Yup. It’s totally 100% true. Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach trilogy is totally awesome. Imagine if J.J. Abrams, Margaret Atwood, and Alan Weisman collaborated on a novel…the books are futuristic supernatural thrillers, part science fiction, part dystopian, part horror, all amazing.
Stephen King is a big fan and the New York Times Book Review recently gave AUTHORITY a rave review. Even Entertainment Weekly got in on the action by dedicating a full page in its Books section to showing off book covers for the international editions of the trilogy!
In ANNIHILATION, the first book in the trilogy, readers were introduced to Area X and the twelfth team of researchers that traveled into the dangerous area; the story then followed “the biologist” as she seemingly became the only survivor to actually understand what was happening.
The second book, AUTHORITY, focuses the action on the government agency overseeing the expedition, and particularly on the new Control director whose gradual discovery of the agency’s secrets parallels the journey of the biologist in the first book.
The final book in the series, ACCEPTANCE, follows a new team as they embark on a mission to find a member of a previous expedition who may have been left behind. The mysteries of Area X may have been solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound or terrifying.
Check out the Southern Reach website where you can read excerpts from available books in the series and explore an interactive map of Area X!
Praise for the Southern Reach trilogy:
“After their high-risk expedition disintegrates, it’s every scientist for herself in this wonderfully creepy blend of horror and science fiction…. Speculative fiction at its most transfixing.” Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on ANNIHILATION
“A gripping fantasy thriller, ANNIHILATION is thoroughly suspenseful. In a manner similar to H. G. Wells’ in THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU (1896), VanderMeer weaves together an otherworldly tale of the supernatural and the half-human. Delightfully, this page-turner is the first in a trilogy.”
Booklist, starred review, on ANNIHILATION
“Using evocative descriptions of the biologist’s outer and inner worlds, masterful psychological insight, and intellectual observations both profound and disturbing calling Lovecraft to mind and Borges VanderMeer unfolds a tale as satisfying as it is richly imagined.” Publishers Weekly, starred review, on ANNIHILATION
“…there’s something Poe-like in this tightening, increasingly paranoid focus. But where Poe kept his most vicious blows relatively oblique, VanderMeer drives them deep albeit in a corkscrewing way that is no less cruel and exquisite.”
New York Times Book Review
“VanderMeer’s masterful command of the plot, his cast of characters, and the increasingly desperate situation will leave the reader desperate for the final volume in the trilogy.” Publishers Weekly, on AUTHORITY
“Those familiar with the series will understand the subtle foreshadowing that points to an action-packed conclusion to the trilogy. Compelling science fiction for those who can’t get enough dystopia.” Booklist, on AUTHORITY
ANNIHILATION and AUTHORITY are now available now from Farrar, Straus & Giroux. ACCEPTANCE will be available on Sept. 2, 2014.
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