I don’t want to spoil anything by revealing too much, but let’s just say that the book won the 2022 Goodreads Choice Award for Science Fiction, and to call it a worthy winner is a bit of an understatement. If there’s a protagonist to be found among this cast, then the way they’re introduced is spellbinding, patient, and very rewarding. But what I particularly enjoyed was the mystery of one character who seems to run in to the others, no matter at what point in time they live. Choosing to focus on one over another would feel wrong somehow. In terms of characters, there’s an honesty about each of them, and a sincerity of perspective which gives them nuance and makes them real. The future she paints is intriguing and recognisable - drawing ingenious parallels with our present to root the reader in the far-flung space-faring cosmos-filling colonies. The book could’ve been a thousand times longer and I’d have still gladly soaked up every word. Every sentence is a brushstroke that enhances an already mesmerising canvas. There’s a precision about the details she includes which speaks to so much more than mere description. Every chapter is somehow both sanguine and wistful, and never less than absolutely captivating. Each vignette narrows our lens while simultaneously opening up the story’s scope. It’s like listening to different sections of an orchestra adding their own flavour to the fullness of the overall sound. They build, one on top of another, but each is so distinct. These flashes of different lives, whether they’re from the 1900s or the 2400s, advance a single thread which holds the narrative together. There’s beauty and a sort of poetry to be found in each perspective. The story is astonishing, lyrical, and as haunting as the melody woven through its pages.Ī series of vignettes transport us across a span of 500 years, providing glimpses into the past and future. Reading the book made me feel like I’d heard it myself. Sea of Tranquility’s hook revolves around a violin melody played in an airship terminal that’s heard across time. What is causing this strange anomaly that threatens to rip apart the fabric of reality? The answer will require a journey that spans half a millennium, from post-Victorian Canada to distant-future moon colonies, blurring the lines upon which time should run in an astounding mystery. This single melody connects lives that are separated by centuries.Īn exiled Englishman, a writer trapped far from home, and a girl destined to die too young have each glimpsed a world that is not their own. That same tune is heard in moments across time and space, transporting the listener backwards and forwards to this same point.

The sound of a violin plays an otherworldly tune in an airship terminal.

Emily st john mandel sea of tranquility