an all female expedition into Area-X, a mysterious bordered land. 
 names are superfluous so members known by their speciality. 
 Apparently the 12th expedition, previous teams have dies or returned as pale imitations of their former selves 
 heavy on ideas, tower/tunnel with strange writing creature and living script, lighthouse with records of many more former expeditions, spore infecting and 'brightening' changing our lead character 
 very little is clear, and characters lightly sketched despite the amount of time in protaganist's head, reflecting on life, childhood, marriage and hinting at her motivations 
 initially frustrating, but ultimately enough intrigue to sustain