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Southern Zone Series

This series plunges readers into the enigmatic Southern Zone, an area sealed off by an invisible border following a mysterious event. Beyond this boundary lies a wild, transforming wilderness, as beautiful as it is unsettling. A clandestine organization sends expeditions to uncover its secrets, but none return unchanged. Dive into a suspenseful world of the unknown, exploring the alien landscapes and the depths of human consciousness.

Authority
Annihilation
Area X
Acceptance
Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy

Recommended Reading Order

  1. 1

    Annihilation

    • 195 pages
    • 7 hours of reading
    3.8(216178)Add rating

    Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach Trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition. The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself. They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

    Annihilation
  2. 2

    Authority

    3.6(75450)Add rating

    For thirty years, the only human engagement with Area X has taken the form of a series of expeditions monitored by a secret agency called the Southern Reach. After the disastrous twelfth expedition chronicled in 'Annihilation', the Southern Reach is in disarray, and John Rodriguez, aka 'Control, ' is the team's newly appointed head. From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the secrets of Area X begin to reveal themselves - and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he's promised to serve

    Authority
  3. 3

    Acceptance

    • 352 pages
    • 13 hours of reading
    3.7(57599)Add rating

    It is winter in Area X. A new team embarks across the border, on a mission to find a member of a previous expedition who may have been left behind. As they press deeper into the unknown, navigating new terrain and new challenges, the threat to the outside world becomes only more daunting.

    Acceptance

  • Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy

    4.0(74)Add rating

    'A contemporary masterpiece' Guardian ALL THREE VOLUMES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY SOUTHERN REACH TRILOGY - NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY ALEX GARLAND (EX MACHINA) AND STARRING NATALIE PORTMAN, OSCAR ISAAC, GINA RODRIGUEZ AND TESSA THOMPSON

    Area X: The Southern Reach Trilogy

  • Area X

    • 608 pages
    • 22 hours of reading
    3.9(8186)Add rating

    This single-volume hardcover edition compiles the three volumes of the Southern Reach Trilogy, originally published in 2014. The narrative begins with a remote and lush terrain known as Area X, which has been isolated for decades, allowing nature to reclaim human civilization. The first expedition reported a pristine landscape, while subsequent teams faced tragic fates: suicides, violent deaths, and aggressive cancers. The twelfth expedition consists of four women—a biologist, an anthropologist, a surveyor, and a psychologist—tasked with mapping the area and collecting specimens, all while avoiding contamination from Area X. They encounter a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that defy understanding, but the real surprises come from the secrets each member harbors. Following the disastrous twelfth expedition, the Southern Reach agency is in turmoil. In the second volume, John Rodriguez, known as "Control," becomes the new head and uncovers disturbing truths about Area X through interrogations, hidden notes, and troubling footage, forcing him to confront his own identity and the agency's purpose. The final volume sees a new team entering Area X in winter to locate a missing expedition member. As they delve deeper, the threats to the outside world grow, revealing that while some mysteries may be solved, the consequences remain profoundly unsettling.

    Area X