disappoint by the end—the scariest monsters, ghouls, and killers become kitschy Halloween costumes once their secrets are revealed. But not so with _Absolution_. The last third of the book may alienate readers who require stability, let alone resolution—but it’s a bold experiment that, to its credit, refuses to conform to tropes. **Buy Now:** _Absolution_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780374616595) | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3YWSPNW) | [Barnes & Noble](https://fave.co/4diNeFo) These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172847/absolution/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172847/absolution/"},"headline":"Absolution","datePublished":"2024-11-13T13:09:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T02:28:52.325Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172847/absolution/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb649525234b2c782/698a8d0816d884ceb7c440d9/Absolution-Jeff-Vandermeer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"creator":"Eliana Dockterman","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb649525234b2c782/698a8d0816d884ceb7c440d9/Absolution-Jeff-Vandermeer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172847/absolution/","name":"Absolution"}}]}] ```