54 pages 1 hour read

Emily St. John Mandel

Sea of Tranquility

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2022

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Part 8

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 8: “Anomaly”

Part 8, Chapter 1 Summary

While a patron of the prison library, Gaspery finds a line from Olive’s novel in a Shakespeare play: “Is this the promised end?” (233).

Part 8, Chapter 2 Summary

This chapter is simply a repetition of the line Gaspery etched in his prison wall: “No star burns forever” (234).

Part 8, Chapter 3 Summary

After Gaspery turns 60, he develops a heart condition, which is difficult to treat in the time that he is stuck in. He can’t watch the moon in his prison hospital bed, so he replays memories from his life. Short, italicized descriptions of these moments are right-aligned, like Olive’s observations from Part 5. They include days from his childhood in Night City with Ephrem and his mom, as well as time-traveling to see Edwin.

Zoey appears in the hospital, removes Gaspery’s tracker, and gives him a new one, as well as a new device. She syncs their devices, and the chapter ends in an em-dash. 

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By Emily St. John Mandel