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kelly_e 's review for:
Sea of Tranquility
by Emily St. John Mandel
challenging
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
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: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, Murder, Colonisation, War