I am so glad I read this. I’m always so glad I read ESTM’s books.
Told in a series of vignettes, connected only by the recurring appearance of Gaspery, Sea of Tranquility spans hundred of years and doesn’t really have much of a plot beyond “What is life? And does it matter?” There’s not a lot there, beyond a faith that meeting and spending time with these characters will have a narrative and emotional payoff. And yet, it does. And yet, utterly compelling from end to end.
I love a novel that’s essentially science fiction, but has all of the technical and setting stuff act as wallpaper, secondary to the interpersonal connections and character development that tell the real story.
It’s very much a pandemic book – both preoccupied with and written in the shadow of Covid. There’s a claustrophobia, and the stories are… little. Small in scope, tightly bound to home and hearth – which sounds like a crazy thing to say about a science fiction story. But that’s what the story is – the saving of one life, the living of another, the small humanities we show each other, and what they’re worth.
I churned through this in a couple of hours, and found it a little overwhelming emotionally – I think all of us have a little pandemic trauma that this taps into. I’ve tried very hard not to be spoilery here, so I haven’t quite said this in the way I would if I was spoiling everything. I loved it, though. No notes.