The Southern Reach Trilogy (also known as Area X) by Jeff VanderMeer is a hypnotic incantation that transmutes subtlety into a literary universe as it builds itself inside your skull over the course of three books.
Annihilation introduces us to Area X — a pristine, alien landscape that has unfolded onto an unsuspecting fishing village for no particular reason — and the Southern Reach Institute — the equally vague bureaucratic entity that combats it. Expeditions into Area X return irrevocably twisted if at all, and the motives of the explorers who constitute them are as confusing as the creatures that populate the contaminated zone. Authority explores the inner workings of the shadow organizations dedicated to gathering information from Area X and the interlocking and conflicting alliances that convolute the hierarchy of information. Acceptance proves that as masterful as VanderMeer is at world building, he is ever so much more talented at tearing things apart. The multifarious voices and perspectives that narrate and guide the trilogy are woven together into a patchwork ecosystem of magic, science, and whatever lies in between.
Join the Nightmare Factory Book Club tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the cafe at BookPeople to discuss the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer and lend your voice to the cacophony of speculation. The Nightmare Factory Book Club meets on the third Thursday of every month to wax eloquent on the inelegant chaos of literary, horror fiction. Come to BookPeople tonight and let us be the lighthouse to your sea of monsters.
Good info, thanks