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A review by jnzllwgr
Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
5.0
“Where lies the strangling fruit that came from the hand of the sinner I shall bring forth the seeds of the dead.”
—
Epic!
This is my 2nd reading of these 3 books and they’ve only gotten better. These are part fictional memoir, part thriller, part sci-fi, part surreal Lovecraftian horror, part existential/metaphysical treatise. The story takes place along the ‘forgotten coast’ of the US (gulf?) which has been attacked/invaded/captured by an unknown phenomenon and has been under observation over the last 30 years by government agencies —some clandestine, some scientific— to determine the level of threat. The in medias res plot arc initiates with the 12th expedition into Area X where the group encounter a fully re-naturalized world, free of pollution with decaying villages and a lighthouse as the only sign of former human occupation. And yet… strange things happen, strange things encountered - I won’t say more. But I found myself pulled in a variety of directions as the story operates on various levels. Will you find yourself sympathetic to the radical re-wilding , despite specious origins? Should the mysterious menagerie heroically expand and bring abundance and apparent healing to a planet devastated by mankind’s toxic modernity? What is a threat to our existence versus a gift of transformation? In the macrocosmic sense, how do we plug into that order/hierarchy? Does our behavior intrinsically make us an isolated species or is that a condition of modernity - are we/should we be better interlinked with others more than we want understand? How can we make objective observations/decisions when everything is entwined with subjective experience? Entertaining while being a *very* accessible read. Choose how deep into “the tower” you go!
—
Epic!
This is my 2nd reading of these 3 books and they’ve only gotten better. These are part fictional memoir, part thriller, part sci-fi, part surreal Lovecraftian horror, part existential/metaphysical treatise. The story takes place along the ‘forgotten coast’ of the US (gulf?) which has been attacked/invaded/captured by an unknown phenomenon and has been under observation over the last 30 years by government agencies —some clandestine, some scientific— to determine the level of threat. The in medias res plot arc initiates with the 12th expedition into Area X where the group encounter a fully re-naturalized world, free of pollution with decaying villages and a lighthouse as the only sign of former human occupation. And yet… strange things happen, strange things encountered - I won’t say more. But I found myself pulled in a variety of directions as the story operates on various levels. Will you find yourself sympathetic to the radical re-wilding , despite specious origins? Should the mysterious menagerie heroically expand and bring abundance and apparent healing to a planet devastated by mankind’s toxic modernity? What is a threat to our existence versus a gift of transformation? In the macrocosmic sense, how do we plug into that order/hierarchy? Does our behavior intrinsically make us an isolated species or is that a condition of modernity - are we/should we be better interlinked with others more than we want understand? How can we make objective observations/decisions when everything is entwined with subjective experience? Entertaining while being a *very* accessible read. Choose how deep into “the tower” you go!