Sea of Tranquility
By Emily St. John Mandel
Knopf, 9780593321447, April 2022, 272pp.
The Short of It:
Reading Mandel guarantees exploratory thought processes.
The Rest of It:
Summing this story up is not easy. It’s a little bit of everything. There’s space exploration in the form of airships to other worlds, time travel, very interesting characters who float between this world and the next. Really, the story asks the question, what if what we are living in is a simulation? A carefully constructed “reality” that is anything but real?
Sounds wild, right? It is and it’s fascinating the way Mandel takes these characters through different time periods. As with most time travel stories, changes made anywhere within the continuum impact things down the line. Mandel softly tiptoes around this as her characters are warned over and over again what the end result will be. And in the midst of all of this, one of those time periods involves a pandemic.
I really enjoyed this short novel. It provided so much food for thought and was really well done. If you loved Station Eleven, you will appreciate this story as well.
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
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Book Chatter 
I am probably one of the few who doesn’t care for this author’s books. I do like time travel, but I find her structure frustrating.
I’m glad you enjoyed it! It sounds a little too sci-fi for me, but I’m curious what happens with the pandemic.
I havne’t read Station Eleven and am not sure this novel is for me, though I know a number of people who would probably love it.
Hi – I really liked Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel. Those were two very different books. I especially liked Station Eleven so I bet I’d like this. Thanks for reviewing!
I haven’t read a book by her since Last Night in Montreal, which I didn’t like much. I tried Station Eleven on audio, but didn’t like it, so I didn’t finish it. Maybe I would’ve liked it better in print.