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A review by kells30
In Ascension by Martin MacInnes
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!