# The Southern Reach

*The Urth list — 2 messages, 2 voices, 21 Sep 2014*

<https://urth.darkrealm.vip/thread/urth/6675>

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### Antonin Scriabin
*21 Sep 2014, 15:50*

Just finished Acceptance. Anyone else finish the trilogy? What do you think?

Overall, I was satisfied. There were enough answers to make it worthwhile,
and enough unanswered / new questions to keep it intriguing well after
having finished.

There were some serious Lovecraftian themes towards the end as well, and
some stuff that reminded me of BOTNS and UOTNS.

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### Matthew Keeley
*21 Sep 2014, 23:07 · in reply to Antonin Scriabin*

I liked the series very much. I think the first and third books are the
best, but I admired all three volumes, and I suspect I would enjoy the
second volume more if I were to reread it.

Vandermeer has a real talent for the unnatural, but I've rarely encountered
a sf writer who is so good on nature in its quotidian and sublime aspects.
I think in a parallel universe, he's one of the most acclaimed nature
writers, a Peter Mathiessen or Annie Dillard.

And perhaps that talent for the quotidian carries over into the book's
ending: We don't see the puzzle put together, we don't even see all the
pieces, but don't we have that experience everyday? "Acceptance" isn't the
same as giving up.

-Matt

On Sun, Sep 21, 2014 at 11:50 AM, Antonin Scriabin <kierkegaurdian at gmail.com

> wrote:

> Just finished Acceptance. Anyone else finish the trilogy? What do you
> think?
> 
> Overall, I was satisfied. There were enough answers to make it worthwhile,
> and enough unanswered / new questions to keep it intriguing well after
> having finished.
> 
> There were some serious Lovecraftian themes towards the end as well, and
> some stuff that reminded me of BOTNS and UOTNS.
> 
> _______________________________________________

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