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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)

Becky Chambers

Start date: July 16, 2022

Finish date: August 20, 2022

Discussion: Long Way

Discussion leader: Jackie

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Sep 04, 2019 Bryan Alexander rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, space-opera, gender, lgbtq

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is a first novel, a science fiction tale in the space opera subgenre. I've long been fond of that kind of story, and enjoyed reading Becky Chambers' contribution.

The story focuses on a small group of characters, members of a starship crew. They undertake several missions, get to know each other better, and develop a bit as people.

Some observations:

-This is deeply immersed in the space opera tradition. It assumes you'll recognize and work with all kinds of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is a first novel, a science fiction tale in the space opera subgenre. I've long been fond of that kind of story, and enjoyed reading Becky Chambers' contribution.

The story focuses on a small group of characters, members of a starship crew. They undertake several missions, get to know each other better, and develop a bit as people.

Some observations:

-This is deeply immersed in the space opera tradition. It assumes you'll recognize and work with all kinds of tropes, like faster-than-light travel. Firefly looms large here as an influence, I think, and maybe Mass Effect. But the Firefly ethos of a small group of cantankerous, suffering, somewhat heroic folks is clear. I do wonder if naming one race the Aeluons is a shout-out to Gwyneth Jones' Aleutians.

-It is very attuned to contemporary progressive politics in terms of race, gender, sexuality. Inter-species relationships and politics often play out as analogs to today's American interracial dynamics.
Many characters are women, including the occasional point of view person, Rosemary, and there are some gender role reversals by job: pilot female, plant specialist male, lead geek a woman. Sexuality is broadly represented, with same-sex relationships a thing (one character has two fathers, etc) and inter-species sex also a thing, although running into some cultural clashes (see preceding point about race). Gender nonconformity is accepted, with one of the crew using nongendered pronouns. Insisting on racial purity or autonomy is mocked throughout ("Funny how it's always the speeciesists who ruin things for everybody else", 307).
There's a hint of labor politics, as our characters are working class-ish, with the wild exception of Rosemary. But there is no sense of capitalism as a malign forces. Since the ship is independent, there isn't even the usual grumbling about The Company we see nearly everywhere, as with the Alien franchise. The government of the polity we spend most of the time in is similarly not much of a presence, and is not an enemy; it's semi-competent, if one decision gets questioned. Its politics are only lightly touched on. The GC universe is actually pretty pleasant overall - not utopian (this is nowhere near Iain Banks nor Star Trek) but politically a progressive space.

-I've heard other reviewers describe Long Way as nice and cozy. There is a lot of that. Characters spend a long time being nice to each other. Eating tasty food is a major theme. Threats occur, but are handled, with only one being actually bad, physically, and that occurring to a character we're encouraged to dislike, at least compared with the rest. The creator of Babylon-5 once described his creative process as "building up characters you enjoy, then rolling boulder down on their heads," or words to that effect. Long Way rolls... pebbles, mostly. It isn't hurt/comfort so much as slight-and-rare-hurt/lots-of-comfort.

-Heaps of romance. Developing and uncovering romantic relationships is really the heart of the novel. That's how we learn characters, as they carry on love affairs, initiate sex, learn about hidden romances, contemplate new relationships.

-My friend Julie Davis called it "Firefly meets Heinlein juvenile," which sounds right. It has Heinlein's YA desire to teach readers, but from a different politics, and lacking the engineering focus. It's more about showing the audience how to be nice to each other.

Overall... I enjoyed it at first, then kept stalling out. I'm not a romance reader, and so those stories grabbed my attention with decreasing success. The coziness wasn't what I was after. Ultimately, it felt too darn nice for my taste. ...more

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Sep 23, 2018 Jelli rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science-fiction, adult

This book is exactly what I want in science fiction story; a wild adventure with great characters, strong friendships, a little romance, and all of the feels. I would strongly recommend this to fans of the tv series Firefly; it has differences but if you want a good read that gives off the same vibe, this is will do it. I also like the way it explores ideas about how human might relate and interact with alien species and other sentient beings. However, if you are turned off by authors with agend ...more

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