What is Area X? Why did it appear on Florida’s Forgotten Coast 30 years ago, and why do so few of those who walk through its border return? These are the central questions of The Southern Reach Trilogy, a haunting voyage that journeys through a mysterious region of pristine wilderness where the laws of reality seem to bend and warp in ways beyond human comprehension. Written by Jeff Vandermeer, one of the major voices of the New Weird genre, these books are for those looking for a story that stretches the imagination into bizarre and disquieting directions. From start to finish, the series is a winding, surreal experience that pulls the reader deeper and deeper into the texture and terroir of its world.
In the first book, Annihilation, we follow the 12th expedition into Area X. A group of four women are sent in by The Southern Reach, the branch of the federal government dedicated to solving the area’s mysteries. Referred to only by their position titles (Biologist, Psychologist, Anthropologist, and Surveyor), the expedition works on mapping the region before they begin running into strange anomalies, causing them to question their goals, fellow crew, and the world around them. Through the eyes of the Biologist, the reader is brought through the region, and unsettling questions mount up as she works her way to the ominous Lighthouse which dominates the landscape.
The follow up book, Authority, takes us outside of Area X and into the halls of the Southern Reach itself. Control, a newcomer to the organization, is tasked by his superiors in Washington to assess the current state of the department: what has it learned about Area X, and is it is worthy of continued funding and support? What follows is a journey into a peculiar, obtuse, and almost haunted institution as it grapples with decades of failure and swathes of employees who have either gone missing, died, or changed. While examining a very different biome than the first book, readers will still come away with a sense of becoming lost in the layers of a distinctly bureaucratic wilderness.
Wrapping up the trilogy is Acceptance, a book that jumps around both in time and in point of view, slowly revealing more and more context to the reader. We’re given a brief history of the coast and its lighthouses, a dive into the life of The Southern Reach’s former director, and an intensifying follow up to the dramatic events of the characters from the previous two books. While certainly not the kind of finale that will answer all of the series’ questions, it nonetheless provides satisfying, though somewhat uneasy conclusions to the arcs of both the characters and events surrounding Area X. One may still walk away with more questions than answers, but thus is the nature of the anomalies presented by The Southern Reach Trilogy.
All in all, the series is a thought provoking, atmospheric and dense story, skirting just on the edge between science fiction, fantasy, and horror. And, although it has been 10 years since the trilogy was originally published, Jeff Vandermeer just released a new book in the series last month titled Absolution, which is available in our catalogue and on Libby. For more authors similar to Vandermeer, I’d suggest Mark Z. Danielewski, Steph Swainston, China Miéville, and Samuel R. Delany.
