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How High We Go in the Dark cover art

How High We Go in the Dark

By: Sequoia Nagamatsu
Narrated by: Jason Culp, Stephanie Komure, Micky Shiloah, Joe Knezevich, Brianna Ishibashi, Kotaro Watanabe, Matthew Bridges, Kurt Kanazawa, Greg Watanabe, Jeanne Sakata, MacLeod Andrews, Keisuke Hoashi, Brian Nishii, Julia Whelan
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Summary

Bloomsbury presents How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu, read by Jason Culp, Stephanie Komure, Micky Shiloah, Joe Knezevich, Brianna Ishibashi, Kotaro Watanabe, Matthew Bridges, Kurt Kanazawa, Greg Watanabe, Jeanne Sakata, MacLeod Andrews, Keisuke Hoashi, Brian Nishii and Julia Whelan.

For fans of Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, Sequoia Nagamatsu's debut is a wildly imaginative, genre-bending work spanning generations across the globe as humanity struggles to rebuild itself in the aftermath of a climate plague.

Dr Cliff Miyashiro arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue his recently deceased daughter’s research, only to discover a virus, newly unearthed from melting permafrost. The plague unleashed reshapes life on earth for generations. Yet even while struggling to counter this destructive force, humanity stubbornly persists in myriad moving and ever inventive ways.

Among those adjusting to this new normal are an aspiring comedian, employed by a theme park designed for terminally ill children, who falls in love with a mother trying desperately to keep her son alive; a scientist who, having failed to save his own son from the plague, gets a second chance at fatherhood when one of his test subjects - a pig - develops human speech; a man who, after recovering from his own coma, plans a block party for his neighbours who have also woken up to find that they alone have survived their families and a widowed painter and her teenaged granddaughter who must set off on cosmic quest to locate a new home planet.

From funerary skyscrapers to hotels for the dead, How High We Go in the Dark follows a cast of intricately linked characters spanning hundreds of years as humanity endeavours to restore the delicate balance of the world. This is a story of unshakable hope that crosses literary lines to give us a world rebuilding itself through an endless capacity for love, resilience and reinvention.

©2022 Sequoia Nagamatsu (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"A powerfully moving and thought provoking read. At times sublime, strange and deeply human." (Adrian Tchaikovsky, best-selling and award-winning author of the Children of Time series)

"Haunting and luminous.... An astonishing debut." (Alan Moore, creator of Watchmen and V for Vendetta)

"Sequoia Nagamatsu is a writer whose imagination is matched only by his compassion, the kind we need to light our way through the dark." (Chloe Benjamin, best-selling author of The Immortalists)

What listeners say about How High We Go in the Dark

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    3 out of 5 stars

Decent read

Very much enjoyed the first half but it tailed off a bit in the second. Thought provoking though not entirely original. I wouldn't put you off the purchase. Well performed by the cast.

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Enjoyable and interesting

It's beautifully performed meloncoly and hopeful a wonderful read. I love how it loops and each story seems interconnected beyond the main setting.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Difficult but intriguing

Very different to what I expected but mostly enjoyable if that’s the right word … incredible imagination by the author

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Doesn't quite hit the spot

Lot of great ideas, some excellent chapters but dest quite flow or link together

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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good premise, good performances

it's a good book, lost me a bit in the middle, I know the stories are linked but I struggled getting into some of them, as a result a few probably passed me by. ending wrapped up nicely though.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

reminded me a lot of black mirror

was an interesting and eery medley of tales linked together through a sci fi plague. interesting concept and right level of dark and sensitive. quite cruel at times. original.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Incredible

The collection of wildly varying short stories interweave seamlessly to create a masterpiece of world building. This really is a must read / listen.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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not for me.

I just didn't engage with the storyline , even though it was an intertwined concept, it just didn't come together for me.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Sublime

As a voracious reader it takes a lot to really make a book stand out. How High We Go in the Dark is truly special. It couples outstanding storytelling with a dystopian future that is totally credible.
It also brings in incredible elements of the fantastical, and a wonderfully relatable take on the human condition.
I will never forget this book. It’s a must read.

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Original take on the genre

This (audio)book surpassed my expectations and was a far better story than I expected.
It is a study on grief and collective trauma from so many angles, it made me reflect on a recent loss of my own and other post-pandemic ripples.
I found this book a refreshing take on the disaster/end of the world genre I’ve listened too and look forward to exploring more by this author.

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