Book Reviews / Science Fiction

Book Review: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel

Dini @ dinipandareads23 Comments

Sea of Tranquility
Publisher: Picador
Pub Date: 5 April 2022
Genre: Science Fiction

Panda Rating:

(5 pandas)

πŸ“– SYNOPSIS

A novel of art, time travel, love, and plague that takes the reader from Vancouver Island in 1912 to a dark colony on the moon five hundred years later, unfurling a story of humanity across centuries and space.

Edwin St. Andrew is eighteen years old when he crosses the Atlantic by steamship, exiled from polite society following an ill-conceived diatribe at a dinner party. He enters the forest, spellbound by the beauty of the Canadian wilderness, and suddenly hears the notes of a violin echoing in an airship terminal–an experience that shocks him to his core.

Two centuries later a famous writer named Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour. She’s traveling all over Earth, but her home is the second moon colony, a place of white stone, spired towers, and artificial beauty. Within the text of Olive’s best-selling pandemic novel lies a strange passage: a man plays his violin for change in the echoing corridor of an airship terminal as the trees of a forest rise around him.

When Gaspery-Jacques Roberts, a detective in the black-skied Night City, is hired to investigate an anomaly in the North American wilderness, he uncovers a series of lives upended: The exiled son of an earl driven to madness, a writer trapped far from home as a pandemic ravages Earth, and a childhood friend from the Night City who, like Gaspery himself, has glimpsed the chance to do something extraordinary that will disrupt the timeline of the universe.

A virtuoso performance that is as human and tender as it is intellectually playful, Sea of Tranquility is a novel of time travel and metaphysics that precisely captures the reality of our current moment.’

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Infidelity, suicide (recounted), drug use, COVID-19 pandemic and future global pandemics, false imprisonment, gun violence, death

Whoa. That’s how this book left me feeling by the end. I was concerned for a minute that maybe I wasn’t smart enough for this book because I found myself getting confused by what was happening around the 66% mark. The writing kept me gripped though and I’m glad that I didn’t waver because when it did click, it wasΒ wow. How clever and neat and entirely not what I expected! As I was reading two books of similar genres and styles came to mind: The Chronicles of St. Mary by Jodi Taylor and Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and I think that’s what made me love this more.

The synopsis is vague and for good reason. There’s not much I can say about this that won’t give the plot away entirely but I thoroughly enjoyed this “cosy-esque” science fiction about time travel. Despite my initial confusion around halfway through, this was a relatively accessible SF story that doesn’t get overly technical about the physics or mechanics of time travel as a concept, which I appreciated. This was (somehow) my first book by Emily St. John Mandel but I can say that it won’t be the last. Her writing has a dreamy and hypnotizing quality to it that, at times, makes you question what’s real and what’s not, but it’s entirely captivating and I was easily swept along for what turned out to be a wonderfully thought-provoking ride! I found the images played out like a movie in my head and even though each character’s chapters weren’t long, I found myself fully immersed in their settings and stories and I felt emotionally connected to all of them.

Overall, I think this is going to be a story that sticks with me for a while after I finish reading it. As it is, I’m still thinking about how brilliantly St. John Mandel wove everything together for that ending. I loved it and I would definitely recommend it if you’re curious, enjoy science fiction or would like to dip your toe into a genre that you’re not entirely comfortable with.

Have you read Sea of Tranquility or is it on your TBR?

23 thoughts on “Book Review: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel”

  1. I love the cover of this book and the title. (Probably because it reminds me of Katja Millay’s book by the same title that I loved and would recommend to you if you haven’t read it.) I would try to listen to it, but if it was over your head at times, it would probably be the same or most likely worse for me!

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  5. Excellent review, Dini. You have definitely piqued my interest. This sounds like a book I would need to read though, as I think listening to it would make it more confusing. It sounds like one that you need to stick with though. Glad you enjoyed it, Dini.

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    • I’ve got Station Eleven on my TBR but have always been hesitant to pick it up what with the pandemic storyline? Is that right? I can’t even remember what it’s about anymore but now that I’ve finally read one of her books, I’m gonna bump Station on my TBR! I hope you enjoy SoT if you give it a go 😍

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