The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

For anyone who liked The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, the third book in the (series? Universe?) is available for preorder, due out around July 2018:
Record of a Spaceborn Few

[Keith]

I'm kind of with Jonathan on this; there is way too much niceness, and the author shuts down conflict almost as soon as it starts as if for fear of scaring anyone. It feels in places like an afterschool special preaching about tolerance rather than a story.

That said, I actually liked the book overall as something a bit different, but it's not something I'd want to read all the time. I thought the sequel was better - more willing to show unpleasantness and people not getting along.

[Echo]

I'll preorder. I enjoyed the first two books.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

Thank you!! I'm excited about this! I have been loving Becky Chambers work so far!


@Keith - I don't feel that she's been shutting down conflict - I think we are seeing the conflict from the eyes of the small people. We haven't been following "heroes" but rather the supporting cast - and they aren't doing the heroic stuff. I feel that it's practically perfect (but not quite) especially in these times when the "good guys" are mass murders, rapists, etc.

[Laz]

+1 Mrs J.

[Keith]

@MrsJoseph - I don't necessarily mean "conflict" in the sense of wars and suchlike; it can include interpersonal conflicts, individual characters struggling against prejudice/tradition/society, etc. The book tends to rapidly and easily resolve or wave away these sorts of conflicts, e.g.:

-Everyone finds out one character's dad is a war criminal, oh no...but no-one on the crew cares.
-The captain is shagging a member of a species with a society that doesn't approve of interspecies relations...but they never get found out by anyone who might disapprove, never mind actually does disapprove.
-Token Grumpy Dude gets in trouble for being a clone, and becomes the responsibility of the person he kept calling by a speciesist slur...but this doesn't create any lasting friction or lead to any particular development between them.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

IMO it's a matter of taste. Some people enjoy gentle reads such as this one and Quarter Share, and others require a higher level of tension.

Put me down in the gentle reads category. Books where the tension is too high I never finish because the stress gets to me. Which is why I avoid dystopias and horror books. To each their own!

[Kirsten]

I like this one - and I liked Quarter Share - this one, though, is a lot more intense than QS. My thing is could care less about the sci-tech factor in my sci-fi. I am more interested in the wonder and adventure factor, which this book delivers in spades!

[Keith]

Teresa wrote: "IMO it's a matter of taste. Some people enjoy gentle reads such as this one and Quarter Share, and others require a higher level of tension.

Put me down in the gentle reads category..."

The problem, for me at least, is that if a book deals with heavy themes like bigotry, the after-effects of war, medical ethics etc., then there needs to be some degree of conflict beyond strawman antagonists who get hastily ushered off-screen before they can do anything too nasty, or the main characters all going "oh, that bad stuff is so bad, isn't it? Let's all hug and then have some tea and cake, and then everyone will feel better". I have the same problem with the idea of "cosy murder mysteries".

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

For anybody who hasn’t read it yet, both this book and the second in the series are on sale for 2.99 for the ebooks. Not sure for how long, but the third is being released in July 2018, so it might be for several weeks.

[Teresa, Plan B is in Effect]

Nice article about that upcoming third book:
https://www.tor.com/2018/05/15/sleeps...

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

Keith wrote: "Teresa wrote: "IMO it's a matter of taste. Some people enjoy gentle reads such as this one and Quarter Share, and others require a higher level of tension.

Put me down in the gentle..."

I didn't feel that way at all. I felt like the stuff she was talking about was the messiness that life has:

-how many people sneak around having relationships with people that are not considered "acceptable?"

-Are the sins of the father to be visited on the son? The character did not do anything nor were they involved. It was discussed but what could they do? Shame and ignore them for their parentage? What about people who's parents commit crimes in real life? Do all of their friends abandon them?

-The "crew" is a "family." IDK about you but I have some stinkers in my family. There's shit going on with them that make me want to get rid of them and pretend they don't exist...but they do. I have to deal with them and their shit. And they have done NOTHING for me EVER in life besides cause me issues and talk shit about me. Coming in July I will probably have to let this family stay in my HOME after treating me AND MY MOM terribly very recently. Even though I don't want to, I will probably let them do it to keep from causing additional family issues. Will this lead to additional friction? Probably not - I doubt the situation will get worse and I SERIOUSLY doubt it will get better.

Life. It sucks and then you die.

[Keith]

MrsJoseph wrote: "(snip)"

I agree that the book could be seen as less about "big" issues like war, politics etc. and more about "little", more personal issues, with the background conflicts simply being "big" to heighten the personal drama, the way a lot of fantasy, sci-fi, mythology etc. does with everyday conflicts. The problem is that I don't think it does a very good job of making either kind of conflict dramatic.

how many people sneak around having relationships with people that are not considered "acceptable?"

But as noted, the captain and his alien squeeze never face any adverse consequences for their relationship beyond having to "act natural" due to a contrived coincidence bringing their ships into contact.

Are the sins of the father to be visited on the son? (snip)

Again, Rosemary doesn't face any negative consequences within the book for her father's actions - the crew are all instantly accepting. She evidently did lose her social position and friends before the start of the book, but we don't see this (in line with the author seemingly being terrified of showing people being nasty), and she instantly finds a great big, absurdly nice group of friends/pseudo-family.

The "crew" is a "family." IDK about you but I have some stinkers in my family.

So...unlike the family formed by the crew? Apart from Corbin the token grumpy bloke (who gets given an "excuse" for his behaviour, namely that he's the clone of an antisocial bloke, and is shown compassion by the rest of the crew when he gets his own one-chapter conflict), they all get along fabulously.

Life. It sucks and then you die.

Which...is the virtual opposite of the relatively optimistic tone of the book, where every character afflicted by problems "bounces back" and is showered with love and acceptance. You seem to be saying that the book's optimism is the opposite of real life, which means that the book is "cozy", unrealistic wish-fulfillment to some degree, which I would agree with.

[MrsJoseph *grouchy*]

Hmmm, what we have here is a complete disagreement in how things played out. I see everything vastly different than you - including the repercussions. I saw everything you are saying isn't there, sooo....

I doubt we can continue this conversations as we are interrogating this from different perspectives.