Absolution with Jeff VanderMeer at Mr B’s Emporium

Jeff VanderMeer presents and discusses the fourth volume in the Southern Reach Trilogy. The trilogy was first published a decade ago and became a cult classic.

Despite its huge success, there was never full closure to the story of Area X. There were a few mysteries that had gone unsolved, some key points of view never aired. There were stories left to tell. There remained questions about who had been complicit in creating the conditions for Area X to take hold; the story of the first mission into the Forgotten Coast—before Area X was called Area X—had never been fully told; and what if someone had foreseen the world after Acceptance? How crazy would they seem? Structured in three parts, each recounting a new expedition, there are some long-awaited answers here, but also more questions, and some new surprises.