Samantha Harvey’s Orbital is a touching examination of what it means to be human. Rather than offer a science fiction plot of astronauts in Near Earth Orbit, Harvey’s novel consists of one day on the International Space Station (ISS). The crew members that we meet come for a diverse set of backgrounds: there are two Russians cosmonauts, and Japanese, American, British, and Italian astronauts. The story is interesting in that it follows a single day on the ISS: sixteen trips around the earth. Each time, the characters see something different: the amount of light on specific changes places, cloud formations come and go, and there is a new perspective on familiar continents.

The climax of the book takes place as a typhoon slams into a number of Southeast Asian nations. We imagine people struggling–suffering, in fact. Yet, as far as our intrepid astronauts are concerned, it is another day in the sky.

The book is a thoughtful and reflective meditation of life on earth. In fact, it can best be characterized as a love letter to Gaia, or Terra. The earth is our home. A few dozen individuals might have visited the moon, but they remained in orbit around the earth. Not a single person has ever gone anywhere outside of the earth’s orbit. We dream of visiting Mars and exploring the stars, but the earth plays a special role in our lives. It is best that we don’t forget it.