Tag: Southern Reach

Book Review – Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer

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Acceptance is a 2014 science fiction horror novel by Jeff VanderMeer and the third novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. With the Southern Reach having fallen and the fate of the world unknown after Area X started to expand, Control and Ghost Bird embark upon their own expedition into this anomalous landscape in the hopes of reaching a remote island that they believe may hold the answers they seek. For Control, it’s the secrets behind Area X and how to stop it from expanding; for Ghost Bird, it is the fate of the biologist from the twelfth expedition, of whom she is a copy, in the hopes of gaining closure and a better understanding of who she is separate from her progenitor.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – December 18, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

Thief of TimeWith all of the reading time afforded to me at the moment with my new schedule, I decided to really go for it and started reading Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, the next Discworld book that I need to read and the final in the “Death” subseries. It’s a little bittersweet to know that this will be the last one, I think for the first time during my read through of this series, but it’s been a long time coming too. So far, I’m enjoying it quite a book at about 160 pages in; in typical fashion it still feels like things are ramping up, though the stakes are fairly clear at this point. Once again an Igor is playing a supporting role, so apparently Pratchett really loves the idea of these characters, though I find reading their accents a little tiresome at times. Another small character from a previous book, Lu-Tze, has returned in a major role here. I love how seamlessly he brings characters back around like this.

Recently Finished

AcceptanceLast week I finished reading Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer, the third and final book in what used to be the Southern Reach trilogy. Skimming some of the reviews on Goodreads, I was surprised to see a fair amount of ambivalence and negativity about this book, as I personally loved it as a conclusion to the series. It provided enough information that I don’t feel like I was strung along grasping at comprehension, but it continued to be just so weird and nebulous that it preserved a sense of something ineffable going on. Though I’m very intrigued about what the newest novel, Absolution, could be about, I would be very satisfied if this was indeed the final word on this series. I think this is the first time I’ve finished a novel series in a year (I did not anticipate a new release, so I don’t count it). I’m hoping I can maybe turn this into a personal trend, at least occasionally. Better sometimes than never.

Reading Next

With things starting to ramp up and get busier with the holidays, I probably won’t try to read anything more than A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll; it’s irrational, but I hate the idea of starting a book at the end of the year and continuing it into the next.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – December 11, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

AcceptanceMy new work schedule is actually allowing me to get a good amount of reading done on a regular basis, so I’m well on my way to finishing Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer, the third novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. This is a nice change of pace after I took a little too long reading Authority. I know I mentioned this a little last week, but I really like how much this novel is providing clarity and revelation about Area X while still leaving me feeling like I don’t fully understand the why of everything that’s happening. A particular theme in this novel (perhaps the whole trilogy but emphasized here) is the limitations of human subjectivity and how that hinders its ability to understand something truly alien. It seems like further, deeper explanations are still forthcoming in the 100 or so pages I have left, and I hope I’m still happy with where it leaves me.

Recently Finished

Over the Garden Wall Tome of the UnknownLast week I read through Over the Garden Wall: Tome of the Unknown by Pat McHale and Jim Campbell, which was simply a delightful read. I’ve read some tie-in comic books to cartoons I like before, and I have always found them to be a little spotty. I expected this to be a little more throwaway, with its chapters containing random stories of little consequence to the series, and while that is somewhat true in that you don’t need to read this at all to have a fulfilling experience with the show, it does serve as a wonderful companion to the series, structuring each chapter in such a way that they actually fit between episodes and complement some of the character development we see in the show.

Reading Next

A Guest in the HouseI’m thinking I have to seriously consider another book to read, as I think I may finish Acceptance well ahead of the end of the month, and I’m not going to abstain from reading just because I finished something faster than I expected to. While I’m making up my mind about that, however, there are some graphic novels I want to read, namely A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll, a comic I wish very much that I’d taken the time to read during Halloween instead of the mediocre fare I did end up reading. A consolation to getting to it this late is that it should make for a fine Christmas ghost story, a tradition I’ve been meaning to embrace but never really have beyond enjoying adaptations of A Christmas Carol.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – December 4, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

AcceptanceThis week I’ve started reading Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer, the third novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. I’m a good 100 pages or so in now, and I’m really enjoying how, once again, this novel is bringing a marked shift in how the narrative is told. While the first was epistolary from a single perspective and the second a more conventional, singular third-person one, this novel is presenting us with a number of different perspectives at significantly different points in time, all pertinent to Area X. What I especially like about this is how it is mixing things up, since things felt a little stagnant at times when solely from Control’s POV in the last book. Revelations have been a slow burn, and already I feel like I’m coming to understand things a little more, but it’s also still profoundly weird, raising yet more questions.

Recently Finished

Godzilla and Godzilla Raids AgainOver the weekend I finally finished reading Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again by Shigeru Kayama. This book took me a little longer to read than I would’ve liked, but this month has been busier with work, so I’m trying not to give myself too hard of a time with it. Overall, I enjoyed this reading experience very much, though some things clicked into place when the Afterword confirmed me that it was indeed written for a younger audience, as it definitely reads that way, with mixed results sometimes. Speaking of the Afterword, it actually really tied the whole reading experience together for me. While I may not have been in love with it purely as a novelization of those films, the book is a wonderful cultural artifact, and the background context given by the Afterword really helped to highlight the significance of these novellas and what went into their inception, endearing me to the whole package a lot more.

Reading Next

Over the Garden Wall Tome of the UnknownI’m determined to finish Acceptance this month above all else, so I’m not setting my mind on other concrete reading plans; I don’t want to set anymore lofty reading goals with the end of the year so close at hand. That being said, I’ve recently borrowed Over the Garden Wall: Tome of the Unknown by Pat McHale and Jim Campbell from the library. Though I was quite late to seeing the show, I’ve taken up the tradition of watching it every Halloween season since I first watched it. Naturally, when I saw this on the shelf, I wanted to read this too, so I should be getting to it pretty soon.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

Book Review – Authority by Jeff VanderMeer

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Authority

Authority is a 2014 science fiction horror novel by Jeff VanderMeer and the second novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. Following the disastrous 12th expedition into Area X, the Southern Reach (the organization in charge of containing and researching Area X) is in complete disarray. Members of the last expedition have returned under mysterious circumstances, the same as the 11th, except for the psychologist, who was also the Southern Reach’s director. Now, despite being an outsider, John Rodriguez (aka “Control”) must take the helm as acting director. Through a series of interrogations, briefings with staff, and reviews of disturbing videos and other documentation, Control must uncover the secrets of Area X and try to salvage the institution’s handling of it, something he soon realizes is deteriorating faster than anybody is willing to admit.Read More »

WWW Wednesday – September 4, 2024

Ryan2 Comments
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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

The TruthIt’s feeling rather late in the year for this considering I used to try to read one every quarter, but I’ve finally started the next Discworld novel I need to get to: The Truth. I’m expecting this one to feel a little refreshing because it’s been a long time since I’ve read one that wasn’t a part of a subseries like the Witches or the City Watch. This follows a similar yet more open-ended structure to some of the previous ones, about the world being effected by the arrival of a new innovation in some way. This book sees a machine printing press coming to the city of Ankh-Morpork and with it widespread print media. This would have a profound effect anywhere, so I’m really curious about what will unfold in this unique setting. I’m only 30 pages or so in so far, but I’m hoping I can get a lot more done soon.

Stung with Love Poems and FragmentsI also started reading Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments by Sappho, a book collecting all of the surviving poems and fragments by the well-known Greek poet. I’ve only read a section on poems about Goddesses so far, as there was actually a good deal of front matter to this book giving more context to what we know about Sappho as a figure. I found this most interesting as a look into just how fragmentary surviving art and history can be. There are plenty of references to her work and skill as a great poet throughout histoyr, but comparatively little of her actual work has survived up to now. It’s surreal to see ancient Roman sources cited, who would’ve had direct access to her work, and having to base our understanding of it off of theirs. I don’t know how quickly I’ll finish this, it’s not very long, but I likely won’t give full updates like this each week if my progress is slow.

Recently Finished

AuthorityLast week I finally finished reading Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy. Things finally came to a head in the story in the final chapters, and in true Southern Reach fashion I had only a vague understanding of what was really going on, except for a few certainties that were quite apparent. I really liked that a prevailing feeling I had throughout the book without a single explicit indicator to it was made to be right. I know it’s a 10-year-old book, but I don’t want to ruin it for anybody who may be interested, so I’m being vague myself. Despite the fact that I had trouble finding good momentum with reading this book, I did really enjoy it, and I’m happy with how it concluded. I’m wondering if Acceptance will hold any real, concrete answers or if I should resign myself to being in the dark about a lot of it, even at the very end.

Reading Next

I’ve not decided anything that I want to read next with certainty, but with October just around the corner I am starting to consider what horror books I think I can get through. My reading speed has been a little stunted this year, which is really bothering me, so I’m worried I won’t be able to do more than one average-sized novel. We shall see.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – August 21, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

AuthorityEnded up taking a weird hiatus these past few weeks, as I’ve ended up not posting a single thing since July 31st. Initially, I just skipped the first Wednesday of August because I wanted more to show for it, but now I’ve nearly missed three in a row. In this time I’ve read a fair amount, though regrettably I’m still making my way through Authority by Jeff VanderMeer. Partly, this is because I decided to shift my focus other places; I still think I can get this book done before the end of the month. However, I am finding the book a little too slow, despite the fact that I do in fact like it a lot. Some things are unraveling and being revealed at the point in the story I’m at, but I still feel a little at a loss as to what it’s all building toward and what’s at stake. There are also some narrative devices that I’m not 100% sold on, but I think I can come around on them. We’ll see. I’m being vague because I don’t want to spoil things too much, even though this book is 10 years old now.

Recently Finished

Jim Henson Storyteller FairiesI’ve actually finished quite a lot in the intervening time, which I’m happy about, most of them being comics. They’re library books rather than from my personal backlog, so I’m sorry to say I still haven’t gotten to some of those, but I’m still pleased with the results anyway. Over the past few weeks I’ve read two more volumes from the Jim Henson’s The Storyteller series of anthologies: Fairies and Sirens. I really liked the Fairies volume, the writers have a greater wealth of folklore from around the world to pull from, as you can be very broad when considering something as related to fairies. Sirens, on the other hand, was a bit weaker. The stories were just not as interesting, though not poorly illustrated or written, and as a theme it just felt a little more tenuous. One of them is about a goddess from China that’s half snake, which barely counts, while none of them include sirens from actual Greek mythology.

Dead MountainWhat I mainly shifted my focus toward was getting Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar done in time to get it back to the library, as somebody else had put a hold on it. I don’t know if I’ll be reviewing this one, but I will say here that I really loved this book. I have trouble with nonfiction sometimes, but Eichar did a really great job presenting this story and tying it together with his own experiences before bringing it all together with a satisfying theory about what actually happened on that mountain that fateful night that resulted in nine hikers fleeing the safety of their tent into the freezing dead of night, leading to their deaths from exposure. Where before my familiarity with this mystery was based on a lot of hearsay and sensationalism, I’ve come away from this book with a much deeper understanding of what took place leading up to the incident, the aftermath, and a likely explanation of what could actually have happened. Highly recommend this one to lovers of nonfiction.

Reading Next

Stung with Love Poems and FragmentsI’m still going to be working away at Authority for the next couple of weeks, but I’ve also taken a new book out of the library: Stung with Love: Poems and Fragments by Sappho. As I understand it, the book collects translations of all the surviving work of the Greek poet Sappho. I try to push myself to read poetry from time to time, and while I’ve bristled a little with modern stuff, I’ve always wanted to give her work a closer look, so I was happy to discover that the library has a volume that can satisfy that curiosity. I’ve got a number of novels in mind that I want to read next, but I haven’t settled on one yet. There’s a number I still want to read this year that I’m realizing I likely won’t get to, which is disappointing. So it goes.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – July 24, 2024

Ryan1 Comment
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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

AuthorityI’m still plodding along with Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy, though I haven’t read as much as I feel I should’ve in the intervening two weeks. Still, at exactly 100 pages into it I’m both puzzled and continue to be intrigued. The tone of this novel, despite having a very different narrative approach and setting, is a little dreamlike in a way that I can’t quite put my finger on. In many respects, Control’s point of view helps ground the reader, yet the situation at the Southern Reach is just so odd. Nobody can confidently quantify or understand much of anything about Area X, yet they persist as an institution, albeit a waning one, and he’s met with such passive resistance, vague answers to his questions, and oddities in the old director’s office that it feels almost feverish.

Recently Finished

Marvel 1602Over the weekend I finally finished reading Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert, which took quite a bit longer than I expected it to. It’s clearly meant to be a larger project, so I’m not sure why I assumed it was the length of a regular trade paperback. This definitely isn’t a favourite among Gaiman’s work, but he did manage to make the characters really compelling in a rather unlikely setting. The main weakness I’d say this book has is that it is trying to include an awful lot of major characters at once, so it sometimes felt all over the place. I enjoyed those who were more fleshed out, but it felt like we couldn’t get in too deep with their own personal stories for the sake of the universe-shattering problem they must come together and solve. This overarching plot was fine, but everything else the characters had going on was actually a lot more interesting to me, so I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by the end. Sure, the universe was saved, but so much feels unresolved.

Reading Next

The Flintstones Vol 1I found some comics at the library that caught my eye, so it’s likely I’ll be reading them soon; I picked up The Flintstones volumes 1 and 2 by Mark Russell and Steve Pugh. These two volumes are part of DC’s Hanna-Barbera Beyond imprint that gives a more modern and adult interpretation to these classic cartoons. I’ve heard a lot of interesting things about these books, such as Fred and Wilma’s monogamy being controversial in their community, so I’m excited to get a closer look at what the overall story will be about. I’ve got another library book I’m tentatively planning to start reading too, but I want to hold off on any commitments to that right now, as I borrowed it somewhat impulsively.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

WWW Wednesday – July 10, 2024

Ryan5 Comments
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WWW Wednesday is a weekly book meme run by Sam over at Taking on a World of Words. Check out her post and others over on her blog!

The Three Ws are:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Currently Reading

AuthorityI’ve started a couple of new thing since last week. First up we have Authority by Jeff VanderMeer, the second novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. I’m pleased to learn that this novel’s narrative is different from Annihilation in a way that I anticipated; where that first book was actually a field journal, this one is told more traditionally, from the point of view of a new interim director at the Southern Reach. Though I’m not actually very far into it thus far, it has already been rather tantalizing, as 3 of the 4 members of the twelfth expedition have been found outside of Area X, including the biologist, the protagonist of the first book. Their true nature, however, remains to be seen. I’m enjoying this new perspective character too, and I’m looking forward to the greater insight his point of view will provide into the institution researching Area X.

Marvel 1602I also finally started reading Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman and Andy Kubert, a retelling of the Marvel universe set in the 17th century. I’m enjoying it well enough so far, though the couple of chapters I have read feel like they’re dealing more with setup, so the story doesn’t feel like its really gotten moving yet. Still, it’s a unique setting for these characters, and I’m enjoying the ways that Gaiman has interpreted them for this it, though I don’t believe I’ve met all the characters who will be making an appearance yet. The most surprising was Rohjaz, a towering Native American who is inexplicably white of skin and blue-eyed, which the story explains through contact with Welsh traders before Columbus “discovered” the continent. It took me embarrassingly long to realize this is supposed to be Steve Rogers; though it feels a little odd, I appreciate that Gaiman made him firmly American rather than a European colonist.

Recently Finished

Nothing this week.

Reading Next

This is Where We Talk Things OutI’m pretty focused on what I’m in the middle of right now, so I haven’t made any big decisions about what I want to be reading next, though I do feel it should probably be a Discworld novel. As a shorter outing, however, I have been thinking about reading the novella This is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau, a horror story that I’ve heard can be read in a sitting or two. I should make an effort with shorter prose too, so perhaps I’ll be reading this sometime soon. Otherwise, I really need to keep thinking about what comics to read next.

Until next time, thank you for reading! Feel free to share your own post down below.

Book Review – Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

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Annihilation

Annihilation is a 2014 science fiction horror novel by Jeff VanderMeer and the first novel in the Southern Reach trilogy. Area X, a once lightly populated region, has been under quarantine for decades for unknown reasons, long since reclaimed by nature. There have been 11 expeditions into the region, most of them meeting bizarre and violent ends. The last expedition had all of its members return home under mysterious circumstances, mere husks of their former selves, before all succumbing to aggressive cancer. Now, the 12th expedition is underway, made up of four women including our narrator, the biologist, whose husband was part of the 11th expedition. They struggle to comprehend the phenomena they uncover in this hostile yet strangely captivating environment, the trust between them slowly eroding.Read More »