otrops reviewed How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
Review of 'How High We Go in the Dark' on 'Storygraph'
A virus is unleashed during research on the thawing arctic tundra. A set of interlinked stories follow a cast of characters across the centuries as the world struggles to come to terms with the impact of the virus.
Each story is a gem, with characters dealing in different ways with grief and their own mortality. While there are often questionable decisions made by the characters, they all remain deeply human, and Nagamatsu’s telling of their tales is empathetic and caring.
While the stories were enough on their own to keep me reading, the intricate connections between them were a joy to uncover. References beyond the book were scattered around. At one point I found myself thinking that one story felt a lot like Miri Yū‘s Tokyo Ueno Station, only to have Ueno station mentioned a few paragraphs later.
It’s a book I’d love to read again to see what I discover on a second reading.
Each story is a gem, with characters dealing in different ways with grief and their own mortality. While there are often questionable decisions made by the characters, they all remain deeply human, and Nagamatsu’s telling of their tales is empathetic and caring.
While the stories were enough on their own to keep me reading, the intricate connections between them were a joy to uncover. References beyond the book were scattered around. At one point I found myself thinking that one story felt a lot like Miri Yū‘s Tokyo Ueno Station, only to have Ueno station mentioned a few paragraphs later.
It’s a book I’d love to read again to see what I discover on a second reading.