the southern reach trilogy annihilation authority acceptance jeff vandermeer

The novel exposes the history of Area X and the Southern Reach somehow managing to deepen the mystery of its existence despite being on the outside looking in. Over the course of the novel he plumbs the mysteries of Area X through the Southern Reach.

With the Southern Reach’s director gone missing it is Control who takes up the reigns in the interim. The expeditions sent into Area X are overseen by the mysterious Southern Reach, an organization that is explored more thoroughly in Authority. Annihilation is a novel that lingers once it’s complete and while it does leave an open ending feels like a complete tale in and of itself. The fact that the mystery is never really solved is irrelevant to the story at hand as the biologist’s personal journey through her own memories is brought to the fore over the course of the novel. Each new element of Area X revealed in Annihilation manages to enhance its unsettling effects. Annihilation offers up many more questions than it provides answers for from the strange tower/tunnel, to the strange fauna, to the mysterious importance of the oddly fortified lighthouse. Interweaving the unsettling environs of Area X with the biologist’s past experiences sets up an interesting dichotomy that somehow manages to enhance the isolated feeling of the novel. VanderMeer sets a masterful tone alternating between the creeping dread of Area X and its wanders and the nostalgia of the biologist’s past. This is a very strong novel that stands firmly on its own. The tale of the journey is narrated by the expedition’s biologist as she chronicles her the expedition. The events that created Area X are unknown, protected by a strange barrier the expeditions into Area X have rarely turned up anything except perhaps more mystery.Īnnihilation opens the trilogy following the twelfth expedition into Area X. Area X is a strange morass of wilderness where things are more than a little off kilter. Nominally the series deals with the strange locale known only as Area X. Comprised of Annihilation, Authority and Acceptance VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy is a fascinating journey into weird fiction by one of the sub-genres most prominent adherents.

The southern reach trilogy annihilation authority acceptance jeff vandermeer