Reviews with content warning for War - Sea of Tranquility

Contact meets Piranesi in this fascinating puzzle box of speculative science fiction. It's a joy to watch the layers revealed as it unfolds across different eras

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americattt's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

“I’ve had the opportunity to speak with a great many people about post apocalyptic literature. I’ve heard a great many theories about why there’s such an interest in the genre…Perhaps we believe on some level that if the world were to end and be remade, if some unthinkable catastrophe were to occur, then perhaps we may be remade too, perhaps into better, more heroic, more honorable people.”

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heymarykathryn's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Reading this during/at the end of a pandemic that's referenced within the text was a bit jarring. However, I think this is an eerily beautiful story about time and how our actions can impact someone else's life in ways that aren't always obvious at first

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I would give this book 10/5 if I could. It’s so beautifully written that “perfect” is the best way to describe it. This is science fiction that is so deeply based on reality that it is 100% believable. This could be our future. This might *need* to be our future. It was a little confusing at the start, because we spend only a little time with each character, but by the half way point I was enthralled. I loved how all the characters tied in together and the ending was *chef’s kiss*.

I will definitely be reading more of Emily St John Mandel.

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michaelmac316's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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stailysh1's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This book, to me, has a quiet and mysterious atmosphere. The feel drew me in and it was a quick read. I think it is a helpful read post-pandemic because although it often feels like the world is ending, this book reminds me that there will always be more life to come. It was reassuring and an interesting read that had me trying to unravel the mystery until the end.

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caryndi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

When I picked up this book, I didn't expect it to be so similar to Station Eleven. I thought the multiple-narrators, multiple-times thing was a device Mandel used to tell her pandemic story, specifically. I guess that is just how she writes, though, because this book was done the same way. It's not a bad style, but I was expecting a different approach given the uniqueness of that approach and the fact that this was a very different story.
The construction of the novel wasn't my main gripe, though. I cannot figure out the internal logic to this book.

We're introduced to an "anomaly" that takes place under a tree in Northwest Canada and an airship terminal in Kansas City (?) simultaneously, but also hundreds of years apart. We find out some time travelers from the future are investigating this anomaly, and the main investigator, Gaspary-Jacques, is warned not to change anything while traveling through time. However, he accidentally causes the glitch by being in the same place twice (sent back as a time traveler, he encounters and speaks to a version of himself who was stranded in time after interfering with the timeline).
However, this glitch existed prior to his decision to become a time traveler -- in other words, the changes he made were always going to be made before he decided to make them. But, in other instances of time travel, that is not true! The Time Institute (I think that's the name used) tracks its agents by looking at historical records before and then after their visits to other times to see if anything changed in the timeline. So, in my mind, this glitch should not have existed for them to investigate because it was a change made by Gaspary-Jacques. Maybe the idea is that since it was a "glitch" it could exist in that paradoxical way that time-travel actions do. I don't know. But my brain kept bouncing off the way things played out and because of that, I don't think the entire story holds together.

That doesn't take away from the fact that the book was very atmospheric and technically well-written. I thought it was interesting that one of the main characters was the writer of a book about a pandemic, and at least one noted plot point matched the way things happened in Station Eleven. Like a little Easter egg. And it's fun to put together the pieces you pick up from the different time settings as you read. But the way the story falls apart if I try to think about it too hard outweighs the technical proficiency, in my mind, which is why this book only gets 3 stars from me.

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pm_corbett's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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