THE ENDLESS VESSEL by Charles Soule – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Endless Vessel by Charles Soule
Published by Harper Perennial on June 6 2023
Genres: Adult, Dystopian, Science fiction
Pages: 368
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Wonder, whimsey, science and fantasy come together in Charles Soule’s latest, a highly original ode to finding happiness.

Charles Soule comes up with the most unusual ideas for books, and in my opinion he’s outdone himself with The Endless Vessel. This is my third book by the author and my favorite so far. It’s also the most ambitious of his books, a story that spans hundreds of years and takes place all over the world, yet manages to feel intimate as well. If you’re one of those jaded readers who longs to escape the same old tropes and rehashed plots, I highly recommend any of Soule’s books. You won’t be disappointed.

The story takes place in the near future and follows a young woman named Lily Barnes. Lily lives in Hong Kong and works as a materials engineer for a company called CarbonGo which is trying to solve the global warming problem by building a carbon scrubber. At the same time, the world is starting to fall apart in another way, due to a pandemic-level illness called the Grey, which brings about a terrible, life altering depression. Those lost to the Grey will never recover and are sent to institutions for care. Some people who contract the Grey, however, are taken over by a zealous frenzy. These people have banded together under the leadership of a fanatical woman named Aunt Jane, who believes that in order to be happy we must destroy the past and the future. Lily is determined to avoid the Grey herself, and she knows that her job at CarbonGo, a job she loves dearly, gives her a purpose in life and will hopefully keep her safe.

One day at work, Lily’s boss Danny shows her something extraordinary. He’s obtained a futuristic-looking device that, when tested, does exactly what the company has been trying to achieve. And when Lily opens it up to inspect the design, she recognizes the tangle of wires and the way they’re woven together, which reads almost like a signature. Lily immediately sets out on a rather perilous adventure to discover where the device came from, and her investigation eventually leads her to a company called Calder & Calder.

Alongside Lily’s story, Soule jumps back in time to 1789 where we meet Apollo and Molly Calder, who own a textile mill in Massachusetts. When Apollo dies suddenly and Molly is left a widow, she decides to take the fortune her husband left her, sell the company and pursue what will be the driving force for the rest of her life: she wants to find a way to bring Apollo back to life. Molly has the determination—and the money—to employ the world’s brightest scientists and scholars in pursuit of her goal, and over the years, although success remains just out of reach, Molly realizes she has created a family of sorts. As those in her employ begin to make other important discoveries, Molly decides to build a ship and take to the seas, where they can continue their research away from the prying eyes of society. The ship, christened the Lazarene, will become infamous over the years, changing and growing into something almost otherworldly.

Finally, we meet Aunt Jane, the terrifying leader of Team Joy Joy who is convinced that spreading the Grey to every person on the planet is the only way to achieve happiness. All three storylines eventually converge as Lily desperately tries to uncover the truth about the carbon scrubber device and the person who made it.

This is such a tough book to recap, and I really don’t want to give too much away. Just trust me when I say that all three disparate parts are important, and Soule brings them together in some surprising ways. When I got to the end of the first section, I was not happy leaving Lily’s adventures unfinished—after a shocking twist, no less—and then jumping into Molly’s story, which at first didn’t seem to tie into anything. But I should have trusted Soule, because Molly’s adventures are the foundation for the entire story.

Soule’s imagined future isn’t a happy one, although Lily and those on board the Lazarene are certainly intent on bringing happiness back. First, you have the cult-like, ironically named Team Joy Joy, led by crazy Aunt Jane. I was horrified at the destruction she’s able to inflict on the world, as Jane has her fingers in every military and government agency and all the weapons and bombs that go along with them. On top of that, the Grey is steadily encroaching on humanity. Already billions are afflicted, and due to a little video called the Despair Manifesto, insidiously hidden in social media and other online entertainment, more and more people are succumbing to the Grey without even realizing it. Lily’s beloved boyfriend David has already been infected, and her mother as well, so Lily has some very personal reasons for trying to reverse it.

And then there are the wonders of the Lazarene, an almost mythical vessel that has survived for hundreds of years. I won’t spoil its surprises, because it’s much more fun to discover them yourself, but there is a wonderful element involving a magical forest that ties into Molly’s quest to find her husband again. Soule explores life, death, the soul, and meaningful human connections, all without straying too far from his original plot.

Most importantly, Soule’s characters add life to his story. Lily is a fantastic character, a rare optimist in the middle of a terrible disease that causes depression, fiercely loyal to those she loves and determined to solve the mysteries she’s encountered. Molly is almost her counterpart a couple of centuries earlier. Both women refuse to let anyone stand in the way of their goals, and I cheered them on, even when things seemed grim. Soule introduces a host of wonderful side characters as well. We meet a famous rock star named Peter Match who accompanies Lily on her journey; Lily’s boyfriend David, who has moments of clarity even though he has the Grey; and the mysterious Luis Pedrona, a man who knows much more about the world than he lets on.

The last part of the story is a nail-biter, as Team Joy Joy’s plans to end the world seem to be coming to a head, while Lily and the others on the Lazarene try to stop that from happening. The emotional ending gave me goosebumps and brought me to tears, and I couldn’t imagine the story ending any other way. If I could join the crew of the Lazarene myself, I would do it in a heartbeat, but reading The Endless Vessel is the next best thing. Don’t miss it.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.