Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #13 April 2015 | Page 68

is never less than brilliant). It is, again, a re-examination of the same events of the previous two books with
a deepening and broadening of our perception of what
happened and what is happening.
There is much in here that will take some pondering,
there is a lingering unease and a sense of wonder and
awe. Being able to read all three in the year of publication, across the year, devoured as soon as they
arrived and waiting with bated breath for the next,
has been an experience. Sharing that experience with
a book club has only made it better. On this side of
reading the series I am satisfied and yet want to explore more. Content with the experience and the world
of the books and yet want to dive back in. This is a
towering achievement and one that deserves a wide
readership. I won’t cover the plot (why change now?)
but suffice to say that as we follow the various narrators we get a variety of perspectives on Area X. Having heard the author talk about the books, and gained
a little insight from various interviews I am sure that
these books will spawn a “guide to Area X” and the
next time I read them I’ll be keeping notes.
To dip back into wine (since terroir is of importance
to these books) Acceptance is the long finish revealing
the complexity of the robust first notes and the palate
pleasing middle notes leaving you thirsty for another
draught of the same.
Overall – If you’ve read Annihilation and authority
there is no
need for me
to tell you to
read this book.
If you’ve not
read them then
I heartily recommend the
entire series
and this entirely satisfying
conclusion.
All three
books have
now been col-

PAGE 68

lected into a Southern Reach Trilogy
So since I really enjoyed these books and thought the
writing was amazing I was very pleased to see that Mr
VanderMeer had written a “How to write book”
Jeff Vandermeer knows a few
things about writing fiction,
especially fantasy fiction and
has decided to share it via this
stunning book with artwork by
Jeremy Zerfoss. First of all this
is a gorgeous book, lovingly
illustrated and great for those
who learn in a visual way (some
pics from the book can be seen
here http://bit.ly/1wGO9uy) in
addition it’s stuffed full of great writing advice. In addition to that addition it is has some really cool writing
exercises and as if that wasn’t enough it has a whole
gaggle of essays by other authors who each drop in
bombs of inspiration and wisdom. There’s a website to
go with the book too. I read this from cover to cover
without meaning to, it really should be used throughout a writing project constantly referred to, re-read
and revised. I will be doing that for sure. I think I’ll
be referencing this book a lot. The deconstruction of
the first page of Finch (by Jeff VanderMeer) was worth
buying this book for by itself!
Overall – stunning & useful, what a great book!
Pete Sutton has a not so secret lair in the wilds of
Fishponds, Bristol, UK and dreams up stories, many
of which are about magpies. He’s had stuff published,
online and in book form, and currently has a pile of
words that one day may possibly be a novel. He wrote
all about Fishponds for the Naked Guide to Bristol.
You can find him all over social media or worrying
about events he’s organised at the Bristol Festival of
Literature. On Twitter he’s @suttope and his Bristol
Book Blog is here: http://brsbkblog.blogspot.co.uk/
and his website here http://petewsutton.com/ . He’s
contributing editor of Far Horizons e-magazine which
can be found here: https://www.joomag.com/en/newsstand/far-horizons-tales-of-sci-fi-fantasy-and-horror/
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