In Ascension

A big-un - In Ascension follows a marine microbiologist from Rotterdam who starts on an ocean expedition off of South America to a vent beneath the earth’s crust, before we then follow her journey to the edge of the solar system that mixes in science finction and sicence non-fiction… so facts.

The intention of this book seems to be to take you on a journey to the most extreme environments to make you reflect on what it means to be home, particularly in an era of climate change, and to that I think it very much achieves its aim. We learn about her early life trauma, abuse from her father, and the health struggles of her mother. For me it was this interesting reflection on those that look outwards for solutions and answers but almost as a defence against looking inward at yourself. It built so gradually in a really nice way, but the ending was then so rushed. If I’m invested for over 500 pages then I’ll probably stay with you for another 50 to do the ending justice.