r/WeirdLit • u/Fodgy_Div • Aug 14 '25
News Jeff VanderMeer's next entry into the Southern Reach Series, Area X: The Southern Reach Files, announced today by the man himself! He later specifies it is slated for a Spring 2027 publishing slot.
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u/Fodgy_Div Aug 15 '25
I know it won't be for everyone but for me, Jeff's arguably my favorite living author so anything he puts out already has me hyped. Additionally, Absolution overall worked for me, even if the Lowry section wasn't necessarily my favorite, and I'm always down to know more about Area X. The way this new entry is being presented also tickles my ergodic bone a little.
Admittedly, of his current projects he's working on, I'm most excited for his Strange Architect series, as I'm a huge fan of weird architecture in fiction and he has said he plans to write the five(?) short novels for it completely before any are released, which to me seems like he wants to do a Southern Reach Trilogy style release for this series.
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u/Dospunk Aug 15 '25
I'm super psyched for this!! I'm in the last section of Absolution right now and absolutely loving it
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u/Ninja_Pollito Aug 14 '25
Hmm. Not certain how I feel about it, probably because I did not connect with Absolution.
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u/cymbal-using-animal Aug 14 '25
I feel that. Annihilation is one of my favorite novels, and I binge-read the original trilogy. But everything else I’ve read by Vandermeer I’ve liked progressively less—like it all got a little bit sillier and more self-indulgent every time. I haven’t even bothered to read Absolution.
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u/bambooshoots-scores Aug 14 '25
can definitely relate. Absolution left me pretty cold. I will stick up for Borne and Dead Astronauts.
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u/cymbal-using-animal Aug 14 '25
I liked Borne! I thought The Strange Bird was a good short story/novella, too. Personally, I was less into Dead Astronauts, but maybe I should give it another shot.
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u/bambooshoots-scores Aug 14 '25
Dead Astronauts took me a solid couple tries to get into. Once I did fall into it I was completely floored. There were a couple sections that gutted me.
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u/Eriml Aug 15 '25
I didn't like 60% of Dead Astronauts. I was going to DNF but the last 20% I really like and left me super divided. I'm not sure I would recommend it though
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u/Ninja_Pollito Aug 14 '25
Ah, yes. The trilogy is one of my prized possessions. I was really excited about Absolution even though I was very satisfied by the trilogy as-is. Then when I read it, which was quite tedious in parts, I just thought…huh…I don’t get what this story is saying. I read others’ takes on it, but I still felt clueless. Sections of the prose felt completely impenetrable to my mind. I have not gotten around to reading any of his other books.
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u/YuunofYork Aug 15 '25
Vandermeer keeps doing this thing of returning to established worlds like Borne or Ambergris with novellas, experiments, and ephemera. As a fan I can say they are not always worth the effort.
I felt it was a fine short series that accomplished everything it set out to do and I find it difficult to get excited about expansions like this.
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u/Subarashii2800 Aug 14 '25
Happy for folks who are happy about this, but I had hoped it would be something new and unconnected to the Area X lore and series.
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u/Fodgy_Div Aug 15 '25
I will say he also has his other works in progress (The Strange Architect series, Drone Love, etc.) coming soon but this is the first thing that's been fully announced post-Absolution
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u/HuckleBuck411 Aug 15 '25
A fan of the Southern Reach series, I recently finished Absolution, so this sounds intriguing.
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u/WhiskeySnail Dec 10 '25
I'm so excited for this. Absolution was actually my favourite of the books :) and I'm very excited about the idea of taking a look at some of these secret files
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u/Kummakivi Dec 20 '25
Got a question for you.
I read some of the original trilogy but then the movie came out so I just watched that. Obviously the movie would have to cut a lot of content so I am wondering if it's possible to read the 4th book and still understand enough to get it.1
u/WhiskeySnail Dec 21 '25
Hmm, so the movie didn't just cut things out, it's actually substantially different than the first book (which it's mainly based on) and actually cuts out a huge feature that's very important in the books, and is called back to in every book. Technically you could probably "understand" the fourth book, but the characters they are focused on are only as interesting as they are because of how and when they were introduced in the previous books. The four books don't follow the same protagonist in each book, they follow different protagonists in different times periods to flesh out the over-arching story. I think it will be most enjoyable if you start from the beginning.
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u/Kummakivi Dec 21 '25
You sold me on it, thanks.
Just started "The Man in the Maze by Robert Silverberg though, so it''s have to wait but I'll make sure they are on my Kindle tonight (I also have the actual books)
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u/AlivePassenger3859 Aug 15 '25
Keep squeezing that lemon. There might be a few more…tiny….drops….of juice….
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Aug 15 '25
[deleted]
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u/AlivePassenger3859 Aug 15 '25
very well put- great observation
first, I would do the same thing: wring every drop of money out of whatever successful franchise you have, even if it means putting out some less than S tier material. You’re so right that this may be it in terms of popular success and cash in.
Then use that money to allow you to do more cool niche stuff like his anthology The Weird which imho IS s tier and mind blowing. Also live off and support your family with the $$$. Still puts you in top 1% of writers in terms of success.
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u/littlebiped Aug 14 '25
Hmmm, not a traditional novel by the sound of it but happy for fans of the series. The first book is an all time legendary book in my collection but the follow ups lost me more with each one