Tranquility is such a hard book to rate. It’s even harder to talk about without giving away spoilers. I feel the same way about this novella that I do about Dune. It’s in interesting and complex story, but I’m not a huge fan of how it’s written. I also can’t explain what it is about the writing I don’t like. Before I get into the story, I need to mention that Amazon says the book is 354 pages. It is not. It’s not even close. It’s probably closer to 154 pages…unless the reviewer copy I received is missing 3/4ths of the book.

From Amazon:

During an assignment in space in the year 2135, Captain Kailin Patrick tests a dream den built to give people the chance to relive and create new, pleasant memories, but, as the machine offers the opportunity for him to reexperience intimate moments with a past love, Kailin can’t resist and builds himself up to a devastating mental breakdown, bringing his personal mission to an abrupt end just after observing the destruction of Saturn at the hands of a cosmic event, one that may also destroy the planet he calls home.

For a man whose life has revolved around the New Earth Coalition space program, being forced to live the life of an everyday citizen will be full of trials as he balances his love for another woman, haunting dreams mixed with reality, and a series of events that will force him to rediscover and remember what his heart and mind fears most.

Kailin, the main character, is complex. He’s living with a lot of trauma. When forced to confront it, he has a mental breakdown. His girlfriend, Sarah, is the most loving and understanding person in the world. She is a remarkable human being and proves that even someone as damaged as Kailin can be loved and forgiven.

The story jumps around between past and present in such a way that it becomes confusing. I think that is the point though. Letting the reader experience Kailin’s disorientation while he’s bordering on madness. It takes a few chapters for things to make sense, but once they do, it is an interesting story. Harbison uses overly complicated sentences, a fact he acknowledges in his author bio on Amazon. This makes the jumps between past and present even more difficult to decipher at times.

Tranquility is about living with the mistakes one makes, big and small. At the end of the book Harbison has a mini memoir talking about mistakes he has made in his own life. It’s a change from the normal blurb paragraph and gives a bit more insight into the authors mind.