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Area X  By  cover art

Area X

By: Jeff VanderMeer
Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick, Bronson Pinchot, Xe Sands
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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.

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What listeners say about Area X

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Deeply unsettling!

Paranoia, unreliable narrators, temporal and spatial anomalies. This was right up my alley. If you're looking for a straightforward creature feature or invasion story, you'll be disappointed. This trilogy meanders around the central hook of an alien corruption to focus on intimate portraits of its characters.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

meh

The story just felt like an indulgence almost the entire time and it didn't really wrap up because I don't think they could really get a hold on it.

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3 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Academically written.Seemed to show off vocabulary

vocabulary for sake of vocabulary. Everyday language would've been more enjoyable. very little action, mostly inner conjecture.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Simply Amazing

Lovecraft meets Kafka. Hands down some of the best speculative fiction I've ever read. A hundred times better than the movie. Definitely going to read more from this writer

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

second person perspective, off-putting narration

Any additional comments?

The first two installments were great. I find the second person perspective and the performance of the narrator so off-putting in the third volume that I'm not sure I can finish listening at all.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great, weird, dark, beautiful

Amazingly weird eco sci fi/ horror that feels like China M doing an eco version of the thing

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Great Plot, But Minimal Answers

A page turner that really makes you think! Unfortunately, most of the questions presented are left unanswered, which really frustrated me. I got to the end and was expecting everything to come together. Instead, I’m left wondering what happened to each character and the human race as a whole.

It was a great story with interesting characters and I am excited to see the movie adaptation with Natalie Portman. Hopefully they deviate from the book and provide us with some answers!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good story, bad ending

I liked the story but felt like the last few chapters, you know the one that would have given some closer Were missing.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

3 books for the price of 1

Cool series, Annihilation had me completely hooked. The other two books were good but pale in comparison to Annihilation. Because of the nature of the story the conclusion to the story is a little bit frustrating but still worth the listen.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Decent background noise

The trilogy is a long and winding story that provides far more questions than answers, and I do not mean that as a compliment.

The dialog is awkward, and the characters are not particularly likeable.

That being said, if you just want background noise while you do other things, this series is not especially offensive.

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