Satellite Love by Genki Ferguson is about a lonely girl looking for a soul – a companion – in an unexpected place.
Location: near Kumamoto on Kyushu Island in Japan
Satellite Love synopsis
Set in 1999 Japan, Satellite Love is a heartbreaking and beautifully unconventional debut novel about a girl, a boy, and a satellite–and a bittersweet meditation on loneliness, alienation, and what it means to be human.
On the eve of the new millennium, in a city in southern Japan that progress has forgotten, sixteen-year-old Anna Obata looks to the stars for solace. An outcast at school, and left to fend for herself and care for her increasingly senile grandfather at home, Anna copes with her loneliness by searching the night sky for answers. But everything changes the evening the Low Earth Orbit satellite (LEO for short) returns her gaze and sees her as no one else has before.
After Leo is called down to Earth, he embarks on an extraordinary journey to understand his own humanity as well as the fragile mind of the young woman who called him into being. As Anna withdraws further into her own mysterious plans, he will be forced to question the limits of his devotion and the lengths he will go to protect her.
Full of surprising imaginative leaps and yet grounded by a profound understanding of the human heart, Satellite Love is a brilliant and deeply moving meditation on loneliness, faith, and the yearning for meaning and connection. It is an unforgettable story about the indomitable power of the imagination and the mind’s ability to heal itself, no matter the cost, no matter the odds.
Book review
When you betray even your imaginary friends, you know you are not doing well. The lighthearted, emotionless narrative voices almost disguise how disturbed Anna is. Anna is a lonely girl, an outcast at school, and is often bullied. She needs someone she can build on, someone who will treat her as the center of the world and acknowledge her existence. In the absence of her mother and the lack of interest from a boy, she finds this in the person of the satellite LEO.
Existence
In Satellite Love, Genki Ferguson reflects on the existence and presence of souls in people, technology and nature. I love the symbolism and the idea behind linking technology (not necessarily AI), spirituality and psychology. The characters search for souls in unexpected places to prove their own existence. And that’s when a young girl and a satellite discover they have something in common.
Observing the story
The synopsis suggests conflict (how far is LEO willing to go for her?), a bittersweet meditation on loneliness, and a sci-fi satellite-turned-human turn of events. Unfortunately, the story didn’t get as exciting as that. I expected the author to do a little more with the concept. I couldn’t feel Anna’s derangement as strongly as I did with the main characters in books like Astral Season, Beastly Season. It felt more like I was reading this book from a distance, in the same way a satellite would emotionlessly observe life on earth.Â
The story is slow-paced and the thoughts and conversations are spiritless. All the narrators sound the same, which I can understand for two of them, but not for the others. Moreover, their private thoughts are far too insightful. It feels repetitive. When the satellite analyzes Anna it takes away from the subtlety and makes the whole story too obvious. The author highlights the similarities between the characters to the reader. Although the story reads pleasantly and feels soothing, I am less impressed with the meaning of the sentences. It is okay if the characters don’t feel (or express themselves) strongly, but I want to feel strongly about them!
This story could have used some “chaos,” or basically anything unexpected happening or someone acting out of character. I longed for some vague comments. Normally you would say that clarity is a good thing for a story, but in this case I don’t think so. The role of each character in the story is clear and you know what thoughts they are supposed to add to the question of existence. The story might have been stronger with more focus on Anna and LEO. The perspectives of Soki and Grandfather did not add much to the story in my opinion.
Final thoughts
As for a reading recommendation: this story wasn’t for me and I’m not sure who it is for, although I see many positive reviews on Goodreads. I would cautiously recommend Satellite Love to those of you who like clear, steady-going stories, but the final chapters may not fit that thought well. It’s also not a great romance story, nor is it sci-fi. I liked the concept but was not impressed with the execution.
Interested?
Get your copy of Satellite Love from Amazon.
Book details
Title: Satellite Love
Author: Genki Ferguson
Language: English
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Pages: 280
ISBN (13): 9780771049873
Publication date: 2 March 2021
About the author
Genki Ferguson was born in New Brunswick to a family of writers and grew up in Calgary. He spent much of his childhood in the subtropical island of Kyushu, Japan, where his mother’s family still resides. Fluent in Japanese and capable of making a decent sushi roll, Genki recently completed a degree in Film Production while working part-time at Book Warehouse, an indie store in Vancouver.
