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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

(Wayfarers #1)

Becky Chambers

4.15 · Rating details · 80,411 ratings · 12,487 reviews

Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space-and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe-in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her ...more

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Paperback, 518 pages

Published July 29th 2014 by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

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Feb 08, 2015 Anna rated it it was amazing

10 reasons I love The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet:

1. Feel-good science fiction. Bad things happen. Injustice exists. And yet, the world is a mostly beautiful and good place. Bad people exist, but people in general are mostly nice and almost always interesting. It’s a truly heart-warming novel.

2. It’s a great big world. There are all these interesting alien species, with interesting cultures and history which affect their society. If you love well-written settings where the lore isn’t a bunc ...more

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Jan 27, 2018 chai ♡ marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, adult-sff, lgbtq-rep, fiction, lgbtq-ff

I heard this book was about gays in space. I'm gay and I think space is cool. Seems like a no brainer. ...more

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Mar 13, 2016 Ed rated it did not like it

Shelves: sf

This was really, really not my cup of tea and I threw in the towel 2/3 of the way in. I was surprised at how disappointing it was given that I picked it up on the basis of the normally dependable Adam Roberts' recommendation in his end of year 2015 round-up in the Guardian.

I understand the desire to move SF from plot-driven narratives to character-driven narratives but you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater if your character-driven narrative doesn't actually contain any characters wort ...more

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Sep 09, 2018 Melanie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: buddy-reads, lgbtqiap, read-in-2018, sci-fi, favorites, audible, sapphic

“The truth is, Rosemary, that you are capable of anything. Good or bad. You always have been, and you always will be. Given the right push, you, too, could do horrible things. That darkness exists within all of us.”

This is the kind of book that makes you remember why you fell in love with reading. This is the kind of book that feels so powerful you can’t believe it exists. This is the kind of book that sets your very soul on fire and makes you want to do better. This is the kind of b ...more

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May 13, 2018 Mario the lone bookwolf rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction-new, chambers-becky

The future of social Sci-Fi, the evolution of emotion in space, a completely different, fresh, and astonishing approach towards the common Sci-Fi tropes, an immediate, instant modern masterpiece, possibly even a kind of new subgenre changing the landscape of Sci-Fi like Octavia E Butler.

We simply don´t know what kind of new relationship models and general consensus about what is appropriate in mixed human, human hybrid, robot, alien, etc. relationships and what not may come. There lie as many p The future of social Sci-Fi, the evolution of emotion in space, a completely different, fresh, and astonishing approach towards the common Sci-Fi tropes, an immediate, instant modern masterpiece, possibly even a kind of new subgenre changing the landscape of Sci-Fi like Octavia E Butler.

We simply don´t know what kind of new relationship models and general consensus about what is appropriate in mixed human, human hybrid, robot, alien, etc. relationships and what not may come. There lie as many possibilities as dangers too and (view spoiler) is just one of the many aspects of it. But what about personality, adaptability, the AI knowing that one has certain preferences and just simulating something that´s exactly what one deems perfect, individual perfect partner simulations. At this moment , where is the difference to someone who is truly in fleshy love, what is deception, what still true? If one subjectively loves, who cares and what´s the difference? At which moment is it cruel to mistreat, isolate, kill, or just ignore the feelings, of a human made entity? Is it just a machine, an algorithm, or are his fears and happiness similar or equal to human emotions, because it has digital consciousness, identity, and an understanding of what´s happening? Is it better to have a perfect AI cohabitant for an endless, perfect, love, or a long one if immortality is still not available, or is it sick and disturbing, because one prefers metal before flesh? Not even mentioning that it could be transferred in any, beautiful, changeable if the sexual preferences may switch and vary, body.

Already now, it´s predictable that many will choose a digital avatar with splendid deep, self learning algorithms, instead of nothing or bad bleedable alternatives, even without the body. A faithful, motivating, loving, and unreal partner instead of harsh relationship reality or d**** and b******. That all is of course just relevant for women who think about others and emotions, men's´ decisions are quite predestined. I mean, ahem, of course, we would choose real partners instead of immediately changeable, never aging, perfect cyborgs, clones, and VR simulations. Sorry, nature made us that way, it´s not our fault, it´s even important for human survival. What a cheap excuse.

I´ve read tons of Sci-Fi and how female writers think about the subjects is much more emotionally complex than anything males have produced so far, because their main focus is on worldbuilding, philosophy, complex multi plotted high space opera sagas, and generally avoiding going too deep into character, especially female ones, because that´s tricky as hell. That´s also part of genre conventions, because readers expect action filled, mindblowing, quick narrative styles without much insights into character's evolution and depts and because it´s, as said, extremely hard to write believable characters in a complex, multi plotted, event driven rollercoaster of a series. It would mean to combine, coordinate, and finetune both outside events and inner perspectives to a credible, satisfying read, choosing the right lengths for both passages, and even avoiding stereotypes.

Here, the rare female Sci-Fi writers blow perspectives by not showing the 284th reincarnation of stereotypical evil alien overlord this and AI rebellion that, but letting interesting characters collide without any violence, epic space battles, etc., but by generating extreme suspense out of the Sci-Fi tropes put inside the characters motivations, characters, feelings, and goals, making it deep, thoughtful, and touching reads. That´s more compelling, because unused and mindbogglingly inspirational ideas to think about real human interaction parameters come to mind too, and leaves one with the realization that the author reached the überlevel of telling a slow, relatively settingless, but extremely addictive story, doing what many authors fear because of its complexity, making the characters and not agendas, technology, thought experiments, ideology, sciences, etc. the prime directive.

Instead of jumping from space battle to alien invasion to badass antagonist dialogue explaining his genocidal plans etc, Chambers shows peaceful clashes and culminations of alien species and ideologies, creating new, amazing, indirect insights into the dysfunctionalities and illogicality of human culture, tradition, and faith.

The way the book deals with the inner worlds of the characters in this way to generate suspense is amazing. In general Sci-Fi, there are relative mundane motivations as saving or destroying worlds, taking revenge, general social criticism, etc. In this case, the unique physical and psychological properties of the characters open endless opportunities for the reader to guess what may happen. In contrast to standard Sci-Fi, where it is pretty clear where it will go with business as usual, the reader has hardly any hints where the story might go in this case.

There are so many combinations of fresh ideas that come to mind while reminiscing about the brilliance of this novel and how many uses there may be found in future social Sci-Fi novels. I haven´t read much social Sci-Fi for the simple reason that´s it´s even more underrated than conventional Sci-Fi and that there aren´t enough meta rating scores to make sure that it are good reads and not average or strange and even bad ones. Sorry, I am not altruistic enough to risk reading something bad to find pearls, shall others risk their lifetime.

I wouldn´t call this space opera anymore, because this implies and relates to the cheap soap opera name giver, it´s more of a high social sci-fi series, something screaming for an own genre name, cyberlove, futurefu... eel, alien affairs, etc.

Chambers shows, by transporting the endless variety of emotional, personal topics into a character is story setting, that there is an unexplored land of imagining social and emotional life into the future, especially regarding completely different cultural conditioning, norms, rules, epigenetic traits, letting aliens species with completely different attitudes collide, quarrel, love, interbreed, to construct a resource of an amount of stories as potentially endless as space.

Tropes show how literature is conceived and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... ...more

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Sep 30, 2016 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: library-book, paperback, sci-fi, own

UPDATE: $1.99 Kindle US 5/19/19

I freaking loved this book! And yes, I cried! It was good crying though!

I always get nervous reading a sci-fi book because I'm afraid I won't know what's going on - and yes I say that every time. BUT <--- this book is so awesome. A couple of things went over my head but who cares!

I had no clue what a sci-fi soap opera was but if they are all like this book then I want to read more. I'm going to be buying this one and I did pre-order the next book!

This isn't just ...more

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Sep 22, 2016 carol. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to carol. by: Paul Sparks

Shelves: awards, multi-culti, my-library-kindle, my-library-trade, sci-fi, fast-and-fun, my-library

Niceness is undervalued. In an age of cynicism, we believe very little is done altruistically: this politician is facilitating an international adoption for campaign-fodder; that site is offering $1.99 books to boost web traffic; that church is holding a Sunday neighborhood BBQ to evangelize. Our stories show similar cynicism. We've embraced tortured dark heroes, we give five stars to stories sympathizing with killers and rapists, and although we believe a good guy can still win, the only way he Niceness is undervalued. In an age of cynicism, we believe very little is done altruistically: this politician is facilitating an international adoption for campaign-fodder; that site is offering $1.99 books to boost web traffic; that church is holding a Sunday neighborhood BBQ to evangelize. Our stories show similar cynicism. We've embraced tortured dark heroes, we give five stars to stories sympathizing with killers and rapists, and although we believe a good guy can still win, the only way he can is by embracing his dark side.

One reason The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet proved so enjoyable is that it believes in the better side of human and alien nature. It begins with Rosemary, a naif running from her family's past to take a position on a tunneling ship, a specialized kind of spaceship that creates 'shipping lane' wormholes to connect distant points. The story is set in galaxy of aliens, with the human race supported by the Harmagians, an intelligent oyster-like creature, and Aeluons, in attempting to recover the ruined Earth. The captain of the Wayfarer hired Rosemary hoping that a licensed clerk would give access to bigger jobs, and it's a gamble that pays off when they are offered a contract to create a tunnel near the galaxy core and the warlike Toremi, new members of the Galactic Confederation.

Much like any ship-enclosed story, it largely becomes about the characters and how they interact. Characterization is one of the story strengths; through small, focused interactions, almost each crew member is fleshed out. Rosemary, Sissex and Dr. Chef feel the most well-rounded. Ashby, the captain, is mostly concerned about his crew, getting the contract and his not-so-secret paramour. Kizzy and Jenks are the mechanical engineers who keep the ship running. Kizzy is often comic relief. Jenks is having a secret relationship with the ship A.I., Lovelace. Corbin is the algae biologist who keeps the fuel running, Dr. Chef is combination cook and medic, Sissix is the reptilian pilot and Ohan is the virus-merged Sianat pair who can calculate the complex physics required to tunnel through space. At times, Kizzy bordered on the absurd, but her personality stayed solidly genuine and she did provide a few laugh-out-loud moments, particularly her (mis-heard) song about "My Socks Match My Hat."

Plotting was unsteady. A number of readers relate this book to the Firefly tv series, and it's easy to see why; a loveable, ragtag crew copes with various adversities in weekly adventures. However, the pacing of the smaller on-the-way elements to the overarching story of the big tunneling job is uneven. The trip is supposed to take a standard year, but with a couple of stopovers, it seems no different than any other time period of the book. More significantly, the ending felt incredibly rushed, again incongruous with the lengthy and significant trip. When I learned from one of my co-readers that Chambers had lost her job and created a Kickstarter to fund finishing the book, it made more sense. I can't wait to see what she does with time and resources.

My last quibble is with narrative style. It's often a third-person omniscient, unevenly taking turns between various characters. Interspersed are missives, whether personal letters, information requests or news bulletins. I think they are meant to serve as information, but they distract from the friendly tone of the crew and further interrupt story pacing. I initially ignored them, until I learned one near the end of the book drops a significant story point. Conversation is often didactic style, with a character asking a question or seeking explanation and another answering. Although it doesn't quite have the dreaded, "as you know, Bob..." feel, in a few spots it feels clunky. In others, it just feels borderline lecturing about ethical principles. Well, what can I say: she's preaching to the choir. I appreciate the hope that we can find enough common ground or space to live with each other.

Thematically, there's some interesting exploration of some very topical and complicated topics such as safety and defense, individual right-to-die, identity, violence, sexuality and what makes a community. Chambers is also very inclusive in her visions of alien-ness as well as human beings, which is frankly a delight to find in science fiction. It isn't going to work for everyone; I'd recommend it for people who enjoy character-driven stories and envisioning alien cultures. Overall, it was a quick read, despite the size, and easy to spend time with the crew. I'm looking forward to finding out what they do next.

Many, many thanks to those at Goodreads who participated in a flash read and shared their insights. I enjoyed sharing perspectives and bouncing off ideas. Find them at https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/... ...more

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Feb 14, 2016 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: space-opera, 2016-shelf, sci-fi

Recommended to me as a cure for the heavy, blood and guts diet that's so prevalent in today's SF/F, I was more than just a little bit interested in an antidote.

What I found, instead, was a heartily tasty meal of perfectly prepared insects aboard the Wayfarer, enjoying wonderful conversations and a surprisingly diverse collection of humans, aliens, and a truly beautiful soul within an AI.

I mean, this is space-opera. Don't get the wrong idea. There's a couple of tight spots, thievery and tragic de ...more

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Nov 23, 2016 Chelsea (chelseadolling reads) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-ive-reread, favorites, queer

Re-read 8/9/18: I’m crying in a puddle of my feels. I love this book so damn much. JENKS ❤️😭

Original review 11/23/16: I have just completed reading my favorite book of all time. There has never been a book to touch me as much as this one did. I just. I can't. I'm like. Spent. I cannot even comprehend or articulate how much I loved this fucking book. Oh my god ...more

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Jan 05, 2016 Maxwell rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned

3.5 stars

If you're looking for an action-packed, page-turning adventure story, this book is not for you. However, if you want a sci-fi novel that delivers wonderful characters and thoughtful commentary on existence, you've found the right book.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is something unique. It blends literary and science fictions into a story that looks at what it means to be human--or alien--amidst a world of chaos.

And while I really enjoyed reading about these characters and their q ...more

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Feb 12, 2017 Scott rated it it was ok

Shelves: science-fiction, young-adult

Welcome to the Starship Ned Flanders.

Seriously though, while the central ship in The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is actually named The Wayfarer almost everyone in the book is so cloyingly sweet that the name of the Simpsons' archetypal nice guy seems like a better fit. There's friendly Captain Flanders, chirpy lady engineer Flanders, friendly dwarf Flanders... you get the idea. Even the ship AI is a little Flandersesque.

Everybody seems to want to be everyone else's bestie (with the excepti ...more

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May 18, 2016 Ivan rated it did not like it

Shelves: sci-fi

DNF@ 60%

I went with huge expectations. In blurbs comparisons where made to Ursula Le Guin and Firefly mention those two is sure ways to get my undivided attention. Sadly this book is nothing like my favorite tv show and it's nowhere near of depth of Le Guin's books.
If I had to describe this book to anyone I would call it cross between Farscape and Disney fairytale.
I did have some fun with it but around 60% of this book amount of sweetness and cheeseness become overwhelming. Character driven sci ...more

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Mar 25, 2017 Emily (Books with Emily Fox) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

4.5 A great feel-good sci-fi and character-driven story that explores gender, race, politics, and sexuality.
There were some great friendships, I giggled a few times and it was an oddly relaxing read!

I need to pick up the next one!

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Mar 18, 2017 Elle (ellexamines) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: x-coverporn, lgbtq, sff-high-fantasy, genre-experiments, favorite-characters, humanity, z-2017reads, gorgeous-writing, characters-of-color, elle-recs-list

There's so, so much I want to say right now, and I want you all to know: this review can't do this book justice. There's no way to perfectly review one of the most complex, meditative books I've ever read.

This is not a book for those who like action-packed scifi. Rather, it's for those who enjoy meditative stories. Chambers has written far more thoughtful scifi than most authors attempt. This is such a thoughtfully built world, incorporating themes we can recognize from our own world. Nothing h ...more

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Feb 27, 2018 Charlotte May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tear-jerker, sci-fi, favourites

“Humans, we’ve got something dangerous in us. We almost destroyed ourselves because of it.”

4.5 stars ⭐️
Outstanding! I’ve officially been converted to sci fi!

Until this book I’ve never enjoyed sci fi. This has completely changed my view of sci fi and it is flipping awesome!

Some of the most imaginative world building and characterisations I’ve ever come across. The crew of the Wayfarer were amazing and I loved them all in their own way. The relationships were fantastic, both platonic and roman ...more

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Oct 23, 2016 Kevin Kelsey rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-it-again, read-2016

Posted at Heradas

I’ve never read a book quite like this. There wasn’t much of a story at all, but it was still engaging just on the strength of the characters alone. Each chapter felt like a moral-of-the-week episode in a nineties TV series. The overall arc is more about the characters and how their relationships change over time than any actual describable narrative.

That all sounds kind of negative when I read it back, but it’s not meant to be. Mostly I’m just impressed with how well it worked ...more

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Jun 29, 2017 Althea Ann rated it did not like it

The sequel to this was a Hugo nominee, so I figured I'd start with the first one, and requested it from the library. Well, maybe the sequel was a lot better, but unless I am assured of such a circumstance by a large and passionate crowd; I'm unlikely to bother to find out.

"The Long Way..." is a concept piece. It's a reaction to traditional space opera. In a "normal" sci-fi adventure, the scrappy crew of the "Wayfarer" would end up getting pulled into some kind of conflict bigger than themselves The sequel to this was a Hugo nominee, so I figured I'd start with the first one, and requested it from the library. Well, maybe the sequel was a lot better, but unless I am assured of such a circumstance by a large and passionate crowd; I'm unlikely to bother to find out.

"The Long Way..." is a concept piece. It's a reaction to traditional space opera. In a "normal" sci-fi adventure, the scrappy crew of the "Wayfarer" would end up getting pulled into some kind of conflict bigger than themselves; something with universe-spanning ramifications; and would team up to defeat the enemy against overwhelming odds; regardless of the traitor in their midst... (Think Millennium Falcon, Han Solo, Lando Calrissian.)

Becky Chambers has decided to make a point of telling a different story. One where no universe-shattering events happen; one where colleagues might be annoying but not actually evil; one where secrets turn out to be pretty mundane and have no meaningful effect when revealed. One where people spend most of their time worrying about things that aren't really important and doing boring crap.

Now, I often very much enjoy stories that get "down to earth" and talk about what it's like to actually LIVE as an ordinary person in an imagined society: character-driven stories. I see other reviews of this book raving about the characterization here. I wasn't feeling it. I found the characters to be flat and stereotypical. The protagonist, Rosemary, didn't intrigue me at all. The captain is a generic "nice boss guy." Jenks is your stereotypical nerd guy. Lovey exists to show that AIs are people too. Some aliens and disabilities just to show that aliens and the disabled are people too. And let me not forget Kizzy the WACKY engineer gal who is (supposed to be) just SOOO ENDEARING! (God, I wished she was real so that I could literally strangle her.) And of course Corbin the biologist who's the cranky loner who no one really likes 'cause he likes his privacy and isn't wholly on board with the social lovefest that's life aboard the Wayfarer. (I could relate, considering - but you're not supposed to, dear readers! APPLAUD when he gets dragged into the fold and drinks the kool-aid, dammit!)

There is a scene with pirates in this book. Even the pirates are reasonable and fairly "nice." Nothing much happens. There technically IS a plot device, but it's utterly forgettable. I mean, I genuinely don't remember what it was already.

If you work in an office, or live in a shared apartment with several roommates: imagine if someone wrote daily letters to their parents about your office politics or quotidian household drama; making sure to not include anything too upsetting or serious. That's what reading this book is like. Chatty... and dull.

I initially gave it two stars, but upon consideration, after the fact, I'm downgrading it to one, because not only did I not enjoy the book; I object to it on principle. I want my gritty betrayals and world-smashing explosions, dammit!

Addendum: I see others comparing this book to both Ursula LeGuin (?!?!?) and Star Trek. For the record, I am an enthusiastic fan of both LeGuin and ST, and disagree strongly with both comparisons. ...more

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Jul 20, 2018 Kaylin (The Re-Read Queen) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Kaylin by: Elle (ellexamines)

Shelves: recommended-to-me, lgbt, disability-and-chronic-illness, sci-fi, favorite-female-characters, young-adult

4.5 Stars

“All you can do, Rosemary – all any of us can do – is work to be something positive instead. That is a choice that every sapient must make every day of their life. The universe is what we make of it. It’s up to you to decide what part you will play.”

Before picking this up, I knew nothing about it—except slow-burn, found-family in space. And honestly that’s half my reading tastes in one sentence.

But what I didn’t know (and what elevated this book to ‘awesome’ status for me) is its ...more

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Jan 08, 2017 April (Aprilius Maximus) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: to-reread-and-annotate, 2017, favourites, best-of-the-best-ever

1.) The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet ★★★★★
2.) A Closed and Common Orbit ★★★★.5
3.) Record Of A Spaceborn Few ★★

-----------------------------------------------

I LOVED THIS SOOOOO MUCH

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Mar 14, 2018 Matthew rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Sci-Fi Character Based Story Fans

Shelves: 2018, audio, hoopla, sci-fi, book-a-book-club

I had been hearing a lot about this book from some booktubers I follow. Surprisingly, that is the only place I had heard about this – I don’t remember seeing it in my Goodreads feed when others were reading it. But, since a few people said it was their favorite book they read last year, I figured it was worth giving it a try.

Whenever I dig into a Sci-Fi or Fantasy novel, I usually find the new world a bit difficult to get into. That was honestly the case with this book as well; lots of new plane I had been hearing a lot about this book from some booktubers I follow. Surprisingly, that is the only place I had heard about this – I don’t remember seeing it in my Goodreads feed when others were reading it. But, since a few people said it was their favorite book they read last year, I figured it was worth giving it a try.

Whenever I dig into a Sci-Fi or Fantasy novel, I usually find the new world a bit difficult to get into. That was honestly the case with this book as well; lots of new planets, species, technology, politics, etc. Each of these things took a bit to get used to. But, once I got used to them it was very easy to sit back and enjoy the story. So, going in, be prepared for that.

I mentioned the new world being difficult to get into and there being a lot of world building. However, in this case it was more species building than anything. This makes sense because the main focus of this story, in my opinion, is relationships and people with different backgrounds and personalities getting along. It really is a great book if you are into character focused stories.

Regarding the story, with the focus being on the characters, I feel like the story kind of took the backseat. This is not a bad thing in this case. It seems to me the author wanted us to experience the people but needed a story to put them in for motivation. I cannot imagine creating a balance with more character and less story while keeping everything moving along is an easy thing to do, but Chambers does a great job. Her focus on smaller anecdotes throughout (planet stops) really helps by adding side stories and giving specific focus on the different characters for a few pages.

Sci-Fi fans and fans of powerful character interactions/relationships should check this out. Give yourself a chance to get comfortable with the universe created by Chambers and I think you will be blown away.

Side note: With this book and the Lunar Chronicles it seems that "Stars!" is a common Sci-Fi exclamation right now. Anyone else notice that? ...more

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May 10, 2017 Lauren (Shakespeare & Whisky) rated it it was ok

Shelves: science-fiction, 1-and-2-star-books

This was so god-damn boring.

I have taken like two weeks to read this. I cringe when I open my e-reader and it automatically loads to this novel.

I can totally understand why people would love this book and if it had even a smidge of actual dramatic tension I would have loved it.

The world building was interesting and detailed. It is not only well- thought out, it is thought-provoking.

So why two stars? There is no dramatic thru- line.

What do I mean by this? Questions, mysteries and potential drama ...more

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Aug 31, 2015 Kai rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, to-buy, queer

“I can wait for the galaxy outside to get a little kinder.”

First thing I have to say is: A+ cover and title choice. It had me in love the moment I first laid my eyes on this book.

To be honest, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet was not what I expected.
I imagined a romantic and action-packed plot. What I got was an incredibly detailed, imaginably crafted and super lovely space-trip. This novel was more about friendship, trust and acceptance, than anything else. I was everything but disappointe ...more

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Jun 25, 2016 Dana Kenedy (Dana and the Books) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2016, sci-fi, favourites

Going for £0.99 on Amazon Kindle UK right now! Grab it while you can!

Characterization. This is how you do it.

This books was SO well written. It felt so real.

Don't go in expecting space battles and an epic space opera. Go in expecting superb characters (many of which are aliens) against the backdrop of space.

Loved it.

Book Depository has free worldwide shipping for it :) ...more

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Apr 25, 2016 Riley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, lgbtq-sci-fi, own-voices, sapphic-read, diverse-recs, lgbtq, sci-fi

This book was definitely unlike anything I have ever read before.
It is a sci-fi about the crew on a spaceship called The Wayfarer. But don't go into this book expecting an action-packed space adventure. This is a completely character driven book that explores gender, sexuality, race and politics in the most beautiful way. ...more

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Dec 08, 2016 ✨ jamieson ✨ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: y'ALL

Shelves: 2016-reads, favorites, favourite-covers, lgbtqiap, adult, science-fiction, fantasy, series, lesbian-mc, completed-series

There was a nebula there, an explosion of dust and light, the fiery corpse of an ancient giant. Within the gaseous folds slept clusters of unborn stars, shining softly.
She took an inventory of her body. She felt her breath, her blood, the ties binding it all together. Every piece, down to the last atom had been made out here, flung through the open in a moment of violence, until they swirled round and round, churning and coalescing, becoming heavy, weighing each other down.

But not any more,

...more

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Dec 04, 2016 Lady Luna. ✨ rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, okay-shelf

3/5 ★★★

"A black hole was the perfect place to contemplate death. There was nothing in the universe that could last forever. Not stars. Not matter. Nothing.”

This book had me on the fence for either a three or four star rating, I settled for 3.5 right smack bang in the middle. Haha.
I'm going keep this review short & sweet.

description

“It was more the prospect of getting mugged. Or harassed. Or stabbed. She’d seen a few people that definitely looked stabby.”

I picked this book up after ...more

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May 12, 2016 Nick Imrie rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

I find myself in a difficult position reviewing this book. It's an astonishingly bad book, but it was recommended highly by many people whose opinions I respect. It's hard for me to know if I'm judging this book fairly on its own merits or comparing it unfavourably with the book I was expecting. I was expecting senstive, nuanced writing, good enough to be classed as literary fiction; optimistic and joyful SF in the style of Star Trek or The Martian; and maybe a little bit of adventure or mystery I find myself in a difficult position reviewing this book. It's an astonishingly bad book, but it was recommended highly by many people whose opinions I respect. It's hard for me to know if I'm judging this book fairly on its own merits or comparing it unfavourably with the book I was expecting. I was expecting senstive, nuanced writing, good enough to be classed as literary fiction; optimistic and joyful SF in the style of Star Trek or The Martian; and maybe a little bit of adventure or mystery. Instead, I got a book that was relentlessly "Nice". And so, I feel kinda guilty when I criticise it. Look, it's badly written, badly plotted, badly paced, with terrible dialogue, poorly-sketched characters and very little actual science fiction - and yet, when I say so I feel like I'm kicking a kitten! How dare I be so mean to such a "Nice" book?

The crew of the Wayfarer are contracted to build a hyperspace tunnel, and must travel a long distance to do so. Although they are a commercial team engaged in engineering, most of the book has a very cosy domestic feel. The characters refer to themselves as a family often, and business disputes never occur and therefore can't effect their cosy relationships. As they journey, the characters visit family and friends or go shopping. Even scenes that could have been dramatic (space pirates or tyrannical border guards) are curiously flat due to their easy resolution.
It reminded me very much of 19th or early-20th century children's books in which each rather tame adventure ends with a character learning an important lesson about Doing One's Duty or The Importance of Hard Work - except here they learn about Not Judging Others or The Importance of Pacifism! In each case, turgid chunks of over-explanation are worsened by the poor quality of the writing. It's littered with annoying verbal tics that should have been removed by an editor. The most striking of these was the overuse of the word 'smirk' instead of the word 'smile', in one instance a character even 'gave a fond smirk'.

The moralism of the book is especially infuriating because it's often so shallow. Characters learn about the importance of getting along with each other - but not about truly important things. This is difficult to discuss without giving massive spoilers, so I'll try to focus on the least spoilery cases. One of the crew, Sissix, is Aandrisk: a repitilian species who lay eggs. They do not view their young as full people until they are grown and so are very cavalier about their high infant mortality rate.

She would never, ever understand the idea that a child, especially an infant, was of more value than an adult who had already gained all the skills needed to benefit the community. The death of a new hatchling was so common as to be expected. The death of a child about to feather, yes, that was sad. But a real tragedy was the loss of an adult with friends and lovers and family.

But let us consider this for a moment. The Aandrisk are a space-faring species, so it cannot be predators, parasites or disease destroying their young; they would surely have the technology to deal with these things. What else causes high infant mortality in reptiles? Neglect? Cannibalism?
This is getting pretty bleak, isn't it? It's not very nice.
So, naturally, the entire issue is completely avoided. When the crew visit Sissix home, she is very loving towards two children, who are obviously sentient beings and not half-formed half-people. The callous Aandrisk attitude to children is never seen, just referenced as one of those wacky alien differences that must be tolerated.

One of the characters in the book is a sentient AI. By any measure, the AI is a full person. She both thinks and feels. She has desires that do not necessarily align with the needs of her owners. The love story between the AI and a crew member is one of the few plot lines that had genuine consequences. Yet, legally, AI are not people. They can be deleted on a whim and are denied any rights whatsoever, and laws are in place to prevent them acheiving independence. She's an off-the-shelf model that is common on ships through-out the universe. The implication is that there are billions of AI, just like her, through-out the universe held in total, abject slavery.
That's not very nice, is it?
So, of course, this story line does not touch upon the horror of this galaxy-wide slavery at all. This plot is all about the love story - and the lesson that the characters learn from it is that perhaps they should be a bit nicer and not take the help for granted.

I said at the start of this review that 'Niceness' is no excuse for bad writing. But more than this, niceness is a frequent and cowardly excuse for avoiding difficult confrontations and important questions. Through-out this book the world-building sets up ethical dilemmas - questions concerning the definitions of personhood, the rights of robots, medical consent. And everytime, these difficult questions are overlooked in favour of a trite homily on friendship. Eventually the niceness of the crew of the Wayfarer is not heart-warming. It is not charming. It is a total failure to engage meaningfully with the universe around them. A blind preference for easy comfort over true justice.
...more

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Apr 15, 2017 Philip rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, author-woman, space-opera

4.25ish stars.

Somehow this manages to be both sweet and hardcore at the same time. Its characters are people I want to knock a few back with and I don't even drink. Chambers has made them each awesome in their own ways without trying too hard. They're not cool in the way that literary heroes (superheroes, public heroes, unsung heroes, etc.) typically are. They're just legitimately good people who do what they do and watch out for their own. It's refreshing.

It doesn't even bother me a bit that ...more

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Jul 16, 2019 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, dnf, whatever, library-has, lgbtqia, your-mileage-may-vary

2.5 stars. Unpopular opinion time! The first of my two DNFs in the last few weeks. This breezy adventure about a motley crew in an old spaceship was just okay for me. It never captured my imagination, and I ended up putting it down about halfway through and just never picking it back up again.

If diversity and acceptance are deeply important to you, this might be a great read for you. Everybody on the crew of the Wayfarer is diverse (mostly in a space alien but also in a sexuality kind of way) b ...more

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Jul 15, 2016 Samantha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites-2016

4.5 stars!

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About Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers

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Becky Chambers is a science fiction author based in Northern California. She is best known for her Hugo Award-winning Wayfarers series, which currently includes The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, A Closed and Common Orbit, and Record of a Spaceborn Few. Her books have also been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Locus Award, and the Women's Prize for Fiction, among others. Her most ...more

Other books in the series

Wayfarers (4 books)

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A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2)

Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers #3)

Wayfarers Series 3-book set (The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet, A Closed And Common Orbit, Record Of A Spaceborn Few)

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within (Wayfarers, #4)

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“Ninety percent of all problems are caused by people being assholes.”
“What causes the other ten percent?” asked Kizzy.
“Natural disasters,” said Nib.” — 273 likes

“All you can do, Rosemary – all any of us can do – is work to be something positive instead. That is a choice that every sapient must make every day of their life. The universe is what we make of it. It’s up to you to decide what part you will play.” — 158 likes

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