Emil St. John Mandel's, Sea of Tranquility
Sea of Tranquility is a novella that moves across different points in time, linking a handful of characters through one mysterious event. It’s a calm, steady-paced book that covers centuries but keeps its focus tight.
The first character we meet is Edwin St. Andrew, a young Englishman sent away to Canada in 1912. One day, whilst walking alone in the forest, he hears a violin playing and suddenly he sees a dark room with no windows, it only lasts a few seconds before he’s back in the forest, unsure of what just happened.Nothing really comes of it at the time, but it leaves a mark on him.
In the 2200s, Olive Llewellyn is on a book tour on Earth, having travelled from a colony on the moon. She’s shown a strange video clip taken in an airship terminal that reveals the exact same thing Edwin experienced: the violin sounds that play in the dark. The footage doesn’t make sense to her, as it similarly didn’t to Edwin at the time, but it nags at her.
Later on, we follow Gaspery Roberts, a man from even further in the future who works for a group looking into time travel. He’s sent back in time to investigate the violin phenomena, trying to figure out whether it’s just a coincidence or something that could potentially disrupt this timeline.
The book shifts between these three storylines, with short chapters that never overstay their welcome. It covers a lot of ground - Canada, Earth in the future, moon colonies and a pandemic - but the tone is calm and consistent. There is some mystery at the centre of the story, but it is never treated like a thriller. The pacing is steady, and the writing is clear.
Although the story involves time travel, it doesn’t rely on complex rules or twists. The science fiction elements are mostly in the background. Mandel is seemingly more interested in portraying the ways that people live their lives whilst something unusual or unnerving, sits just out of reach.
The book is ambiguous, it doesn’t get too caught up in explanations. We are given just enough information to follow what’s happening, and the rest is left open to interpretation. There are themes of connection and repetition, but they’re handled simply.
Sea of Tranquility is the kind of book that can be read in a day, it’s one of those books that is easy to recommend. Not because it’s flamboyant, but because it is steady all the way through. It’s not overly emotional or dramatic, yet it is enticing, nevertheless. The short chapters, as well as the repetitive changes in setting, make the novella consistently enticing and interesting, keeping the pages turning.
Compared to a novel like Sh?gun, which is extensively detailed, this book is a much lighter read. But that’s part of the appeal. It doesn’t try to do too much, and what it does, it does well. It stays in its lane and delivers something compact, clever, and surprisingly memorable for its size.
If you’re looking for a quick read with a strange, slightly eerie mood, this is worth a go.