Sea of Tranquility

Memorably unmemorable.

Even more "exquisitely bland" than Station Eleven, this is a pretty boring book.

It reads like a thesis into the state of the world after the 2020 pandemic, when the world was temporarily carried on our shoulders.

And the time travel aspect is a load of soft sci-fi bollocks, mysteriously zipping across the centuries with no technical explanation other than time travel will, of course, be possible in the centuries to come.

Trash!

This was my second ESJM book after Station Eleven and was a similar experience, jumping all over the place due to lack of correlated plot, poor character development, and so jumbled together it kept me asking why?

Who are all these people who rate ESJM books 5/5?

Or am I uneducated and thick as two short planks?

5/10 from me because I'm not entirely nasty but pretty naffed all the same for expecting SO much from this author. It's my fault, admittedly, not hers.

And she writes very prettily at times.

The first part of the books consists of intriguing historical fiction set at the beginning of the 20th century, but finishes abruptly and fails to come back to that story at all, only later in reference as part of the time traveling aspect.

You can express good ideas, but when there's no concrete idea where to use them, these get bundled into debatable time traveling plotlines.

The whole book is written like this, with short and loosely connected sections, which feels like a cop out.

Fortunately, the Time Machine by H.G. Wells is not written like this and hence why it's so beguiling AND memorable in return. Yes, it has ropey mechanics, but the time travel aspect is consistent and the destination is wonderfully bizarre.

And what exactly does Sea of Tranquility mean? That it all balances out in the end as we carry on surviving for the sake of it?

That we got through a pandemic? And the earth keeps on spinning?

Even though this book is relatively short at around 200 pages, I found it a struggle to pick up again because of the scanty way it's put together, reminding me of a lesser churned out acid-influenced novel from the 1970s by Philip K. Dick, maybe, or perhaps even Kurt Vonnegut when he's being silly.

ESJM doesn't know how to tell a story, that's the thing, in a continuous, consistent or cohesive way.

Her writing is pleasant enough to get three inoffensive stars but jumps to multiple forgettable characters in alternative time dimensions instead of narrating an exciting story, and the references to Shakespeare are here yet again as a reminder that we're reading pleasant prose instead of enjoying a satisfying plotline.

This negative review could be my failing as a shallow reader, granted, whereas a dream for others who enjoy abstract dialogue more than action, who revel in James Joyce and his rambling style.

There's nothing hateful about this book.

And ESJM is a likeable author and probably a top-notch person?

But what she writes feels like a caveat for how I feel as a reader of a boring book.