The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet Intro - Technical Details

[Sheri]

This is for the first 50ish pages of the book.

There aren't really many discussion guides for this so I'm having to wing it. Bear with me!

What are your thoughts so far?


In these chapters we start meeting the crew, and are almost immediately thrown into the complexities of cultures and species balancing within the small but diverse crew. How does the introduction of AI and aliens make it different than typical human diversity? In what ways does it reflect it?

How do you feel about bugs being a primary food source within the galaxy? While some cultures eat them regularly, a great many people find the thought of even accidentally eating one to be pretty gross. What does it say about attitudes towards resources, for who eats or does not eat them?

Jenks and Lovey's conversation drops a lot of information about AI and the idea of rights. How does this compare to other science fiction versions of AI? What would the difference between a personality AI like Lovey be from one who is more utilitarian? There's an implication of a more serious relationship between Jenks and Lovey than simply friendship or partnership. How do you feel about the idea of a human pairing with someone who is not organic, even if they have a mind and personality? Would it be different if Lovey were an organic alien, instead of a sentient machine? How does the thought of her gaining a more traditional body change your thoughts, vs her remaining a spaceship?

[Megan]

Thank you for taking on the challenge of coming up with discussion questions, Sheri - that is never an easy task!

The book really drew me in from the beginning - now that I'm farther in, I'm loving it even more, but I think even in the first fifty pages I knew I was going to enjoy it.

I really enjoy the added level of diversity that the multi-species universe gives the book - it's great from a narrative perspective, since it gives the author a reason to explain the purpose and origin of every type of interaction without being clunky, and it creates more "real" differences (language, physical expression, etc.) between characters, rather than the somewhat self-imposed differences found in most stories (religious tradition, politics, etc.).

Speaking of diversity while moving on to the next question, I love the diversity of bugs in the story, and how some are food and some aren't, just like how we eat some animals but not others for various reasons. I think we earthbound humans could do much more to develop insect-based food sources that would be environmentally and fiscally sustainable now, but that's a conversation for a different forum. :)

I am really intrigued by the Jenks/Lovey relationship and can't wait to see how that plays out - it has the potential to be tragic, comic, romantic - or maybe all of the above. The idea of AI beings wanting physical bodies was used throughout the Lunar Chronicles series, but not explored to the degree that I think it will be here, probably because that series is intended for younger readers than this one (I think, at least). I'm not personally offended/grossed out by the concept of an AI/human relationship - there are plenty of human/human pairings throughout literature and film that offend me far more because of abusive/exploitative elements that don't seem to be a factor at all here. So I'm pulling for them to get together whether she stays a spaceship (not sure how the logistics would work, but that's really up to them) or gets a body of some type.

[Sarah]

I read this about a year back, and foreshadowing questions are always weird to answer in that circumstance, particular while respecting spoilers. I'll give it a go though...

I've read a ton of sci-fi over the years, and I really don't think the addition of Lovey to the crews as a fully fleshed-out AI character is a terribly unique idea in-and-of-itself. Star Trek, in particular has long played with the line between AI and sentient life, and the ethics thereas, particularly with Data in Next Generation and The Holographic Doctor in Voyager. The show Eureka had a brief subplot of two AI characters falling in love, and Dune and the Scythe trilogy both deal heavily with the results of an AI becoming achieving a sort of peak sentience and taking charge (for better or worse), among many many examples out there. It's fun to compare how all of these similarly used elements compare and contrast, as Chambers definitely puts her own spin on the concept as the story unfolds.

Bugs as food. No weirder than anything else people eat in science fiction. Klingon gagh anyone? And not much different than the variety food sources found in many subsistence-based communities/societies, particularity within indigenous cultures. I've never eaten bugs personally, but I have tried a whole host of other oddities that might gross some people out, but are traditional dietary staples for many people in my area, including whale, seal, and reindeer (yum!!!).

[Megan]

This is not related to the book, but Sarah - where do you live? My dad and his wife went to Denmark several years ago and he also really enjoyed reindeer, but he didn’t mention whale or seal! That’s the only time I’ve had someone tell me about eating reindeer IRL!

[Sarah]

Megan wrote: "This is not related to the book, but Sarah - where do you live? My dad and his wife went to Denmark several years ago and he also really enjoyed reindeer, but he didn’t mention whale or seal! That’..."

I'm just outside of Anchorage Alaska, but lived in Nome when I was little, too. Reindeer/caribou is almost a mainstream thing here- enough so that Costco straight up sells reindeer sausage. The times I've had whale, seal, etc. have been in the context of gatherings that have lots of native peoples in attendance, as they are the only ones permitted to hunt them (for subsistence use). My Dad's family is heavily Scandinavian, so Denmark is very much on my bucket list to visit someday!

[Megan]

Sarah wrote: "Megan wrote: "This is not related to the book, but Sarah - where do you live? My dad and his wife went to Denmark several years ago and he also really enjoyed reindeer, but he didn’t mention whale ..."

Cool! We are going on a cruise to Alaska in June, so I’ll have to try some reindeer while we’re there! It’s not exactly widely available in Ohio, so we’ll have to take advantage of the opportunity!

[Samantha]

I have read these books a number of times, so I don't want to answer any of the foreshadowing questions for fear of spoilers.

I think the addition of bugs as a food source is fascinating, especially with regards to the fact that very wealthy humans are unlikely to eat bugs and instead would eat more traditional meat-sources such as beef (which is - very mild spoilers- a point that is met with disgust by some characters later in the book). I think this speaks to how different peoples perception of food is based on upbringing and their necessity of survival.

However, I can't bring myself not to find the thought of eating bugs to be kind of squicky and it alway makes me think of this xkcd comic (https://xkcd.com/1268/)