I have to start by saying that while I enjoyed it immensely, this book will not be for everyone - it's not character or plot focused, but instead, more of a running commentary about life and time and, above all, perspective.

The story follows six astronauts one a single (to them) day as they orbit the Earth and its rapid sunrises and sunsets. The characters go through the motions of a work day, deal with grief, think about the people they left back home and the people they have no choice but to live with. 

"Orbital", to me, felt like a breath of fresh air, a short book written in such an interesting way, made up from multiple snippets of past and present of the six main characters, interspersed with almost philosophical rummaging about the way things change depending on our perspective, both in everyday life, and on a cosmic level. I especially enjoyed the parts about a painting "Las Meninas", and the photo of the first moon landing. 

The shortness of scenes mixed with beautiful writing style and great narration made this book easy to follow (especially for someone with a short attention span) and allowed me to listen to the whole of it in just two sittings.
Would recommend for anyone who needs an escape from their daily life without having to leave it too far behind - staying right in the orbit.

I have received a copy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review.

This book was not for me. It is the perspective of astronauts orbiting the earth in a space station going about their day. It has no plot, and its characters are not fully realized. It reads more like short snapshots or photos of moments in their life and mind. I think the intent is to put the reader inside their perspective, to think what they are thinking, as extraneous and meandering as they may be. The issue is not with the lack 0f a plot. The issue I have is that we are never really allowed to know the characters whose perspectives we are glimpsing. Even as we glimpse snippets of their personal lives, we never truly delve into them, and while it is interesting to explore, especially with the philosophical musings throughout, it simply is not a compelling narrative. It feels like a chore--one that provides little reward for your efforts.

Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for the audio-arc. The audiobook is fine, perhaps slightly below average (of my preferred form of narration), but it feels appropriate for the narrative being presented.

Have you ever wondered what it is like to orbit Earth? To see both the darkness and the light from afar? To feel weightless and insignificant? This epic story gives all that and more. Told from a point of view miles above Earth, Orbital allows the reader to understand just how small we all are. But also how beautiful our existence is. I appreciated the length of this story. Long enough to pack a punch without feeling like it droned on. I love books that make me ponder. This one had me visualizing life as a whole from, literally, a different perspective.

Thank you NetGalley, RB Media, and author Samantha Harvey for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Orbital was an okay read. A first I liked that each section was about different people on the ship but it just started to get boring as the story went on. I wished the story was from one person's perspective. I started to drift midway into the story which means to me I didn't connect with any of the characters. I did like the reflective sections of the story to a point. This book wasn't for me sadly.

2.5 stars


Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for granting this book.

can see a certain audience loving this book. That said, I am not that audience. I was looking for something to listen to, nothing else seemed appealing and this was short. Maybe not the best reasons to choose a book, but there you have it.

The story revolves around the six astronauts on a space station. IT describes the living conditions and some of the daily routines. There are brief glimpses into each person’s life in earth and in space. Parts were lovely and lyrical. Parts (most?) were droning and boring. Using a list is an interesting construct to make a point. Doing it repeatedly just gets old and tiresome. I listened to the audiobook at 1.5 and 2x speed for most of it because although there were moments where the narrator’s voice was appropriate and melodic, most of the time it was dull and monotonous - she sounded as though she was reading a grocery list to a dim-witted partner.
There was a subplot about a typhoon approaching land - that was actually interesting … but, pointless. I suppose it was to make some grand statement, but it was lost on me.
If you’re interested in space exploration, random pontifications, and listening to lists read by a zombie… this is your book!
I’d round up half a point, if I could. Book was fine but just fine.
Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books for the ALC in exchange for my honest opinions

Format: audiobook ~ Narrator: Sarah Naudi
Content: 3.5 stars ~ Narration: 5 stars

I’m not sure what to write about Orbital. It’s a short literary fiction novel centered around people living on a space station orbiting the Earth. Six astronauts and cosmonauts (two women and four men) from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds are aboard the space station. They are from America, Russia, Italy, Britain, and Japan. The story unfolds within 16 orbits or 24 hours.

Orbit is a beautiful meditation on life and space. The writing is very good. But it’s pretty plotless otherwise. It has no main story to glue everything together and make it memorable. And maybe that is my biggest issue with it. Because of that, I’m afraid the novel won’t stay with me for long.

Thanks to Recorded Books for the advance copy and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

A beautiful story and look into human nature, the characters in Orbital are some of the most real I've ever felt.

A lyrical novel with great prose, but the plot was lacking something that I can’t quite pinpoint. It was an interesting read, but I found it to be a little boring, at times, and somewhat repetitive. Nevertheless, I’m sure that people who are into sci-fi novels will appreciate this far more than I did and, again, the prose was quite beautiful.

Immersive, engaging, and expertly crafted. A recommended purchase for collections where litfic is popular.

Happy Pub Week - Orbital by Samantha Harvey 🌏🌍🌎🌕

Have you heard of the overview effect? It's the experience astronauts report upon seeing Earth from space, in its spectacular splendor, without borders, and being overcome with awe at the beauty, fragility, and inter-connectedness of our planet. I'm no astronaut, but reading this book brought me closer to understanding the wonder of the overview effect, which is a marvelous feat for this slim read.

We shadow 6 astronauts on the International Space Station and observe their banal tasks to keep the ship running, keep their bodies healthy, and fulfill their work and space studies. The exercises to stave off muscle atrophy, vacuuming the vents and finding items that floated astray, tending to the mice they study, photographing Earth and observing weather patterns, and emailing with their loved ones or using a radio to connect with people who happen to be tuned in. We are privy to their inner lives as they learn news from home all the while constantly observing home itself from so far away.

The astronauts' inner lives contrast with their broader, shared experiences of space life together and living in wonderment of Earth itself. And that in turn contrasts with the up-close glimpses we are granted of people back on Earth.

So is this book actually sci-fi, or a novel? It's an intimate portrait of not only the astronauts, but also our planet. It's a meditation on our place in the universe. It's a philosophical discourse about human perspective and what it means to be alive. There isn't a plot but the reader experiences life as an ISS passenger. This book defies genre and is a contemplative experience about humanity and our planet. It is not a bingeable story - it's gorgeous prose to reflect upon and savor.

I'm grateful to RB Media, Recorded Books, and Netgalley for my advanced audiobook. Sarah Naudi is a captivating narrator and the audio is well done. I will say that each section packs a lot of thought-provoking ideas and imagery, so for me this may work better as a hard copy to better absorb and reflect on the writing. Either way, I highly recommend the experience of reading this unique book! Out now 12/5/23.

I did enjoy a lot this audiobook, my only reason to take so long listening to it, was that my life and the book kind of came together, the mother of one of the characters died, and so did my own mother, and it was painful to listen and live the same thing in my life, remembering things of my own past as the character remembered their own past… health situations, where the characters didn’t want to alert others, because that would mean ending short their stay on space… and so on

its a beautiful written book, and is much more speculative than science fiction, so even people that don’t like science fiction will enjoy this book, I got the pleasure to listen to the audiobook and I loved the accent of the person reading, Sarah Naudi did a really good job narrating the story, and helping the reader fell emersed in the book.

Thank you NetGalley and RB Media, Recorded Books for the free AAC and this is my honest opinion.

Orbital is a very quiet novel which manages to be totally compelling. Quite a feat for a book with little in the way of plot. It follows a crew of six astronauts of varying nationalities as they go about their ordinary day on an international space station, circling the globe . On their sixteen trips around planet Earth they observe our planet and each other, and spend a lot of time thinking about life and what it all means. It’s very meditative and philosophical and I couldn’t stop listening. Its quietness and slowness was a balm to my soul, and the audiobook narration was delightfully soothing. Often space stories are very “techy” and I tend to skim over those details. This was not the case here; the focus is firmly on humanity and the environment. I was captivated by the way this story highlighted the beauty and awe of our planet, and the interconnectedness of everyone and everything on it. If only I had the power to make certain politicians, policymakers and other influential people read it and reflect on their actions. I highly recommend this lyrical and contemplative novel even, or especially, if stories set in space are not your usual reading matter of choice.

Many thanks to @netgalley and @recordedbooks for the advance copy. Orbital is out today.

I loved this book.

It is a meditation on the singularity of the earth and its inhabitants. This is philosophy with a handful of characters thrown in to give the questions some context and allow for the tiniest sprinkling of plot. This book asks so many more questions than it answers, and I need the balm that thinking on those questions brings.

I listened to this on audio and while I’ll also be getting this book in print for a nice slow re-read, Sarah Naudi does a excellent job with the narration.

Thanks to NetGalley and RB Media for access to this advance copy.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an astronaut completing a mission in the international space station? If so, this novel explores the different elements that the astronauts must face by exploring a fictional (but highly realistic) day-in-the life of the members on board the ISS. Certainly, some of the elements would apply to those sent to the ISS, for example, watching as a massive natural disaster brews in the oceans... or finding out that there has been a death in your family and there is nothing that you can do about it. The astronauts border between being the most important and the most helpless scientists all at the same time. and each has their own take on their time in the ISS.

Although very thought provoking and interesting, I struggled with the audio quality of this novel And thinking back I believe this might have been a better hard copy read, as there were some very interesting ideas explored, and being able to read and sit with some of the words would probably be beneficial. Back to the audio quality though... at times I struggled to keep track of some of the diction by the narrator, and felt that there was a bit of muffled elements that made it difficult for me to retain and keep focused on the narrator. Otherwise, I enjoyed the novel and the thoughts that it provoked while listening.

Relatively a small scifi novel about the international space station orbiting the Earth.
The station drifts in the slow gravity, and there are six cosmonauts observing the Earth, doing some research. One by one, we meet each of them and hear their life stories. The book also tells us about their life organized on the station. The chapter about the national toilets makes me laugh :) lol.. But the book tells us very little about each of them, almost no dynamics and interactions between them. This novel is not like a standard scifi space story, it’s more like a mix of scifi and existentialist philosophy, an examination of the human condition and emotions, a meditation on what life is, and what it is to be human. Where the author is using these cosmonauts to share her thoughts through them.
I liked the writing. It absolutely suits this book.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free audiobook.

Listening to this superlative audiobook I could hear the words of a song we often sing at the start of Friday night Shabbat services: "Roll into dark. Roll into light. Night becomes day. Day turns to night." Orbital is a meditative study of six astronauts in the International Space Station who are suspended in time while days and nights continue to turn on Earth. We mourn with a female Japanese astronaut whose mother dies while she's orbiting and who cannot attend the funeral. We observe some of the same geopolitical divides that exist on earth: the two Russian cosmonauts have quarters, including a toilet, separate from the others'. But, the greatest strength and depth of Orbital, however, comes as the station ascends and descends in its multi-orbital day and night, over and over. Astronauts' observe the formation and movements of a super-typhoon, passing along information to earth-bound meteorologists, and in the strongest parts of the book, they meditate on the beauty and destruction of what they're seeing as they move through space, on day and night and life and death, on their relationships with their family members, and on the importance of their work compared with a lunar exploration that is launched upwards as they go around and around. Orbital, whose text is enhanced by Sarah Audi's superb narration, will not appeal to readers who are looking for action-packed thrillers set in space. But it will be a hit with readers who seek to be challenged. Highly recommended.

“Six astronauts rotate in their spacecraft contemplating the world below.” That blurb really says it all. This book was not for me. I kept going only because it was short. Unfortunately, it was also completely plotless and uneventful. Just musings about the planet and the former lives of the astronauts. I was very bored, and so glad when they finally reached the 16th orbit. I would not read this author again. I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

So beautifully written. I listened to the audiobook on Netgalley and the narrator was wonderful. Gives the same feeling as reading Carl Sagan. A quiet story with not much plot but makes you fall in love with the earth and humanity.

While short, this novel packs a punch. Told from the perspectives of several international astronauts stuck together in orbit circling the Earth, this story is an insightful meditation on humanity, the environment and our future as a species. Good on audio and definitely worth a read for fans of books like The martian (minus the life or death stakes). Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!