To Be Taught, If Fortunate

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Becky Chambers: To Be Taught, If Fortunate (2019, HarperCollins Publishers)

English language

Published Jan. 4, 2019 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:
978-0-06-293602-8
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4 stars (109 reviews)

At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. With the fragile body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to explore exoplanets long suspected to harbour life.

5 editions

Review of 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Mmmm, I love it when you talk nerdy to me. Blend it with meaningful human connection and I’m all yours. This is the most scientifically literate work I’ve read by Chambers, and it’s exquisite. Four beautiful, complex characters (one trans, one ace!) in a loving polycule, all of them committed to an achingly lonely mission of searching for extrasolar life... and no human yet has experienced this level of commitment, in which the Earth you return to—if you return—will be unrecognizable. The emotions of leaving your home and loved ones behind could merit a book in themselves, and are not the main focus here, but Chambers does a respectable job with them.

There are big plot holes: crowdfunding six deep-space missions, uh, not likely. Onboard fuel and energy. And, four planets, with only one landing site each? That goes into “inconceivable”[1] territory. But the story wouldn’t work otherwise, and …

Review of 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' on 'Storygraph'

5 stars

TO BE TAUGHT, IF FORTUNATE presents a delightful and intimate portrait of long-term space travel with a small team of scientists who undertake this journey knowing that it means saying goodbye to everyone they knew and loved. 

Ariadne has strong bonds with her other three crewmates, singly and collectively. Their personalities come through very well and her interactions with them are a delight. They're all affected differently by certain plot events, despite being generally in the same situation as each other, and by the time things get stressful I had a enough of a sense of them to resonate with their reactions. The science explanations are just a much a part of the narrative as Ariadne's conversations with her team. Everyone's enthusiasm for their work makes this a delight to read. 

Spannendes Worldbuilding, nicht viel Charakterentwicklung und deutlich negativer als Chamber's übliche Feel-Good-Bücher

3 stars

Ich bin wieder #AmLesen, diesmal: "To be taught if fortunate" von #BeckyChambers. Es ist das erste Buch außerhalb der #Wayfarers-Reihe, das ich von ihr lese und ach, ich bin wieder hin und weg.

Becky Chambers' Bücher sind einfach alle queere sci-fi Feelgod-Literatur.

Die Astronaut:innen sind von quasi einer international gecrowdsourcten NASA in den Weltraum gesandt worden, damit sie Informationen sammeln können um deren selbst willen und nicht für nationalistische oder kapitalistische Konkurrenzkämpfe. Allein dise Idee und wie Chambers sie ausführt hat mich heftig gerührt. :blobmeltsoblove:

Unter den Kosmonaut:innen gibt es einen #trans* Mann und eine #ace Person. Die Hälfte der Protagonist:innen sind Frauen, so auch die Ich-Erzählerin. #Poly und #Bisexualität sind bei Chambers auch wieder und ohne irgendein Trara ganz normal.

AmLesen Update:

Hmm, hmmmm!

Definitiv ein gutes Buch, habe es gerne gelesen.

Was meine Aussage zur Sci-Fi-Feelgood-Lektüre angeht, muss ich sie für dieses Werk einschränken. Das ist mE #BeckyChambers‘ …

Review of 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' on 'GoodReads'

2 stars

There is barely a story here. The astronauts go into space and visit planet A. There they observe the planet. The narrator explains a few scientific concepts. Next they go to planet B. The same thing happens. Then they go to planet C. The same thing happens. Etc.

There is a sliver of a story between planets. It's mildly interesting, but it is really thin.

Becky Chambers does have a wonderful way with the English language, so everything flows smoothly enough, but that isn't enough to carry an entire novella.

The good news is that the gee whiz aren't we a great bunch of friends in space presentation of characters found in some of Chambers' other books isn't excessively prominent here. But... isn't that presentation why she's so popular?

Review of 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Diese Novelle habe ich am Ende des letzten Jahres angefangen und Neujahr abgeschlossen. Ich mag Novellen genau so gerne wie richtig dicke Wälzer. Aber mit dieser hatte ich Probleme. Mir fehlte einfach der rote Faden - die Figuren waren interessant angelegt, blieben mir aber fremd, weil ich sie nur durch die Augen der Tagebuch schreibenden Technikerin zu sehen bekam.

Nicht wirklich zufrieden war ich auch mit der Menge an Sachinformationen, die im Zusammenhang mit der Erforschung und potentieller Besiedelung neuer Planeten stehen. Ich liebe gut recherchierte Bücher, aber das war mir hier ein wenig zu viel und ich habe an einigen Stellen nicht einmal verstanden, warum die Ich-Erzählerin etwas für aufschreibenswert hielt, abgesehen von der Tatsache, dass die Autorin es den Lesern nahebringen wollte.

Aber zum Positiven: Die Sprache war gewohnt schön, das Buch steckte voller Ideen, ist, wie oben schon erwähnt, gut recherchiert und an einigen Stellen musste ich …

Review of 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I really enjoyed every part of this book, cover to cover. It's impressive how the author was able to fit an excellent story, excellent setting, and excellent characters with excellent arcs in such a short book. While I wouldn't necessarily consider it "feel good" sci fi as I've seen some other reviewers call it, I thought the message was very poignant as a realistic near-future scenario.

Review of 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

One of the best books I've read in a long time. I'll have to re-read this again soon. Not the ending I expected, and I loved it.

There were some interpretations of science that I thought were technically incorrect at the end, but perhaps it was written that way for dramatic effect. I'd quote here and explain, but it's my favorite part of the book, so I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

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