Most of those who make it back return sporting a blank affect, their crucial journals left behind.

These attempts are feeble at best and disastrous at worst: Of the numerous expeditions dispatched into Area X, most have ended in the violent deaths or disappearances of all involved. It is at this portal that a mysterious government institution called “Central” has established Southern Reach, the base from which a variety of scientists and other operatives attempt to study Area X. The border does have one opening that allows humans to enter and (less frequently) leave. “You might hear a sudden croak and watch a night heron startle from a tree branch and, distracted, step on a poisonous snake, of which there were at least six varieties.” The unknown force that created Area X also surrounded it with a border that seems to disintegrate any object or creature that touches it. “In the forest near base camp one might encounter black bears or coyotes,” VanderMeer writes. Basically, OK, there’s this area of the United States-possibly Florida, but it’s unclear-called “the forgotten coast,” and about 30 years ago it was mysteriously taken over by an environment called “Area X,” described by many who visit it as “a pristine wilderness.” Area X retains a few vestiges of the human society that existed there before this transformative event-some bits and bobs of houses, and more importantly, a pretty pivotal lighthouse-but mostly it’s a teeming, pollution-free natural habitat. There’s really no way to give the Southern Reach pitch without sounding high, so I won’t try.

Southern reach books