When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that's seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past.
But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptilian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life on board is chaotic, but more or less peaceful - exactly what Rosemary wants.
Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet.
In general I really liked this book. It is obvious that Chambers loves worldbuilding.
For how queer it was though, I kept getting distracted by how rigidly it stuck to the gender binary. One character is introduced as "they", but then it turns out that they're plural. The diversity in the story wasn't bad exactly, but as an enby it felt really alienating.
This was a good read at a good time - Long Way spends most of its energy focusing on the crew of the Wayfarer and their interactions with each other, and that's where all the delight comes from. I would love to hear more about Rosemary, Sissix, Kizzy and Jenks, and all the rest. It's also given me some great thoughts about future tech for some projects of my own.
This is a nice piece of postmodern space opera. I may (or may not) read some of the sequels. Not sure yet. I've read this right after finishing Iain Banks' Culture Series, no doubt the ultimate progressive space opera. Of course, it's tough to follow up on that. Becky Chambers definitely doesn't play in the same league as Banks, but I can hardly hold that against her. I found her on-the-nose wokeism pretty annoying initially, and the story does start ultra-slow, but I warmed to her character- and world-building quite quickly. They are both exceptionally well done and refreshing, given the shallowness in that regard of most of the other works of space opera (or sci-fi in general) that I've read so far. I loved the polyamorous Aandrisks, the rickety ship, the inter-species crew of rig-workers, and the positivity of the whole thing.
SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT:
What really marred my …
This is a nice piece of postmodern space opera. I may (or may not) read some of the sequels. Not sure yet. I've read this right after finishing Iain Banks' Culture Series, no doubt the ultimate progressive space opera. Of course, it's tough to follow up on that. Becky Chambers definitely doesn't play in the same league as Banks, but I can hardly hold that against her. I found her on-the-nose wokeism pretty annoying initially, and the story does start ultra-slow, but I warmed to her character- and world-building quite quickly. They are both exceptionally well done and refreshing, given the shallowness in that regard of most of the other works of space opera (or sci-fi in general) that I've read so far. I loved the polyamorous Aandrisks, the rickety ship, the inter-species crew of rig-workers, and the positivity of the whole thing.
SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT:
What really marred my overall impression was the annoyingly naive description of the pirate incident, and the absolutely stupid love story involving the AI. But maybe this last topic is spoiled for me forever, since my job is to research the fundamental differences between machines (like AIs) and living beings. Anthropomorphizing software is not a sign of humanism, but a sign of very confused thinking.
I love Becky Chambers. A friend called it a little stereotyped, but it's so nice, it's my comfort food. It gives hope for a life after climate change (not very realistic hope, but it's nice to escape sometimes). Also the characters are super cute.
Rosemary Harper has low expectations for her time as a member of the Wayfarer crew. All she could possibly want is offered by the Wayfarer, a repaired vessel that has seen better days: solitude in a remote area of the galaxy, adventure in remote corners, and a break from her past traumas.
With the Wayfarer, Rosemary, however, gets more than she expected. With Sissix, the amiable reptile pilot, and Jenks and Kizzy, the perpetually combative engineers who keep the ship afloat, the crew is a jumble of species and personalities. Rosemary is happy that the chaotic yet generally calm life aboard is what she desires.
I also reviewed this book on other platforms like shabd.in and kindle too
Je moet er een beetje van houden denk ik, het is een beetje fluffy en lief met allemaal aardige mensen die het beste met elkaar voor hebben. De Grote Geheimen waar het in de flaptekst over gaat zijn niet heel erg wereldschokkend, en zelfs de (weinige) slechteriken zijn grotendeels niet echt slecht. Niet echt een nagelbijter dus. Maar ach, het is bijna kerst, en we kunnen wel wat woke feelgood gebruiken in de wereld.
An absolutely beautiful, character-driven story filled with vignettes that range from humorous to heartbreaking to downright philosophical. The various factions present throughout are all well-written and impactful, and we learn about them in ways that never feel overly exposition-y. It's like Firefly, but better, and with 100% less Whedon.
Needed to get used to the pacing, loved it in the end
4 stars
Enjoyed the weirdness of the worldbuilding, loved the relationshis and interactive, just liked the characters. I needed to get used to the slow pacing but enjoyed it in the end.
Ich suchte nach:
- ScienceFiction
- Autorin
- optimistisch
- divers
und fand dieses Buch.
Es ist nicht sonderlich spannend. Keine Intrigen, keine Schlachten, noch nicht mal philosophisch nachhallende Denkansätze.
Man lernt einfach nur die sympathische, diverse Crew kennen, die ein bisschen was zu tun hat. Wie so eine von den etwas unspektakuläreren TNG- oder Voyager-Folgen. I love it!
War leider etwas abrupt zu Ende, daher habe ich mir schnell Band 2 gekauft. Ich will noch ein bisschen weiter mitreisen.
Review of 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I've come a bit late to The Long Way, it's not as ground breaking now as it may have been back in 2014.
I can understand readers that may have been disappointed when what at first glance looks like the premise for a technical space thriller, turns out to be a cozy tale of found family and acceptance.
I found it to be too long, despite the warning on the label.
The shorter format of, [b:A Psalm for the Wild-Built|40864002|A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk & Robot, #1)|Becky Chambers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1600789291l/40864002.SY75.jpg|63655961], was more suited to my taste.
Review of 'Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' on 'Storygraph'
5 stars
THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET is about a ship, a crew, a space journey, and the friends they made and (or sometimes tragically lost) along the way.
There are a lot of characters and they generally feel distinct from each other. That means I can't really point to an overall style, other than that once I tracked names enough to tell Jenks and Ashby apart I did all right for the rest of the book (I kept mixing up who was with Pei). main character - If anyone is the main character it might be Rosemary, she's definitely the reader's way into the narrative as a human who doesn't have any travel experience and is generally unfamiliar with the people and places that they encounter on the way. Because she isn't the only point-of-view character there's a pretty robust diversity not only of perspectives but of angles …
THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET is about a ship, a crew, a space journey, and the friends they made and (or sometimes tragically lost) along the way.
There are a lot of characters and they generally feel distinct from each other. That means I can't really point to an overall style, other than that once I tracked names enough to tell Jenks and Ashby apart I did all right for the rest of the book (I kept mixing up who was with Pei). main character - If anyone is the main character it might be Rosemary, she's definitely the reader's way into the narrative as a human who doesn't have any travel experience and is generally unfamiliar with the people and places that they encounter on the way. Because she isn't the only point-of-view character there's a pretty robust diversity not only of perspectives but of angles for explanation.
The ship has a relatively small crew but it's enough to make a character relationship web complicated pretty quickly. Ashby is the captain, which means he doesn't pal around with the crew much but still is close to most of them. I like his relationship with Pei, it's nice to see a long-distance thing portrayed well. Jenks and Kizzy have a friendly working relationship and a great rapport. They get along even when they're getting on each other's nerves, which is good since they're generally working on ship maintenance together. Sissix is my favorite, and I like how she is with Rosemary, especially towards the end. There's even more crew and I'm very bad with names, so that's about my limit of what I can remember and say without spoilers. Generally speaking I like the way that non-human characters have conversations and relationships with each other that don't have anything to do with the human ones. It helps reinforce the feeling of a galaxy that isn't centered on humans, which is definitely a welcome departure from a lot of space sci-fi.
Most of the worldbuilding in terms of physical spaces is focused on the ship, with a few visits to other worlds on the way. Where it shines is in establishing the impression of a full galaxy with complicated dynamics of which we're just getting a tiny slice. I love the descriptions of various aliens, and the way the characters make a specific effort to understand other perspectives and ways of being.
For the first half of the book I was lukewarm, having trouble getting into it but having a good enough time to continue. It more than paid off in the second half, wow. There are a lot of important characters by virtue of paying attention to the entire crew plus a few additional people. Because the big thing that's happening is they're traveling a very long way to a specific destination, plus some stops and occasional complications along the way, most of the plot revolves around developing and continuing relationships between the characters. The main journey is to slowly travel to somewhere very far away for a specific reason, and then because of the tech involved they'll be able to get home very quickly. It makes the ending feel climactic even though technically all they did was go a long way away and then come right back to where they started in a fraction of the time.
The ending is devastating. The emotional culmination of getting to know these characters runs into the dangers of their journey in a way that is sudden, frightening, and grief-stricken. If you like found-family journey stories (especially ones in space), don't miss this one.
I loved this book! The characters were so friendly, and I loved how all the different species look and feel, and how their differences affect their perception of the world and each other.
Review of 'The long way to a small, angry planet' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Superb Sci-fi
I found this novel by accident, and I'm glad that I did. It's a refreshing and enjoyable set of characters and universe that reminds me of Iain M Banks, and I can give no higher praise.
