Reviews

Area X is expanding, taking with it the Southern Reach border facility and its occupants. And, like an infection, the locations where the copies of the surveyor and the anthropologist appeared are also becoming part of Area X. The copy of the biologist, Ghost Bird, and Control have passed into Area X though an entry point created by Ghost Bird. In flashbacks the story of perhaps how the phenomena came into being is slowly revealed and how the lives of the psychologist, the lighthouse keeper, Control's secret-agent mother, Control's maternal secret-agent grandfather, the lone survivor of the first expedition, and two enigmatic people from a group called the Science and Séance Brigade are intertwined in that story. We also follow Ghost Bird and Control within Area X as they travel toward the island and through their characters learn more secrets, find more unanswerable questions and experience more horror.

VanderMeer, in his writing, is able to bring about a feeling of true alien otherness in which the characters in the story can never hope to understand or deal with Area X in any humanly rational way. We receive hints that it is a piece of a larger whole escaping destruction and pulled into Earth existence intentionally through a secret scientific/alchemical experiment gone wrong. Does it come from the stars or does it exist in another time, place and/or dimension? Is it an area controlled by an alien entity (the tunnel/tower creeper)? Is the entire biome the entity? Is it an actual intelligence or is it made up of more than one intelligence? Is it trying to communicate, invade or is it simply indifferent in its existence? What it does do is change/absorb everyone and everything that it comes in contact with into itself through destruction and/or unfathomable mutation and mimicry.

hopecory's review

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

eveningreverie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A stunning conclusion(? rumblings of another book have appeared on the horizon...) to the Southern Reach Trilogy(?). Enough unanswered questions to still keep readers discussing and debating late into the night while tying up enough loose ends to feel immensely satisfying. Jeff Vandermeer has truly mastered this type of mysterious, halfway-in-the-know-halfway-having-no-idea-what-is-happening writing style, and every sentence shrouds the reader's mind in the powerful ennui of Area X.

rosemaryp27's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cosmiccroptop's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

lswanson's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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