Annihilation

The Southern Reach Trilogy is a series of novels set in an organization called "Southern Reach" that is a secret government agency. They send people into the wilderness to explore and map Area X, which has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. The first expedition was sent in 1976 and they were amazed by all they found in Area X. They reported back to Southern Reach with these observations. The second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the third expedition returned as shadows of their former selves. All had died of cancer within weeks. Our main character went on the twelfth expedition with four fellow women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission was to map the terrain and make observations about Area X itself. All four women were trained to make notes about everything they observed and remember…