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  • Authority

  • The Southern Reach Trilogy, Book 2
  • Written by: Jeff VanderMeer
  • Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
  • Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (162 ratings)

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Authority cover art

Authority

Written by: Jeff VanderMeer
Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
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Publisher's Summary

The bone-chilling, hair-raising second installment of the Southern Reach Trilogy.

For 30 years, a secret agency called the Southern Reach has monitored expeditions into Area X - a remote place with lush terrain that is mysteriously sequestered from civilization. After the twelfth expedition, the Southern Reach is in disarray, and John Rodriguez (a.k.a. "Control") is the team's newly appointed head. From a series of interrogations, a cache of hidden notes, and more than 200 hours of profoundly troubling video footage, the secrets of Area X begin to reveal themselves - and what they expose pushes Control to confront disturbing truths about both himself and the agency he's promised to serve.

©2014 Jeff VanderMeer (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

What listeners say about Authority

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

wonderful weird

it is not for most people but I really loved it! It only starts to make real sence the second time through the series. will likely be even better when I come back for round 3.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonder Book. Amazing Performance.

I thoroughly enjoy all Vandermeer and this experience amplified it so much by the incredible performance.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Weird, paranoid, engrossing.

Took me a bit to get into the groove of this book, it starts slow but once it’s going it doesn’t stop.

Very different from Annihilation, but it’s not a bad thing in my opinion.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A very disturbing yet familiar setting

Working for the government in the lowest levels the bureaucratic layers are so perfectly fitting yet with the disturbing foresight of knowing what’s going to happen, it just added layers. I really liked it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Narrator perfect but the story...

This story, although well written, did not need a whole book. This should have been a novella. 90% of the story happens in some bureaucratic purgatory, an office investigation, power plays and a nothing burger that extends almost until the end of the book where after all the bureaucracy we had to endure, ends on a cliff hanger. Robbing us from the reward we feel entitled to after wondering the endless halls of the Backrooms and trying to keep your focus on the story that just doesn't move.
That being said, there's an underlying, very compelling mystery, something from the Mount of madness that made me get through this so I can finally move to the third part of the trilogy.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Very different from the first book

I absolutely loved the first book in the series so I was a little disappointed when the sequel was a lot slower paced, and focused on a character that I was a lot less invested in. I'm still completely enthralled by the concept and horrific aspects of these books, but this one was a bit more of a grind for sure. Still clever and creepy, but very little actually happens outside of the protagonists head. I still recommend it and can't wait to listen to the 3rd one though. the last few chapters are crazy

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting sequel

Story wise, this second book of the trilogy is quite different from the first but just enough similar too keep you in. I personally was less into the "spy" and "secret service" storyline and there are parts where my interest wane. But the scify/surnatural mystery was weaved in just enough that I kept going.

As a lot middle of three-book series, it feels more a a bridge between the other and end abruptly. so it's tough to judge on its own.

The reading performance is great and set the mood. There are certain parts where it get monotone but it's mainly because the story hit a long passage.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

awful book trilogy

the first book showed promise and i persevered through the second very boring book but by the time i finished the 3rd, no answers were provided. the story stops unfinished and provides 0 closure. you have no idea about the fates of the characters or the world which amounted to the time i invested into the trilogy being an absolute waste. 0 out of 5, don't waste your time.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great!

I loved the first book in the series and I loved this one as well. The narrator was a great choice for this novel.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

I’ll have to give this another read

This is the first time I’m reading (listening) to authority and from what I can recall from others is that you have to read this again to fully understand what is going on. My mind throughout the novel felt all over the place because of how slow paced it felt when control is interviewing the so called “biologist” from the first book. They say there’s a lot of deeper things in this when you give it a second go so I’m going to wait a while before I do that. As a first experience, it’s slow for sure and like the first of the series it picks up near the end when you discover more of the border.

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