Orbital
Fiction, Fiction & Poetry, General Fiction
Paperback Published on: 27/06/2024
£9.99
Bookseller Reviews
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Spend a few perfect hours spinning in the stars
This is my top read of 2023. Small yet mighty and everything a good novel should be.
Orbital is one of those rare books which makes you look inward and... READ MORE
Beautiful
This book is beautifully written and really makes you think about the bigger picture. Such a unique piece of writing too, as it is fiction but almost reads... READ MORE
Absolutely gorgeous
I don't think I've ever read a book as beautiful as this. Prose that borders on poetry, written with a love for humanity that pulses through every word. It... READ MORE
Magnificent
This book shimmers throughout with such beautifully poetic imagery, as seen of the Earth from on high. And yet the writing is so subtle, a fly on the wall ... READ MORE
A uniquely beautiful account of the day in the life of an astronaut
There are many books and articles available that describe the mechanics of the wondrous International Space Station, how it completes a full circle of the... READ MORE
A stunning journey through space and time
This book focuses on 6 astronauts from different walks of life and countries who are orbiting around Earth in their spacecraft. It spends delicate time des... READ MORE
My favourite book of the year
What a book! I thought I might have already found my favourite book of 2024, but Orbital has completely changed that and smashed it out of the park. A tiny... READ MORE
A transportive meditation of my dreams
Orbital is a transportive litarary meditation focusing on a crew of astronaunts as they complete 16 orbits around Earth.
It perfectly captures the weight... READ MORE
Celestial
Reading this slim, elegant book is probably the closest I will ever come to experiencing space travel. Written as a stream of consciousness that floats be... READ MORE
Astronaut musings on our wonderful. Earth
Short book, not a story as such but the experiences and thoughts if 6 astronauts floating around the earth on the ISS, the writing is beautiful. It reads v... READ MORE
An incredible literary achievement
This short but intricate novel is a love letter to planet Earth.
It follows six astronauts during their 16 daily orbits around the planet. It shows the... READ MORE
Captures the spirit of old-school science fiction
Orbital is a wonderful and insightful read that certainly packs a reflective punch given its short run time. I hope that the ‘science fiction’ label placed... READ MORE
Synopsis
A team of astronauts in the International Space Station collect meteorological data, conduct scientific experiments and test the limits of the human body. But mostly they observe. Together they watch their silent blue planet, circling it sixteen times, spinning past continents and cycling through seasons, taking in glaciers and deserts, the peaks of mountains and the swells of oceans. Endless shows of spectacular beauty witnessed in a single day.
Yet although separated from the world they cannot escape its constant pull. News reaches them of the death of a mother, and with it comes thoughts of returning home. They look on as a typhoon gathers over an island and people they love, in awe of its magnificence and fearful of its destruction.
The fragility of human life fills their conversations, their fears, their dreams. So far from earth, they have never felt more part - or protective - of it. They begin to ask, what is life without earth? What is earth without humanity?
- Publisher: Vintage Publishing
- ISBN: 9781529922936
- Number of pages: 144
- Weight: 117g
- Dimensions: 196 x 129 x 9 mm
Customer Reviews
View allExquisite
I’m in awe of how such a simple premise, such a slightness of plot, could coalesce into such a mesmerising, ethereal and tender read. An utterly, utterly b... READ MORE
Booker Longlisted 2024
I had been tempted by the beautiful cover of this book many times, yet constantly resisted it's pull, until it was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2024 ... READ MORE
Elegiac prose celebrating our planet
Wow! This novella shy of 150 pages was a stunning reminder of what language was made for.
Up in orbit a space station orbits around the Earth every nine... READ MORE
A Gem
An exceptionally beautiful tiny book containing both a day in the life of six astronauts, sixteen orbits of the whole earth and the entire history of the u... READ MORE
Great read
This great little novel transports us out to space, where a team of six astronauts observe the world below. Asking big questions about humanity and the fra... READ MORE
Not Getting Lost in Space
Long listed for the 2024 Booker Prize, it struck me as an interesting concept and-- being the shortest of the entries-- I thought I could squeeze this one ... READ MORE
An ode to the Earth
A wonderfully researched novel that contains depth in factual narrative of an astronaut's reality, epic descriptions of how our beautiful earth is visualis... READ MORE
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