Absolutely the best book in the trilogy (soon to be quadrilogy apparently)! "Acceptance" is this amazing blend of existential horror, examinations of obsession and self-doubt, and exploring the idea of things so beyond our comprehension that communication between us and them/it becomes impossible. ( )

The Southern Reach trilogy concludes much as it started, with creepy mystery and much unspoken. This final installment brings together the narrators of the first two books and provides multiple points of view in the first, second, and third person. Although I was intrigued by these new points of view, this fragmentation of the narrative somewhat undermined for me a critical reason that the first two books were so unsettling. In each case, the narrator was somewhat unreliable and the reader had no means of establishing to what extent. Moreover, a single point of view on the dangerous and bizarre mystery of Area X created a sense of claustrophobia. The creepiness of this series very much rests of what you don't know and cannot really guess, rather than what actually unfolds. In this book, there is a greater sense of plot and less slow establishment of atmosphere. To be fair, the previous two volumes already did much of that atmospheric work, [b:Annihilation|17934530|Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)|Jeff VanderMeer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403941587s/17934530.jpg|24946895] showing us Area X and [b:Authority|18077769|Authority (Southern Reach, #2)|Jeff VanderMeer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403941730s/18077769.jpg|25384114] introducing Southern Reach. Here, the reader flits between both at various times.

I am ambivalent about whether 'Acceptance' hit the correct balance between revealing and concealing the nature of Area X and the fate of those involved with it. On the one hand, as I said, uncertainly was powerful in the previous books. On the other, I was of course deeply curious about what the hell was going on. Perhaps there was no way for these two impulses to be reconciled. Overall, I enjoyed reading 'Acceptance' on the train and found it a satisfactory end to the trilogy. I give it three stars, though, as it did not move me as much as I'd hoped. [b:Annihilation|17934530|Annihilation (Southern Reach, #1)|Jeff VanderMeer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403941587s/17934530.jpg|24946895] was more visceral and shocking, [b:Authority|18077769|Authority (Southern Reach, #2)|Jeff VanderMeer|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403941730s/18077769.jpg|25384114] more portentous. Within 'Acceptance', there were certain elements that I appreciated far more than others. Saul's perspective was not of great interest to me, whereas Control's adventures being dragged about by pragmatic women were great. I must say, a wonderful feature of this trilogy is the range of excellent female characters. The Director and the Biologist/Ghost Bird are fascinating. There were also some brilliant discrete scenes - Whitby washing the mouse springs to mind.

The Southern Reach Trilogy has prompted me to think about how mysterious a mystery must remain in order to be both intriguing and satisfying. I'm not sure that the right balance was struck here. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the spatial-encroachment-of-otherness horror and the weird details. ( )

Not sure why I bothered finishing this series, considering what a slog book 2 was. I had people telling me 3 was better, but really, only minimally. Book 1 with the biologist was at least intriguing & she was the only character I found the least sympathetic in the whole darn thing. 2 stars just to be polite. ( )

I think I liked this the most of the three. It got in my head and made me feel slightly crazy, like maybe my world isn't quite real. Still, I was left unsatisfied. It's not that I want more pages per se, but more something I can't quite put my finger on ( )

It was aliens! Oh heck, no point hiding that. It was aliens. A very postmodern approach to an alien approach: we humans can't possibly communicate with it/them or comprehend its/their nature. Completely futile to try. Furthermore, Stephen Hawking was right: if aliens find us, it's not likely to be in order to make friends and is likely to turn out rather badly for us.

Given that humans can't understand or communicate with an alien entity, then, no surprise that much in the books is left vague and unexplained at the conclusion of the trilogy. Some things are known. Area X seems to have been physically relocated to some other coordinates in the universe, with unknown means of transit between it and Earth through the border, and unknown what lies in its corresponding coordinates back on Earth. It appears to have been interconnected with other places in the universe, again by unknown means of transit. The intelligence behind the transformation and expansion of Area X may have been artificial, built by an extinct race, and somehow attracted to Earth through the powerful lens of the lighthouse beacon.

And then Control seems to have shut it down by throwing himself into its essence. Jammed up the gears with his molecules. Seems unlikely, but there you go. Before he managed that though, Area X had expanded suddenly and perhaps greatly (catastrophically?) out of its previous borders, and two survivors strike out to find what if anything remains of humanity out there.

It was a trilogy of promise, which set up some good mysteries and atmosphere, and had a modified trendy hypothesis about alien contact at its center. Often it was not greatly written and characterization tended towards the poor. A mixed bag. It has been optioned by a movie studio, which is interesting... if a potential film can keep those good parts, and fix the bad parts, it might have something. ( )