Paradise Theatre, in partnership with McCelland & Stewart and Type Books, is thrilled to welcome Jeff VanderMeer for the Canadian book launch of his much anticipated new novel Absolution: the surprise fourth volume in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach series—and the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time. He will be joined in conversation by Canadian writer Iain Reed (I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Foe). 

BOOK DETAILS: When the Southern Reach trilogy was first published a decade ago, it was an instant sensation, celebrated in a front-pageNew York Timesstory before publication, hailed by Stephen King and many others. Each volume climbed the bestseller list; awards were won; the books made the rare transition from paperback original to hardcover; the movie adaptation became a cult classic. All told, the trilogy has sold more than a million copies and has secured its place in the pantheon of twenty-first-century literature.

And yet for all this, for Jeff VanderMeer there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast—before Area X was called Area X—had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world afterAcceptance? How crazy would they seem?

Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition,Absolutionis a brilliant, beautiful, and ever-terrifying plunge into unique and fertile literary territory. There are some long-awaited answers here, to be sure, but also more questions, and profound new surprises. It is the final word on one of the most provocative and popular speculative fiction series of our time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jeff VanderMeer is the author of Hummingbird Salamander, theBornenovels (Borne, The Strange Bird, and Dead Astronauts), and The Southern Reach Trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance), the first volume of which won the Nebula Award and the Shirley Jackson Award and was adapted into a movie by Alex Garland. He speaks and writes frequently about issues relating to climate change as well as urban rewilding.

Copies of Absolution will be available for purchase in the Paradise Theatre lobby, courtesy of Type Books.

Doors Open 30 Minutes Before Showtime.