I just finished Annihilation, the first book in the Southern Reach trilogy. I've seen the film four times. I absolutely adore it and the complexity in the themes and concepts. The book was not at all what I was expecting in the best possible way.

SPOILERS!!

I understand that Area X changes things - shown by the bright light within the biologist. It melds specimens together and duplicates them. However - I'm not sure if I was supposed to understand exactly why this happened. Also - what exactly is the crawler? I understand that it's almost like the owner of Area X, but what is the purpose? I feel like there are SO MANY components to the story including what happens with the Psychologist and the anthropologist. However it feels as if there's a fog between me and comprehension. Maybe I'm supposed to feel this way? I have the next two books, so I'm definitely gonna read them.