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dhillinck's review
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.25
ccoyle7's review against another edition
3.0
I think this one would’ve been better if I tackled it not on audiobook. Beast of a novel that could’ve been significantly broken up. Part Interstellar part family drama.
ajlewis2's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
ginayu's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
badprawnsean's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
book_of_the_north's review
3.0
The book is split into five acts. I really enjoyed the first two, the last three not at all.
rheashami's review
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
4.0
When the writing is beautiful the plot doesn’t matter. Sure it’s a bit derivative of contact and interstellar but I enjoyed it!!!!!!!!!!!! Open ended time travel endings are great, fight me
kells30's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Just read it.
Immersive and lyrical from page one, this book is a meditation on the nature of life itself, and on love and familial bonds. The miracle of nature is a strong theme throughout, from the poetic beginnings with water and the sea through to the stars and the algae later on, but there’s also a pervasive sense of threat as you sense that the natural order has perhaps begun to collapse. Our main character is Leigh, a Dutch microbiologist with a love of the ocean. We follow her on a trip to explore a mysterious deep sea trench and then later as she finds that her cutting edge research into algae food production has potential applications far beyond her initial expectations. Leigh begins working on a highly classified research base looking to utilise brand new technology to explore a distant cosmic anomaly. From deep sea dives to astronauts charting firsts in space, the novel explores life’s origins on an impressive scale. The resolution is kind of vague in some ways but beautiful and I think works very well - I really liked the structure of the novel as well which was in 5 parts or stages. I’ve seen others comparing this to Interstellar which is a good comparison, I think - as there’s a similar mix of familial drama versus climate collapse and space travel going on.
Also, it’s a stunning hardback - those bright pink head and tail bands!
Immersive and lyrical from page one, this book is a meditation on the nature of life itself, and on love and familial bonds. The miracle of nature is a strong theme throughout, from the poetic beginnings with water and the sea through to the stars and the algae later on, but there’s also a pervasive sense of threat as you sense that the natural order has perhaps begun to collapse. Our main character is Leigh, a Dutch microbiologist with a love of the ocean. We follow her on a trip to explore a mysterious deep sea trench and then later as she finds that her cutting edge research into algae food production has potential applications far beyond her initial expectations. Leigh begins working on a highly classified research base looking to utilise brand new technology to explore a distant cosmic anomaly. From deep sea dives to astronauts charting firsts in space, the novel explores life’s origins on an impressive scale. The resolution is kind of vague in some ways but beautiful and I think works very well - I really liked the structure of the novel as well which was in 5 parts or stages. I’ve seen others comparing this to Interstellar which is a good comparison, I think - as there’s a similar mix of familial drama versus climate collapse and space travel going on.
Also, it’s a stunning hardback - those bright pink head and tail bands!