Name: Eva Ströberg's review of How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Item: How High We Go in the Dark
Rating: 5
Author: Eva Ströberg

Sequoia Nagamatsu

For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague--a daring and deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new voice. Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic Plague will reshape life on earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a cynical employee falls in love with a mother desperate to hold on to her infected son. A heartbroken scientist searching for a cure finds a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects--a pig--develops the capacity for human speech. A widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter embark on a cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Sequoia Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries, and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resiliency of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe.

A Novel

How High We Go in the Dark

For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague—a daring and deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new voice. Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic Plague will reshape life on Earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a cynical employee falls in love with a mother desperate to hold on to her infected son. A heartbroken scientist searching for a cure finds a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects—a pig—develops the capacity for human speech. A widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter embark on a cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Sequoia Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries, and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resiliency of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe.

Jasper

And I’ll stop to search the crowd, the windows of the skyscrapers, the foothills and houses in the distance for a tiny star guiding me home.

You told me sometimes people and places serve a purpose for a finite amount of time to help you think and grow and love and then you move on.

Maybe, with help, I will wave at you when you cross the street. I will begin setting the table for one.

An album for the last of his entrails, a power ballad for the final bits of flesh, ambient electronica while I preserve the virus inside him, a love song as I place his bones in a drawer and close it shut.

Even in a hotel for the dead, life gave me scraps.

Nate

"Opportunities are like little seeds floating in the wind. Your life is there. Some people have a big net to collect them all. Other people need to pray that the right seeds, the best ones, make their way to them with just enough bad ones to appreciate the good."

I moved as if the stone path had turned to quicksand. Each step had the potential to stop me in my tracks, my selfish thoughts racing, wanting to keep Fitch here with us somehow, the three of us together. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply, told myself to think happy thoughts about intergalactic victory with the help of Space Commander Fitch. I tried to imagine him at his worst, when his paper-thin skin turned impossible colors, as if every cell in his body had been set aflame. I reminded myself that the virus eating at his brain had wrapped around his synapses, stealing a little part of him with each minute—and then I opened my eyes and saw him more alive than he had ever been.

Esmée Mangoensoewito

I consider the stories of the newcomers—what if we did come from above? And what does above mean in a place where we can touch the air beneath our feet? For all we know, we’ve been walking in circles.

Maybe tonight I’ll look at the stars and make up a new constellation for the both of us, a woman standing at the precipice of a great chasm. I'll be here with you.

For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, Sequoia Nagamatsu's debut is a wildly imaginative, genre-bending work spanning generations across the globe as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague. 'Haunting and luminous ... An astonishing debut' – Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and V for Vendetta 'A powerfully moving and thought provoking read. At times sublime, strange and deeply human' Adrian Tchaikovsky, bestselling author of the Children of Time series Dr. Cliff Miyashiro arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue his recently deceased daughter's research, only to discover a virus, newly unearthed from melting permafrost. The plague unleashed reshapes life on earth for generations. Yet even while struggling to counter this destructive force, humanity stubbornly persists in myriad moving and ever inventive ways. Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects-a pig-develops human speech; a man who, after recovering from his own coma, plans a block party for his neighbours who have also woken up to find that they alone have survived their families; and a widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. This is a story of unshakable hope that crosses literary lines to give us a world rebuilding itself through an endless capacity for love, resilience and reinvention. Wonderful and disquieting, dreamlike and all too possible. [How High We Go in the Dark] reaches far beyond our stars while its heart remains rooted to Earth, and reminds us that our wellbeing depends on the wellbeing of our world - Samantha Shannon, author of The Priory of the Orange Tree

Imie Kent-Muller

Lindsay

Fabian

Dr. Cliff Miyashiro arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue his recently deceased daughter's research, only to discover a virus, newly unearthed from melting permafrost. The plague unleashed reshapes life on earth for generations. Yet even while struggling to counter this destructive force, humanity stubbornly persists in myriad moving and ever inventive ways. Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects-a pig-develops human speech; a man who, after recovering from his own coma, plans a block party for his neighbours who have also woken up to find that they alone have survived their families; and a widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. This is a story of unshakable hope that crosses literary lines to give us a world rebuilding itself through an endless capacity for love, resilience and reinvention.

Eva Ströberg

This book is a really beautiful read. I was a bit skeptical at first about how much an actual science sci-fi this book would be. Don't get me wrong, I love a good sci-fi book on par with Carl Sagan's Contact, but the standard is also sky high (I'm also a fan of Andy Weir's books). I found that some authors could successfully "combine" sci-fi with drama as Emily St. John Mandel did with the The Sea of Tranquility and her other books. 

I have never heard of Sequoia Nagamatsu (what a beautiful name) before, but the book sounded very interesting so I gave it a try. It tells a story with the span of hundreds (?) of years, from the time when a bunch of scientists discovered a Neanderthal girl buried under thick layer of ice in Siberia (now melting because of climate change), and the fact that the discovery also unearthed a deadly virus that caused a global pandemic (related much). 

This book reminds me a bit of Three-Body Problem, and I hope they would make a film out of it, or TV series because I can imagine how good it would be.

Bria

Based on the beginning of the novel, I didn't think I would enjoy this, but holy shit. This was so good! This was a really heavy read, so beware.

Maria

i dont know how i feel for pandemic setting stories but this was charming in its hopeful humanity. personally really loved how the stories were intricately tied together and how characters from one story were in some way present in another. that being said, i could have honestly done without the last story. overall, it was the stories showcasing fragile humanity and kindness that touched me more than the ones delving deeper into a more sci fi setting.

0xADADA

Cover should include a badge: TRIGGER WARNING: Bleakness. A story rich in humanity and regret and grief about the generations that encountered a virus, tried to survive the virus, tried to rebuild after the virus, became the survivors of the virus, and those born after the virus living in a world built by the virus. Accidentally read it after a family member had died so the grieving was perhaps too close to home, but it gave me a feeling of communion in grief.

Cody Degen

really didn't like this, maybe 1.5 stars. really wish i had trusted my guts because it didn't sound good to me, i just saw it on a bunch of award lists.

I generally like pandemic/dystopian fiction but I feel like it either needs to have an interesting world/premise or people I care about or at least find compelling and this didn't have any of that. It was just really bleak and mundane w/ characters I was never given a chance to care about because it kept hopping all over the place.

tori

More than a 4 but less than a 5 (for me). It was a fun read and I plowed through it in a day. I like how the book was structured: it told a story from different narrators who were interconnected. And as a local ofc I enjoyed the Bay Area predisposition.

Dennis Jacob Rosenfeld

I was wary tackling a pandemic story whilst in the midst of one but I’m glad that I did. This story, spanning thousands of years, about a new plague that in its first iteration takes the children, was well-written and highly unnerving. Shifting points of view throughout, it shows how different characters tackle the overwhelming reality of a new plague. The euthanasia theme park City of Laughter where parents can bring their children so that their last hours can be happy ones, the doctors struggling to find a cure, the people trying to maintain relations, and the shifting of funereal rituals and how death is viewed, is all part of the narrative in this book that unbeknownst to me channel everything from Carl Sagan to Daniel Defoe. It is in no way an easy read, it is painful and rough, it is heartbreaking and despairing, but it is also hopeful and quite beautiful. Only read this one if you can handle delving deeper into a pandemic narrative at the same time as living one.

This book is not for me at least the tone. I’m learning that when it comes to SciFi, character driven stories are just not enough to grab my attention and to make me feel involved in the story. Having a great concept and captivating plots are also as important to me. And I qualify myself as a character driven reader in general 

Somehow, i couldn’t connect with any of the stories. The characters where just not memorable, the stories not compelling enough. It didn’t make question anything and the stories won’t sit with me. 

I kept comparing with what I loved in Exhalation by Ted Chiang and it was one hundred percent the SF ideas, the concepts for each stories that made them so memorable to me and the way the characters I’ve met for a short amount of time, stayed with me. Also the way the stories made me question so many things. The science, the technical progress, the way humanity react to it and so on. Well, I kinda hope seeing this somehow I couldn’t maybe the author’s approach is just not the one I prefer are that will make me involved in so many ways. 

Each stories felt pretty much the same in term of tone, atmosphere, the way it was told. The Beaty about short stories book. Is that each stories should feel unique.

Yes, I had a lot to say reading only 4 short stories. But once you see the same patterns. It’s done.

One last think, in terms of style if you like Becky Chambers you might enjoy and connect with this book. 

Amira BEN

DNF after 4 short stories. 

This book is not for me at least the tone. I’m learning that when it comes to SciFi, character driven stories are just not enough to grab my attention and to make me feel involved in the story. Having a great concept and captivating plots are also as important to me. And I qualify myself as a character driven reader in general 

Somehow, i couldn’t connect with any of the stories. The characters where just not memorable, the stories not compelling enough. It didn’t make question anything and the stories won’t sit with me. 

I kept comparing with what I loved in Exhalation by Ted Chiang and it was one hundred percent the SF ideas, the concepts for each stories that made them so memorable to me and the way the characters I’ve met for a short amount of time, stayed with me. Also the way the stories made me question so many things. The science, the technical progress, the way humanity react to it and so on. Well, I kinda hope seeing this somehow I couldn’t maybe the author’s approach is just not the one I prefer are that will make me involved in so many ways. 

Each stories felt pretty much the same in term of tone, atmosphere, the way it was told. The Beaty about short stories book. Is that each stories should feel unique.

Yes, I had a lot to say reading only 4 short stories. But once you see the same patterns. It’s done.

One last think, in terms of style if you like Becky Chambers you might enjoy and connect with this book. 

altlovesbooks

Brief 2/23/23 update: I just re-read this with a group of friends and loved it just as much the second time as I did the first. It's such a powerful read, and remains one of my favorite books ever (at this point).

Original review: How did I go from being so "wtf is this book" when I started to "holy cow this is one of my 2022 favorites" when I finished? I'm not too sure myself, but there's very few books that can make me feel like crying and make me want to immediately re-read when I'm finished. A book that can do that makes my favorites list automatically.

Going into it, you should know that this is a series of short stories that tell the tale of a plague that was unleashed on the world from Siberia. Rising temperatures and melting permafrost reveal a cave and a dead girl, and it is from this dead girl that the plague originates. Each story advances the plague timeline a bit more, and it's interesting to see how humanity changes in the beginning, middle, end, and post-plague parts of the story. Each chapter is only loosely associated with what came before; aside from the obvious presence of the plague, there's also some character/role/event overlap there to find if you look for it. 

Like in most short story books, the chapters can be kind of a mixed bag. I thought the first chapter was far and away the weakest one, but it helps set the stage for what comes after. The second, seventh, ninth, and eleventh stories were all standouts for me, but most of the rest did end up having at least some lasting impression that made me think a bit when I was done. The ending chapter (chapter fourteen for anyone keeping track) especially really turned everything on its head and made me want to re-read the whole book again. 

This is an incredibly sad, bleak book, and very heavy topics are discussed. There's hope and happiness of course, but it's first and foremost a plague book so, y'know, manage your expectations. I loved the entire experience.

It is hard to rate this book because its good parts were really good but the ending really lets it down. When it focuses on the human experience and the weird ways we adapt to tragedy and grief, it is poignant and creative and sometimes even beautiful. However, any time it veers into high sci-fi, it feels very uninspired and derivative. This seems to hold back the work from reaching its full potential.

This is relevant to the format, too. Each chapter is a different P.O.V. of a different person with a different role to play in the event and its aftermath. They are related from tangentially to closely until a tapestry encompassing the full human experience of a catastrophic event is woven in front of the eyes of the reader. However, the final reveal weakens what could have been a message about human love and resilience and turns it into speculation.

With the risk of turning this review too negative - even though the book was an otherwise pleasant and engaging read, I guess the taste of the ending is still too fresh on my tongue - perhaps the weak parts would have felt less weak if there were not literary examples that have executed the same ideas better. We are talking about Becky Chambers in some aspects and THEE Octavia E. Butler in the very end key chapter. 

It is hard to rate this book because its good parts were really good but the ending really lets it down. When it focuses on the human experience and the weird ways we adapt to tragedy and grief, it is poignant and creative and sometimes even beautiful. However, any time it veers into high sci-fi, it feels very uninspired and derivative. This seems to hold back the work from reaching its full potential.

This is relevant to the format, too. Each chapter is a different P.O.V. of a different person with a different role to play in the event and its aftermath. They are related from tangentially to closely until a tapestry encompassing the full human experience of a catastrophic event is woven in front of the eyes of the reader. However, the final reveal weakens what could have been a message about human love and resilience and turns it into speculation.

With the risk of turning this review too negative - even though the book was an otherwise pleasant and engaging read, I guess the taste of the ending is still too fresh on my tongue - perhaps the weak parts would have felt less weak if there were not literary examples that have executed the same ideas better. We are talking about Becky Chambers in some aspects and THEE Octavia E. Butler in the very end key chapter. 

Somewhere between a novel and a collection of short stories, How High We Go In The Dark tackles the lives of people affected by an ancient virus released from an ice melt. I found some of the stories a little repetitive in their grim nature, but the connections between them and the final story surprised me in a way I wasn’t expecting from this book. It was compulsively readable and I’m sure parts of it will stick with me for a long time.

Joana

Gillian Rose

3.75 stars

This was well-written, but I don't know if I was ready to read a book like this. Note: if you can't read about pandemics, avoid this book. If you can't read about an illness mostly affecting children, do not read this book. I wasn't aware it was more of a collection of short stories, while mostly interconnected. I don't know, there was hope in some parts, but it was more bleak than I can handle at the moment.

Apiecalypse Jen

** spoiler alert **
           I didn’t love this. It has been on my feeds constantly as like the sci go book to read and like as a fan of dark books it was the one I had high hopes for but it was a blarg and a half for me pretty much all the way through. 

I spent the whole first few chapters basically just being like, saddled with the weight of grief. Like just crushingly sad and like, I think that’s the difference. Like there is dark and there is sad and this was just fucking sad. 

Then after the first few blows that were the initial vignettes it was just bleak. Even the stuff that was supposed to be hopeful and like things coming back was bleak. Even the folks we recognize and see down the road, bleak. It was no “half built garden.”

I think maybe I am worn out on pandemic books. I mean I don’t think I am, I know I am. I am worn out on pandemic books. No amount of hype can make this not a bleak and sad pandemic book that was sold to me as deep and alluring but was to me, sad and wrung out.

Spoilers after this part so don’t keep reading unless you have finished the book.


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Maybe this is just me, but the fact that “ancient aliens” is an extremely nazi conspiracy theory make the payoff at the end of this whole dark bleak heavy ass book pretty lackluster for me… 

Also what is with this alien guide basically going on a colonization tour of the earth? That’s their purpose? Europe? Japan? America? And spreading disease and “innovation” as they go? 

I have all the disappointment! Why is this book the most hyped book on my feed all the time? What the hell did I miss?

dija

Shona Tiger

Really intense, epic, science fictional but with great character studies. Content warning for lots of body horror and death themes. Also be warned that this is *very* much a pandemic book, which of course can be triggering when we're living through one. Lots of fascinating concepts around dealing with mass casualty, from societal and economic perspectives.

Frederik De Bosschere

A rich tapestry of subtly interwoven stories. Each short tale is engaging and original, with the added bonus that they all play out against the same backdrop. For me, it was the ideal crossover of David Mitchell (the intersecting narratives) and Ted Chiang or Ken Liu (sci-fi short stories).

Janice Hopper

All the way through this book, I kept thinking how wonderful and engrossing it was. For me, it was a really good way to think about pandemic trauma, loss, and grief. The stories are interlaced in interesting ways, with unexpected character connections popping up here and there. Lots of the stories were very touching and made me tear up.

The only thing that made me give it 4 stars instead of 5 is the ending. (view spoiler)[ It was an unexpectedly science-fiction-y ending, though it REALLY pulled a lot of threads together. (hide spoiler)]
I might need to go back and read it again. I might feel differently about the ending now that I know what's coming.

The book had multiple narrators, and they were all quite good. They really helped my enjoyment of the book, I think.

This is a truly beautifully told story. Hopeful and heartbreaking all at once. 

Megan BV

Garrett Jansen

I cried while reading this book. There are parts of it that are just so deeply moving in the way that it digs through very human feelings in the fact of such overwhelming chaos.

Ethan Hill

Ugh I was counting on this being four stars. The premise is somewhere between the structure of A Visit From the Goon Squad and the general storyline of Station Eleven, two books that I love. And while the early chapters/stories are all vibrant and compelling in their own ways, Nagamatsu runs out of momentum in a big way around 65% in and never quite recovers, the last two chapters help some, but overall this feels like it’s taking much better novels to create something that is merely good.

Margaret Sh.

(I had to double check when is this book published (this year), and which decade is it set in (decades following 2030s). For a book written in 2020s, and set in the near future, the cultural references in the book are weirdly all pre-2010. I get the older characters would like stuff we millennials or even boomers like, but the kids? No post-2015 celebrities? No internet memes?)

Although the stories are well-narrated and tear-jerking, I feel it lacked a deeper prod into the whole theme of death and farewells. It has potential, but not well executed. The Asian American representations is also somewhat flat and stereotypical. Last chapter, while gave an explanation to the pandemic, undermined all the tone set in the previous chapters.

Courtney Woolery

magical and fantastical and yet so real. a book I will think back on often.

"For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut that follows a cast of intricately linked characters over hundreds of years as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague-a daring and deeply heartfelt work of mind-bending imagination from a singular new voice. Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic Plague will reshape life on earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children, a cynical employee falls in love with a mother desperate to hold on to her infected son. A heartbroken scientist searching for a cure finds a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects-a pig-develops the capacity for human speech. A widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter embark on a cosmic quest to locate a new home planet. From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead to interstellar starships, Sequoia Nagamatsu takes readers on a wildly original and compassionate journey, spanning continents, centuries, and even celestial bodies to tell a story about the resiliency of the human spirit, our infinite capacity to dream, and the connective threads that tie us all together in the universe"--

Ruby Woodward

'A book of regrets and goodbyes.' The epitome of love's fragility and its intermingling with death in its multitudinous forms; so horrifying, inextricable, yet beautiful. It is a tale of possibility, and the humanity which rims with it. It speaks of the light which we are blind to and the possibility it holds - past this light is where we truly exist.

'A piece of possibility - permission to keep moving, and living, and and searching...It is the hope that one day, in this life, or the next, or the one after that, it'll glow so brightly the people will stop to look.'

Sophia Geron

Beautiful. Lyrical. Sad. Will stick with me for a long time.

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How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

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