Orbited

[ateolf]

I finished reading Orbital by Samantha Harvey. It was not at all what I was expecting. I mean, I guess you could still call it sci-fi (not sure if I would but I wouldn't begrudge someone who would), but it is not at all speculative fiction. It's one "day" in the lives of astronauts on the international space station. It is not plot driven at all. It's kind of slice-of-life, but mostly about thoughts and memories and reflections and impressions. It's a very reflective novel. And the writing is very good. One of the main things it captures is the simultaneous mundanity and incredible wonder that comes with that position (and the surrealness of the constant change from day to night as they orbit the earth sixteen times in a "day"). Anyway, it was good!