Nothing needed saying. After a while, the silence stopped feeling like a silence that needed filling.
Book 1 in the Dock Meridian series. Saoirse Vanthoorn is a mechanical engineer, going from job to job on different space docks. This has been her routine for many years. But when she arrives at Dock Meridian, she finds a genetically modified cat, three maintenance drones and a small crew of people who all do their own thing, leaving her to ponder where her own place in the universe should be.
Some people will say that nothing happens in this story. I personally disagree. I think a lot of things happen, they are just internal, hinted at rather than spelled out, and in some cases happen mostly off-page, leaving only faint traces of their importance behind for the reader to decipher on their own.
The narrative is gentle, slow, and methodical. If you don’t like stories that leave things open to interpretation and force the reader to slow all the way down, this isn’t one for you. If you are looking for fast-paced action, complicated plots and strong character development, you’ll have to keep looking.
But if you’re one of those readers who appreciate slow, cozy, low-stakes fiction, this is one for you. The Long Orbit is a story of belonging and healing, not announced clearly and celebrated loudly, but categorised and revised slowly and discreetly, focusing on routine, quiet realisations and the comfort that comes with making yourself at home in a place, in a job and among other people.
Cozy science fiction – Healing fiction
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