Authority (by Jeff VanderMeer)

It took me a bit to get to the second book in the Southern Reach trilogy; you may remember I read Annihilation in March. This book shifts perspective from an explorer in Area X (known only as the biologist) to a member of the organization that sends people into Area X. He goes by Control, but we know his name; it's John.

Control's experience in Southern Reach is an extension of whatever bizarre force governs Area X, and the biologist (also known as Ghost Bird) is being interrogated to discover what she knows or remembers about their journey.

I had heard that we get frustratingly few answers in Authority, but honestly that expectation helped me to enjoy it -- I felt like I got plenty of answers, even if the central mystery (who or what is Area X) is more opaque than ever. And does it ever end on an action-packed cliffhanger! Totally not what I was expecting, but I'm in.

I downloaded Acceptance and started reading it at the gym this morning. More "pleasurable ookiness," shifting narrators (so far I've read chapters from Ghost Bird and two figures who are central to the first two novels but we haven't really "met" before) and I will go into it not expecting any answers at all. That probably means it will exceed my expectations.