“A remarkable and gifted debut novel” (Colson Whitehead) about two outsiders—a lonely scientist in the Arctic and an astronaut trying to return to Earth—as they grapple with love, regret, and survival in a world transformed. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM THE MIDNIGHT SKY, DIRECTED BY AND STARRING GEORGE CLOONEY Augustine, a brilliant, aging astronomer, is consumed by the stars. … aging astronomer, is consumed by the stars. For years he has lived in remote outposts, studying the sky for evidence of how the universe began. At his latest posting, in a research center in the Arctic, news of a catastrophic event arrives. The scientists are forced to evacuate, but Augustine stubbornly refuses to abandon his work. Shortly after the others have gone, Augustine discovers a mysterious child, Iris, and realizes that the airwaves have gone silent. They are alone.
At the same time, Mission Specialist Sullivan is aboard the Aether on its return flight from Jupiter. The astronauts are the first human beings to delve this deep into space, and Sully has made peace with the sacrifices required of her: a daughter left behind, a marriage ended. So far the journey has been a success. But when Mission Control falls inexplicably silent, Sully and her crewmates are forced to wonder if they will ever get home.
As Augustine and Sully each face an uncertain future against forbidding yet beautiful landscapes, their stories gradually intertwine in a profound and unexpected conclusion. In crystalline prose, Good Morning, Midnight poses the most important questions: What endures at the end of the world? How do we make sense of our lives? Lily Brooks-Dalton’s captivating debut is a meditation on the power of love and the bravery of the human heart.
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SHELF AWARENESS AND THE CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS
“Stunningly gorgeous . . . The book contemplates the biggest questions—What is left at the end of the world? What is the impact of a life’s work?”—Portland Mercury
“A beautifully written, sparse post-apocalyptic novel that explores memory, loss and identity . . . Fans of Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and Kim Stanley Robinson’s Aurora will appreciate the Brooks-Dalton’s exquisite exploration of relationships in extreme environments.”—The Washington Post
more
Have read this book twice now and loved it just as much the second time as I did the first. Loved the settings–remote Arctic tundra and a space ship on its way back from Jupiter. Can’t fathom the research that went into this story, but the author never makes it feel heavy or forced. (Also, George Clooney bought the rights to produce the movie! Can’t wait.)
Please don’t be put off by George Clooney’s rather disappointing film, Midnight Sky, based loosely on this book.
Good Morning, Midnight is a marvelous literary achievement. Although it has a sci-fi premise–something catastrophic has happened to earth–it is not a sci-fi novel. Rather, it is a riveting exploration of broken relationships, told in sometimes poetic prose. In it, two different stories are intertwined, and in both, the landscape is one of the main characters. One landscape is the frigid, barren Arctic, and the other is the emptiness of interplanetary space.
Augustine is an elderly radio astronomer, working at an observatory just a few degrees removed from the North Pole. When planes arrive to evacuate the facility in light of something “rumored to be happening,” he refuses to go, fully aware he is condemning himself to a life of complete aloneness. The next day, he loses all radio contact with the rest of the world. He is bereft.
Sully is a member of the crew of the space probe Aether, returning from its exploration of the Galilean moons of Jupiter. Still many weeks away from reaching their home, their radios go silent. Earth is not responding. No signals to guide them, no correspondence from families at home. No way to know what has happened.
Augustine and Sully begin inward journeys, re-examining their lives, their successes and failures, their regrets. Hope is eroded by despair, the longer they are lost in their unforgiving and empty environments. Their loneliness becomes palpable as they contemplate the end of all things in hostile landscapes that are supremely indifferent to their presence.
Brooks-Dalton has created a vision which will likely haunt the reader long after the last page is read. It is as though she has crafted a novel from T.S. Eliot’s “The Hollow Men.” It left me reeling.
I recommend this to everyone I can. It’s one of my favorite books and one I never get tired of revisiting.
Good Morning, Midnight is thoughtful and profound with beautiful prose that is fitting for an equally beautiful story. Yes, technically it can be considered post apocalyptic, but don’t let that convince you this is a story filled with a ton of action or excitement. When faced with the end of the world, these characters tackle an uncertain future through quiet moments of reflection. They very quickly accept the inevitability of a ruined world and must decide for themselves what from their past is worth holding on to and whether or not it will be enough to keep going.
I have heard mixed reviews on the film adaptation, but whether you hate it or love it, the book itself is phenomenal. I read it back in 2018 and just saw that it was now a movie!
An excellent un winding weaving of life…from a very solitary perspective…. I hope there is another… I WANT to know WHAT Happened!!!
I read this over 18 months ago and still think about. Haunting and sad, yet not completely without hope.
This book is a rare thing, a beautiful introspective novel about the end of the world, as experienced through the eyes of two unique narrators.
One is an acclaimed, anti-social astrophysicist who refuses to evacuate the observatory in the Arctic when the cataclysmic event occurs. And the other, an astronaut who is returning from the first manned voyage to Jupiter when all communication with Earth is cut-off and they begin to suspect something at Home must have gone very wrong.
A short thoughtful read that will haunt you.
Beautiful descriptions of Antarctica and space. Imaginative storyline which challenged your thinking. Poignant and haunting.
great ending
This book will stay with you. By the end I was reading slower and slower to savor the story-
This book is one of the best I’ve read in a long time! I almost didn’t read it because I got the impression it was a tragedy and I don’t love to subject myself to that if I don’t have to 🙂 But it was absolute perfection.
It was a beautifully written book.
Loved it. Didn’t want it to end
Great
Extremely enjoyable, a little disappointed at where it ended, there as closure but I was definitely left wanting to know the next part of the story,
Sounded like a novel premise worth exploring . . . but lagged . . . not much pace.
An exceptional read. I highly recommend it
Introspective
I was disappointed by the lack of an ending.
The ending caught me off guard!
This is a beautifully written novel that is thought provoking and a little tragic. While It is the nature of science fiction to leave the reader guessing at the end, I foundThe ending extremely unsatisfying. Deep characters and a close look at the human spirit, it left me feeling there was a missing last chapter.