A slim science fiction novel that looks at our "precious and precarious" world through the eyes of six astronauts on the International Space Station has won the 2024 Booker Prize. "Compact yet beautifully expansive, Orbital invites us to observe the Earth's splendour, whilst reflecting on the individual and collective value of every human life," the Booker Prize judges wrote. The prize website notes it has sold more copies than the last three Booker Prize winners combined before their wins. Harvey, who was one of five women among the six authors on the Booker Prize short list, is the first woman to win the award since 2019. Watching footage of Earth orbits from the ISS helped inspire the book, Harvey told NPR, including the 16 sunsets and sunrises the astronauts in her book experience over the day she writes about.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 13, 2024 22:15 UTC