*A big thank-you to Samantha Harvey, RB Media, and NetGalley for a free audiobook in exchange for my honest review.*
A relatively short novel which made me feel free of gravity and which allowed me to experience weightlessness while reading it. 'Orbital' is about us and the planet, how human perspective changes when confronted with the distance and inability to return to the Earth when you are up there. I was moved by one character in particular due to her grief and the impossible wish to be with her mother for one last moment.
The novel allows a reader to seperate themself from reality and to insulate against reality for several hours spent with it. What amazed me was how the world around me ceased to exist when I was listening to 'Orbital'.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey is a compelling and thought-provoking novel that blends elements of science fiction with deep emotional and psychological exploration. The story revolves around the character of Jacob, an astronaut who is preparing for a mission to space, and the novel delves into his personal struggles, relationships, and the philosophical implications of human existence and isolation. Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for the ARC!

I have recently been seeing a lot of buzz for Orbital by Samantha Harvey and that it might get Longlisted for the Booker Prize. Since it’s literary science fiction, that had me intrigued.

This book is not the typical science fiction book full of action and adventure. Instead, it is a quiet, meditative book about six people orbiting the earth in a spaceship. What it lacks in plot, it makes up for in interesting observations.

The prose in Orbital is really lovely and creates a very unique reading experience. I’ve never been on a spaceship, but I could clearly see what the astronauts were seeing. I could imagine watching the earth rotate from space.

I did listen to this on audiobook and I thought the narrator did a really good job at capturing the tone of the book. I found the audiobook very meditative and relaxing.

All in all, I recommend this book for people who like slow books that ponder life and the characters existence. It’s a short, quiet read that I’m not sure everyone will get.

This book was written very well, it was haunting and examined the truth of the human condition, I loved seeing the characters interact and cope with their environment.

Ominous and eerie and weird! I really loved this one. It's the kind of book that gives you a lot to think about.

i‘m very unsure how to rate this book because it’s full of such beautiful prose, yet i have to admit that i completely zoned out during parts of it because it‘s so abstract and fragmented. i think it would‘ve worked better for me if it had been more character-driven, but that‘s definitely a matter of personal preference!

he narrator on this book did a wonderful job! The descriptions and the way she handled them really made me feel like I was right there in space with the characters! That being said, the whole book kind of felt like a glorified description of earth from space. I appreciated all of the details but the main idea of the story sometimes got lost for me in the view from space. I still thought it was beautifully written and if you’re into books about outer space and astronauts, this book will most likely interest you.

ORBITAL by @samharveyuk was a slow, introspective discussion on life in space as well as human life in general from the lens of six astronauts living together on a space station and hailing from different countries around the world. Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publisher @groveatlantic for the audio-ARC.

I listened to this book during my time off in early January and it was a perfect time to be immersed in this story as I did not have many of the normal daily distractions. It is short and meditative and deeply philosophical and felt kinda like a nice warm blanket of wonder while I was listening to it.

The astronauts on this journey are essentially science experiments and spend their days taking biological samples, monitoring their vitals, eating and exercising as required and generally running through the motions of a long-haul experiment. We hear from different voices which are each embedded with their own unique perspectives and experiences from their time on earth. Loss, loneliness, warm family memories, feeling displaced, scientific discovery, simple missed pleasures, etc are all topics of discussion.

I definitely enjoyed this book but also feel strongly that you have to be super present for this one since it is slow-paced and thoughtful instead of full of action or twists.

Are you more a fan of fast-paced or slow-paced books? I feel like I am a little of column A and a little of column B - moody reader at your service!!🤓

💚SMASHBOT💚

#bibliophile #booknerd #bookish #booksta #bookworm #bookreview #reader #orbital #samanthaharvey #spacebooks

I had started listening to orbital the very first day I downloaded it. The prose was so poetic and beautiful that I had to stop listening because I mostly read to audiobooks when I'm doing something and somehow I was losing my focus. I thought I must be wrong listening this in chaos of my mind. Normally it doesn't happen like this.

This is a story of 6 astronauts from different country who are orbiting around earth. The story takes place over a day in 16 parts as they complete one orbit every 90 minutes. It can be considered as a poetic Illustration in the day of these astronauts. There is no plot as such. It is quite random and feels like musings or like literary mediation and nothing more.

I started listening to orbital again when I had no projects to finish in a day or two. But again I was zoning out. Strange. It never happened with a wonderfully written book.

So I started wondering either I will have to read this physically or the audiobook isn't really doing justice to the book.

One thing for sure that it is beautifully written book. Maybe it is really me at fault or the reasons I mentioned above but I'm going to give it another chance once I get a chance to get my physical copy.

Till then thank you Netgalley and RB books recorded books for the audiobook ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Interesting writing but I lost focus often as I listened to the audiobook. Might be better as a physical

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

i‘m very unsure how to rate this book because it’s full of such beautiful prose, yet i have to admit that i completely zoned out during parts of it because it‘s so abstract and fragmented. i think it would‘ve worked better for me if it had been more character-driven, but that‘s definitely a matter of personal preference!

This is the first Samantha Harvey book I've read/listened to, but it won't be the last. I was drawn in immediately and almost mesmerized by this literary account of a day in the life of a space mission, told from the varying points of view of the six astronauts on board a spacecraft orbiting the Earth. We find out a little about each of them--one is dealing with the death of her mother and her inability to return to Earth for her funeral; one watches with concern as a hurricane gathers strength below and worries about a friend who may be caught up in it--as well as the social camaraderie and political rivalry amongst the multination crew. There's really no other plot, although Harvey sprinkles in lots of interesting trivia about space travel that I hadn't considered before, such as the fact that crew members orbiting Earth see multiple sunrises and sunsets in one 24 hour period, and therefore need to keep careful track of the passage of time and their own actual days in space to maintain perspective. But the real star of "Orbital" is Harvey's gorgeous, lyrical writing as she describes how breathtaking our planet is as seen from a distance that dissolves national borders and glazes over the uglier aspects of the world at ground level. I listened to the audiobook version of this title and, while narrator Sarah Naudi did a great job and had the kind of soothing voice that fit the subject matter, I found myself wishing I had the text in front of me so that I could re-read and fully appreciate the sheer and intense beauty of so many passages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books for providing me with an audio ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved this book! I appreciated the philosophical view of what it means to travel and live in space, without being heavy-handed. I liked the insight into each character's mind and their backstories.
The audiobook of Orbital was excellent. The narrator had great pacing, used accents lightly for different characters, and was easy to listen to.

ORBITAL by Samatha Harvey brings into focus six individuals from different countries circling the earth together.

This is a sedate read, not full of gripping plot and action, but more focused on vignettes about the various astronauts as well as events on earth, from the more ordinary passage of time to the more devastating impact of natural events. Harvey's gift is her use of language, and readers will be invited to ponder life and the world from various vantage points. Life and death and our lack of control over events are frequent themes.

The audiobook is narrated by Sarah Naudi, who has deft command of slight vocal inflections and changes to convey the various characters.

(I received a digital ALC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.)

I loved the other work I read from Samantha Harvey, but this one wasn't quite what I was hoping for. I still loved the language, but towards the middle I started to get a "what's the point?" type of feeling. I am not typically turned off by lack of lesson (not to say that there were not lessons or wisdom in this) or non-plot driven narrative, but in this case the meandering nature did not work for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

Orbital is a short meditation on the magnificent and mundane aspects of humans in space. Even with the lovely narration, I found myself losing the thread of the story. Each chapter describes an orbit around earth from the vantage of the space station and includes several astronauts’ points of view. The structure was interesting to listen to but hard to follow at times. Would recommend Orbital to those looking for a unique perspective about space, humanity, and climate change.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

This should be the perfect book for me. I’m absolutely fascinated by all things space, don’t care one bit about plot, and love beautiful writing. Orbital checks all these boxes.

However, it was not a win for me. I just didn’t find anything new or fresh here. The story is told from multiple perspectives, but the voices of the different characters all sounded the same, with all of them arriving at the exact same trite message: from space we realize that humans are so tiny and borders don’t exist.

I was just expecting more. The author can write; her sentence-level writing was fantastic. But I just couldn’t get past the repetitive, cliched message.

Orbital by Samantha Harvey is eloquent prose describing the experience of orbiting the Earth. Nell, Chiye, Anton, Sean, Pietro, and Roman are astronauts aboard a space station orbiting for 6 months, though this book covers only the last 24 hours. They are from the US, Japan, Italy, Great Britain, and 2 cosmonauts from Russia. We hear about their families and childhoods a bit and primarily about their views of Earth and thoughts about it.

There is a feeling of smallness and hugeness. The Earth is awesome and beautiful. The storms around the Earth are astonishing, including a big devastating typhoon. The aurorae are awe-inspiring .

This book has beautiful poetry and can be listened to like meditation. It does not, however, have any plot or story. This is not one I recommend binge reading nor listening to all at once. It is likely appreciated more in small chunks at a time.

The narrator, Sarah Naudi, has a lovely voice that is easy to listen to.
Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

“Orbital” – Samantha Harvey (narrated by Sarah Naudi)

“The earth is the answer to every question. The earth is the face of an exalted lover; they watch it sleep and wake and become lost in its habits. The earth is a mother waiting for her children to return, full of stories and rapture and longing.”

Six astronauts from five countries are orbiting high above the Earth, 16 times in 24 hours, following unconventional time and gravity. It’s an existence of persons forced together, strange intimacy mixed with isolation that never leads to conflict, but instead reflections on inner states and the planet that they have left behind.

There isn’t much plot to speak of, as each character is anchored to a life on terra firma and used as vehicles to ponder some massive questions on our existence, much like Martin Macinnes “In Ascension”. One astronaut’s postcard of “Las Meninas” from his wife leads to an art history tangent that prompts ideas of subject and viewer, which is then reflected in the famous photo of the Earth taken by Michael Collins in 1969, one where all of humanity at that point is in shot.

Fragility of life, tangled with grief, comes in the form of an observed super-typhoon over the Philippines combined with one astronaut losing their mother, and all of these leads to reflections of Earth, temporality, our place in the universe. For such a short book/listen, it raises some big, profound questions, coupling them with frankly gorgeous descriptions of the Earth from space. Just don’t expect much action or plot, honestly.

A deep, beautiful addition to your library, and recommended by me. Thanks to @netgalley and @recordedbooks for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I fear this didn't really work for me. It is a personal thing: fiction that tries to instill awe in the reader usually does not have that effect on me... In Orbital, the idea is to evoke the beauty of our tiny and vulnerable planet and the lives lived on it by observing and contemplating it from space.

For me a good nature documentary has a much stronger impact.

If there had been a plot it could have been more interesting and impactful (In Ascension by Martin McGinnes for instance does that).

That is not to say it isn't well-written!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.