Area X

The Southern Reach Trilogy - Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance

By: Jeff VanderMeer

Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick, Bronson Pinchot, Xe Sands

Length: 26 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

If J. J. Abrams, Margaret Atwood, and Alan Weisman collaborated on a series, it might be this awesome.

This collection includes all three novels in the epic Southern Reach trilogy: Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance. Praised for its evocative prose, chilling psychological twists, and intriguing story arc, this series has amassed high critical and popular acclaim, with book one landing on the New York Times best sellers list.

Dive into the mysteries of Area X, a remote and lush terrain that has inexplicably sequestered itself from civilization. Twelve expeditions have gone in, and not a single member of any of them has remained unchanged by the experience - for better or worse.

©2014 VanderMeer Creative, Inc. Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance © 2014 by VanderMeer Creative, Inc. (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

excellent trilogy, excellent readings

I really enjoyed this trilogy. the writing is excellent, its language poetic and vivid. the reading performances are brilliant.

Thought-provoking and enticing

All three narrators give an excellent performance and accurately convey their characters. The story kept me very on edge and wanting for answers, and really drew me in with all of the questions surrounding Area X. In the end, not all answers are given and the reader must draw some of their own conclusions, but not without plenty of details. The nature of the story is thrilling and spooky but with little action. I thoroughly enjoyed it and have listened to it twice.

What was this about?

First book was great. I enjoyed it. 2nd and 3rd were boring AF. It didn’t explain anything other than just talk talk talk. Only read the 1st book

couldn't get through the whole thing

The concept is intriguing but it is just so boring. Maybe the ending would have paid off but I'll never know. The characters continuously look back into the past narrating how they got to this point but it just drags the plot and not much happens in present tense.

Great book but be warned

Really enjoyed this trilogy. I’m really just writing this review because Carolyn McCormick and Bronson do a great job of reading but in book 3 we get introduced to Xe Sands. Xe Sands reads while utilizing a vocal fry on just about every sentence and this can be very off putting. You’ve been warned.

Creative And Non-Repetitive

I got this series before the Annihilation movie came out because the idea intrigued me and, in my experience, books are much better at developing complex story lines than movies. This is definitely the case with the first book, and indeed the entire series.

The story is entertaining, original, and sucks you in from the onset. The latter books lose a little of that, but that's to be somewhat expected in a series that spans 3 entire books. If you liked the movie, you'll more than likely like the book. If you didn't like the movie, you'll probably still like the book. The book and the movie diverge very early on so don't expect a serialization of the movie with this collection.

The narrators all do a very good job and it's presented in a narrative fashion so the story flows well in the audio format. I can't say any of them are better than the others because they are all good in their own ways. But you will not be bored to tears or struggling to understand them and that's my primary intention with audio books. Also, none of them go too crazy trying to hit voices for other characters that are completely out of their range. The first person format helps prevent that as well.

I am definitely a fan of the author and I've made a point to check some of my questionable picks for these narrators so I would say that makes it a pretty solid effort.

I fully suggest you get this collection if you enjoy realistic science fiction that is well told, but that doesn't delve into all the logistics of the science aspect. It's a good, solid story and believable for the most part. Go for it.

Nature overthrows the faceless government.

A beautiful naturalist apocalyptic love story. So well written to be able to have such natural and fanta sf tic themes and still be squarely of the science fiction genre, not edging into fantasy. A nuanced and unique saga.

unfortunate ending

I was excited about this story. it was great until the very end. I feel it was a let down. #letdown, #iamhungeryformeat, #wheresthebeef,#tagsgiving and#sweepstakes

Pretty Brilliant

I loved the movie annihilation. But found the end to be rather ambiguously confusing. I hoped the trilogy would clarify some things, but I actually found it to be even more confusing at times. All the same, there is a lot of really cool imagery and crazy awesome concepts at play here and is worth the confusion.

A fever dream of the author? Meh. Not for me.

The first book is interesting enough but is odd almost to the extrema. The second book is annoying for at least half of it... bad characters, over explanation to cover up lack of plot. Extremely dry reading for more then I like. The third book jumps back and forth between the past and present to bring to light the cluster the first two books started but still failed to make things coherent. There isn't a big reveal, no definitive resolution... maybe there will be a fourth book(?) but I don't plan on listening to it. I can't help but feel that this would have been a little bit better it read/written chronology. Also, what's the point of the time shift between inside and outside of Area X?