Chambers - To Be Taught, If Fortunate [Feb 2, 2020]

[Jenna, I'd be free if not for Temper & Edgewalker]

To be Taught, If Fortunate - Becky Chambers

February 2, 2020.
Requested by Iain & Twila.

[Twila]

I'll be starting a little later. I've been reading a string of bad books lately and I'm hopeful this will turn things around! :)

[Twila]

I have to get some reading done before I have to sit down to watch the game today!
I'm at 20% and I'm really enjoying it. This is the first I've read of Becky Chambers and I will definitely have to try out some more soon.

I do find it a little strange that Ariadne wrote this to send to Earth. She obviously has something important she wants to tell them, but she goes into such great detail! Is it really realistic that she'd write such personal details? I know I wouldn't have.
(view spoiler)[I really felt for her when she was talking about leaving her family and she felt like she was a terrible daughter for doing so. That's so tough.

I also find the idea of somaforming so fascinating! In every other sci-fi I've read, it's terraforming! I'm not sure about somaforming being more ethical, but it's definitely an interesting option. (hide spoiler)]
I can't exactly tell where this is all going, but I'm excited to find out!

[Sha]

argh i loved this book so much

[Twila]

Sha, it's been very good! 🤗

[Bill]

I loved her Wayfarer books and have this one on hold at the library. Unfortunately it has a 5 month wait list. So I’ll be getting to it later this year.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Sad, for such a short book... maybe some people will return it early...

[Twila]

You know guys, I just checked and this book is a whopping $9 on amazon. For 170 pages?! No way!! :(
I bought The Way of Kings for, like, 3 bucks!! That's messed up, lol.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Has to do with age of book and other costs/etc... smaller authors can't afford to spread the cost around as much as bigger authors, too (when getting audio added/etc)...

Way of Kings came out nearly 10 years ago, now...

This is why libraries are great, and I used to put a lot more stock into making sure I was getting my money's worth... the best deals on Audible are omnibuses, and things like being able to buy all 72hrs of Sherlock Holmes for 1 credit...

[Bill]

Timelord Iain wrote: "Sad, for such a short book... maybe some people will return it early..."

You would think but I’m pretty sure 99% of people don’t know they can return books early.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I read this short book, and then forgot to say anything about it... I liked it more than the last Wayfarers book I read, but I tend to like longer books...

This one was pretty short, and for some reason I thought it was an anthology, but it was really a novella... and it had some interesting ideas, but a longer book would have let them be explored more...

In general, I don't think the book was very memorable, given how little detail I can put in this discussion right now...

As much as I loved the first Wayfarer book (and liked the 2nd, too), I'm starting to wonder how much more Becky Chambers I'm going to read before deciding to stop...

[Twila]

Iain, I feel the same. It was very unimpressionable to me. I can't really even remember much. It didn't have much of a plot for me to sink my teeth into.
I have not read her Wayfarer book, but I want to try it out sometime.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Twila (#8 #24) wrote: "Iain, I feel the same. It was very unimpressionable to me. I can't really even remember much. It didn't have much of a plot for me to sink my teeth into.
I have not read her Wayfarer book, but I w..."

I guess I remember a decent amount of the basics... (view spoiler)[explorers on ships that change people to survive on alien planets... disconnected from Earth due to slow travel time and long hibernation... stuff on an alien planet... world wars on Earth/Mars leave crew isolated... decide to keep exploring while Earth regains tech lost in wars... kinda open-ended ending... (hide spoiler)]

Summary that gets the gist of the story, with little room for discussion, lol...

[Twila]

Are you sure there was (view spoiler)[a war?? I thought it was some sort of natural disaster that made earth lose their tech. I don't remember a war, lol. I'm probably totally wrong here, though. (hide spoiler)]