Emily St. John Mandel is a  Canadian author who has written 6 novels, the last three to wide success.    Station Eleven won the Arthur C. Clarke award and was made into a mini-series.

Sea of Tranquility is a science fiction/speculative fiction novel written with a non-linear plot line.   It is located in Canada, the US, and on the moon, with 4 different time periods, with well-developed characters from each time, and one character (Gaspery-Jacques Roberts) who has a role in each time.    Time travel, dystopian futures, and pandemics wind through the story.   The characters experience an anomaly in time and space that can’t be explained.     There is a mystery at the heart of the story that is solved by the end, but the mystery is not as important as each character’s response and attitude toward their environment, be it a remote spot on Vancouver Island in 1912, a moon colony of the future, or in a world devastated by a global pandemic.

The author writes science fiction without much science.    Her stories are about individuals and the times they live in.   She is most interested in the choices people make, the care and support they can give to others, and the personal goals they can strive for.    The storytelling is graceful and sincere, reflecting a fundamental belief in humanity and the ties that we can nourish on life’s path.

Recommended – 4.5 out of 5.0 stars4.5