Authority by Jeff Vandermeer
September 9, 2024 1:48 PM - Subscribe
In Authority, the second volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, John Rodrigues (aka "Control") is the Southern Reach's newly appointed head. Working with a distrustful but desperate team, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, Control begins to penetrate the secrets of Area X.
After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.
Enter John Rodrigues, a "fixer" whose assignment as the new head of the Southern Reach is his last chance to salvage his professional reputation. But nothing can prepare him for what he encounters at this once robust, now dilapidated facility staffed by a skeleton crew.
After thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X—a seemingly malevolent landscape surrounded by an invisible border—has been a series of expeditions overseen by a government agency so secret it has almost been forgotten: the Southern Reach. Following the tumultuous twelfth expedition chronicled in Annihilation, the agency is in complete disarray.
Enter John Rodrigues, a "fixer" whose assignment as the new head of the Southern Reach is his last chance to salvage his professional reputation. But nothing can prepare him for what he encounters at this once robust, now dilapidated facility staffed by a skeleton crew.
I think the disappointment is people expected answers to what is up with Area X.
I love both books. After getting a first person exploration of Area X, getting a first person experience of the Southern Reach (which is just as bonkers as Area X) makes sense. And I love how both X and Reach are labyrinthine and confusing in different and similar ways, and both subjects experiencing hypnosis to make things even more disorienting.
posted by miss-lapin at 3:01 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
I love both books. After getting a first person exploration of Area X, getting a first person experience of the Southern Reach (which is just as bonkers as Area X) makes sense. And I love how both X and Reach are labyrinthine and confusing in different and similar ways, and both subjects experiencing hypnosis to make things even more disorienting.
posted by miss-lapin at 3:01 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]
I think Acceptance is great, too. The 3 books work together so well that I'm a little nervous about Absolution, the 4th, expected next month according to Wikipedia's Southern Reach page. In fact, Amazon's entry shows Absolution: The Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 4 🙄 and I'll read it as soon as I can, hoping that every uncertainty isn't resolved or at least that new uncertainties arise. On the other hand, maybe I'll wait 🤔 until I have a chance to read the 1st 3 again, get them fresh in my mind so that flipping around among the plot threads will be easier 🫠
posted by kingless at 4:25 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
posted by kingless at 4:25 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
Oh, I didn't know there was a fourth coming.
I enjoyed the trilogy, and while I appreciate the books when taken as a whole, and perhaps felt the most emotional connection with the third, Authority is the one that stands out in my mind.
I found its depiction of bureaucracy's inability to deal with an out of context problem quite apt and compelling, thus chilling.
posted by audi alteram partem at 5:21 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
I enjoyed the trilogy, and while I appreciate the books when taken as a whole, and perhaps felt the most emotional connection with the third, Authority is the one that stands out in my mind.
I found its depiction of bureaucracy's inability to deal with an out of context problem quite apt and compelling, thus chilling.
posted by audi alteram partem at 5:21 PM on September 9 [2 favorites]
I haven't read this in ages, but if my memory serves I liked Authority the most of the three. Knowing that a fourth is coming out might have me go back and re-read. Nice!
posted by Literaryhero at 8:29 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
posted by Literaryhero at 8:29 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
It's actually because of Absolution that I'm rereading the Southern Reach series.
posted by miss-lapin at 9:14 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
posted by miss-lapin at 9:14 PM on September 9 [1 favorite]
huh. I really liked Annihilation, and I agree that Authority is fascinating as a sort of mirror and echo. I liked the characters and the sort of character of the Reach itself but I felt less compelled somehow by this book than the first.
sadly I did not even finish Acceptance. It just didn't grab me. I didn't know there was a 4th book due, perhaps I will revisit...
posted by supermedusa at 10:44 AM on September 10 [2 favorites]
sadly I did not even finish Acceptance. It just didn't grab me. I didn't know there was a 4th book due, perhaps I will revisit...
posted by supermedusa at 10:44 AM on September 10 [2 favorites]
Poor John Rodrigues, he wanted so badly to be in a Le Carre novel.
This novel concisely accomplished what I think Game of Thrones was aiming for: a story of people so focused on fighting for their fiefdoms and jurisdictions and alliances and pet theories and pettiness that they miss what's coming their way.
And when the Director finally does return to the Southern Reach, it's glorious.
I enjoyed the contradictions and the lack of answers in the trilogy, and I'm looking forward to the new book, which I suspect will also explain very little.
posted by mersen at 4:03 PM on September 10 [4 favorites]
This novel concisely accomplished what I think Game of Thrones was aiming for: a story of people so focused on fighting for their fiefdoms and jurisdictions and alliances and pet theories and pettiness that they miss what's coming their way.
And when the Director finally does return to the Southern Reach, it's glorious.
I enjoyed the contradictions and the lack of answers in the trilogy, and I'm looking forward to the new book, which I suspect will also explain very little.
posted by mersen at 4:03 PM on September 10 [4 favorites]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
posted by kyrademon at 2:40 PM on September 9 [3 favorites]