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

by Becky Chambers

As she woke up in the pod, she remembered three things. First, she was traveling through open space. Second, she was about to start a new job, one she could not screw up. Third, she had bribed a government official into giving her a new identity file. None of this information was new, but it wasn’t pleasant to wake up to.

Artis Corbin was two things: a talented algaeist and a complete asshole.

The majority of living Humans were descended from the Exodus Fleet, which had sailed far beyond the reaches of their ancestral sun.

Remembrance Day was a Human holiday commemorating the day that the last homesteader set off from Earth—the day the last Humans left their inhospitable homeworld.

Harmagians had money. Aeluons had firepower. Aandrisks had diplomacy. Humans had arguments.

AIs can’t be any smarter than the people who create them. We can code in all the crazy maths and theories we want, but we can’t make an AI do things that we don’t understand ourselves.

“Want and intelligence,” the historian had written, “is a dangerous combination.”

Dr. Chef could see into the hearts of others as well as Ohan themself could see the universe. Ohan often wondered if Dr. Chef knew what a gift that was.

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.

Perhaps the ache of homesickness was a fair price to pay for having so many good people in her life.

She folded her arms across her chest and took a deep breath, looking out onto the crowded sky. A small, angry planet, surrounded by the warships of people who wanted to control it.

Sissix closed her eyes in relief, then looked at the Pair again. “Hey,” she said. Ohan looked up at her. “We can do this, you and me. Together. We’re a good team.” Her throat grew tight. “We’ve always been a good team.” Ohan blinked once, and took up their calculations with furious resolve. “We will not let you down.”