Name: Acceptance
Rating: 3.698675496688742 (151 reviews)
ISBN: 9780374104115

Jeff VanderMeer

In the cold winter of Area X, a new team embarks across the border on a mission to find a member of a previous expedition; and as they press deeper into the unknown the threat to the outside world becomes even more daunting.

A Novel

Acceptance

I think this book and ultimately the series ends up smoke and mirrors. The ideas fall flat for me, plus his writing feels tedious and fretful. Wanted to like it more! I love the feel of the book, and I think he does a great job with Area X as a character. The series started strong for me with Annihilation, but sadly was on a downward trajectory from there. If you can get past the writing, the book still has some fun moments. They're just buried in some bluff and bluster.

Gabe Cortez

’A contemporary masterpiece’ Guardian THE THIRD VOLUME 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

Acceptance (The Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 3)

My favorite of the initial Area X trilogy and a somewhat satisfying end to this whole thing (though there is a fourth prequel book).

Everyone loves "Annihilation" but I wasn't a huge fan; I liked elements but found Vandermeer's writing a bit bland. I had enough of a good time with that brief book to press on to the second.

"Authority" was largely a lot of the same, both the good and bad, though now largely removed was the draw of Area X as it doesn't take place in it. I felt the same at the end of book two, perhaps slightly worse, as I did when I finished book one.

I figured why not press onto the third book? I already owned it.

The third book has five narrators, albeit one is brief, which is quite the departure from the established solo narrator. Vadermeer has said that he wanted no single character to know Area X's mysteries, but that we readers could grasp it through bits from everyone we see. Well, we're as close to that info-gathering tempo as possible in this book.

Not only is there more information, the way it is told to us is Vandermeer's best. His prose and word choice feels the most inspired here, the most frantic, stressing, and dreadful. This is a conclusion and he really made it 

 like one. Despite reading that all three books were done simultaneously, this one must have been written last and after some writing exercises. If Vandermeer's other works can feel like this book's highs, then consider me onboard to check out more of him.

You know by a certain point that it won't end in some narrative dump about how Area X came to be and what its plan is. By the end, if you really want to figure out a "true" narrative for the alien place, you likely need to go back, reread, piece things together, and perhaps use your intuition. I don't think I will reread them, but from what I can gather from just my single time through, I had a good time on this ride and found it rewarding in the end. I will read the fourth book as well.

I recommend "Acceptance", though this is a hard recommendation because I wasn't a huge fan of the first two books. This is an interesting sci-fi world to explore, and if you're a fan of the genre, I'd say it's worth checking out after all.

Evan

My favorite of the initial Area X trilogy and a somewhat satisfying end to this whole thing (though there is a fourth prequel book).

  

Everyone loves "Annihilation" but I wasn't a huge fan; I liked elements but found Vandermeer's writing a bit bland. I had enough of a good time with that brief book to press on to the second.

"Authority" was largely a lot of the same, both the good and bad, though now largely removed was the draw of Area X as it doesn't take place in it. I felt the same at the end of book two, perhaps slightly worse, as I did when I finished book one.

I figured why not press onto the third book? I already owned it.

  

The third book has five narrators, albeit one is brief, which is quite the departure from the established solo narrator. Vadermeer has said that he wanted no single character to know Area X's mysteries, but that we readers could grasp it through bits from everyone we see. Well, we're as close to that info-gathering tempo as possible in this book.

Not only is there more information, the way it is told to us is Vandermeer's best. His prose and word choice feels the most inspired here, the most frantic, stressing, and dreadful. This is a conclusion and he really made it feel like one. Despite reading that all three books were done simultaneously, this one must have been written last and after some writing exercises. If Vandermeer's other works can feel like this book's highs, then consider me onboard to check out more of him.

  

You know by a certain point that it won't end in some narrative dump about how Area X came to be and what its plan is. By the end, if you really want to figure out a "true" narrative for the alien place, you likely need to go back, reread, piece things together, and perhaps use your intuition. I don't think I will reread them, but from what I can gather from just my single time through, I had a good time on this ride and found it rewarding in the end. I will read the fourth book as well.

  

I recommend "Acceptance", though this is a hard recommendation because I wasn't a huge fan of the first two books. This is an interesting sci-fi world to explore, and if you're a fan of the genre, I'd say it's worth checking out after all.

I loved the first two books of the series, but this one lost me a bit, maybe because of the mixed narratives. Again, more questions than answers, but this time in a more frustrating way 😆

Karolina

Unexpectedly my favorite of the trilogy. I felt this one was surprisingly poetic…not fluffy pretty prose, but straightforward and simple, yet beautiful nonetheless. 

The story still holds true to the main characters’ emotions or lack thereof, which is something I really admire about this series and the way the author writes intellectual female characters. 

Even though much of the mystery of Area X came to light, it somehow led to more questions and hypotheses 😵‍💫🤔

Laura Walden

Unexpectedly my favorite of the trilogy. I felt this one was surprisingly poetic…not fluffy pretty prose, but straightforward and simple, yet beautiful nonetheless. 

The story still holds true to the main characters’ emotions or lack thereof, which is something I really admire about this series and the way the author writes intellectual female characters. 

Even though much of the mystery of Area X came to light, it somehow led to more questions and hypotheses 😵‍💫🤔

i know this book no longer concludes the southern reach series, but i am happy enough for it to be the end. no rush to absolution. the lighthouse keeper and the director sections are the more compelling ones, while i had no investment in control. not sure how to rate this, really. 

aisha

Anna 

** spoiler alert **
           závěrečný díl trilogie jižní zóna byl naštěstí milým překvapením. po druhém díle, který se odehrával ve své podstatě jen v kanceláři a v hospodě a já musela 300 stran poslouchat stížnosti vyhořelého detektiva, jsem se - docela pochopitelně - bála, že třetí díl bude stejně nudný, ne-li horší. díky bohu se ale hlavní postavy vrátily zpět do oblasti x a já jsem zas cítila stejnou hororovou atmosféru jako v prvním díle, který jsem si tak užila.
knížka byla vyprávěná z pohledu více hlavních postav, novinkou byl třeba strážce majáku. jakoby, ta atmosféra byla určitě úžasná a tajemná, celé to bylo takové zamotané a napínavé a člověk chtěl strašně moc zjistit, jak to vlastně bylo, ale... ve své podstatě jste se tam nic nového nedozvěděli. kniha skončila s poměrně otevřeným koncem a celé ty kapitoly z různých pohledů sice vyprávěly příběh, ale ten příběh nikam nesměřoval a skončil někde... uprostřed, nebo jak to říct.
nejzajímavější částí byl asi deník bioložky, to jsem si strašně užila a její zápisky mi hezky celou oblast x dokreslily, ale jinak.. no v podstatě mám pořád hodně otázek. 
knížce jsem nechala takto vysoký počet hlavně protože ten svět je prostě úžasně vymyšlený a originální a já to přečetla jedním dechem, ale jak jsem říkala, příběh skončil rozpracovaný a ponechaný svému osudu. 
vlastně jsem si teď vzpomněla, že měla vyjít čtvrtá kniha do série, ale autor ji ani nenapsal. tak to bude asi kvůli tomu a já se holt smířím s tím, že si oblast x nějak vysvětlím sama.
.
nechávám 4*/5*, série se mi vryla do paměti a myslím na ní ještě týdny po dočtení, kdy píšu tuhle recenzi. postavy byly dobře vykreslené a každá z nich ve mně něco zanechala. 
jen škoda, že se to pořádně neuzavřelo.

Ryan Mateyk

I want to keep this short but I'll start by saying this was a satisfying conclusion to this one-of-a-kind trilogy. I really did enjoy reading these novels, though they could be a bit tedious at times. I found this true with this book, especially Ghost Bird's narration. Vandermeer uses commas a bit excessively and it convoluted the narration for me. 

I really enjoyed the varying narrative perspectives in this book, especially the use of second person narration. I also really enjoyed the Lightkeeper's sections. There are still many unanswered questions, and even some new ideas that were introduced in this book were left as mysteries, but after three books, I've warmed to the fact that there is always going to mystery associated with Area X, for the characters and for the reader.

Last thing: I think I enjoyed this one of the most (or tied for first with Authority) of the trilogy because it seemed so much more human than the other books. We discovered traits and personalities that made the characters seem more real, versus the abstracts we'd been given previously.

Barış Yarsel

VanderMeer üretken bir yazar editör. hery yerde görünür olanlardan değil de, sürekli bir şeyler üreten cinsten. gençler için bilimkurgu fantezi edebiyat kampı da yapıyor birkaç yıldır.

bu üçlemesi, çorba gibi birçok konuyu gayet başarılı biçimde derli toplu, heyecanlı biçimde sunuyor. ekolojik felaketler, insanın doğayla, hayvanlarla ilişkisi, dünyadan soyutlanmış Bölge ile gizemli odalar, biyolojik fenomenler vs.

Dört kadından oluşan bir keşif ekibi, ki isimleri yerine mesleklerini biliriz, x bölgesi denilen ve tuhaf bir çevresel durumun olduğu bölgeyi araştırmaya gider. İlk kitapta bu keşif görevinin notlarını okuruz.

Ben üçlemeden çok ikincisini sevdim, Authority. Burada Kontrol isimli karakterin etrafında oldukça başarılı psikolojik gerilim örülmüş. keşfin yıllar sonrasına gidiyoruz. Anlatımdaki üslup tamamen değişiyor, bunu ayrıca sevdim.

Üçüncü kitap Acceptance’da üslup yine değişiyor. Üç farklı karakterin gözünden, anomaliyi bilimsel metotlarla çözmeye çalışan kurumu, bürokrasinin anlamlandıramadığı bir olay karşısında nasıl felce uğradığını okuyoruz.

Aynı zamanda bölgenin geçmişine gidiyor ve anomali öncesinde yaşananları öğreniyoruz. Kitap başarılı biçimde (ya da başarısız ?) bazı cevaplar verirken, havada bıraktığı konularla bölgeye bizim de kendimizce anlam katmamıza çalışmış gibi.

Lakin böylesi hikayelerde insan cevap istiyor, üzerime çözülmüş gizem at diyor. Ştrugatski biraderleri hatırlatan detaylar ve Lem benzerliği ise tuhaf, yazar bunları hiç okumadığını söylüyor. Bu da tuhaf:) Yazar anomalinin bir gün öncesini anlatan bir novella yazacak sanırım.

bir ekleme: bu üçleme Alfa Yayıncılık tarafından hızlıca çevrilip yayımlandı. Göz attığım kadarıyla da gayet iyi bir çeviri. Bu şartlarda hemen her kitabı yakalayıp çeviren yayıncılara da tebrikler. Mine Sarucan çevirisi.

Eitan Hershkovitz

Not as good as the second or first books. Very slow and boring. A lot of questions left unanswered. A lot of unnecessary background information that gives no additional supplement to the main story. The ending was kind of cool.

I could never expect the way it ended, I only wish there was more. 

Kimber Severance 

What a fun conclusion to this trilogy! I finished this yesterday and I have been sitting and thinking about it for the past 24 hours. 

Acceptance is an eerie and cerebral final act, we find out through multiple pov’s the birth of area x, the reason for area x and what happens within it. 

Overall this trilogy was such a fun read and left me still with questions and theories. I thoroughly enjoyed immersing into this atmospheric world and will still be thinking about it in the years to come. 

jaz ☁️

What a fun conclusion to this trilogy! I finished this yesterday and I have been sitting and thinking about it for the past 24 hours. 

Acceptance is an eerie and cerebral final act, we find out through multiple pov’s the birth of area x, the reason for area x and what happens within it. 

Overall this trilogy was such a fun read and left me still with questions and theories. I thoroughly enjoyed immersing into this atmospheric world and will still be thinking about it in the years to come. 

Dave | Storyphoria

I’ll save my thoughts on the series overall for their own discussion, but as a stand-alone I enjoyed Acceptance. It’s a thought provoking science fiction read that bucks the trend of having everything wrapped up with a nice little bow. VanderMeer makes you work for it some and I found myself going back to re-read sections not only for the story itself, but because I really enjoyed his choice of words at times. I can absolutely understand people feeling wholly unsatisfied with this book as the ending to the Southern Reach trilogy, however I appreciate a book(and a series) that leaves some meat on the bone for us to chew on after the final pages have been consumed.

If I had to boil this book down to just a few words or thoughts, it would be this. Acceptance was a chilling, low-fi/sci-fi full of atmospheric vibes and a world that is at once beautiful and brutally deadly. Nothing is given freely and you’ll feel like you earned those final pages by the time it’s over. It won’t be for everybody, it answers some, but not all, of your questions, but in the end it’s a beautiful look into a world where nature(of some variety) is simply trying to reclaim what has been lost to the tinkering of human-kind.

Hana 

Alfredo santos

This is the craziest trilogy I've ever read. 

This is because of several important points:

- The story is very superfluos and full of symbols, hidden meanings and a lot of semiotic stuff. 
- The prose is elegant, eloquent and absent. It's such a different way of writing, knowing that every word you read, is not going to mean anything, or going to mean a lot. Depends on your preference. This is so hard to describe so I recommend you go and read a bit for yourselves. 
- The overall meaning is to have an uncomprehended story. If that makes any sense. Words are not words, sometimes they are vessels, sometimes they mean something else entirely. 

So, either it's a master piece of uncomprehensible prose which fulfills it's exact purpose. And also leaves an open conclusion for suggestion mixed with perpetual entanglement, or it can be a crap story with a nice writing. Both opinions and conclusions are right for this trilogy.

It is winter in Area X, the mysterious wilderness that has defied explanation for thirty years, rebuffing expedition after expedition, refusing to reveal its secrets. As Area X expands, the agency tasked with investigating and overseeing it--the Southern Reach--has collapsed on itself in confusion. Now one last, desperate team crosses the border, determined to reach a remote island that may hold the answers they've been seeking. If they fail, the outer world is in peril. Meanwhile, Acceptance tunnels ever deeper into the circumstances surrounding the creation of Area X--what initiated this unnatural upheaval? Among the many who have tried, who has gotten close to understanding Area X--and who may have been corrupted by it? In this last installment of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, the mysteries of Area X may be solved, but their consequences and implications are no less profound--or terrifying.

Fraser Simons

A pretty satisfying finale, less horrific than the others in that the answers demystify things such that it strips away what was scary. I actually would have maybe even liked more mystery. It’s still somewhat unknowable but what is given hampers what works so well. But as usual there is a couple bends in the road and cool stuff going on. My favourite is still by far and away the first book, though. 

It would have been much more effective to me if the chapter switching between different character perspectives didn’t tread over old ground. Especially in the case of the psychiatrist. Been waiting to learn about her for the entire time but 3/4 of the story lands with a thud because all the really twisty stuff was revealed previously, plus it’s done from a perspective I hate: where the author addresses the reader as though they’re a character. It takes me out of the fiction, it doesn’t embed me further.

jiaqi kang

** spoiler alert **
           i really did miss the biologist's voice and was so happy when she came back for a while

Sheila

WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Maxie Froelicher

It takes a lot to make me cry, but this book did. This whole trilogy is gorgeous, the visuals stunning and (even though I still have so many questions!) I couldn’t ask for a better ending.

Acceptance A Novel

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