Orbital Audiobook By Samantha Harvey cover art

Orbital

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Orbital

By: Samantha Harvey
Narrated by: Sarah Naudi
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About this listen

A slender novel of epic power, Orbital deftly snapshots one day in the lives of six women and men hurtling through space—not towards the moon or the vast unknown, but around our planet. Selected for one of the last space station missions of its kind before the program is dismantled, these astronauts and cosmonauts—from America, Russia, Italy, Britain, and Japan—have left their lives behind to travel at a speed of over seventeen thousand miles an hour as the earth reels below. We glimpse moments of their earthly lives through brief communications with family, their photos and talismans; we watch them whip up dehydrated meals, float in gravity-free sleep, and exercise in regimented routines to prevent atrophying muscles; we witness them form bonds that will stand between them and utter solitude. Most of all, we are with them as they behold and record their silent blue planet. Their experiences of sixteen sunrises and sunsets and the bright, blinking constellations of the galaxy are at once breathtakingly awesome and surprisingly intimate. So are the marks of civilization far below, encrusted on the planet on which we live.

Profound, contemplative, and gorgeous, Orbital is an eloquent meditation on space and a moving elegy to our humanity, environment, and planet.

©2023 Samantha Harvey (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Fiction Literary Fiction Science Fiction Space Exploration Space Interstellar Solar System Heartfelt Space Station
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What listeners say about Orbital

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

a meditation more than a novel

The writing is quite lyrical and evocative, but there's essentially no plot and only sketches of characters. Really disliked the wispy-voiced narration style. Recording seems to have some technical issues where the sound fades in and out as if the reader was shifting in her seat.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful

Beautiful language, spectacular imagery, deeply human. Lovely voice too. Was disappointed when it ended, looking forward to more from the author.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Perspective of inner and outer space

Fascinating exploration of what astronauts must experience as they hurtle around the earth. Shifting perspectives on many levels that broadened me out of my usual limits.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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The poetry

I loved the thought provoking imagery and the beautiful way in which the story was told.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

One of the most beautiful novels ever.

Profoundly poetic and inspiring. Stunning prose. This and All the Beautiful Horses may be my all time favorites.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A short delight

Harvey uses the trajectory of an orbiting space station experiencing an unearthly sixteen sunrises in a single day as it traverses around the planet to trace out the apparent plotlessness of human life on spaceship earth as we float in space.

Within this framework she focuses the lenses wide and long as we take in the whole world, micro to macro, the progress of humankind, the evolution of life and the universe and the oneness we should feel being in this rather lonely universe.

This was a short delight.

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Lyrical narration

Poetic, lyrical, profound descriptions of life on the space station as the astronauts experience multiple days and nights on earth as they speed around the planet over and over. We are given a tour of the earth through sunrises and sunsets and their connections to earth which are both grounding and mystical.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The remive from emotion the speaker gives as the story progresses.

So dry.
So far removed from joy and beauty.
Interesting but felt very clinical.
Good attempt at multinational representation but still-very dry.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A fine blend of prose and poetry

A wonderful voyage through the void. The blend of pros and poetry was really something unique. Not a lot of action.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding!

The prose were exquisite! Visually descriptive and engaging! Wished it was longer!! Couldn’t put it down!

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