The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

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Becky Chambers: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2014)

English language

Published July 16, 2014

View on Inventaire

4 stars (227 reviews)

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is the 2014 debut science fiction novel by Becky Chambers, set in her fictional universe the Galactic Commons. Chambers originally self-published it via a Kickstarter campaign; it was subsequently re-published by Hodder & Stoughton.

18 editions

Slice of life, with bits from space operas

5 stars

This book isn't about any grand adventure in space, instead it's more about a slice of life for one small ship, it's crew and their personal struggles. The aliens are of the plain space opera kind, they walk upright in some way or another like any regular biped (with an extra tentacle or three) and they behave like anyone else would.

But what really shines here are the characters and how they struggle with, almost, normal problems and how it affects them and the rest of the crew in the long run. Less opera and more drama I guess? But in a good way. I was a bit suprised how much I liked this book.

There's also some small hints and inspirations from a certain space shenaningans... medium, I think, which I've enjoyed before :)

Review of 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I really needed a fun little sci-fi road trip story, and this delivered quite well! The characters are all quite likable, and the world building with such a diverse array of alien species made for a lot of fun scenarios.

There is a romance later on that comes seemingly out of nowhere, and I wasn’t a big fan of how Ohan’s they/them pronouns are treated as a symptom of a disease. It kind of nearly crosses the border into demonizing plurality, but I know for sure that wasn’t the author’s intention.

Space opéra queer et féministe

5 stars

La fresque en 4 tomes des Voyageurs explore les liens que les personnages issus de diverses planètes tissent entre eux. Au-delà des disparités physiques, ce sont de nouvelles façons de se définir et de relationner qu'il va falloir apprivoiser. L'espace d'un an est le premier tome de la série. Passée la phase d'appropriation de l'univers, il manque parfois un peu de rythme mais accrochez-vous car le deuxième est vraiment génial.

Review of "L'espace d'un an" on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Bien heureuse de ne pas avoir lu la 4ème de couverture avant de terminer, elle raconte presque toute l’histoire !!

C’est assez rare les livres de SF et les spaces opera où l’on est agréablement confuse presque tout le long de l’histoire sur l’apparence, origine, us et coutumes des différentes espèces (au point que je me disais qu’il y avait un tome à lire avant celui-ci).

Ciencia ficción buenrollera

4 stars

Esta novela es un ejemplo canónico de cuál es la verdadera función de la ciencia ficción, que no es otra que analizar los problemas de nuestro tiempo a base de plantear futuros más o menos factibles. En el mejor estilo de la CiFi optimista de #StarTrek la novela es una historia coral en la que la ambientación es poco más que un McGuffin para centrarse en su motor principal que es reflejar la convivencia entre individuos con grandes diferencias socioculturales. Imposible no sacar paralelismos con la época que nos ha tocado vivir. Una gran lectura que he disfrutado muchísimo.

Star Wars à l’échelle humaine

4 stars

J’ai entendu parler de ce livre grâce au podcast Les couilles sur la table où il a été recommandé comme alternatif à la science-fiction classique masculine avec beaucoup d’armes et de guerres dans l’espace. À la place, cette histoire se concentre beaucoup plus sur les personnages et leurs interactions entre eux. Je suis complètement d’accord avec cette analyse, et j’ai adoré tous les personnages. J’ai eu l’impression de passer un bon moment avec des potes en lisant le livre. Tout le monde a une histoire et une personnalité bien distinctes. J’ai aussi apprécié que l’autrice a réussi à créer des personnalités pour les personnages non-humains et elle a pu éviter le raccourci qui se trouve dans beaucoup de science-fiction que tous les êtres d’une même espèce non-humaine aient les mêmes caractéristiques et ne soient pas vus comme des individus. Le livre parle avec douceur des sujets comme la diversité et …

A feelgood space adventure

5 stars

I started reading the book because I was curious about where the plot was heading. Then when it ended I realized I had stopped caring that much about what the end would be. Make no mistake, there's a plot there, and it's good enough. It was not a story that made you stop and think, nor was it hard to follow, but it was a good space adventure.

But, what drew me in was that this book felt like that Mos Eisley cantina, filled with weird and wondrous creatures. Just like in Star Wars, the creatures where not alien as such. They where totally relatable, and mostly funny and exotic suits. Sure, you could say that they where not believable as aliens, but I don't think that was the idea anyway. This was a book about strangers coming together and their relationships developing in interesting directions. Frankly, I would …

Wunderschöne, herzerwärmende und optimistische Space-Opera

5 stars

Sterne, wie habe ich dieses Buch geliebt. 🤩

Sympathische Charaktere, die alle auf ihre Art liebenswert sind, als Crew und Freund*innen aufeinander aufpassen und einen liebevollen Umgang miteinander pflegen. Gemeinsam erleben sie herzerwärmende und zugleich unterhaltsame Geschichten auf ihrer Reise zu diesem kleinen, zornigen Planeten.

Wer einen stringenten, zusammenhängenden und sich aufbauenden Plot erwartet, wird hier zwar nicht fündig (auch wenn ein Plot durchaus exisitert). Wer sich hingegen an herzlichen Charakteren, mitfühlendem und freundschaftlichem Zusammenhalt und optimistischen emotionalen Erzählungen erfreuen kann, wird dieses Buch lieben, denn davon enthält es eine Menge. Ich jedenfalls musste das Lesen mehrfach kurz pausieren, um vor Rührung und positiver Ergriffenheit zu seufzen. 😌

Kurzum eine wirklich wunderschöne, herzerwärmende und optimistische Space-Opera mit bewegendem, spannendem und emotionalem Finale. Absolute Leseempfehlung!

More soap opera than space opera

3 stars

Reading this feels a lot like watching a soap opera. It's very much a character driven story with the plot serving merely to prod the story along as and when needed. And the characters are an entertaining and likeable bunch of misfits, doing their job and surviving as best they can.

It's also worth noting that this is a really nice story. The characters have spent years learning to get along with each other and... they get along with each other. What tensions there are are relatively minor and never distract from the fact that these people are looking out for each other.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is a very easy read and a solid debut from Becky Chambers.

Review of 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

I really don't know where to start. This book just plain sucks, sorry. No overarching story and character development is pretty much non-existent. Just finished it, and I'm now sitting here thinking what the book was about. What was the story? I read a lot of not-so-good books, but this is the worst in a long time. Character story lines just come and go, none, except for Lovie is resolved. And that is also badly written. Wtf. I really can't fathom how this book has a 4.16 star rating. Is it because the author was "progressive" with the weird pronoun thing? Am I too old for this book?

What I did like though, where the characters and the energy of the techs.

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