There is a subplot in Sea Of Tranquillity, a time jumping, time travel saga, where an author on a book tour is asked about her pandemic novel and that certain things seemed a bit disjointed and without traditional resolution. Emily St John Mandel wrote Station Eleven, and I doubt there will be a copy of this book knocking around without "from the author of Station Eleven" on the cover, so she knows that her readers will note a degree of auto-fiction here - even if that character lives on the Moon in the future.

Sea Of Tranquillity turns out to be rather a traditional time-travel piece, is mechanics are not hugely dissimilar to The Door Into Summer. But that isn't really the point, time travel is the mechanism, as pandemic was in Station Eleven, to write a number of interlinked shorts about people who briefly experience something a little weird, and tend to think nothing of it. Our time traveller eventually investigates, is it a proof of the simulation hypothesis. (I did nope that there would be a suggestion that time travel is impossible because no-one keeps the back-ups). She paints of string of slightly melancholy, a little bit broken people, getting by in a fully formed world, a posh British man looking for fortune in Canada, a writer trapped on a never ending book tour. She even throws another pandemic in for fun.

I really enjoyed Sea Of Tranquillity, Mandel has lost none of her capacity to bring to life complex characters with just a few hints. I was a little torn on the meta-textual aspects, its true that writing about how horrid being stuck on an endless book tour is akin to writing your third album about the pressures of being on the road, but at least its set in the future and the questions raised about authorial intent and the business of book-selling actual feed into the subtext of the major plot. And whilst the ending isn't anything I haven't seen before, there is always something lovely about a clockwork plot working out both narratively and emotionally.

"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 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. What if it always is the end of the world?"

This story follows three timelines and involves time travel. In 1912, Edwin moves from England to a small town in British Columbia to enjoy a leisurely life on the ocean. In 2020, Olive is on a book tour to promote her book about a pandemic - at the same time, the world is dealing with a pandemic. In 2203, Gaspery and his sister Zoey work for the Time Institute and investigate whether moments from different centuries bleed into one another.

While Station Eleven remains my favorite of her novels, Emily St. John Mandel is a genius. I hope she continues writing.

Recommended for fans of Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.

“No star burns forever. You can say “it’s the end of the world” and mean it, but what gets lost in that kind of careless usage is that the world will eventually literally end. Not “civilization,” whatever that is, but the actual planet.”

My thanks to Pan Macmillan Picador for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Sea of Tranquility’ by Emily St. John Mandel in exchange for an honest review.

By their nature novels featuring time travel are difficult to summarise whether they are the kind that bounce around the timeline with comic exuberance or those of a more philosophical nature. Still, they represent an important sub genre of science fiction.

With ‘Sea of Tranquility’ Emily St. John Mandel has woven a fascinating tale about an anomaly that appears to be causing moments from different centuries to be bleeding into one another and creating a ripple effect through the lives of her characters despite their distance from one another in time and space.

Despite its modest length Mandel manages to include a significant number of characters and settings from the opening in England and Canada in 1912 through to the present (2020) and on to 2203 as a new pandemic strikes and then to 2401 where time agents in the Moon-based Night City seek to investigate the nature of the anomaly.

As a lifelong reader of science fiction I am comfortable with novels that feature space colonialism, time travel, alternative realities and even organisations dedicated to preserving the integrity of the timeline. ‘Sea of Tranquility’ contains all the above and more.

As with the author’s ‘Station Eleven’ central to the plot is the effect of a pandemic or rather pandemics as well as philosophical musings on the nature of time and reality.

Overall, I found ‘Sea of Tranquility’ a beautifully written and highly engaging work of literary science fiction. I expect that it is a novel that I shall reread in order to further appreciate its subtleties as well as suggesting it to my reading group given that it offers a great deal of material for discussion.

Highly recommended.

Sometimes, an author's writing just clicks for me, and I'm so happy that's the case with Mandel. Her prose is absolutely beautiful without approaching purple prose. It flows great, is easy to read, and it made this book such a joy to experience.

The story is split into separate timelines, and skips between them in different sections. The further you get, the more you begin to understand how these seemingly separate stories might be linked. I thought the way the author wove them together was really well done, and the possible implications were chilling. I was just a bit disappointed by the ending, which felt awkward, and didn't go as far as it could've gone in my opinion.

That said, this is still absolutely worth reading. I haven't read the rest of Mandel's books yet, but I've been given to understand that there are some recurring characters, so keep that in mind when you decide in which order you want to pick these up. I didn't feel like I was missing anything, but I can imagine that it would make for a nice easter egg.

I was surprised to find I liked Sea of Tranquillity more than I expected. It is a short science fiction novel that is intricately woven together and has a very clever ending. However, I am not as overly enamoured with it as some people seem to be. It was an interesting read, but I would not say it amazing or as groundbreaking as the critics are calling it. As someone who has studied science fiction at university (and by that I mean theory and literature that makes your brain hurt) I actually found the sci-fi elements of it to be quite basic, and oversimplified. The ideas proposed in the book that were being investigated were never fully realised, and were just left there to hang as a possibility. Nothing was ever fully proven.

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of St. John Mandel’s writing either, to be honest. When a book begins with a character with a similar name to the author (St. John St. Andrew) it doesn’t leave a good impression on me. Even less so when they are described as “hauling the weight of his double-sainted name across the Atlantic”. While the author doesn’t have a double-sainted name, she does have a double barrelled name and has used her own name for the character.

The second character we’re introduced to is a female author with a husband and a daughter who is away from home on a book tour in 2203. Later in the book she struggles through a pandemic with her family. Again, I found it difficult to ignore the similarities between this character and St. John Mandel, who is a female author, with a husband, a daughter, has written crime novels and just lived through a pandemic. This character felt a bit too Mary Sue for my liking. While there were useful insights into things that female authors have to deal with (there’s a scene with a crime interview, for example), I felt that the character could have been better written.

There’s also the huge issue of book tours in 2203 being near enough exactly the same as they are now in 2022. Sea of Tranquillity is a novel about time travel and yet it fails completely to take into consideration how society has changed. It contains all the stereotypical science fiction beliefs of the future, such as humans living on the moon, but the everyday of both futuristic periods read exactly like a normal day in 2202. If you asked your grandparents or even your parents what a normal day looked like to them, it would differ from our normal day. Even in my lifetime it’s changed a lot; the Internet for one thing didn’t exist when I was growing up. Even just in the last few years, let alone the last few decades, the book community has changed a lot (booktoks and bookstagrams never existed) so the idea that book tours exist in 181 years (if they even exist at all) is highly unlikely.

This is one of those books where I feel that the author’s name has more weight than the actual contents of the book. As I said, it’s an interesting read and has a clever ending after all the pieces have been put together. I also found it interesting that some of the side characters link to other books that St. John Mandel has written. She has clearly put a lot of thought into the web she’s woven, Sea of Tranquillity just didn’t hit the mark for me.

Another book I devoured practically in one sitting, I loved the beautifully crafted plot, and sparse, but so evocative, writing that conjured up these strange but familiar worlds. So many creative twists and seemingly unconnected strands that came together almost magically in the end, I can see this making a great to series or film. A clever, subtle and compelling fiction that I’d happily read again just to immerse myself in such an expertly realised world.

I love anything time travel related, across all media so was really intrigued to see what Mandel was going to do here. Oh how I LOVED it!!

The plot is great, little points mentioned earlier in the book are tied back to bring it all together in a truly satisfying manner. I loved the way it played out.

The story seemed to me to be told in an almost dreamlike way, with settings on the moon, in Canada in the early 1900s and on both the current and future Earth. The book reminded me of David Mitchell's works in a lot of ways, particularly Cloud Atlas. I think this is probably due to the differing time periods, with ties between each, and the way Sea of Tranquillity includes call-backs to Mandel's previous works. I am a big fan of David Mitchell so this works for me. They both write in our world but with a touch of fantasy to it.

The actual method of time travel is only really touched upon lightly and comes courtesy of the Time Institute, located on the moon. Its not really about the "how" in this book, but about the effect had on the people we read about.

There are quite a few mentions of pandemics and no doubt part of the character Olive's experiences are based on those of Mandel, who of course wrote about pandemics before they were something we all knew so well.

Mandel's writing is beautiful, her characters well formed and settings well described. I love her writing and will continue to read anything she puts out. This book is hopeful and beautiful and I think its my favourite of her works that I've read so far. This was an absolute stand out for me this year, it lingered with me for days afterwards and I feel like its a book I'll re-read in the future.

I really loved Station Eleven and The Glass Hotel so I was very excited to get an ARC of this one!

It definitely wins the award from me for the most mind-boggling synopsis I've ever read. And the story definitely follows through! I love a good time travel novel, and Mandel is an excellent writer. It was a fun read - I enjoyed all of the perspectives and the way the characters came together throughout the story was perfection.

The issue I had with this book is that it was too short! It felt like it concluded and ended way too quickly. I think a lot of people will really like this book, however as I read a ton of time travel books it didn't really bring anything new for me.

It is more pleasurable to read it after Station eleven and Glass Hotel, but it is a solid book in itself. Very literary, I enjoyed it immensely

This rather short novel starts in 1912 when some exiled British youngster heads for British Columbia where he has a weird experience. The next part presents a woman talking to the brother of an estranged friend in 2020 NYC, followed by a book author in 2203. The final time slice introduces time travelling agents in 2401 investigating the theory that the world is actually a grand simulation. All those parts are linked, but why and how?

I had a hard time digging through this short but extremely dragging story. After halfway through, I nearly stopped reading it because it was such a boring piece. After that mark it picked up again and introduced the simulation and time travel experience which was engaging at start. 

Now, you have to know that I've read a multitude of time travel stories and I love to be surprised by a different angle. This work, sadly, has nothing of it. That big question of the nature of reality has been done better often enough elsewhere.

People newer to the idea that our universe might be a simulation, or to the concept of time-loops, might enjoy this work better than I did.

This is, to be blunt, an absolutely sensational novel. Exquistely crafted, beautifully written, and designed to leave the reader breathless and shaken - in the best way possible. As a huge fan of Station Eleven I didn't think ESJM could top it but lo and behold she has, in a slight little novel that barely scrapes 200 pages.
To sum up the plot would do it an immense desservice - I went into this book almost totally blind and had my mind blown by it, which is almost definitely the best way to experience this one. It's about love and regret and time travel, and revenge and ambition and pandemics. It's sweeping in scope, spanning centuries, but never feels overwritten. I can't wait to read it again, as well as her other novels, and get swept up in the St John Mandel universe. Triumphant.

A story told in parts, across many years, through many eyes. Lives lived, lives overlapped, moments to savor, moments to forget. This novel can be read in many ways. At first glance this read gives an interesting story of the echoes of human experience through time, a second look and a deeper read provides an alternative; an utterly profound and entirely unique experience. I can appreciate the beauty in both. I enjoyed it for its simple time-travel plot, as much as its complexity and depth. I was spellbound from first word to last.

Now I must go back and read everything else Mandel has written. It has been remiss of me not to pick up her novels sooner, but this was a spectacular place to start!

Recommended to... everyone.. all of you. This was a beautiful novel. Tender, insightful, adventurous, compelling, touching, masterful... All the words. It deserves them all, and more than my little review can muster. I cannot do this book justice, so I'm not going to try. Just pick it up and see for yourself.

5 faultless stars, and an experience I won't forget in a hurry.

Unfortunately, not for me. I just didnt see the point in it. Maybe I was supposed to read that Glass Hotel beforehand.

Thanks to NG and the publisher for providing me with an arc of this one in exchange of my honest opinion.

I have to admit that I spent the majority of this book a bit confuzzled as to what I was reading. That said, I have read and enjoyed this author before so the trust element was enough to keep me going. And when we got where we ended up, no spoilers, I had such a wonderful awakening as to what was happening that I had to sit back and think a bit before I could carry on. So amazed and enlightened I was with it all!
We start with Edwin St. Andrew as he is exiled to the Canadian wilderness. He has a vision which confuses him (and me!). Then there's Vincent who records something weird during a walk, a recording her brother shares. Then we fast forward in time and hop in space to an author, Olive, on a book tour. She also has a weird experience.
Back in what I consider to be the present, we follow Gaspery-Jaques as he is hired by a company to investigate an anomaly in the timeline... What he starts to uncover really did blow my mind...
And it is also here where it all starts to come together but, as already mentioned, no spoilers so I can't go further... Suffice to say, as the mists started to clear, I saw it all start to make sense and, well, yeah, kudos indeed to the author.
It's a bit of a slow burn initially Well it has to be to set it all up. It's also, like the author's other books, quite lyrical in nature and so that slows things down a tad too. But not in a bad way. The writing style perfectly suits the story being told.
For aficionados of the author, there are several nods to her other books which delighted me but will not irk others who have not read them. A ponzi scheme and a pandemic being the two most obvious.
All in all, a delightfully different book that I simply devoured and enjoyed every single moment of. So much so that I am now chomping at the bit to find out what she serves up for next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

With thanks to NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for a honest review.

I’m one of the people who absolutely adored Station Eleven but found The Glass Hotel left me a bit cold. I was therefore surprised to come across Paul, Vincent and Mirella… I’m also here to reassure you of you haven’t read The Glass Hotel the references won’t detract from your experience (they’re more like easter eggs). The world building here is smaller scale than Station Eleven, or The Glass Hotel, but that works brilliantly as we go in staggered narrative jumps to find the shadowy institute investigating an anomaly...

Unlike most novels where a top-secret organisation comes up, it isn’t about the institute at all which I loved but about the people who experience the anomaly and the investigator who becomes interested in the case by chance. The novel flows beautifully with just enough detail, just enough mystery and has restored my faith in her writing. The conclusion is beautiful once you get there.

Sea of Tranquility is a sci-fi story about a time-space anomaly. Even if it sounds geeky at first, the story is super readable and accessible even for non sci-fi readers as me. The book is not only about time travel, but also about humanity, purpose and loneliness, and doing the right thing.

I enjoyed reading the book, especially because of the mysterious and captivating topic of parallel worlds. Mandel takes the reader on a wonderful journey, guiding him/her back and forth in time. While reading this book is impossible to not ask yourself philosophical questions, such as: What if the whole world is a simulation? What if what we call “coincidence” is actually not happening by chance? Just sayin’ 🙂

My favourite sections were the ones about living on the Moon. On one hand, it was fascinating to see how Mandel imagined the lunar cities, e.g. with artificial light domes to imitate sunlight. On the other hand, living on the Moon did not solve social inequality and inadequate governance.

All in all, Sea of Tranquility joins the list of books I recommend reading. It is centered around time travelling, but that’s not all – other non sci-fi layers are nicely intertwined to create a captivating story. Plus you can even read in one sitting if you have an entire afternoon free 🙂

PS:I did not give 5 stars in the NetGalley rating because I felt that the story lacked depth at times, the explanations were a bit too easy given the complex topic.

Sea of Tranquillity is a breathtakingly novel that is simple and complicated. Featuring characters from the authors previous novel, The Glass Hotel, the story jumps between timelines, from pre WWW2 Canada to the moon colonies of the 25th century. The writing is subtle and graceful and I was captivated til the end. This is a novel I will read again. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I am so glad that I read The Glass Hotel last year because reading that made my experience of this book that much richer and I didn’t quite know that it was going to be. It’s always good to be pleasantly surprised. This book gives the reader a parallel universe of the world from The Glass Hotel and I don’t know why I didn’t know that. This is not to say that you have to read the book in order to understand what’s happening in this one. I don’t think so.

One thing I have understood about this author, the writing is beautiful in a simple way and the pacing might seem slow but not in a way that might bother many people. The book takes its time to tell the story but without being bothersome. The story gives us snippets from different time periods and each one gives us questions about different things. Perspective is an important part of what the author is trying to show us. Each character during those different time periods are trying to understand their place in the world all the while trying to understand the world around them in a way.

There’s a kind of nostalgic tone to the writing that made me love it and it might not work for some. One key deciding factor is mentioning the current pandemic in the book. Some people aren’t bothered by it like me and some wondered if the book could have existed without it. I am fine either way but if I am being honest that the mention of the pandemic made the immersion better for me? Does that sound bad? Perhaps.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It posed some interesting questions with one of the time periods questioning if the simulation theory is true and if it is, then what does it mean? Is it supposed to be meaningful or is it just supposed to just be, without meaning? After all, the end of the world for us means an ending of us as a species or the earth ceasing to exist but that kind of ending is always happening somewhere in the universe.

TW - pandemic/covid-19

*Though this is marketed as a standalone, I would highly recommend that you read The Glass Hotel prior.*

Wow. Excuse me while I go buy every book Emily has written. I really enjoyed Station Eleven when I read it last year, and was pleased to be approved to read Sea of Tranquility. By chance I saw a review that mentioned you should read The Glass Hotel first, so I dutifully ordered and devoured it, and I'd definitely recommend reading it prior.

The Sea of Tranquility is a book about Gaspery, a man who through luck (?) becomes an investigator of anomalies in time - though this doesn't quite describe what the book is about. Maybe it's about a violinist, the moon, or an author, or a pandemic...it's about them all and I can see me thinking about it for a long time.

[Also - Jonathan - wtf?!]

Quite simply, Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel is just brilliant. It sets up the plot intrigue, layers in the evocative human angle, references the pandemic situation we find ourselves in and sets it all against a grand time-travelling backdrop that takes us from from 1912 to 2401.

That might sound like a lot to pack into less than 300 pages but the words just flow so lyrically and the story execution is tight. It’s such a delight to read. A wonderful, thoughtful, huge-scoping adventure.

If you’ve read Emily St. John Mandel’s previous books, Station Eleven or The Glass Hotel among them, then you’ll have a grasp of both the themes she explores and a backstory for the plot of Sea of Tranquility. I think you can enjoy this book without having read her previous ones, but knowing their stories definitely adds to the experience here.

Characters we met previously in The Glass Hotel, Vincent and Paul, appear, along with some new ones including Edwin, the second son of a British aristocratic family who, in 1912, ends up in Canada to try and find his purpose in life. What he finds is something far more inexplicable.

Author Olive Llewelyn lives in 2203 and is the Ariadne Oliver of this book, if you will. Olive is on a book tour as her novel, Marienbad, set during a pandemic was a huge hit. She travels from her home in a on Moon Colony Two to Earth for her tour.

In 2401 we meet Gaspery Roberts and his sister Zoey, who work at the Time Institute. They may or may not be looking into time travel, especially at something from another time that’s caught their eye…

I don’t want to give any spoilers in this review, so won’t delve anymore into the plot except to say you may think this sounds a bit complex or convoluted but fear not, it all makes perfect sense. I’m not always a huge fan of time-travel themed books, but this hooked me in.

Sea of Tranquility is the best book I’ve read on this pandemic. For all its scope and time travel themes, it’s also so personal and has such a satisfying ending, it’s this combination that made such an impact. Superb storytelling.