How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Paperback – January 10, 2023

This #PlagueNovelPals book was surprisingly uplifting and in many ways a balm for our current world. It is super dark and sad - it is about a plague brought on by climate change - but it is also about humanity’s ability to persevere, to invent and to eventually overcome. It’s an epic story built through small human interactions. @meggatzabookclub described it as a combination of Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy and Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves and I wholeheartedly agree with that assessment. I would also sprinkle a little bit of Chuck Palahniuk’s macabre zaniness and unlikeable narrators to the mix.I enjoyed the format for this book - it’s a series of short narratives that are loosely connected rather than a straight through plot. In that way it is quiet and helps you experience the world Nagamatsu built in a very relatable way, through each character’s eyes. The stories end up being more connected than they initially seem but the end and that speaks to a beautiful restraint from Nagamatsu. The writing is impeccable. Each of the characters is interesting and understandable, and you visit many locations and situations on Earth and throughout the universe. I liked that this book was emotionally impactful and dealt heavily with grief and death but it wasn’t gory in the way some books like this are. It’s an emotional sledgehammer but it also puts you back together when it’s done.

A strange and interesting book about a deadly virus that emerges from the frozen ice in Siberia after being contained for millennia and how it impacts society, nearly destroying it. It especially resonates after living through the Covid pandemic and I wonder if the author wrote this book with that in mind. While Covid was tragic, this virus is far more so and the world is ravaged with death to the point that everything in society must change to accommodate the vast amount of dead. The book moves through about a hundred year span of the virus’s journey character by character. It’s interesting to see the progression of life and long term impact on the world but it’s also a bit unsatisfying because you don’t get full stories or completed stories for the characters. I found the book sad and provocative. If you’re looking for a cheerful read, this isn’t it. But it’s a book that will cause you to reflect and ask questions and wonder about possibilities.

This book was completely not what I expected based on reading the description at time of purchase. I found it very difficult reading, not because of how it's written or any such thing as vocabulary etc. It's the subject matter I found very troubling. Reading about plague that kills people this is very difficult. Spoiler Alert: This book is quite a bit about death and how people deal with it. I thought it was a Sci-Fi novel and it is but it definitely wasn't what I expected. I especially disliked the chapter about the amusement park. I found it to be very disturbing. I also found the chapters about how people dealt with plague death disturbing as well.The subject matter aside I think the book is well written and written in a very interesting fashion. It's a collection of short stories woven together with a common theme and some reoccurring characters. I found that very interesting. One chapter I did like was the one on the people voyaging into the future and to another planet. That chapter was a bit more hopeful. I also felt the book was well wrapped up in the last chapter and brought the story full circle. In the end I can't say I really liked this book. I really wouldn't read it again and I don't know if I'd recommend it to anyone as a casual read. I suppose it might be good for a book club that's looking for subject matter that you could get a good discussion out of. I just found this book to disturbing, in my opinion.

Fantastic writing of a unique and epic plot. I have given this book as gifts to many friends and recommended it to a lot of readers. I do not recommend reading it on a tropical beach vacation-it is so enthralling, yet sad, that it will ruin your trip.

This book was difficult, not an easy subject matter, climate dystopia. Also I felt I needed a chart to keep track of the characters and their relationships with the characters in the later chapters.This book is a series of chapters that are almost short stories but are later revealed to be a part of the bigger picture.Some chapters felt cut short, some offered hope, and one in particular broke my heart. However there was also beauty and insight to be found and that is not nothing.Personally, I’d like a rewrite. There is something inside this book still buried deep below the SiberianTundra which needs to be revealed.

This will be read again! It is a collection of short stories or lives that are weaved together so perfectly…

This is bold, ambitious, visionary sci fi, covering quite a range, worldwide plague, massive climate change, interstellar travel and settlement, and creation of worlds. It's mostly successful, there are elements of greatness here, bold concepts thoughtfully executed and written with great care.But there are two problems. The book is written as a series of loosely connected episodes, really independent stories, and the attempted connections come across as artificial. Narrative continuity is lost in the process. Also, most of the episodes deal with death, loss, and grief. It's well done, but an unnecessarily narrow and harrowing focus for a visionary novel.

This book is amazing!It tells a complex story about how everything in our world, even the whole universe is connected. It starts with scientist in Siberia studying organisms that might harm humans and leads to a global plague.The story shows how everything is linked. The writing is so beautiful that it draws you in with its slow but thoughtful style. Even though it is calm and reflective, there is a lot that happens in this story as it gives it to you via many different perspectives. The ending is surprising yet satisfying.I think this book is a definite must read!

Una recopilación de historias que siguen una línea sobre la evolución de un virus y los daños que esto causa, una gran novela de ciencia ficción.

My goodness where to start. I will have to keep this review short otherwise I will give too much away, but unfortunately keeping it short doesn't do the book justice.This novel is a series of short stories stretching out over time, beginning with a deadly virus set loose after permafrost melts in Siberia sometime in the near future. Each story ranges from incredibly sad, to strange, to reflective - and each one is told from the perspective of a different person, trying to come to terms with how much life and societies have changed life following the devastation the virus wreaks. It's said that this book is similar to Cloud Atlas (a book I loved and have read a few times) and at first I didn't see how, but then I started to pick up the connections linking each story and the comparison started to make more sense, culminating in the extraordinary final chapter which brings it all together in a most unexpected and beautiful way - I didn't want this book to end.My preference in books is generally space based hard sci fi, and this novel isn't really in that category (although one of the chapters is set in outer space). It came up as a recommendation and I thought I'd give it a go as there was nothing else really taking my fancy. I'm so glad I did, I think this might be my favourite book that I've read during 2022.

Despite the sudden jumps in plot from chapter to chapter everything came together beautifully and it was a beautifully moving and sad book. Highly recommend.

Ho sentito parlare di questo libro attraverso un podcast..Che dire, ho iniziato a leggerlo ed è eccezionale. Sono più storie collegate tra di loro.Unica pecca, non è ancora disponibile la traduzione in italiano.