Book Review of the Month: Sea of Tranquility
Michael Maag reviews the best and worst science fiction novels so you know what you should - or shouldn’t - read next.
“Sea of Tranquility”
by Emily St. John Mandel
What is the book about?
On the surface, "The Sea of Tranquility" is a sci-fi novel exploring simulation theory by using time travel to tie together several intertwined deeply human stories. The main characters are somehow present at the “file corruption or glitch,” an event that leaks or merges together moments from the past, present and future for an instant over the centuries. This event occurs in the woods outside Vancouver BC in 1912 and in 2020, as well as in airship terminal 2203.
The protagonist, Gaspery, from the year 2400 is employed at the Time Institute to discover the origin of the glitch and interview those that have observed it, regardless of the individual consequences. The fulcrum of the story is the question of Gaspery’s ability to overcome his empathy for the individual in service of the mission. More importantly, it is a novel of the pandemic that explores the meaning of it all and the nature of reality, as well as our obsession with our own importance in history. The book is an immersive, complex study of characters and times.
On a scale from one to five, how much did you like this book?
I loved this book because of Mandel’s beautiful writing. Her passages are cinematic and memorable. Many pivotal scenes linger in my memory fully visualized. Mandel's engaging writing and her complex, nuanced characters that readers can empathize with make this read worth the journey.
Time travel is just a simple plot device for the actual story; it is transparent and telegraphed from the beginning. It imitates the plot and structure of “Cloud Atlas” by David Mitchell, which doesn’t affect my enjoyment of the book. It also ties together characters from her other books, yet those books are not required reading.
Is this book worth reading or can the content be covered in a book review?
Overall, "The Sea of Tranquility" is an enjoyable read with thought-provoking stories about humanity, our foibles, connections and the meaning of existence. While it does not offer completely new ideas about time travel or simulation theory, it is stunningly well-written, engaging and worth reading in its entirety. It is like chocolate in that it should be savored and at the same time so good that you will consume it quickly.
What is the best or worst quote, chapter or item in the book?
“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.”
“Maybe every human story was really just about the search for the missing piece - of love, of family, of purpose, of self."
“No sun burns forever.”