We learn much about the warped inner workings of The Southern Reach as well as insight into her unexpected connection to Area X. Besides getting the view of Ghost Bird and Control, some of the story is told by the Director while she is still in charge of Southern Reach. This book, however, becomes more puzzling in its narration, again serving the author’s purpose of disjointing our grasp on time. Control is moved by Ghost Bird, more than any concern for his past, family relations, or duty to solve the mystery of Area X.Īcceptance begins with Ghost Bird and Control working their way down the coastline of Area X toward the landmarks they know of. Although the love story may be altered, we again get a sense of this relationship taking a central role. He can not help but sense, with significant concern sometimes, that he senses a bond between the two of them. As he talks with her, he gets glimpses into her as well as into Area X. Control seems to be the only person to notice that something about her is different from any previous survivors. She is a mysterious survivor of the previous mission who was picked up by The Southern Reach and is at Control’s disposal for interrogation. The various other characters seem like warped caricatures.Īll but one: Ghost Bird. The acting director makes every effort to prevent his settling in as she sees him as coming in to undo the work of the former director to whom she was a devoted confidante. Even Control himself seems ill-suited to his task as we learn more about the baggage he brings with him. Seeds of doubt are planted in every interaction and it is impossible to trust anyone. However, nothing is settled – the out-of-place is normal. In a reversal of the first book, the events are taking place in the “regular” world outside of Area X with the exception of anecdotes and other evidence from former survivors of missions. The former director has gone missing since the last mission, a failure even by Southern Reach standards, and the formerly faceless organization takes on grotesque form as Control delves into the characters, methodology, and physical structure that are The Southern Reach. Control is an operative sent in by some shrouded government powers – including his own mother – to run damage control as the appointed director of the now-rudderless Southern Reach. Now we take a look at events, disjointed as they are, from the viewpoint of a character we know first as “Control”, a nickname that seems as out-of-place in this chaotic pair of worlds as any could be. However (and I will not give a spoiler here), in one of the most interesting twists of the story, it becomes clear that a central element to the entire plot is a love story.Īnd so the problems continue in book two, Authority. Repeatedly these explorers stumble across clues, remnants, and even each other where they seem not to belong. Area X seems to communicate in a variety of ways that these explorers should not be there. This problem seems to overarch every conflict in the series – someone or something that should not be there. In fact, things are going wrong from the first words of the book. It should be no surprise that things start to go wrong very quickly. Time is disjointed in both “worlds” as the narration, taken from the biologist’s journal, records memories, recent training, and vague references to a long (but how long?) history of previous missions. No names are given by explicit design of The Southern Reach, a faceless organization that has been sending in teams to plumb the depths of this eerily familiar yet menacing stretch of coast line. Its history is reported in flashbacks from training and snippets of conversation between the narrator, “the biologist,” and the remaining three women of the team: a psychologist, a surveyor, and an anthropologist. Its boundaries, although we are told they exist, are undefined. The story opens with a group of nameless female explorers beginning their expedition into “Area X”, a mysterious portion of the ordinary world that has somehow, inexplicably become subject to laws all its own. What insanity have I just stumbled into? Every reveal seems to bring along numerous other mind-bending doubts or questions about the world Vandermeer has created. My very first impression, from the first page of Annihilation, book one of The Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer, was not far from my last thoughts on the series.
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