Samantha Harvey, a British novelist, received the coveted 2024 Booker Prise for her space-themed novel Orbital, which takes place on the International Space Station. The book examines a single day in the lives of astronauts orbiting the Earth and was written during the COVID-19 lockdown. Using a storyline that reflects the loneliness and confinement of lockdown, Harvey's contemplative work is praised for its depiction of the delicate beauty of our planet as viewed from space. Her narrative offers readers a beautiful meditation on life, humanity, and the value of life as six astronauts see sixteen sunrises and sunsets in a 24-hour period.

Orbital is special because it combines deep philosophical ideas with science fiction. The novel, which drew parallels between the astronauts' solitary experience in space and the widespread sensation of imprisonment felt worldwide during the epidemic, was praised for its lyrical and the novel's original viewpoint on our planet. Harvey's "intensity of attention" to the precarious situation of our planet was praised by the Booker judges, who emphasized her skill at using rich, perceptive writing to make the familiar unusual.

Harvey's accomplishment is noteworthy for space fiction, a genre that seldom receives such a prestigious literary honour. Despite being her sixth book, Orbital has already achieved bestseller status and outsold the combined sales of the previous three Booker Prize winners. This illustrates how universal the novel's themes of solitude, observation, and the interrelationship between the cosmos and humans are.

Despite the novel's cosmic setting, Harvey playfully mentioned in her acceptance speech that the £50,000 award will be used to buy a new bicycle, a testament to her grounded personality. In addition to showcasing her literary prowess, Orbital emphasizes how literature has the ability to transcend all boundaries—be they emotional, physical, or even interplanetary.