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Orbital

By Samantha Harvey
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3.72 goodreads logo

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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Orbital by Samantha Harvey is a gripping sci-fi novel set in a near-future world. The story follows a diverse group of astronauts on a high-stakes mission to establish a permanent human presence in space. As they face both external threats and internal conflicts, the crew must confront their own fears and desires, testing the limits of human endurance and cooperation.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you enjoy intriguing explorations of personal and societal intersections, rich character development, and thought-provoking narratives set against a unique backdrop. It offers a compelling blend of introspection and broader themes that will captivate your imagination.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Six astronauts rotate in their spacecraft contemplating the world below.

LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024

'Stunning... An uplifting book' — SUNDAY TIMES

Life on our planet as you've never seen it before — in this spellbinding and uplifting novel, six astronauts rotate in the International Space Station. They are there to do vital work, but slowly they begin to wonder: what is life without Earth? What is Earth without humanity?

Together, they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents, and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.

Yet although separated from the world, they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction.

The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from Earth, they have never felt more part — or protective — of it.

'A slim, profound study of intimate human fears set against epic vistas' — GUARDIAN

A GUARDIAN, NEW STATESMAN AND DAILY MAIL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Orbital by Samantha Harvey is lauded for its serene beauty, originality, and intelligent creation. Reviewers praise its compelling prose, noting it evokes wonder and fragility while offering an uplifting, hopeful perspective on our planet. It's described as both a unique meditation on existence and a stunning love letter to Earth.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781787334342

Publisher: Vintage Publishing

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 02 November 2023

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Jonathan Cape Ltd

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 17.0mm

Width: 136.0mm

Height: 206.0mm

Weight: 229g

Pages: 144

Collections

Fiction General Fiction Literary Fiction Penguin Books Samantha Harvey

About the Author

Samantha Harvey is the author of the novels The Wilderness, All is Song, Dear Thief and The Western Wind and a work of non-fiction, The Shapeless Unease- A Year of Not Sleeping. Her work has been longlisted for the Booker Prize, and shortlisted for the James Tait Black Award, the Women's Prize, the Guardian First Book Award and the Walter Scott Prize. The Wilderness was awarded the Betty Trask Prize. She is a tutor on the MA course in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University.

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    Winner of the Booker Prize 2024. Chair of the judges, Edmund de Waal, describes the winner as 'a book about a wounded world' adding that the panel's 'unanimity about Orbital recognises its beauty and ambition'. Life on our planet as you've never seen it before. A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments...
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