Marissa Levien

I am fascinated with the imaginings of what Earth might look like in the future. Marissa Levien has come up with her own spin on in her new novel, The World Gives Way.
"In fifty years, Myrra will be free." Myrra Dal was born into a 'contract', as were generations before her. But in fifty years, her servitude will be done and the Earth will have made it to a safe place. For you see, Earth has been recreated on a massive scale - as a ship. They've been travelling for over one hundred years show more already. The earth as we know it is just a memory, with some artifacts still around. (Interestingly wood is one of those artifacts. At today's Covid prices, we might be heading there!)

Levien's world building is quite beautiful, with every country having added their bit of the world, the ship. But it is built for the elite, the wealthy. Then, the unthinkable happens and everything changes for Myrra, and she grabs the unexpected opportunity. The reader is along for the journey as she runs from her current situation to what is hopefully a safe haven.

I initially thought The World Gives Way would be more dystopian, more sci-fi. It is, but the human connections are what drives this book forward and take center stage. There are two main characters - Myrra and Tobias, the agent chasing her. Expectations and duty start to take a backseat to real human emotions, desires, wants, hopes and more.

Levien is a beautiful writer. The descriptions of time and space are vivid and bring the world, the ship to life. But again, it is that exploration of what it is to be human, to feel and to just be that really drew me in. She captures the uncertainty and then the freedom of just living through her two leads. The ending? Not what I imagined, but exactly right.

The World Gives Way is a slow burning, strong debut. show less

Myrra was born into a life of service and has 50 years left in her contract. However, when the couple that owns her contract suddenly commit suicide, her contract is essentially broken. She goes on the run with the baby she’s been looking after, Charlotte, successfully avoiding the security bureau who have questions for her regarding the suicides. She runs until she’s caught by Tobias, one of the security bureaus detectives. And on top of all that, the world is coming to an end as well. show more From there, the story twists and turns and keeps you guessing on what will happen then. This was a great debut from an author. I loved this story and couldn’t put it down until I knew what was happening. show less

Levien, Marissa. The World Gives Way. Redbook, 2021.
The World Gives Way is a debut novel that has been rightly praised for its characters. Myrra is an indentured servant on a starship the size of Switzerland on a centuries-long voyage. In the opening scene, the couple she works for commit suicide, leaving her with their baby. She learns they committed suicide because they know the ship has a worsening breach in its hull that cannot be fixed. Besides Myrra, the other main character, Tobias, show more is an investigator looking into the couple’s death. Myrra is an obvious suspect. Tobias and Myrra are well-crafted—we know who they are and what motivates them, though their emotions remain a bit opaque, which at least keeps them from being as soppy as the plot demands. They carry on and maintain their humanity, even when there seems no reason to do so. The novel shifts from character to character by the chapter, and there are interstitial chapters that are meant to connect us with various locales on the ship. There is no suspense about the fate of the ship—it is a Titanic after the iceberg, and there are no lifeboats. Levien has little interest in the engineering of the ship or the cause of the disaster. There are no MacGyver’s finding clever ways to save the ship. The novel has a quiet, elegiac tone unrelieved by suspense, exposition, or frantic action. As T. S. Eliot told us, the world ends “not with a bang but a whimper.” In this case, it is not even that—just quiet resignation. 3.5 stars. show less

i loved this. and what a wonderful surprise to find such beauty in a science fiction book. granted, it's not hard sci-fi, and maybe aficionados would have issue with the world building, but i thought it answered all the questions i could possibly have about it, and it worked well for the story. i loved that this was a book just about finding meaning and connection, and that asks and answers that age-old question of what would you do if you knew the world was ending next week. it's quiet and show more lovely and the writing is excellent and i thought this was just beautiful and brave. show less