Book Lair discussion

Ana and I are starting a buddy read for this book. Please join us is you want to!

Hmm I just noticed the title of the book on GR, I had no idea it was part of a series O.o

I need coffee before I begin this. I must have reread that first line like 7 times. Loooong!

Looks like long chapters too, my kindle estimates over 40 minutes till the end of the first one.

I am only a couple pages in but enjoying it so far. Spooky atmosphere!

It's quite intriguing. Although aren't some of the sentences a bit convoluted? Same as for you, I had to re-read the first sentence several times before getting it.

Yeah... I guess that might be why the book is so short? Too much information in one sentence.
I prefer more structured books.
But yeah, it will require a lot of concentration and a sharp mind, none of which I have right now. Hopefully I will have a few moments tonight.

Just finished Chapter One.
I don't really know yet if I'm liking this book or not.

I find a few things irking. For example, I feel that the anthropologist should be an archaeologist based on what she is doing and the needs of the mission.
Basically, it's just a little bit off, but I can't really put my finger on it. But maybe that's the point?

Oh wow already huh?
I have only managed to read 6%. The story is just not gripping me much. I guess because there's a lot of tell and not enough show.

(view spoiler)[For some reason I don't trust that psychologist much. But looks like she will die soon. (hide spoiler)]

Same for me.

I also have a few speculations on her role and what is Area X, but I'd rather not tell now, it's more based on impressions than real facts.

Just finished chapter one. Things are finally getting interesting.
(view spoiler)[hah! I knew there was something off about that psychologist.
I hope the spores will have some other effect on the biologist.because if it is just to make her immune to suggestion that is awfully convenient.
I am beginning to see why this is classified as a dystopia. Obviously something fishy is going on.
I think from now on i willnalways be wondering what is real and what is not since even the composition of the tower was implemented. It seems pretty obvious to me that the so called hallucinations are actually awakenings from hypnotic suggestions.
I am getting a sort of Maze Runner feeling here. (hide spoiler)]

Finished chapter 2.

(view spoiler)[I really want to know what is going on in the Surveyer's head!!
Why do you figure all their equipment is so dated? (hide spoiler)]

Any idea why only women were chosen?

Finished 4.

(view spoiler)[I think it was on chapter 3 that the biologist mentioned her theories about the tower and more specifically the Crawler. I wish I could have understood what she was trying to say but they really made no sense to me.

Do you think the all female thing is because of the out of control sexuality that was mentioned at some point?

It was a shame that the Surveyor had to die like that. I wanted to see her reaction to what the Biologist discovered. (hide spoiler)]

No, I do not have any theories for now as why only women were chosen. But I am far less advanced than you are in the book.

But I guess that at least one good thing is that this way, we avoid any useless romances that tend to pop-up in most fiction and that tend to distract from the main story.

So true.

Whereabouts are you? I have not had a chance to start chapter 5 yet.

Sorry, I didn't have the chance to continue reading yet.
I have been nursing a massive hangover today (when my friends asked for just one drink yesterday evening, I didn't expect so many bottles of wines/shots of tequila to follow) and was in no state to read all day.

Hope you recover soon :)

Well, I finished it - with a lot more questions than answers, I might add. Makes sense since it is book 1 of a trilogy. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

I am still trying to wrap my mind around this.

(view spoiler)[So are we supposed to believe that the members of previous expeditions mutated and are still around Area X in other forms?
While their dopplegangers were somehow able to return home?
Did they really die of cancer or is Southern Reach still experimenting on them?
Ah, the questions... (hide spoiler)]

I just finished chapter 2, and I think I'm too scared to continue. Well, I am terrified, but also very curious.

(view spoiler)[There are several mysteries here. Clearly, the psychologist and the one who sent the expedition knows much more than what they are saying. Also, because of the hyposis, we can wonder how much of all we are told is true.
I think the nature of the tunnel is not the most important, since it was being hiden to the explorers. Which mean they could do their work without really knowing what it is. Well, when I say not important, of course it is, because otherwise it would not be hidden, but yet it is not the end goal. I think the end goal is more to discover what's inside.

Also, I think that the moan they hear every evening is the moan of the tunnel/tower/creature.

As for everything being outdated, I think it's a way to keep the people from the expedition to know too much about their environment and the secrets of Area X. The guys in charge clearly want to hide a lot of things, thus hypnosis, etc.

Interesting fact about hypnosis: you can't hypnose anyone into doing something they do not want to do/against their characters. You can only nudge them, help them go over their own limitations/fears/restrictions. At least from what I know of hypnosis.

So sending someone to one's own death should be impossible, unless that person has suicidal tendencies/tremedous curiosty for which they are ready to die for/other reasons they are not worried of dying.

So the story is interesting, but I am having quite a lot of issues about the exactitude of details and such technicalities. (hide spoiler)]

Finished chapter 3

(view spoiler)[My first theory, at the very beginning of my reading, was that Area X was not a physical space, but a mental space. Thus the use of hypnosis to explore it. And why previous explorers didn't have much memories when they come back. Maybe they were repressed/erased.

Now, I have another theory. Area X is a physical space, but with an "alien" invasion. I use alien by default. They might come from outer space, or the heart of the planet. Maybe it's just the natural evolution of some creatures.
This alien/creatures are mimicking human life. And for this, they are "absorbing it" to copy it. They are trees in the abandonned village on the way to the lighthouse that grows like humans, the Crawler is writting, the Tower is imitating a tower.

And that would explain why they do not sent any advanced things, in order not to give too technologically advanced items to the "intruder".

Also, maybe the introder is "stealing" the personalities of humans it get into contact with, and putting it back into its creations? That would explain why previous humans came back to the real world blank, with no clear memories. And maybe the botanist husband became/got into the dolphin, that's why she seems to recognize it?

And that's why some of the explorers get suicidal. Either it's a way of the creature to steal their mind when they die, or maybe they'd rather die than get "stolen" by Area X?

But I don't have a theory yet for why all member of this expedition were women. (hide spoiler)]

That's quite a lot of theories for now...

Melaslithos wrote: "I just finished chapter 2, and I think I'm too scared to continue. Well, I am terrified, but also very curious.

There are several mysteries here. Clearly, the psychologist and the one who sent the..."

Very interesting points! And yep, all the time I was thinking that (view spoiler)[about hypnosis, that you cannot force someone to do something against their will. (hide spoiler)]

How come you were that scared? O.o Reading late at night?

Melaslithos wrote: "Finished chapter 3

My first theory, at the very beginning of my reading, was that Area X was not a physical space, but a mental space. Thus the use of hypnosis to explore it. And why previous expl..."

Such great thoughts, I look forward to hearing the next!

Haha, yes, reading late at night. Never a good idea. It's not really that the story is scary, it's more that the atmoshpere is really anxiety provoking. When you are already stressed for a lot of other reasons, it's not really helping.

So, I finally finished the book. I don't really know what to think about it.

(view spoiler)[I can't help feeling frustrated because a lot of things went unanswered. I do understant that it's only the first episode of a trilogy, so we might get an answer later, but I am actually not that sure at all.

About the gender thing: 11th expedition was full male, 12th full female. Not a single explanation.

It's still not really clear what happened to the first expedition and why technology is forbidden. I guess it has something to do with the Creeper, apparently absorbing stuff (real stuff or only thoughts?) from its environment.

Also, the people that appeared back from the 11th expedition are apparently the dopplegangers. I guess they passed through the door at the end of the tunnel/tower. But why their psychiatrist was missing? What are they exactly, since the biologist husband and the linguist from his expedition where still apparently alive at the end? What happened to her husband?

It looks like people are really absorbed/transformed in Area X into parts of the environment. Why some die and some are absorbed/transformed? The psychologist of the 11th expedition became the moaning beast. Is that why he didn't get a doppleganger? Does it mean that the others didn't change into a wild animal/thing?

Apparently, it's possible to leave Area X through the tunnel, so how many things/contaminants/others left already and are in the outside world? (hide spoiler)]

I still have a lot of other questions, but I need to go now.

I'm still not really sure if I liked the book or not, but at least I recognized that the author made it gripping. Even if I'm not quite sure I liked it, I still want to read the following one, in order to try to get some answers. I hate unfinished business.

I fully understand. It looks like the second book won't even be addressing the events in this one but I could be wrong. Still, a lot of stuff went unanswered. I guess that contributes to the creepy factor but I would still prefer answers.

(view spoiler)[At some point they mentioned uncontrollable sexual desires, as well as a motive to why technology wasn't use which was, if I am not mistaken, the gruesome stuff that was recorded. They didn't want anyone to see what went on in Area X. Weak explanation, I know. They are an agency, they should want to know everything. And how those recordings made it outside was never clear to me because it seemed pretty obvious that those going in never come out, not counting dopplegangers.
And by the way, how come everyone's journals always ended up in the lighthouse if people kept dying along the way? Bah.

Oi, where did you get that the psychologist from 11th expedition became the moaning beast? I completely missed that!

I am pretty sure the Crawler makes copies out of everyone, regardless of whether they die or get absorbed as you put it. Main reason is because I think the dolphin might have been the biologist's husband (and his doppleganger made it back) and the wild boar had human eyes as well. I don't know. The whole thing felt like a metaphor or something. I am still not sure what was real and was smoke in my eyes.

And hmm I am not sure if it is possible to cross over through the tower... The biologist got a very bad feeling going there. I don't think she would be making it out in one piece. Maybe if hypnotized? We didn't even get an answer as to why they need to be hypnotized to get to Area X, what exactly happens when crossing the border.

Meh.

In the end, I was intrigued enough to want to read the next two books. But I doubt I will be spending money on them. The writing did put me off a bit and there were too many unfinished issues for me to feel content, even if it is book 1 in a trilogy.
And for some reason I just get this feeling that several of these unanswered questions will be left unanswered and we will just get the big picture explained. So yeah, I am curious but not enough to buy the other 2 books.
(hide spoiler)]

When do you figure you will be posting your review, Melas?
I remember you saying you'd probably be away again starting today.

Yes, I'm abroad again. I'll take some time this weekend to do it, but I've been rather busy these last few days.

Sorry, it took me quite a while, but my review is finally posted!

All very valid points and I completely agree with you. I guess the suspense made me bump the rating more than yours. It's like there's a really cool concept hiding behind all that. Maybe the other books would bring resolution, maybe not.

Exactly. But seeing how the other books seem to be a "different" story, I'm not sure they'll bring that much resolutions. I think some general mystery around area X might be lifted, but not the details of this mission.

Yeah, I am pretty sure the mission we read on the first one will be absolutely abandoned.