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3 and a half, rounded up. This was an intense book...

Jeff VanderMeer's books are always difficult to describe and review. I love where that man's brain goes: his weird and atmospheric stories have a way of sticking to my mind in the most haunting way. "The Southern Reach" trilogy had been on my shelf for a while, and I got so excited seeing the previews of the upcoming "Annihilation" movie adaptation (see thoughts about the movie at the end of the review) that I abandoned other books for this one's benefit.

Now let's try to make this simple. The Southern Reach is a clandestine government agency that studies the mysterious Area X; a section of the United-States which has been abandoned following an unexplained event, which has caused the entire region be reclaimed by nature. But the nature in Area X is not nature as we know and understand it.

"Annihilation" is the tale of the twelfth expedition sent to Area X: we read the journal entries of the biologist, one of the four women that makes up this team of explorers. They were instructed to share as little personal information as possible, so she only ever refers to her companions by their professions: the psychologist, the anthropologist and the surveyor. They are given a very minimal amount of information about where they are going, and what the ultimate purpose of their expedition is. They know that previous expedition members have killed each other, committed suicide... but some have mysteriously returned home, physically unharmed... but changed.

From the very first few pages, I was fascinated with the thick atmosphere of isolation, alienation and paranoia VanderMeer threw me into. The biologist quickly comes to realize that as nebulous as her expedition's mission seems to be, there is another hidden agenda at work, another layer of secrecy that she should not have been aware of.

“Authority� changes narrative gears to third-person and leads us inside the Southern Reach’s building, just on the edge of Area X, where we find out a bit more about this obscure agency through the eyes of John “Control� Rodriguez, its acting director. Despite his title (and nickname), Control doesn’t know the whole story of Area X either, and when members of the twelfth expedition return, he is determine to learn more from them, but that proves a lot harder than anticipated. Unlike the first book’s protagonist, Control is not interested in what is in Area X so much as he is interested by what kind of power he can get from it, or from the knowledge others have acquired about it. But just like the biologist, he has ties to Area X that run deeper than most people know. The sense of paranoia that was so well-crafted in “Annihilation� is maintained in this second part of the trilogy, and while we learn a few things that makes sense of some elements of “Annihilation�, VanderMeer also throws a few fresh mysteries in the mix.

Finally, “Acceptance� brings together the stories of Ghost Bird, Control, the lighthouse keeper and the original Southern Reach director. The chapter titles are important, because the POV and timelines change constantly, giving a insight as to what the region was like before it became Area X, and how it is still transforming as Ghost Bird and Control return beyond the border to seek some answers.

This whole trilogy is incredibly creative and ambitious, and VanderMeer uses the menacing idea of the unknown to perfection. I have always admired his prose and he didn’t let me down with “The Southern Reach�: he creates a dream-like setting that has the potential to become a nightmare in the blink of an eye and that is just awesome!

I completely understand why some people found it confusing and frustrating, but having read a bunch of VanderMeer books before, I knew what I was getting into: he will tease you with ambiguous explanations, unreliable narrators and his stories always seem to feature people who don’t perceive the world the way it is, or who are straight-up insane. And of course, mushrooms, spores and fruiting bodies are all over this! I'm glad I read the collected trilogy back to back; if I had read the books separately, with breaks in between, I might have gotten annoyed with it, so if you want to tackle it, I really suggest you think of "Annihilation", "Authority" and "Acceptance" as one big book, and not three. I'm not sure I'd read it again: it really is a lot to digest, but the again, I might discover more layers on a second read...

I found this trilogy to be mesmerizing, hard work and unforgettable� just like the novels of the Ambergris series. If you like slow-burn mysteries, idea novels, weird stuff that is truly alien and layered stories that could be analyzed many different ways, “The Southern Reach� trilogy is worth checking out. But don’t pick up a VanderMeer book expecting a light and breezy read; he’s going to make you work for it.

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Thoughts about the movie "Annihilation": it's a VERY loose adaptation, and both works can almost be looked at independently, because there end up being more differences than similarities between them. The feelings of alienation, paranoia and isolation of the first book are very well captured in the film, and Alex Garland actually explains the origins of Area X (albeit, without VanderMeer's blessing, who knew Garland would just take his idea and run madly with it). The acting and photography is amazing, and the theme of self-destruction (which is not really a thing in the book) is emphasized alongside truly creepy yet fascinating moments. I enjoyed it!