The long way to a small, angry planet

Paperback, 404 pages

English language

Published Nov. 23, 2015 by Hodder & Stoughton.

ISBN:
978-1-4736-1981-4
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Goodreads:
28412145

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4 stars (23 reviews)

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.

10 editions

Definitely worth reading, if only because it feels different from other sci-fi.

4 stars

I want to just start that I genuinely enjoyed this book more than I was expecting. I've found myself quite disappointed by sci-fi as of late because so much of it feels... the same, even when it's recommended for being 'more queer' or 'more feminist' or something. It still follows the same patterns, same narrative beats, same... failure to even imagine something different or new.

It's also been quite tiring reading a lot of sci-fi that focuses on perpetual conflicts. And while this book includes a conflict of sorts, it does not focus purely on the conflict itself. Instead, it focuses on the relationships between all of the characters. It looks at how things impact them, how they feel about each other, how they get to know each other... It actually gives a very necessary look at people within sci-fi, which I think more stories are in need of.

There …

Fluffy en warm

4 stars

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.

Getting to know you…in space!

4 stars

Wow, not what I expected: actual character development in a sci-fi title with lots of new species, cultures, and morphologies. How refreshing to take the time for this and not just plot plot plot! It does drag just a teeny bit: I wanted more to happen at one point. But I have faith Chambers can calibrate plot and character development for the rest of this series. Excited to read the rest.

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 …

Optimistic sci fi about a long journey and chosen family

5 stars

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!

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