A review by logantea
Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer
5.0
This is my second reading after initially reading the individual releases, and it was just as good if not better the second time around. This book is like literary comfort food for me.
On second reading I found the initial book just as flawless as the first time around. The pacing is great and the mystery is so visceral and unsettling, with an air of melancholic acceptance. The world and transformations Jeff describes are so vivid I feel like I can see them and I can't wait to hear more on the next page.
On a reread I think I cooled slightly on the second book and gained a greater appreciation for the third. The second book is still good, and I appreciate the change of tone. However, I did feel it was a bit too dry at times and found myself feeling that it was really starting to drag towards the end. The inside look at the Southern Reach and the character of Control are valuable characters, but it didn't grip me the same as the other two books.
The third book meanwhile really grew on me. On first read I had felt like it was offering an explanation and resolution to the mystery that was not necessary and in some ways took away from it. I didn't feel that way this time. While the third book does provide some clarity and decent closure I don't at all think it actually fully explains or removes mystery from this strange world Jeff created. Instead I mostly felt like it even better fleshed out this strange world and filled in some narrative gaps (particularly from Control) in a way that improved my overall appreciation of the series. I also really appreciated the strange dynamics between the three main cast members of this book and the evolution of their relationships.
So while I did have a bit of a hard time coming back to it while it was dragging at the end of the second book I still adore this series and expect I'll probably revisit it again sometime down the road.
On second reading I found the initial book just as flawless as the first time around. The pacing is great and the mystery is so visceral and unsettling, with an air of melancholic acceptance. The world and transformations Jeff describes are so vivid I feel like I can see them and I can't wait to hear more on the next page.
On a reread I think I cooled slightly on the second book and gained a greater appreciation for the third. The second book is still good, and I appreciate the change of tone. However, I did feel it was a bit too dry at times and found myself feeling that it was really starting to drag towards the end. The inside look at the Southern Reach and the character of Control are valuable characters, but it didn't grip me the same as the other two books.
The third book meanwhile really grew on me. On first read I had felt like it was offering an explanation and resolution to the mystery that was not necessary and in some ways took away from it. I didn't feel that way this time. While the third book does provide some clarity and decent closure I don't at all think it actually fully explains or removes mystery from this strange world Jeff created. Instead I mostly felt like it even better fleshed out this strange world and filled in some narrative gaps (particularly from Control) in a way that improved my overall appreciation of the series. I also really appreciated the strange dynamics between the three main cast members of this book and the evolution of their relationships.
So while I did have a bit of a hard time coming back to it while it was dragging at the end of the second book I still adore this series and expect I'll probably revisit it again sometime down the road.