# Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

7 Hacker News commenters recommended Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Readers recommend this weird, gripping science fiction novel for being hard to put down and for its unsettling mood, though some find the ending disappointing.

## What people warn about

- Later books weaker than this one (1 comments): "didn’t like the subsequent books of the series so much" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46400114))
- Ending left some disappointed (1 comments): "left me feeling a little disappointed at the end" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47668789))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250824044?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781250824042) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer", https://hackerapproved.com/p/annihilation/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).