On the first read I didn't really get into this. It was because at the time the Control character introduced in Authority I found a bit jarring. That didn't happen on the second read of Authority, and as a result Acceptance went down beautifully as well. Now that this is a quadrilogy I will be in posession of book 4 very soon. The Southern Reach tri/quadrilogy means a lot to me and has become smooshed together with Roadside Picnic, Blue Lake and The KLF: Chaos, Magic and the Band that Burnt A Million Pounds in my general headcannon. This will probably result in tattoo(s) at some point.