Slate called the trilogy one of 'the most uncompromising - yet most rewarding - genre series', while author Stephen King called it 'creepy and fascinating'. The series was positively received by critics. The strategy helped the trilogy's second and third books reach the New York Times Best Seller list and established VanderMeer as 'one of the most forward-thinking authors of the decade'. The trilogy was released in quick succession over an 8-month period in what has been called an innovative ' Netflix-inspired strategy'. Moreover, VanderMeer has cited a number of books as having an influence on Southern Reach such as The Other Side of the Mountain by Michel Bernanos. However, he has also said that dreams inspired such elements as the writing in the tower from Annihilation. VanderMeer has said that the main inspiration for Area X was a hike through St.

In the series, Southern Reach is a secret agency that manages expeditions into a place known as Area X, an uninhabited and abandoned coastal area of an unnamed country which nature is gradually reclaiming. In 2013, Paramount Pictures bought the movie rights for the series, and a film adaptation of Annihilation was made with Alex Garland as writer-director. The trilogy takes its name from the secret agency that is central to the plot. The Southern Reach Trilogy is a series of novels by the American author Jeff VanderMeer first published in 2014- Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance.

Authority by Jeff VanderMeer