After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) …
Now it digs deeper into the meat of it
4 stars
I felt the first book was too short, but this one with the characters already presented, could dig into the deeper discussions of life and our place in it. It was also hilariously funny at times!
Maybe you sometimes need a friendly robot to make you understand the idea of mindfulness. Ironic.
It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; …
This felt like a taster
4 stars
I did like this story, but it felt a bit underdeveloped? The interaction between the monk and the robot was charming, and I liked the metaphorical roles of healer and healed, of nature and the created.
I'm not really sure why I did not like it as much as Chambers' longer stories.
One interesting thing was how I tried to figure out the "fact" beyond the gender neutral presentation of the monk. Apparently my mind of so very primed on the woman/man identities when I have to construct an imago in my head of what I read, and then I'm not a very visual reader at all. Intriguing.
@seanbala did you read the whole series together? I found the latter three volumes quite illuminating, when reading them 20+ years after the first three.
I totally agree these stories give the setting some complexity indeed.
The gambler nicknamed Little Gou doesn’t stick his neck out for anyone, but when he …
There are a few signs of self publishing, of clumsy language and oddities a copy editor might have cleaned up. But, the plotting is solid, and the characters are funny and the fights are described in an exciting way. A decent wuxia adventure.
@lucasrizoli "IoDDaOSaOS" that was a mouthful! :) Yeah, you might be right there. I do have other collections, but I have not looked at them in a while.
@lucasrizoli I found "Three fingers" absolutely pointless, but you have made me curious to re-read “Alien Stones” and “Death of Dr. Island” and “Toy Theatre” as I don't remember them at all. Did I skip them? Time to find out.
Once, Lovelace had eyes and ears everywhere. She was a ship's artificial intelligence system - …
Tight and tense plot, and some big thoughts
5 stars
Using the trope of a computer or AI to discuss about what it means to be a human is not new, but Chambers does something interesting with it. It's more about human as a social animal than the question of consciousness. I think that was a far more interesting question anyway.
I found Pepper's story to be really engaging as well, and this time it felt like the author did develop her skills writing plot driven as well as character driven. Chambers has become one of my favourite writers.
Once, Lovelace had eyes and ears everywhere. She was a ship's artificial intelligence system - …
I wasn't sure I wanted to read more about the AI from the first novel. The emotional kick from that story was something I wanted to keep and relish.
It turns out I was craving more Becky Chambers stories, and couldn't keep away. It was better than I thought, with a more forceful story driving the plot. Even though the secondary plot chapters revealed that the character Pepper would survive, I still was tense about how it would turn out. That's saying something as this book is more about characters than it's about plot.
When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, …
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 …
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 have skipped this book if the cover text had tried to sell it as a book about relationships. I came for the space adventure, but stayed for the characters.
I felt good reading this book, and that must be a good sign, right? Anyway, it was what I needed.
