Good insight into living in a satellite

Psychology and practicalities of living in a satellite. Just don't be waiting for something to happen, cus it doesn't

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Lovely, but largely forgettable

The writing is eloquent and captures the beauty of the world; but it lacks any real tension. The moments it does engage with character or action are frustratingly fleeting. Even in its brevity I felt it dragged and was glad that it ended which isn’t a great sign.

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Brilliant

Loved how descriptive it was, lovely detail. Very glad it won the booker 2024 prize.

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More a reflection than a narrative

Not so much a novel as a reflection on human history, space travel and love. Some passages were incredibly lyrical, like poetry but as a narrative, it didn’t have a framework from which to hang.

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Stunning

Orbital is a captivating masterpiece that takes readers on an unforgettable journey through space and the human experience. The author masterfully blends intricate science fiction with deeply personal storytelling, creating a narrative that’s both thought-provoking and emotionally resonant. The vivid descriptions of space and its challenges are stunning, immersing the reader in a beautifully realized universe. More than just a story of exploration, Orbital delves into themes of isolation, connection, and what it truly means to be human. A must-read for sci-fi lovers and anyone seeking a story that stays with you long after the final page.

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As another reviewer said…more of a reflection.

I must be missing something. It won the Booker Prize after all. With each new chapter I just wanted more than I was given. One professional review referred to her as a superb stylist. More of a word stylist than a narrative. I wanted so dearly to love it.

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Sublime

In Orbital, six astronauts are on a space station. As they hurtle through space, they eat, sleep hanging in hammocks, do experiments, interact and observe the Earth below them from their orbit.

There is no plot in Orbital, but it is still fascinating. You feel as though NASA has somehow smuggled a poet aboard the space station, and she is using, or trying to use, words to describe the indescribable.

What is it like bring an astronaut in zero gravity when you can’t even tell the position of your limbs without looking at them? Did you know that astronauts swallow their toothpaste? What do they think of when they tumble in their tin-can, their families thousands of miles below them? And spliced amongst descriptions of the astronauts’ ordinary / extraordinary tasks and thoughts are passages describing what they can see through the portholes: The Earth, by day, by night, oceans, continents, dawn, dusk, the Sun, the Moon, stars, space. How can you even begin to convey these visions in words? Samantha Harvey tries, and her writing is lyrical, intense, beautiful, absorbing. I think she reaches the limits of what words can do when faced with sheer, sublime awesomeness.

Reading Orbital, I was transported, and for a few hours, felt what it could be like up in space. It was almost spiritual, and I didn’t want it to end.

PS: Orbital has been long-listed for the Booker Prize. It is so unconventional I don’t know if it will make it into the short-list, but I hope it does. The audiobook, narrated by Sarah Naudi, is a thing of beauty.

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A dreamy exquisite story

A dreamy exquisite story with a message that could not be more important now more than ever. If we don’t look after this one and only planet we have, that’s it for all of us

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Spinning above the world

A beautiful poetic novel about the earth and its perils, space and its magnificence, and six different people drawn for various reasons to travel to the international space station. They work, reflect, dream, over a single day above a planet in peril. Perhaps, with its dense poetic writing, better as a written book than an audiobook, which is not to detract from the poised and thoughtful reading.

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A stunning excuse to love this planet

Hanging in the ether above the Earth, circling always in snippets of day and night, Harvey has captured something wondrous and beautiful. A reflection more than a story and all the more wonderful for it. It’s mesmerizing and somber. An enchanting reminder of fragility and time wrapped in the thin metal shell of a dying space station.

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