Review: The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus, & Geroux, 2014, 208 pages)

Authority (352 pages)

Acceptance (352 pages)


Haunting, mesmerizing, moving: these are just some of the words that come to mind when I think about Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance. Each novel is under 400 pages, and each packs into it so much psychological, emotional, philosophical, and ecological inquiry that you start to think that they must be huge, hulking volumes that should make your bookshelves cave in.

Now, you’ve probably seen a million reviews of this trilogy, and rightly so, for it deserves recognition and invites   fascinating discussions. Therefore, instead of recapping the story or outlining the plot, I’m going to focus on three major mysteries/questions/problems in these novels and why they’re so compelling.

Review: Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

Acceptance (2014) by Jeff VanderMeer

Haunting. Mesmerizing. Extraordinary.

These are the first words that come to mind when I try to talk about the novels that make up the Southern Reach Trilogy (see my reviews of the others below).

Acceptance, the final installment, differs from the first two in that it isn't focalized (mostly) through a single character, but jumps back and forth between all of the major characters previously introduced. Here, for the first time, we learn about Saul, the lighthouse keeper, in great detail, and how the "change" that came over Area X impacted and transformed him. We learn about the Director's past relationship to what Area X was before it morphed into whatever it now is, and we learn what happened to the Biologist (the focus of Annihilation).

Review: Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 352 pages, May)

This second book in the Southern Reach Trilogy...I can't...really...oh man...no words...

*pulls herself together*

Ok, let me try that again.

Authority continues the story begun in Annihilation of an unexplained Event that has completely erased all human traces from a piece of land in the southern U. S. Thing is, it's a little too pristine there, and all expeditions sent to investigate have failed to understand it. Oh, and all kinds of terrible things have happened to those expeditions...

Review: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer (Farrar, Straus, & Geroux, 2014, 208 pages)

Annihilation is one of those novels that you can't tear yourself away from, even though you KNOW that you'll have nightmares because of it. That's because VanderMeer has constructed a dense psychological narrative that develops against a backdrop of unknown creatures, contamination, murder, and psychological manipulation. The more you read, the more you know that you don't know anything- none of the characters have names, Area X (which they are sent to explore) is a big mystery in itself, and even the narrator herself admits that she doesn't know if anything she's been told about her expedition is true. So basically, you accompany the narrator ("the biologist") into an unknown and increasingly frightening wilderness filled with moaning creatures and living words that grow on walls and ALL you want to do is hold onto something that you DO know (i.e. the narrator). After all, she's supposed to be your guide, your companion, in this area that has been cut off from human civilization and possesses a seemingly lethal secret.