A review by trve_zach
Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
In which Vandermeer asks “what would it be like if a Great Old One (basically) came to earth nowadays?” thus carrying forward the baton of cosmic horror. There’s some real fun to be had here, applying modern science and analysis to something so indescribable and ultimately unknowable. There’s also interesting implications in how important things are insutitutionalized and emphasized, implicitly taking away importance from other things (inevitable to some degree but purposely used for harm here).
Throughout all the books there’s manipulation of what’s real and who is in control, as the narrative shifts from outside the institution to within. This is the driver for the trilogy and is described in a tell-don’t-show fashion, which outside of the flashbacks of the first book, feels like a GM describing an area/scene for whole sections. It can feel like dropping into a thought experiment of “how far can I keep pushing out this idea” detail after detail, connecting each successive point with just enough logic to hold it together.
There is some benefit to this, as it lets your imagination, rather than the narrator, play the game and fill in what has happened based on description. Towards the end, though, I found myself tired of slightly different descriptions of the same places, same objects, same events. I was never really invested the characters, and this made reading to conclusion more tedious than it need be, and, I think, your enjoyment will probably depend on how much you are able to luxuriate in the mystery rather than concrete answers or engaging characters.
Throughout all the books there’s manipulation of what’s real and who is in control, as the narrative shifts from outside the institution to within. This is the driver for the trilogy and is described in a tell-don’t-show fashion, which outside of the flashbacks of the first book, feels like a GM describing an area/scene for whole sections. It can feel like dropping into a thought experiment of “how far can I keep pushing out this idea” detail after detail, connecting each successive point with just enough logic to hold it together.
There is some benefit to this, as it lets your imagination, rather than the narrator, play the game and fill in what has happened based on description. Towards the end, though, I found myself tired of slightly different descriptions of the same places, same objects, same events. I was never really invested the characters, and this made reading to conclusion more tedious than it need be, and, I think, your enjoyment will probably depend on how much you are able to luxuriate in the mystery rather than concrete answers or engaging characters.