Good Morning, Midnight Review (Post-Apoc Sci-Fi)

Good Morning, Midnight: Augustine, a brilliant, aging astronomer, is consumed by the stars. For years he has lived in remote outposts, studying the sky for evidence of how the universe began. At his latest posting, in a research center in the Arctic, news of a catastrophic event arrives. The scientists are forced to evacuate, but Augustine stubbornly refuses to abandon his work. Shortly after the others have gone, Augustine discovers a mysterious child, Iris, and realizes the airwaves have gone silent. They are alone.

At the same time, Mission Specialist Sullivan is aboard the Aether on its return flight from Jupiter. The astronauts are the first human beings to delve this deep into space, and Sully has made peace with the sacrifices required of her: a daughter left behind, a marriage ended. So far the journey has been a success, but when Mission Control falls inexplicably silent, Sully and her crewmates are forced to wonder if they will ever get home.

As Augustine and Sully each face an uncertain future against forbidding yet beautiful landscapes, their stories gradually intertwine in a profound and unexpected conclusion. In crystalline prose, Good Morning, Midnight poses the most important questions: What endures at the end of the world? How do we make sense of our lives? – Goodreads

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Good Morning, Midnight Review

Good Morning, Midnight is one of those books that are hard to officially review. It’s a book that you remember not so much for the story itself, but for the experience of reading it. Even though it’s a post-apocalyptic work, it isn’t one ifilled with dangers and a dramatic struggle against nature or the savage remains of humanity.

Good Morning, Midnight is quiet. It’s a book that sinks you into a vacuum where sounds, thoughts, even lights don’t seem to penetrate. You don’t think about what you’re reading, you just read it. The atmosphere the author sets settles into your mind and into your bones. It calms you down and makes you pay attention.

Lily Brooks-Dalton gives us a great main character in Augustine, who is your typical old grumpy geezer in many ways. He’s lived a full life, but not necessarily a good one. He’s anti-social to the extreme – one would think there’s probably some sort of spectrum or personality disorder going on.  And he’s obstinate. So obstinate and anti-social that he’d prefer to be left behind on a remote base.

Good Morning, Midnight is Augustine’s view of the world after it ends. He’s an intelligent man, and it swiftly becomes clear to him that the life in the Arctic station might be all that’s left. Needless to say, he has plenty of time to reflect on his past life. Now that nothing in the future matters, there’s only the past to look at.

But that’s not all it is.  Good Morning, Midnight also tells of a group of astronauts on the return journey home from a trip to the Jovian moons. From joviality to despair, and all the steps in between, it leads you through a very real feeling journey of what you would do when your only link with Earth goes dead.

Watching Augustine’s mind – his growth – is fascinating. Life on a spaceship where everyone knows they might not have anything to return to, but can’t help but hope is engrossing. Seeing how Lily Brooks-Dalton weaves the two stories together in Good Morning, Midnight will keep you thoroughly engaged. In a time when you can’t look to the future, or find anything to depend on except yourself and each other, she points out the things that really matter.

And then she pulls something at the very en. Something that violently jerks you out of your calm, quiet place. Something that makes you say several not-very-nice words at the pages. You can’t help but immediately narrow your eyes, skip back through to see what you missed, and finally insist that other people read this book and NOW. Because you need to know if you’re the only one who didn’t see it coming.

So, yes, Good Morning, Midnight is an excellent read and I insist you read it now. Please.

Title: Good Morning, Midnight | Author: Lily Brooks-Dalton (site) | Publisher: Random House | Pub. Date: 2016-9-16 | Pages: 272 | ISBN13: 9780812998900| Genres: Science Fiction | Triggers: None | Language: English | Rating: 5 out of 5 | Source: Library