In Ascension by Martin MacInnes

literaturefiction
Written By Sedona LeBlanc

summary

Throughout this cli-fi saga, we trace the adventures of Leigh, a dedicated marine biologist, as she travels from the deepest ocean depths to the farthest corners of space. All the while, we are faced with the juxtaposition between Leigh’s familial relationships and her pursuit of something bigger than the human experience.

Propelled by advancements in ‘propulsion technology’, the world around Leigh looks towards extended space travel as a solution to Earth’s depleted resources. Beginning on the expedition ship Endeavor, Leigh becomes involved with the company Institute for Coordinated Research in Space (ICORS) who have contracted Endeavor to conduct research on seafloor mining and, ultimately, off-world mineral mining. When they reach their destination, a deep-sea trench in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, they uncover a phenomenon: a trench far deeper than the Mariana Trench, containing a multitude of new discoveries.

Years later, Leigh is hired by ICORS for her expertise in algae agriculture. Unknowingly, she becomes involved in a classified project related to an unexplained object in space, Datura, and a transmission from the Voyager I probe—potential signs of an attempted 'first contact' from another life form. During this time, Leigh is faced with a choice: to be present as her mother’s health declines or to fully immerse in her intoxicating new reality. Leigh becomes all-consumed with her work, launching into unknowns and eventually leaving Earth behind on the Proscenium I mission.

Leigh’s breakthrough in algae agriculture, aided by a gene discovered in the deep-sea trench, is central to sustain the long-range mission she embarks on with her crew-mates, Tyler and Karius. As they venture farther, eventually losing visual contact with Earth, questions about Earth-loss symptoms begin to arise. The side effects of the propulsion technology, engineered algae, and distance from Earth morph the crew both physically and mentally. At the edge of the interstellar, their ship Nereus is struck and completely disconnected. The mission to find Datura and make contact is left unfinished. We are left wondering if it was even real, or perhaps the result of an echo-chamber between past, present, and future humans on Earth. Leigh never returns to her family, but during her final moments, she does return to her planet, albeit perhaps billions of years in the past.

The quest of Leigh, throughout her life, is preoccupied with the origins of life. Connections between marine biology and astronomy are beautifully drawn, relating everything to the 'stuff' we are made of. In Ascension ponders the marvel of being alive and our connection to the Earth. The story of human life is held next to the story of the universe, offering a perspective on the enormity and wonder of existence.

insights for the climate crisis

The backdrop of In Ascension is an Earth in peril. At the beginning of the novel, extreme weather events, such as ongoing raging fires, are mentioned casually. Eco-groups with military capabilities are blamed for targeting corporations, and new technologies are interfering with animal migration patterns. By the time Nereus has been lost for thirteen years, human health is in decline. Delayed articulation, a rise in senility, and vision failure are all outcomes of air pollution and increased time indoors. Coal plants and cars still come in plenty.

When the Proscenium I mission fails, a moratorium is placed on propulsion technology, ICORS dissolves, and everything we’ve read thus far, seemingly meaningless. Life goes on. Corporations pivot and begin funding different capitalistic pursuits: commercial satellite installation and asteroid mining. Leigh and the mission of Nereus remain unknown to the world, even to Helena, Leigh’s sister, who is left to grapple with her disappearance. The jarring shift from following Leigh’s journey so intimately to a reality where her efforts have only supported capitalistic ventures calls into question the priorities of humankind. Looking towards space as a solution begins to read as an avoidance of stewardship and accountability for our planet. Leigh’s experiences demonstrate, time and time again, that we are intricately interconnected with Earth and these ties are brimming with an overlooked cosmic power. The feeling left behind: an urge to treat our planet with the respect it deserves.

resonant lines

There was no gap separating my body from the living world. I was pressed against a teeming immensity, every cubic millimetre of water densely filled with living stuff. These organisms were so small I couldn’t see them, but somehow I felt their presence, their fraternity, all around me. I didn’t look through the water towards life, I looked directly into water-life, a vast patchwork supporting my body, streaming into my nostrils, my ears, the small breaks and crevices in my skin, swirling through my hair and entering the same eyes that observed it.

page 28

He shrugged. 'Space travel and dying are the only ways of leaving the earth.'
'I’d dispute that.'
'What?'
'That death means leaving the earth.'

page 308

supportive media

citation

MacInnes, Martin. In Ascension. London, Atlantic Books, 2023.

further reading

Slime: How Algae Created Us, Plague Us, and Just Might Save Us by Ruth Kassinger

 
 
Sedona LeBlanc
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