The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1) in Reading with Style

Jun 08, 2016 Juniper rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, palate-cleansers, effing-awesome, 2016-books

this book is pretty damn awesome! i got so much enjoyment out of becky chambers' novel - i found it smart, insightful, entertaining, and emotional. it really packed a terrific reading punch.

i am not well read in the scifi realm... but i dabble a couple of times a year. so i don't know much about the sub-genres or the tropes, or have, really, any expectations beyond hoping for a good story. and this novel is such a good story.

it's very character-driven, and i love the cast chambers has given rea this book is pretty damn awesome! i got so much enjoyment out of becky chambers' novel - i found it smart, insightful, entertaining, and emotional. it really packed a terrific reading punch.

i am not well read in the scifi realm... but i dabble a couple of times a year. so i don't know much about the sub-genres or the tropes, or have, really, any expectations beyond hoping for a good story. and this novel is such a good story.

it's very character-driven, and i love the cast chambers has given readers. each is so distinct (and i mean this beyond the fact so many different species are presented in the novel). chambers also manages to brilliantly weave in some politically charged galactic issues. i loved that, and how it reflects back so perfectly on us puny humans. another aspect of the book i enjoyed very much was the fact that inter-species relationships were written about, non-binary gender roles exist, and same-sex relationships are presented. there are some wonderfully kick-ass women in the novel - if you are a reader who loves books to pass the bechdel test... this is a great book for you! it passes with flying colours!

i recommend this to pretty much everyone -- if you think scifi isn't your thing, give this book a try. i feel like you will be won over by the long way to a small angry planet. i was so won over, i got teary at a couple of different moments during the story. there's a strong heart here, but not in a schlocky or cloying way.

that this is a debut novel is kind of making me go WOW even more. one reviewer (for the guardian, i think, called the book 'profound and humane', and i really cannot argue this at all. it is both of these things! this is an open-hearted book for our times. )

but, beyond all of these excellent things, the book is just a whole lot of fun. i came to it through the fact it was longlisted for the baileys women's prize for fiction. and i am SO glad it landed on my reading radar because of the award. i shall now impatiently wait for the next book in the series (or, i think they are saying the next book is a "stand alone sequel") - A Closed and Common Orbit. i only have to wait until october, 2016. i can do that. i think. :)

...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jul 24, 2025 Rachel N. rated it liked it

Shelves: play-book-tag, space-opera, space, read-in-2025

The book begins with Rosemary Harper joining the crew of the Wayfarer, a ship that tunnels wormholes. The crew includes 8 other beings, some human some not. From the book blurb I thought the book was going to focus on Rosemary and the troubles the crew had getting to the small, angryplanet of th the title. Instead the book focuses on each crew member in turn and reads more ike short stories. There is a little bit of adventure but mostly it's just character and world building. I did like most of ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Nov 25, 2019 Joanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, fantasy-sci-fi, 2019-read, rws-2019-fall

This light science fiction novel is sort of like reading the science fiction version of Murder She Wrote. The plot isn't really the point and the main characters are all generally well-meaning nice salt of the earth folks (except here, they're well-meaning totally-different-from-humans aliens). A lovely crew is meandering about doing it's job (tunneling space connections) and blundering into inter-space political decisions.

I loved the world building and the characters in this book. So I could ov ...more

Like · see review