“The Jovian Madrigals” by Janneke de Beer
At the edge of forever, we will not recognize ourselves.
It’s 2193, almost a century since scientists on Callisto discovered immortality. Every year, the Party sends a group of Earth’s best and brightest to receive this immortality. No one ever comes back.
Four people are making the journey to Callisto to receive immortality. Padraig, a brilliant physicist, dying of cancer. Cassandra, an orphan from the irradiated ruins of New York. Jocasta, a veteran of the Yugoslav Wars. Gautier, whose presence on Callisto no one will adequately explain. Immortality is meant to change them for the better. But once they’re on Callisto, what happens when they just want to go home?
Review
In general I enjoyed this book – the characters and world building were interesting. I liked the way the stories of the four characters were mostly independent which seemed to work well for the book. A character in the book describes a madrigal as “four voices, each singing their own song, intertwining occasionally” and that’s exactly how the book went. Though, I have to say the blurb for the book only gives a small part of what the book is about. The plot was complex and full of additional details that I was not expecting. I did feel some things were more confusing than they needed to be. While many events had answers in the end others seemingly did not. I also wasn’t entirely sure about the motivations of some of the characters, with Cassandra’s story line being the most confusing.
Thank you to NetGalley, Owlish Publishing and Janneke de Beer for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Book Details
- Author’s Website
- Janneke de Beer
- Publisher / Date
- Owlish Publishing October 15, 2024
- Genre
- Science Fiction
- Page Count
- 438
- Completion Date
- August 11, 2024
