Area X

The Southern Reach Trilogy - Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick, Bronson Pinchot, Xe Sands

If J. J. Abrams, Margaret Atwood, and Alan Weisman collaborated on a series, it might be this awesome.

This collection includes all three novels in the epic Southern Reach trilogy: Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance. Praised for its evocative prose, chilling psychological twists, and intriguing story arc, this series has amassed high critical and popular acclaim, with book one landing on the New York Times best sellers list.

Dive into the mysteries of Area X, a remote and lush terrain that has inexplicably sequestered itself from civilization. Twelve expeditions have gone in, and not a single member of any of them has remained unchanged by the experience - for better or worse.

©2014 VanderMeer Creative, Inc. Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance © 2014 by VanderMeer Creative, Inc. (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

H.P. Lovecraft and Aliens had a love child

I didn't read the description before plunging in head first. It is well written and very intriguing, I loved the horrifying elements, the justifications with theories, and the associated madness.

Favorite listen in years, difficult to describe.

I have a lot of trouble trying to describe these books. I guess my elevator pitch would be something like Roadside Picnic by way of meditative naturalism, North Florida ecology, and psychedelics.

At its core, it's mostly about people attempting to understand and cope with the unknowable, on a lot of different levels. It's EQUAL parts horror, introspection, melancholia, peace, mystery, creeping dread, beauty, and just plain weird fiction. It made me feel strange and serene, and at times, viscerally dislocated from reality in a way that only a handful of media experiences have.

People have talked about the horror elements of this book being dependent on the reader's own personal boundaries - their view of the human experience, concept of nature, etc, and I fully agree. It's scary in a lot of places, sure, but it's not "a horror book", or "a science fiction book", in the way that you would expect based on those descriptions. It's a trip to go on rather than a series of problems to understand and resolve.

The characters were fascinating to me, and their narrative felt intensely visceral, partly because of the wonderful narration which I believe enhanced the tone and mood of the stories rather than trampling on them, which could have all too easily happened with different actors and direction.

There's apparently a movie deal in the works, but I can't see that doing it any justice unless they somehow combined the directoral qualities of The Coen Brothers, David Lynch, Cronenberg, god knows who else, and then didn't even attempt to make it profitable.

Better without all the answers

I love this series, and it's beauties and horrors and answer less questions. it is so good.

Terroir

Over 26 hours the listener learns about the "terrior" of Area X. We learn about the Science & Seance Brigade, the Southern Reach, Area X, and many key events, places & characters. The story remains mysterious beyond the end.  The careful wrapping together of these elements builds a dark, sci-fi horror that might remind the listener of X-Files or The Twilight Zone.

Personally, I found small bits of humor placed in the story as well.  I still laugh when I recall the thousands of stampeding rabbits.

A new Roadside Picnic/S.T.A.L.K.E.R. style jaunt

Mind opening, questioning and never truly fitting into any genre, this finely written story performed by these three readers knocks it out of the park.