Annihilation is a 2014 novel by jeff vandermeer it is the first in a series of three books called the southern reach trilogy the book describes a team of four women who set out into an area known as area x the area is abandoned and cut off from the rest of civilization they are the 12th expedition the other expeditions have been fraught with disappearances suicides aggressive cancers and mental trauma the novel won the 2014 nebula award for best novel and the 2014 shirley jackson award. In annihilation the first volume of jeff vandermeers southern reach trilogy we join the twelfth expedition the group is made up of four women an anthropologist a surveyor a psychologist the de facto leader and our narrator a biologist. In annihilation the first volume of jeff vandermeers southern reach trilogy we join the twelfth expedition the group is made up of four women an anthropologist a surveyor a psychologist the de facto leader and our narrator a biologist. Annihilation is a sci fi novel that follows a team of four women as they explore a mysterious region known as area x a shady company called southern reach is sending teams of biologists anthropologists linguists architects and others into area x to try to discover just what it is and why it has become so inhospitable