Hardcover
Published April 29, 2017 by DARKSIDE.
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.
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.
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.
Start here and you will never turn back!
Everyone has stakes and a journey and I am fond of all of them. Now I’m in for the next books.
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.
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 …
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.
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.
Now to read the rest.
So wonderful. I heard that this was an "optimistic" read, and it's true; the characters tackle the adversity they face by being emotionally intelligent, thoughtful, supportive, ethical. It scratched the same itch as, say, Kim Stanley Robinson. Chosen family was a constant theme. To switch mediums, it felt like a mix between Firefly, Star Trek, and She Ra.
I inhaled it! So good!
You get to know the whole crew on the journey; they are friends of yours by the end.
This is mostly world building and character development. The overarching plot is actually more of a frame narrative loosely connecting the short-story-esque vignettes. The frame narrative: a multi-species crew taking contract jobs tunneling new wormholes through space takes a job in a distant, isolated sector and it will take a year to travel there for the job. It's as good an explanation as any for why their ship is traveling through many different territories and why the crew is interacting with so many different species and even their own friends and family on their home worlds. We've seen the ragtag crew before--it's reminiscent of Firefly, Hitchhiker's Guide, and so many other books and shows that you'll recognize immediately.
Does this sound dismissive? I hope not. This is a really lovely book in which people are kind, inclusive, and self-reflective. It's about family, community, and our obligations to each other. When …
This is mostly world building and character development. The overarching plot is actually more of a frame narrative loosely connecting the short-story-esque vignettes. The frame narrative: a multi-species crew taking contract jobs tunneling new wormholes through space takes a job in a distant, isolated sector and it will take a year to travel there for the job. It's as good an explanation as any for why their ship is traveling through many different territories and why the crew is interacting with so many different species and even their own friends and family on their home worlds. We've seen the ragtag crew before--it's reminiscent of Firefly, Hitchhiker's Guide, and so many other books and shows that you'll recognize immediately.
Does this sound dismissive? I hope not. This is a really lovely book in which people are kind, inclusive, and self-reflective. It's about family, community, and our obligations to each other. When the little guy speaks up, the powerful listen and act accordingly. It's empowering, it's warm, and it still manages to be funny. Yet it's not cloying--there is tension in this world. There is violence. But it takes a backseat to the mundane reality of life on a long-haul spaceship, giving plenty of room for warmth to blossom.
Squee! I really needed this book right now, and I didn’t even know it; in fact I almost put the book aside “for later” because the first few chapters were eversomuch on the treacly side. I’m so thankful to have kept going; it was SO worth it.
Fun story. Great characters, with swoonworthy relationships (professional, emotional, physical) between them. Rich undertone-filled dialog. Many chapters are set up to model Valuable Moral Lessons on diversity, relationship models, sexuality, body autonomy, conformity, courage ... but it was done so playfully, so tenderly, that I adored the ride. (Then again, it helps that my moral compass seems to align closely with Chambers’). But it’s not just unicorns and rainbows: there’s plenty of tension (including the kind that had me staying up way past bedtime); there’s drama and pain and loss.
I read this book in parallel with [b:Disordered Cosmos|54455629|The Disordered Cosmos A Journey …
Squee! I really needed this book right now, and I didn’t even know it; in fact I almost put the book aside “for later” because the first few chapters were eversomuch on the treacly side. I’m so thankful to have kept going; it was SO worth it.
Fun story. Great characters, with swoonworthy relationships (professional, emotional, physical) between them. Rich undertone-filled dialog. Many chapters are set up to model Valuable Moral Lessons on diversity, relationship models, sexuality, body autonomy, conformity, courage ... but it was done so playfully, so tenderly, that I adored the ride. (Then again, it helps that my moral compass seems to align closely with Chambers’). But it’s not just unicorns and rainbows: there’s plenty of tension (including the kind that had me staying up way past bedtime); there’s drama and pain and loss.
I read this book in parallel with [b:Disordered Cosmos|54455629|The Disordered Cosmos A Journey into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred|Chanda Prescod-Weinstein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1594326004l/54455629.SY75.jpg|84980632] and [b:The Journey of Crazy Horse|32375|The Journey of Crazy Horse A Lakota History|Joseph M. Marshall III|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422393013l/32375.SY75.jpg|32565], both of which are disturbing and haunting, dealing with much of humanity at our worst. Angry Planet provided a refreshing contrast of People (human, alien, and electronic) at our imperfect but compassionate best. I needed to read those other two to understand our world in its context; I needed to read this one to know and feel how much better we can do.
