Orbital

Bookseller recommendation

“This beautifully written novel follows six astronauts as they orbit the Earth over 24 hours. Orbital is a love letter to our planet in all its beauty and terror. Orbital is also a book about connections – connections between humanity and Earth, and the connections we have with each other.”

— Claire • Honest Dog Books

Bookseller recommendation

“I've been in the fog of recent events and asking myself what humans could do differently....and then I found the answer within the pages of Orbital. What a lofty wish...that EACH of us could jettison into space and confront our singularity, our insignificance, the utter MIRACLE of our existence, and the beauty of the minutia that often goes unnoticed and unappreciated on Earth. Perhaps we'd return to gravity and embrace the wonder all around us. If only we could appreciate our fragility, perhaps we'd LIVE more fully? These lofty thoughts and more beat an incessant drumbeat in my brain, while I spent time with this amazing audiobook. Gentle readers, spend some time with this beauty. It will be time well spent. The audiobook, (which I enjoyed via Libro.FM) is beautifully produced.”

— Kathy • The Well-Read Moose

Bookseller recommendation

“This is a beautiful fictional exploration of what it is like to be one of 6 astronauts orbiting the earth in the International Space Station: how they deal with the isolation, the psychological effects of witnessing 16 dawns and sunsets in 24 hours, the physical effects of micro-gravity, and with the fear and helplessness of watching a huge hurricane bearing down on your friends. It is a small masterpiece. 5 stars (at least!).”

— Phil • Timaru Booksellers

Bookseller recommendation

“This is a beautiful exploration of humanity from the most zoomed out view possible - space! I loved the lyrical writing style and the way it made me think about the world. If you ever need to be reminded of the bigger picture, this is the book to read. ”

— Becca • Bookmarks

Bookseller recommendation

“I consistently find that The Booker Prize winners are books that I love. This year’s winner, Orbital by Samantha Harvey, is no exception. A mesmerizing account of the space travel of six international astronauts and cosmonauts. The earth is a beautiful gem worth protecting, and the universe is a marvel. This book is a poetic tribute to where we exist.”

— Mamie • Quail Ridge Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Exquisite. It made me feel the way I did reading The Alchemist for the first time, but on a cosmic scale. It is humanity distilled. If this book had existed 30 years ago, would I have been inspired to become an astronaut instead of a bookseller? Apropos of nothing important, Sarah Naudi's American accent is immaculate (and her natural accent beautiful). What IS important is that the narration is generally top-notch. It took me a little bit to settle into her style, but once I did, I couldn't imagine anyone else reading it.”

— Maren • Nook & Cranny Books

Bookseller recommendation

“This sedate, dreamlike exploration of a single day in the life of a space station’s international crew is, in many ways, an extended love poem to life on Earth. There’s no plot per se; rather, the reader experiences 16 orbits of our planet through internal monologues, flashbacks, and descriptions of the world below. By turns moving, thought-provoking, and heartbreaking, each sentence of this little novel is so dense–at times tumbling into stream-of-consciousness outright–that I had to break often to digest what I’d read. Think of As I Lay Dying, but in space.”

— Charlotte • Quail Ridge Books