湮灭

Um. I will continue on in the series. It was interesting. But let's see; the prose was... relentless. Like a pressure squeezing my temples. I can't say it was pleasant.

But now I feel obligated to continue. Like in homage to those traveled before.

You might expect an ensemble cast, based on the summary, but it's really not - the main character is very disinterested in her expedition-mates. Not a single character, even herself, gets a name. The protagonist herself is well fleshed out, but don't expect too much development from the others.

You might also expect a mystery, where you slowly piece together what happened to Area X and the previous expeditions - you do get a little bit of that, but not really. By the end most questions remain unanswered.

The appeal here is mostly the setting and atmosphere. It's an unsettling story that touches on various sources of horror: the transformation into something inhuman; the feeling of facing something beyond comprehension, of knowing nothing about the dangers you're facing, of the inevitability of defeat. I enjoyed it.

I'm not sure if I'd call this one of my favorites, but there was something gripping about the way it was written and the slow burn of revelations. The utter unknowableness of everything was crushing, and the mysteries never fully unraveled, but I couldn't put it down.

it's the journal of a biologist exploring an area where things are Wrong and Strange. if that sounds like an enjoyable read to you it probably will be