Review of 'Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
A biological horror/science fiction story written in very rich prose somewhat reminiscent of Bradbury. It's hard to say exactly what the story is. There is extensive light and dark imagery and there is a deep underlying theme of deception that is reflected both in human behavior and in Area X itself as an entity. I suspect that the various life forms that form the descriptive background of the novels are in contrast to this, or perhaps merely innocent bystanders . A parasitism/transformation image reminds me a little of the Aliens movies. Disturbing and frightening, and like other works of this quality, I will have to think about it. The author may be a biologist himself, although I see no mention of this in his website or elsewhere; I previously thought he must be a mycologist after reading a mushroom noir novel he wrote (Finch). I plan to look at some …
A biological horror/science fiction story written in very rich prose somewhat reminiscent of Bradbury. It's hard to say exactly what the story is. There is extensive light and dark imagery and there is a deep underlying theme of deception that is reflected both in human behavior and in Area X itself as an entity. I suspect that the various life forms that form the descriptive background of the novels are in contrast to this, or perhaps merely innocent bystanders . A parasitism/transformation image reminds me a little of the Aliens movies. Disturbing and frightening, and like other works of this quality, I will have to think about it. The author may be a biologist himself, although I see no mention of this in his website or elsewhere; I previously thought he must be a mycologist after reading a mushroom noir novel he wrote (Finch). I plan to look at some of the books mentioned in his postscript especially "The Coming Insurrection" and "The Seasons of Apalachicola Bay".
