Lovelace is the AI that manages the Wayfarer — until she finds herself freshly rebooted, no memories, and migrated to a human body. Pepper, my favourite character from Long Way, finds herself playing mother-figure to Lovelace.

Becky Chambers is the supreme ruler of character-driven science fiction. No one else creates characters that readers get deeply invested in quite like she does. She gives us the very best of found family.

My one complaint about The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet was the lack of a clear, cohesive plot. The characters in this book are every bit as compelling — possibly even more so. But what separates the two books is that this one follows a more traditional story arc.

If you’re someone who lives for action-heavy, bang-bang-pew-pew science fiction, this might not be your bag. But if you (like me) love story that puts the focus on the people, you’re going to love this one.