A review by aksmith92
Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

adventurous hopeful informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

"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, is finally the worst that it’s ever been, that finally we have reached the end of the world."

I connected with this novel way more than I thought I would. I read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel back when it first came out nearly ten years ago, and I must admit, I can't remember much of it. I went into this novel not knowing much other than what was in the synopsis and understanding there were going to be sci-fi elements.

This story comprises multiple chapters, or parts, of various characters in different timeframes (1912, 2020, 2203, and 2401). St. John Mandel sprinkles in associations in each of these chapters, leading you to believe that the characters are somehow connected to one another, but...how?

I thoroughly enjoyed the prose of this novel and how well St. John Mandel weaves in big-picture thinking. She somehow surfaces tough questions related to time travel in a relatively short novel (259 pages). However, I don't really see this as solely a time travel novel or even just a sci-fi novel. This book encapsulates philosophical questions that humans gravitate towards: what's real? Does it matter? If you have the choice to do something right, will you do it? What is right vs. wrong?

I simply loved it and had a blast while reading it. It's poetic and even, at times, quite melancholy, but all-in-all, it was a fantastic read. St. John Mandel's writing is lyrical and beautiful, and the premise, while maybe not necessarily original, is an interesting take on the world. I'm unsure what is holding me back from a full five stars, but it might have been the relative slowness in the beginning and the characters being somewhat similar to each other, even though they take place in vastly different times. It was clear who you were reading about, and by no means were they so similar that it became a problem, but I suppose it still stuck with me a little. I will say that while the ending was not necessarily shocking (even though I didn't guess it beforehand), I loved how it played out. Although, upon reflection, some might interpret the ending and the trails leading up to it as a bit incomplete. Regardless, for me, this was a fabulous read!