What I’ve Been Reading Lately:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A book that wraps up the initial run of the Southern Reach Series. See, these three books were published over an eight-month period in 20141<\/a><\/sup>. A fourth book, Absolution<\/em>, was published in 2024. I’ll probably read it at some point, but I wanted to get the orig trig in first. Marinate on these three, the same way the rest of the world did. Plus, I got another Shirley Jackson-winning cosmic horror book on the schedule. Anyway, I keep inaccurately referring to this as the Southern Reach Trilogy, which I suppose I apologize for. Still, I’m treating this book as a wrap-up book. And how does it do as a wrapup book, Chris?<\/em> Well, let’s get into Acceptance<\/em> by Jeff VanderMeer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Acceptance<\/em> by Jeff VanderMeer:<\/strong> one of the most subtly scary lines in all of literature comes near the end of this book: \u201cwhy be afraid of what you could not prevent?\u201d Remember that at the heart of this series, something different<\/em> is threatening to take over the globe. In the movie adaptation, it\u2019s pretty straightforwardly aliens. Still, Area X is a remade version of our world, something new and radically unlike what we know. For all the political and spy maneuvering of the second book, we\u2019re shown here that it was somewhat pointless. Remember how in Game Of Thrones<\/em>, after all that political intrigue, it kinda boils down to Who Can Face Down White Walkers? There\u2019s an apocalypse at the center of the Southern Reach Series. Not Denzel-memorized-the-Bible-in-the-desert apocalypse, though. More like the \u201cnature is healing\u201d sentiment taken to militant lengths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have multiple narrators here, and time jumps. We\u2019re shown the present and the past, the lead-up to when and how Area X started. Do we get clear answers, like \u201cdefinitely alien microbes?\u201d No. I\u2019d be disappointed, though, if there was \u201ca grand unified theory,\u201d as one spy says is definitely never coming. The novel becomes incredibly scary as the end approaches, chapters becoming shorter, more urgent, and more fateful. The question at the heart of the novel is<\/em> terrifying, especially when you start thinking about geologic time. The world has<\/em> been remade, multiple times over. We’re currently in the midst of this planet’s sixth mass extinction. Did the planet care that the dinosaurs went extinct? Did the planet care when it rained for two million years straight<\/a>, then had volcanic eruptions for another eon after? Does the planet<\/em> care that humans are rendering it uninhabitable for life as we know it? No. The planet marches on. There are always survivors after an apocalypse. Things just look different<\/p>\n\n\n\n Should you read the Southern Reach series? It\u2019s dense, it\u2019s at times difficult. The books are around 250, 330, and 337 pages, but feel longer. You don\u2019t get a ton of answers, in a way that feels satisfying to me but might bother some. I found this trilogy incredibly rewarding. If it doesn\u2019t quite make me feel like writing, it absolutely inspires me to make my stuff scarier, more unsettling. Sci-fi fans will like it, and cosmic horror fans will like it. And hey, it\u2019s not a trilogy. I will probably read Absolution sometime next year, and will definitely seek out more Jeff VanderMeer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n LINKS!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Something to listen to while you browse? We lost D’Angelo this week. I know that’s awful news, and these links are also gonna be awful. At some point, I’ll get back to posting links to my friends’ poetry (so many people have published stuff lately!) and DeMar DeRozan highlight videos. But ICE is still terrorizing my home, the president is still treating the greatest city in the world like it’s somehow a threat to be beaten into submission. It doesn’t seem to be getting a ton of mainstream attention. Or, at least, I thought that this sort of Gestapo\/Klan action at the behest of the federal government would raise more alarm bells for people than it does. So anyway. I bet you’re a fan of Voodoo<\/em>, D’Angelo’s seminal second record with “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” on it. I hope you are also a fan of his third album, 2015’s Black Messiah<\/em>, which is absolutely hypnotizing and beautiful. Here’s a live version of “Charade,” one of my favorites. RIP to a legend. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lazyandentitled.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/IMG_6585-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n