The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1) in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Jul 30, 2017 Jess rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020, 2017, books-i-own

2020: I think I was trying not to like this book the first time or something, by giving it 4 stars. Freaking love this entire series.

2017: This book was delightful! Inclusive, diverse, and really fun. I did find some things a bit unbelievable - even for a space opera - and the lack of conflict felt staid at times. Overall a great read and looking forward to reading the second book in the series.

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Mar 12, 2018 Natalie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: plch, audio, 2018

This book really wanted to be Firefly. I wish I could ignore the similarities to the series, but I kept making comparisons. I ended up sticking with it and enjoying it for what it was, once I learned more about the characters. Going to take a break, and will decide later if I want to continue the series.

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Jan 20, 2024 Shannon rated it liked it · review of another edition

I loved the beginning of this book. In just a few chapters, characters were introduced without elaborate world building.

I loved the conclusion of this book. In big and little ways, we could see how the members of The Wayfarer were more family than co-workers.

The middle of the book? Slower. More ponderous.

While I came to really enjoy many of these characters, I’m not sure I’ll make my way through book two. (And if I do read it, I’ll try to do so when I have larger chunks of time to get into th ...more

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Mar 27, 2021 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Some of this review is also featured in my review of Becky Chamber's upcoming release The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Most of the reading I've been doing recently boils down to a main character who is different from those surrounding them, which usually also includes some special power that saves or changes the world. I don't want to knock that kind of story, but I really needed one that didn't center one powerful person. In this novel, there is not one main character with special abilities, bu Some of this review is also featured in my review of Becky Chamber's upcoming release The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Most of the reading I've been doing recently boils down to a main character who is different from those surrounding them, which usually also includes some special power that saves or changes the world. I don't want to knock that kind of story, but I really needed one that didn't center one powerful person. In this novel, there is not one main character with special abilities, but instead a diverse cast who together have the special powers. In a way, The Wayfarer's universe reminds me of Star Wars, in the sense of a bunch of weirdos thrust together who have to work together for a common goal. Their power is their ability to work together and their loyalty (usually also affection, except for one crew member) to one another.

The Wayfarer's crew is mostly human, but among the humans there are cultural differences. I'm not going to break down the whole universe, but basically Earth is shot, some humans colonized with in the solar system and some left on a large fleet of ships. There's definitely some class warfare hidden in there that I can't wait for Chambers' to flesh out later.

There are also aliens and a sentient AI aboard the Wayfarer. The reader learns more about the different species as the story progresses through their words and actions, and sometimes from their interior thoughts. The amount of thought Chambers must have put into creating these worlds is so impressive.

The author also spent a lot of time explaining little parts of space life that usually don't get mentioned in space adventures. Where does food come from, what kind of fuel do they use and how do you refuel, where does the water come from? Chambers bothers to answer those questions, which made everything feel more real.

The Big Bad in this story is what we would call capitalism, but there's probably different words for it here. The crew takes a very well paying job tunneling black holes (the description of how it works is so cool!) offered by the large governing body of species, trusting that the government would not put them in a dangerous situation. Yet that's not even the largest narrative arc. Most of the story is about the journey to the job, during which the crew gets to know their new member while the readers gets to know the crew.

It was really nice to read a novel without an overhanging sense of dread and threat throughout it. Most of the story is just a slice of life for a space crew. I could also really relate to how stir crazy the crew got on a year long trip, since it's been a year of COVID-19. ...more

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May 06, 2018 Adjrun rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy-and-sci-fi

I enjoyed this. It’s equal parts Firefly and Mass Effect. There’s a strong thematic element around families we choose.

It felt lighter than I’d expected but I still really enjoyed it. Like, part of me just wanted the episodic nature of the novel to continue - like a tv show with a relatively strong sense of continuity but not a ton of huge narrative arcs. The journey is an excuse for character development.

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Nov 02, 2017 Dana Berglund rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: queer

I felt like this was a law-abiding, interspecies Firefly, and that was a good thing. The book tackles lots of ethical topics and conundrums, as sci fi books are apt to do, while skidding around the galaxy in a wormhole-building ship. There were a lot of species and characters at first, but I was able to hold on to the ones that mattered to the storyline and character arcs.

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Nov 22, 2017 Sarah left GR rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series, fiction

Added because of this list of "so you liked The Good Place" recommendations:
https://bookriot.com/2017/07/24/5-boo...

Have I mentioned how much I love cross-genre readers' advisory? ...more

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