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(ARC picked up at Bookcon 2017!)
I knew this book was going to be amazing when I read the first 20 pages, but I didn't realize HOW amazing. It's not just some silly sci-fi story, it feels real and like a prediction from the future. All the science in this and all the feelings and beautiful characterization made this book a true joy to read and I'm already anticipating my next run through. Thanks for all your hard work on this novel, I can't wait til it's release!!!
I knew this book was going to be amazing when I read the first 20 pages, but I didn't realize HOW amazing. It's not just some silly sci-fi story, it feels real and like a prediction from the future. All the science in this and all the feelings and beautiful characterization made this book a true joy to read and I'm already anticipating my next run through. Thanks for all your hard work on this novel, I can't wait til it's release!!!
OKAY, OKAY, WHERE TO START?
UHH SPOILERS, BY THE WAY.
Now, I know I say this a lot, but Satellite is a truly beautiful book.
The writing style may not be for everyone, but I think it really adds to the uniqueness and oddness of this story. Its plot is like nothing I’ve ever seen, and trust me, I’ve read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi. But boy oh boy the best part of this is probably the characters. ThE cHaRaCtErS! They’re all so distinct and distinguishable but also complex, layered and believable. Their relationships are so raw and natural and I love it.
(This review is a mess, like me after reading this book that emotionally wrecked me.)
Damn I forgot what I was going to say.
Everything is so poetic? I love it so much. Like this example:
And this one:
AlSo they’re all named after constellations!!! My space aesthetic is satisfied.
Leo’s emotions are so tangible through the prose. I felt his wonder at coming back to Earth, I felt his pain when. I felt his frustration, his happiness, his peace. It was a wonderful experience reading this book, and I would not hesitate to read it again. Please, please, please, do yourself a favour and read this book.
Thank you, and good night.
(Uhh I was writing this review and the news was talking about these Japanese astronauts launching into space from the Russian base in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station. What a coincidence.)
(ALso also, I swear this is the last thing, but they did not and thANK gOd for that.)
Okay bye read it now
UHH SPOILERS, BY THE WAY.
Now, I know I say this a lot, but Satellite is a truly beautiful book.
The writing style may not be for everyone, but I think it really adds to the uniqueness and oddness of this story. Its plot is like nothing I’ve ever seen, and trust me, I’ve read a lot of fantasy and sci-fi. But boy oh boy the best part of this is probably the characters. ThE cHaRaCtErS! They’re all so distinct and distinguishable but also complex, layered and believable. Their relationships are so raw and natural and I love it.
(This review is a mess, like me after reading this book that emotionally wrecked me.)
Damn I forgot what I was going to say.
Everything is so poetic? I love it so much. Like this example:
i love, like the moon loves the earth.
And this one:
sharp cymbals and timpani, the vibration of stings, the hum of the woodwinds & the metallic sheen of the brass flow around & thru me & they sound like the stars might sound if u could hear them, all of them, all the billions & billions of them, singing their song & if this is how it makes me feel i don’t know what Orion is thinking.
AlSo they’re all named after constellations!!! My space aesthetic is satisfied.
Leo’s emotions are so tangible through the prose. I felt his wonder at coming back to Earth, I felt his pain when
Spoiler
Orion diedThank you, and good night.
(Uhh I was writing this review and the news was talking about these Japanese astronauts launching into space from the Russian base in Kazakhstan to the International Space Station. What a coincidence.)
(ALso also, I swear this is the last thing, but they did not
Spoiler
kill the dog! I repeat, they did not kill the dog,Okay bye read it now
I almost put this down immediately after picking it up because of the text-speak writing style. "i" and "u" and "c" and more ampersands then I ever needed to see in my life. And my first instinct was oh no and then I don't know if I can do this.
So I went to check the reviews. I found quite a few people saying the same thing--they'd DNF'd it because they couldn't handle the writing style. But then there were some 4 and 5 star reviews saying once they got passed that, it was a really excellent book.
Okay, I thought. I'll give it 100 pages. And I did. And by then I'd mostly tuned out the writing style and the story wasn't horrible, so I figured I'd keep going.
And in the end, this is a perfectly mediocre book. It was fine. There were some interesting ideas in here, but nothing Lake did with them wowed me. The back section of the book requires so much suspension of disbelief it became ridiculous. Like a parody of itself. And the use of text-speak stylized writing is 100% completely unnecessary. It adds absolutely nothing to the book. And honestly, drags the narrative down. It's dumb and gimmicky and the story would've been better off without it.
Which is all a damn shame, because ugh that cover is so beautiful. But honestly, I probably wouldn't bother with this one.
So I went to check the reviews. I found quite a few people saying the same thing--they'd DNF'd it because they couldn't handle the writing style. But then there were some 4 and 5 star reviews saying once they got passed that, it was a really excellent book.
Okay, I thought. I'll give it 100 pages. And I did. And by then I'd mostly tuned out the writing style and the story wasn't horrible, so I figured I'd keep going.
And in the end, this is a perfectly mediocre book. It was fine. There were some interesting ideas in here, but nothing Lake did with them wowed me. The back section of the book requires so much suspension of disbelief it became ridiculous. Like a parody of itself. And the use of text-speak stylized writing is 100% completely unnecessary. It adds absolutely nothing to the book. And honestly, drags the narrative down. It's dumb and gimmicky and the story would've been better off without it.
Which is all a damn shame, because ugh that cover is so beautiful. But honestly, I probably wouldn't bother with this one.
This review was originally posted on Bookish Things & More
I enjoyed being in this story. It was told in a way that you experience everything with Leo. You feel what he's feeling. I liked seeing him experience everything we take for granted for the first time. I'm looking forward to more from this author.
5 reasons to read Satellite
I enjoyed being in this story. It was told in a way that you experience everything with Leo. You feel what he's feeling. I liked seeing him experience everything we take for granted for the first time. I'm looking forward to more from this author.
2.5
Whoever compared this to The Martian needs to reread The Martian because WHAT YOU READING??? This doesn't even come close to that.
Extremely slow moving plot, and predictable storyline.
Whoever compared this to The Martian needs to reread The Martian because WHAT YOU READING??? This doesn't even come close to that.
Extremely slow moving plot, and predictable storyline.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The only home that Leo has ever known is on a space station. He, along with twins Orion and Libra, were born on the Moon 2 space station. Now, fifteen years later, Leo doesn’t just have to look down at Earth and imagine what it would be like to live there. The day that the three teens will be going back down to Earth is quickly approaching, and there are so many different feelings about what this might entail. Leo has always struggled with his strained relationship with his mother. For the most part, there is no relationship, at least not in the convential sense. He really doesn’t see her often, and when he does, she doesn’t treat him like what he imagines a mother son relationship should be. Leo’s real support system comes from his grandfather, and this is who he will be staying with when he lands on Earth.
There are so many different variables that go into the teen’s arrival back on Earth. For one, none of them know what gravity will feel like, and even more importantly, how it’ll affect their bodies. Not only that, but things are Earth are in dire straights. Humans have completely wreaked havoc on Earth, leaving it on the brink of being inhabitable. What will Leo’s future look like once he’s landed?
It did not take me long once I started reading Satellite to remember what Nick Lake does not like to use any punctuation marks or capitalizations. I also quickly remembered how distracting I found it to be when I read one of his other books. I liked this book, but found it a little torturous to read at times because of Lake’s writing style. Overall, I enjoyed the twists and turns that Lake created; learning about his mother’s story, the thought of a teen coming to Earth for the first time, it all seemed so great from the outside. However, the route that Lake took left me feeling a little ripped off. I really was hoping for a story that explored Leo coming back to Earth and his transition to normal life. That was not the case in the end. Overall, I recommend this book for teens that enjoy light science fiction.
The only home that Leo has ever known is on a space station. He, along with twins Orion and Libra, were born on the Moon 2 space station. Now, fifteen years later, Leo doesn’t just have to look down at Earth and imagine what it would be like to live there. The day that the three teens will be going back down to Earth is quickly approaching, and there are so many different feelings about what this might entail. Leo has always struggled with his strained relationship with his mother. For the most part, there is no relationship, at least not in the convential sense. He really doesn’t see her often, and when he does, she doesn’t treat him like what he imagines a mother son relationship should be. Leo’s real support system comes from his grandfather, and this is who he will be staying with when he lands on Earth.
There are so many different variables that go into the teen’s arrival back on Earth. For one, none of them know what gravity will feel like, and even more importantly, how it’ll affect their bodies. Not only that, but things are Earth are in dire straights. Humans have completely wreaked havoc on Earth, leaving it on the brink of being inhabitable. What will Leo’s future look like once he’s landed?
It did not take me long once I started reading Satellite to remember what Nick Lake does not like to use any punctuation marks or capitalizations. I also quickly remembered how distracting I found it to be when I read one of his other books. I liked this book, but found it a little torturous to read at times because of Lake’s writing style. Overall, I enjoyed the twists and turns that Lake created; learning about his mother’s story, the thought of a teen coming to Earth for the first time, it all seemed so great from the outside. However, the route that Lake took left me feeling a little ripped off. I really was hoping for a story that explored Leo coming back to Earth and his transition to normal life. That was not the case in the end. Overall, I recommend this book for teens that enjoy light science fiction.
Leo has never lived on Earth. He's spent almost sixteen years exclusively on Moon 2, a space station that orbits the planet. Born on Moon 2, Leo and twins Orion and Libra, were told they had to wait until their bodies were deemed strong enough to return to Earth. And that day has finally come.
Leo looks forward to everything. Gravity, air on his face, the sun... And though Earth has always been referred to as home, it's not a place Leo, Orion, or Libra has ever belonged to. From the start, their trip isn't what they expected and now they have to try to navigate - and survive - against impossible odds.
Nick Lake's latest is a bit like The Martian for teens. A bit.
We meet Leo and the others just shy of Leo's 16th birthday. He and the twins have been raised on a space station. All three were born there, unplanned, and unable to return unless and until their bodies are strong enough. And because of the effects of space travel on the body, they each only see their mothers for brief periods. So they've been raised by a rotating staff of Moon 2 scientists.
Leo loves space. He wants to be an astronaut. But he does want to see and experience Earth as well. So his trip home is one that he's been anticipating for quite some time. And yet, it's understandable that when he arrives the reality of this planet is not what he expected.
What's more, there are hints throughout that maybe life on Earth isn't all that great at the moment.
Set in the near future, Earth is experiencing drought and other problems. Nasa has been privatized and enveloped within a larger company. And then of course there's the fact that even though Leo and the others have trained for their Earth trip, they've never even faced gravity before much less everything else the planet has to throw at them.
Satellite takes a bit of getting used to. Leo narrates and his voice is clear from the beginning, including his penchant for not using capitalization and speaking almost Twitter like rather than fully spelling out everything. It's jarring at first, but I found I was quickly sucked in. And once I was, boy was Satellite fun!
There are elements that reminded me a lot of The Martian, but there were elements too that reminded me a bit of Jonathan Maberry's Mars One as well. I mean, they're all set in space... but Satellite definitely stands on its own and makes for a fantastic sci fi read. Sci fi for a non sci fi reader, as the book's actual editor puts it. And it's absolutely appropriate!
Leo looks forward to everything. Gravity, air on his face, the sun... And though Earth has always been referred to as home, it's not a place Leo, Orion, or Libra has ever belonged to. From the start, their trip isn't what they expected and now they have to try to navigate - and survive - against impossible odds.
Nick Lake's latest is a bit like The Martian for teens. A bit.
We meet Leo and the others just shy of Leo's 16th birthday. He and the twins have been raised on a space station. All three were born there, unplanned, and unable to return unless and until their bodies are strong enough. And because of the effects of space travel on the body, they each only see their mothers for brief periods. So they've been raised by a rotating staff of Moon 2 scientists.
Leo loves space. He wants to be an astronaut. But he does want to see and experience Earth as well. So his trip home is one that he's been anticipating for quite some time. And yet, it's understandable that when he arrives the reality of this planet is not what he expected.
What's more, there are hints throughout that maybe life on Earth isn't all that great at the moment.
Set in the near future, Earth is experiencing drought and other problems. Nasa has been privatized and enveloped within a larger company. And then of course there's the fact that even though Leo and the others have trained for their Earth trip, they've never even faced gravity before much less everything else the planet has to throw at them.
Satellite takes a bit of getting used to. Leo narrates and his voice is clear from the beginning, including his penchant for not using capitalization and speaking almost Twitter like rather than fully spelling out everything. It's jarring at first, but I found I was quickly sucked in. And once I was, boy was Satellite fun!
There are elements that reminded me a lot of The Martian, but there were elements too that reminded me a bit of Jonathan Maberry's Mars One as well. I mean, they're all set in space... but Satellite definitely stands on its own and makes for a fantastic sci fi read. Sci fi for a non sci fi reader, as the book's actual editor puts it. And it's absolutely appropriate!
in honour of this book's writing style, i am going to write in all lowercase for this review. satellite isn't your typical sci-fi. it's slow and very character-focused, and a lot more scientific than i was expecting; a lot of the actual science stuff went over my head. but it was good. it reminded me of a sort of reverse gravity, in fact.
satellite focuses on three teenagers - libra, orion, and the narrator leo, who were born in space and their quest to go back down to earth. as far as i could tell it was set in the near future, which was really interesting, but since it was so character-focused there really wasn't too much worldbuilding - just enough to get you situated, but it kept you fully focused on the characters. the characterization was really wonderful for almost everyone, especially leo. i really liked his character, and his personality, and he had a really strong voice - though that may be in part the writing style.
lake did a really good job of setting the tone, too - it was so wistful and nostalgic and soft, and there's a lot of waiting around but it really goes with the book. it might have been slow, but it wasn't boring.
now: the writing style. i know that a lot of people hated it, and it does take a bit to get into. my critique isn't that it was written in lowercase and text-speak, it's that it wasn't cohesive enough to sound authentic. proper nouns like names were capitalized, but "i" wasn't; abbreviations like "c" and "u're" felt clunky, because they're just ... not used. for me, who spends a lot of the time writing in lowercase, thinking in lowercase and internet vernacular - it just felt weird. and i couldn't figure out why it was written like that - though it did set the tone for the book from the start as one that was going to be softer than most sci-fi we think of.
satellite is a beautiful book. even if you're not a fan of sci-fi you might like this because it's so character driven that the sci-fi aspect isnt overwhelming.
satellite focuses on three teenagers - libra, orion, and the narrator leo, who were born in space and their quest to go back down to earth. as far as i could tell it was set in the near future, which was really interesting, but since it was so character-focused there really wasn't too much worldbuilding - just enough to get you situated, but it kept you fully focused on the characters. the characterization was really wonderful for almost everyone, especially leo. i really liked his character, and his personality, and he had a really strong voice - though that may be in part the writing style.
lake did a really good job of setting the tone, too - it was so wistful and nostalgic and soft, and there's a lot of waiting around but it really goes with the book. it might have been slow, but it wasn't boring.
now: the writing style. i know that a lot of people hated it, and it does take a bit to get into. my critique isn't that it was written in lowercase and text-speak, it's that it wasn't cohesive enough to sound authentic. proper nouns like names were capitalized, but "i" wasn't; abbreviations like "c" and "u're" felt clunky, because they're just ... not used. for me, who spends a lot of the time writing in lowercase, thinking in lowercase and internet vernacular - it just felt weird. and i couldn't figure out why it was written like that - though it did set the tone for the book from the start as one that was going to be softer than most sci-fi we think of.
satellite is a beautiful book. even if you're not a fan of sci-fi you might like this because it's so character driven that the sci-fi aspect isnt overwhelming.
this was the most sensory book I have ever read and I found it really interesting the way that earth was described; from gravity and the feeling of constantly being pulled down, seasons, sky, ground, tastes, sights and textures.
Also the dog; it was great
Also the dog; it was great
This books reminds me of the time I first saw mountains and burst into tears. Awesome, in the oldest sense of the word.