Archive for the ‘Becky Chambers’ Category
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers
published in 2016
where I got it: purchased new
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Remember the movie Titan A.E.? Mash that up with four parts Firefly and one part Station Eleven, make it a little more lighthearted, and you’ll have something approximating The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
The captain and crew of the Wayfarer doesn’t care much about Rosemary’s past. All they care about is that she’s a discreet and qualified clerk and that she understands shipboard safety. All Rosemary cares about is getting as far away from Sol system as possible. The Wayfarer is tunneling ship – they tunnel wormholes the slow and hard way so a permanent wormhole tunnel can be used for interstellar travel. It’s hard boring work, but it pays well and if you know what you’re doing it’s not dangerous. Well, not too dangerous.
Like the TV show Firefly, it’s the crew and characters that makes this story shine. Among the crew, we’ve got hyper-chipper stoner engineers, polyamorous reptiles, a doctor from a dying race, a cranky algae tech, an overly polite AI, and a captain who’s got to keep the ship running and his crew fed. Beyond the ship are space pirates, black markets, arms dealers, and every opportunity to get a fresh start in life.
My favorite characters by far were Sissix and Dr. Chef. This isn’t a human dominated galaxy, but it’s a human ship, and Sissix and Dr. Chef are the literal fish out of water. Sissix is of a reptilian race, and her people are are very touchy feely, very open about sexuality, and polyamorous. If she’s going to be accepted on a human ship, she’s got to dampen down everything about herself. Why would anyone from her homeworld torture themselves like that? Dr. Chef’s actual name is completely unpronounceable, and the infant human race is a constant source of entertainment for him. His race literally destroyed itself, they are a cautionary tale. Dr. Chef seriously needs his own book, I loved him!
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the Little Red Reviewer 
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