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ababbabby's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
very well constructed and i loved seeing the way all of the pieces came together, which i expected after reading and enjoying station eleven. definitely one i’ll be thinking about for a while.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Gun violence
starrysteph's review
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
I'm a little torn on this one. I enjoy stories about time travel – and I enjoy stories about time travel with lyrical, dream-like writing and complex questions. But some of the actual content fell flat.
We cross huge spans of time in this novel, but the writing style stays the same. I wanted more differentiation between the voices of characters in 1912 and 2020 and far into the future. I also felt that there was a lack of creativity or perhaps "realism" when we go far into the future. Why are things EXACTLY the same as they are in 2020? Yes, people live on the moon, but there isn't any nuance here.
I also felt some frustration at the recklessness and thoughtlessness of Gaspery's decisions. It's hard to explain without spoilers, but the choices he made and the shifting of timelines felt too simplistic and didn't make sense. And in general, I didn't find myself making deep emotional connections to any of the characters. (And there was some content around Olive as a writer of pandemic stories that felt like a clear self-insert and was a little silly.)
Overall, I enjoyed the concept. I enjoyed the weaving together of the stories (though it became a little cliche by the end). I enjoyed the writing style. But once I zoomed in and thought a bit more critically about the material, I found myself disappointed.
CW: chronic illness, confinement, death, colonisation, murder, gun violence, suicide, war, alcohol, pandemic, sexism
We cross huge spans of time in this novel, but the writing style stays the same. I wanted more differentiation between the voices of characters in 1912 and 2020 and far into the future. I also felt that there was a lack of creativity or perhaps "realism" when we go far into the future. Why are things EXACTLY the same as they are in 2020? Yes, people live on the moon, but there isn't any nuance here.
I also felt some frustration at the recklessness and thoughtlessness of Gaspery's decisions. It's hard to explain without spoilers, but the choices he made and the shifting of timelines felt too simplistic and didn't make sense. And in general, I didn't find myself making deep emotional connections to any of the characters. (And there was some content around Olive as a writer of pandemic stories that felt like a clear self-insert and was a little silly.)
Overall, I enjoyed the concept. I enjoyed the weaving together of the stories (though it became a little cliche by the end). I enjoyed the writing style. But once I zoomed in and thought a bit more critically about the material, I found myself disappointed.
CW: chronic illness, confinement, death, colonisation, murder, gun violence, suicide, war, alcohol, pandemic, sexism
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Medical content, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Car accident, Gun violence, Sexism, and Suicide
hmatt's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I have so many thoughts and feelings and notes on this novel that it's taken me two weeks to assemble them - and I won't even scratch the surface here. If I could give a book a 4.9 rating, I would, but that rating comes with the caveat that my enjoyment of this reading heavily relies on the novel's sly references to the author's previous works. I've heard from others who would rate it that highly without the caveat, though. And also I love most of what this author writes anyway, so. Basically, this is the closest reading I've ever voluntarily done on a piece of fiction. I could write so many book reports, guys.
Back to my obsession with what we might call the Emily St. John Mandel Literary Universe (the EMLU?). Earlier this year, I read Station Eleven (S11) for the third time and The Glass Hotel (TGH) for the second time. I've also read some of the author's earlier novels but, to my knowledge, they play less of a role in the interconnectivity of the EMLU. I would strongly recommend reading or re-reading these two novels before taking on SoT, though. Characters from S11 spill into TGH, and then characters from TGH spill into S11. There are also just so, so many (for lack of a better descriptor) Easter eggs in the latter two books, and all three explore many of the same themes. The most prominent of these is probably the author's continued exploration of the concept of, both literally and figuratively, moving between different "worlds", which is especially interesting in this book because of how that intersects with the literal time travel element and with the pandemic(s) in the story.
Oh yeah, this is totally pandemic fiction. But the EMLU was doing pandemic fiction before it was cool(/before this actual pandemic), okay? There are some really poignant observations about mid-/post-pandemic life that snuck their way in, and I'm all about it. The meta commentary doesn't stop there, though, because the author has basically inserted herself as a character into this book. Wait - don't leave - it's done well, I promise. Or at least I thought it was very clever, for being tragically obvious.
I don't really know how else to sell this book, so I'm going to put in some of my favourite quotes.
Back to my obsession with what we might call the Emily St. John Mandel Literary Universe (the EMLU?). Earlier this year, I read Station Eleven (S11) for the third time and The Glass Hotel (TGH) for the second time. I've also read some of the author's earlier novels but, to my knowledge, they play less of a role in the interconnectivity of the EMLU. I would strongly recommend reading or re-reading these two novels before taking on SoT, though. Characters from S11 spill into TGH, and then characters from TGH spill into S11. There are also just so, so many (for lack of a better descriptor) Easter eggs in the latter two books, and all three explore many of the same themes. The most prominent of these is probably the author's continued exploration of the concept of, both literally and figuratively, moving between different "worlds", which is especially interesting in this book because of how that intersects with the literal time travel element and with the pandemic(s) in the story.
Oh yeah, this is totally pandemic fiction. But the EMLU was doing pandemic fiction before it was cool(/before this actual pandemic), okay? There are some really poignant observations about mid-/post-pandemic life that snuck their way in, and I'm all about it. The meta commentary doesn't stop there, though, because the author has basically inserted herself as a character into this book. Wait - don't leave - it's done well, I promise. Or at least I thought it was very clever, for being tragically obvious.
I don't really know how else to sell this book, so I'm going to put in some of my favourite quotes.
"I guess just a sense of recognition, if that makes sense. I remember the first time I saw him, I looked at him and I knew he'd be important in my life."
What is time travel if not a security problem?
“An opportunity for what?” Olive asked. Even on Day 73, she still felt a little stunned. There was an element of incredulity—a pandemic? Seriously?—that hadn’t quite faded.
In lockdown, there was a new kind of travel, but that didn’t seem the right word. There was a new kind of anti-travel. In the evenings Olive keyed a series of codes into her device, donned a headset that covered her eyes, and entered the holospace.
When have we ever believed that the world wasn’t ending?... I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we’re uniquely important, that we’re living at the end of history, that now, after all these millennia of false alarms, now is finally the worst that it’s ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world.
... Edwin understood more vividly now that she was mourning a loss. He still found the Raj indefensible, but that didn't mean she hadn't lost an entire world. It wasn't her fault that the world she'd grown up in had ceased to exist.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Colonisation, Gun violence, and War
kelly_e's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Title: Sea of Tranquility
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.5
Pub Date: April 5, 2022
Thanks to Harper Collins Canada for sending me a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Transportive • Reflective • Poetic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Sea of Tranquility is a nested story spanning four time periods and four separate characters. Opening in 1912 British Columbia, Edwin St. John St. Andrew, exiled to Canada by his British parents, doesn't find meaning in any of the jobs he attempts. When he wanders into the forest, he experiences an extreme sense of dislocation. Fast forward to 2020, where Mirella attends a concert by renowned violinist Paul Smith, the brother of her former friend Vincent. Paul uses his sister's home movies on stage and there's one clip with an unexplained glitch, and Mirella wants to find out more about what happened to her relationship with Vincent all those years ago. Jump to 2203, and novelist Olive Llewellyn is out on tour promoting her latest novel, which contains a strange passage. When a pandemic breaks out, Olive chooses to stay on Earth, rather than returning home to the moon colony where her husband and daughter are. And lastly in 2401, Gaspery-Jacques Roberts is hired to investigate an anomaly, where he discovers a bunch of lives upended, and is given the chance to do something to disrupt the timeline of the universe.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Sea of Tranquility was my first novel by Emily St. John Mandel, and that's potentially where I went wrong. I've seen several reviews saying it's not required, but highly recommended reading i>Station Eleven and/or The Glass Hotel before this one, as several character arcs resurface. It's quite possible I'd have enjoyed this storyline more if I'd read either of those. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed my reading experience, it just didn't live up my own personal expectations.
There's no better place to start my review than with the writing! It is captivating and atmospheric, definitely the star of the show throughout, and clearly demonstrates Emily's unique gift. I was sucked in by the poetic nature of the words, even if I didn't always know what was taking place. I also felt the pacing was good, however for me the structure felt a little disjointed. Each new section seemed like a completely new story, and I wasn't a huge fan, even though everything eventually comes together by the end.
Additionally, I struggled with the lack of character depth, an underdeveloped plot, and the absence of emotional intensity I'd been anticipating. There's definitely a lot to dissect, and I likely didn't fully understand everything I was meant to. My biggest take away is the power of connections between people over decades, and how the past connects to the future through the present.
Overall, I was left slightly disappointed by the story, but don't let that deter you from picking up this book for the writing alone, and the reminder of the things that shape our lives.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Emily St. John Mandel fans
• time travel trope lovers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we’re uniquely important, that we’re living at the end of history, that now, after all these millennia of false alarms, now is finally the worst that it’s ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world."
"It’s shocking to wake up in one world and find yourself in another by nightfall, but the situation isn’t actually all that unusual. You wake up married, then your spouse dies over the course of the day. You wake up in peacetime and by noon your country is at war; you wake up in ignorance and by the evening it’s clear that a pandemic is already here."
Author: Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: 3.5
Pub Date: April 5, 2022
Thanks to Harper Collins Canada for sending me a physical ARC in exchange for an honest review.
T H R E E • W O R D S
Transportive • Reflective • Poetic
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Sea of Tranquility is a nested story spanning four time periods and four separate characters. Opening in 1912 British Columbia, Edwin St. John St. Andrew, exiled to Canada by his British parents, doesn't find meaning in any of the jobs he attempts. When he wanders into the forest, he experiences an extreme sense of dislocation. Fast forward to 2020, where Mirella attends a concert by renowned violinist Paul Smith, the brother of her former friend Vincent. Paul uses his sister's home movies on stage and there's one clip with an unexplained glitch, and Mirella wants to find out more about what happened to her relationship with Vincent all those years ago. Jump to 2203, and novelist Olive Llewellyn is out on tour promoting her latest novel, which contains a strange passage. When a pandemic breaks out, Olive chooses to stay on Earth, rather than returning home to the moon colony where her husband and daughter are. And lastly in 2401, Gaspery-Jacques Roberts is hired to investigate an anomaly, where he discovers a bunch of lives upended, and is given the chance to do something to disrupt the timeline of the universe.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Sea of Tranquility was my first novel by Emily St. John Mandel, and that's potentially where I went wrong. I've seen several reviews saying it's not required, but highly recommended reading i>Station Eleven and/or The Glass Hotel before this one, as several character arcs resurface. It's quite possible I'd have enjoyed this storyline more if I'd read either of those. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed my reading experience, it just didn't live up my own personal expectations.
There's no better place to start my review than with the writing! It is captivating and atmospheric, definitely the star of the show throughout, and clearly demonstrates Emily's unique gift. I was sucked in by the poetic nature of the words, even if I didn't always know what was taking place. I also felt the pacing was good, however for me the structure felt a little disjointed. Each new section seemed like a completely new story, and I wasn't a huge fan, even though everything eventually comes together by the end.
Additionally, I struggled with the lack of character depth, an underdeveloped plot, and the absence of emotional intensity I'd been anticipating. There's definitely a lot to dissect, and I likely didn't fully understand everything I was meant to. My biggest take away is the power of connections between people over decades, and how the past connects to the future through the present.
Overall, I was left slightly disappointed by the story, but don't let that deter you from picking up this book for the writing alone, and the reminder of the things that shape our lives.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• Emily St. John Mandel fans
• time travel trope lovers
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"I think, as a species, we have a desire to believe that we’re living at the climax of the story. It’s a kind of narcissism. We want to believe that we’re uniquely important, that we’re living at the end of history, that now, after all these millennia of false alarms, now is finally the worst that it’s ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world."
"It’s shocking to wake up in one world and find yourself in another by nightfall, but the situation isn’t actually all that unusual. You wake up married, then your spouse dies over the course of the day. You wake up in peacetime and by noon your country is at war; you wake up in ignorance and by the evening it’s clear that a pandemic is already here."
Content Warnings
Minor: War, Death, Gun violence, Colonisation, Murder, and Suicide
literarylion's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Pros:
- St. John Mandel is all-around good at what she does.
- Well-crafted and executed impeccably. No unsatisfying loose ends.
- Perfect pacing and length, unique concept.
- The character development is unreal. Even minor characters felt lived-in.
Cons:
- I'd like to see her expand into a different genre. She's excellent in her element, but her past three books have been very similar to each other (not to say that I found them tedious or derivative)
- I don't think that this story needed to be
tied to The Glass Hotel . I can see how it might be satisfying to make that connection but it could easily stand alone. - Maybe I've been reading too many pandemic-focused books, but the details of the
SARS 5 pandemic felt a bit tired--maybe too similar to COVID-19
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Death, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, and Gun violence
emhunsber's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Murder, and Suicide
Minor: Mental illness, Terminal illness, Alcohol, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Colonisation, and Gun violence
ellenwilberg's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Grief
caseythereader's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Thanks to AA Knopf for the free copy of this book.
- Mandel is a master of laying out multiple story threads and then neatly braiding them all together in a thought provoking and satisfying way.
- SEA OF TRANQUILITY is practically a sequel to THE GLASS HOTEL, given that characters and events from the previous book are central to what happens in this one. I love the idea that Mandel drew in literary fiction readers with GLASS HOTEL and then surprise! Now you're in a sci-fi novel!
- As much as I enjoyed the spare writing style, I do wish we'd gotten to know more about the characters beyond what was essential to moving the plot along.
- I haven't read much pandemic fiction yet, and I felt like I was reading it askance, because it's still too hard to look at those early pandemic days straight on for me. It was quite something though, to basically see Mandel working through her pandemic experience and feelings in real time on the page through these characters.
- Mandel is a master of laying out multiple story threads and then neatly braiding them all together in a thought provoking and satisfying way.
- SEA OF TRANQUILITY is practically a sequel to THE GLASS HOTEL, given that characters and events from the previous book are central to what happens in this one. I love the idea that Mandel drew in literary fiction readers with GLASS HOTEL and then surprise! Now you're in a sci-fi novel!
- As much as I enjoyed the spare writing style, I do wish we'd gotten to know more about the characters beyond what was essential to moving the plot along.
- I haven't read much pandemic fiction yet, and I felt like I was reading it askance, because it's still too hard to look at those early pandemic days straight on for me. It was quite something though, to basically see Mandel working through her pandemic experience and feelings in real time on the page through these characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Colonisation, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, and War
Minor: Suicide
purplepenning's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Gun violence, and Death
kabrahams's review against another edition
4.75
Loved this even more than Station Eleven and can't help but compare the two a bit. Both deal with plagues, but I felt like the way this book dealt with them resonated with them in a different way, probably because it was written during a plague. Like with SE, I loved how the many plots wove together from a British immigrant in the wilderness of 19th century Canada to futuristic author that lives on the moon but travels to earth for a book tour, all connected by a time traveler who lives even farther in the future and has begun to investigate whether life is really just a simulation. I'll be thinking about this book for along time to come.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder