How High We Go in the Dark

In 2030, Cliff’s daughter, Clara, has died in an accident while researching climate change near the arctic circle. Clara had discovered an Ice Age girl in the melting permafrost, whose body is infected with an ancient plague virus. Then it turns into one of the saddest books I’ve ever read. The virus spreads. It initially targets children.

It is a series of interrelated dark short stories with a few recurring characters. Some very creative ideas are expressed. The structure is unconventional, with portions written in different points of view and taking great leaps through time and space. One of the main themes is the importance of forming interpersonal connections. It is an exploration of grief and loss positioned within pandemic show more and climate change scenarios. The last few stories add a new dimension to the range of interpretations. I admired it and will look forward to reading another book by this author.

If you are sensitive to reading about the deaths of children, you might consider skipping the second story. I would not recommend this book to anyone feeling depressed. show less

This book, consisting of a series of linked short stories/vignettes, reminded me a bit of Cloud Atlas, and I liked it almost as much as I liked Cloud Atlas. It begins in the year 2030, with a visit to a Siberian archaeological excavation site, where something that becomes known as the Arctic Plague is released upon the world. It proceeds forward through hundreds of years with interlocking characters and events. It has an epic scope, but also an eye for the most minute of dazzling details.

This is one of the most original and imaginative books I've read in a very long time. I loved it.

41/2 stars

To me, as a writer, this one taught me a couple of valuable lessons. First, nothing is more important than finding and nailing the heart of a story (Nagamatsu does that here in every chapter with stunning consistency). Second, when a story is dark, gut-wrenching, or otherwise emotionally heavy, a loose, accessible, and pleasant prose can serve as its own balance in levity (and it's this one that I think reading this book provides a masterclass in).

As a reader, I found emotional connections so strong that I had to stop reading, because to continue with the next chapter would mean leaving behind a particular tale that I wasn't ready to let go of. This one would be an easy tear in a single day, but I feel like readers who devour books show more might tend to miss the visceral effect of How High We Go in the Dark. I found it ultimately moving, and I think part of my experience is due to putting it down when I felt full and knowing it would be there again tomorrow to fill me back up again.

It's a wonderful, horrifying, heart-swelling, ugly-cry tale that is at once intimate and cosmic in ways that blew my mind. show less

What do I think about How High We Go in the Dark? Should you read Sequoia Nagamatsu’s debut novel?

It was mesmerizing. Mind-blowing. Devastating.

I am haunted by images from the novel. An altruistic swine. A mass of lost people cooperating to, hopefully, save an infant. Burn out among those working with the dying and the deceased.

Reading such an original novel, I feel spurred into alertness, dragged from my somnambulant comfort zone. This what I needed to get my mind reeving, get out of my slump.

I requested the galley for the references to Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven. And because on Twitter author Matt Bell (Appleseed) remarked on reading the galley and I followed Nagamatsu on Twitter. I was intrigued.

Yes, it is nightmarish stuff, show more about a plague and climate change and how society copes with mass deaths, capitalism responding by creating theme parks for dying children and new ways to memorialize the deceased. It is disturbing because although speculative fiction, we see its roots in reality.

It is also a deeply human and humane book with characters demonstrating love and courage. And hope.

What more can a reader ask from a novel? This one hits all the bases.

I received a free egalley from Custom House through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased. show less

Publishers that compare their latest offerings to other highly rated books run the risk that some readers (and reviewers) are going to take them literally. For example, if the blurb on the back cover reads..."For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, a spellbinding and profoundly prescient debut..." anyone who has read both books will probably make mental comparisons as they read. And let’s face it, those two books set the bar pretty high. Also, a book about a fictional pandemic published two years into an actual pandemic can hardly be called prescient. (Granted, the writing and editing processes may have begun well before covid-19 but, sorry, it’s old news now.)
As a collection of short stories sharing a central theme and several show more overlapping characters, this is good but overall it lacks the cohesiveness of the two books it’s compared to. Not sure if all the hype led me to set my expectations too high or if I'd have been underwhelmed either way, but there it is. Disclosure: I received an advance copy to review from Goodreads Giveaways show less

It’s the year 2030 and an ancient plague has just been released from the arctic permafrost…
HOW HIGH WE GO IN THE DARK is a series of interconnected stories that explores the ramifications of this climate event from onset through millennia into the future. Although the stories could be taken as singular pieces, when combined together they paint an exquisite portrait of humanity.

This was an extremely emotional read with parts that were difficult to digest such as the chapter set in a euthanasia park for children. While I felt the writing to be strong throughout the book, certain chapters resonated with me more than others be it for connections to personal experience or their greater plausibility.

“Opportunities are like little seeds show more floating in the wind. Your life is there. Some people have a big net to collect them all. Other people need to pray that the right seeds, the best ones, make their way to them with just enough bad ones to appreciate the good.”

The arctic plague caused mass death and grief for humanity, yet despite being deeply dark, the book offers equal amounts of profound hope. Nagamatsu’s hauntingly beautiful writing leaves me with a reminder that amidst the chaos of life, we must not lose sight of our empathy for others and our capacity for forgiveness of ourselves. The final chapter entitled “The Scope of Possibility” does an excellent job of wrapping up the reader’s journey, offering a satisfying conclusion.

HOW HIGH WE GO IN THE DARK is a must read for those looking for a thought-provoking book and fans of speculative fiction/literary sci-fi. This is a book that will stick with me for the foreseeable future. show less

This book is fascinating. It’s a take on what the world might look like in the future, upon the release of a bizarre plague from beneath melting glacier ice. There are scientific advances, institutionalized processes for helping people die, entire industries revolving around funerals and memorials. It’s jarring and at the same time not to imagine a world with a high powered funerary lobby making plays at government funding.

Nagamatsu weaves multiple storylines together in such a heartfelt and moving way. The subtle connections between characters, the through-line of love and family and remembrance, it’s gorgeous - if anything, I would consider this novel a paean to human resilience. To love and what keeps people together in show more difficult times. It’s not necessarily a crying emotional narrative, to me the whole book is just voices from an imagined future in which death and dying, regardless of how, have lost any taboo or stigma, allowing people to make their endings with thought and care and support.

I’ll definitely be thinking about this one for a long time. Four stars instead of five, though, but I won’t explain why to anyone who hasn’t read it. show less