Becky Chambers
Books: Science Fiction | Queer
Wayfarers: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2015)
Wayfarers
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2015) (#1)
Truthfully, I feel a little bad.
I know this series is a favorite of so many people, but as interesting as it was, I just didn’t love it the way everyone else does. Possibly it’s because SF is often hard for me to get into. It’s also likely that reading it while listening to the Murderbot series did it no favors.
Rosemary Harper joined the Wayfarer to escape her past; she even has a new identity. But having lived on Mars her entire life, she has no idea what to expect.
Remembrance Day was a Human holiday commemorating the day that the last homesteader set off from Earth—the day the last Humans left their inhospitable homeworld.
What she find is an older ship, punching its way through the galaxy to make stable wormholes for travel. And when the crew takes on a high-paying, possibly dangerous mission, they get far more than anyone expects.
Dr. Chef exhaled a disparaging rumble and fixed his beady eyes on Rosemary.
“Some advice? If Kizzy ever says the words ‘you know what would be a great idea?,’ ignore whatever comes after.”
I liked the characters, and I liked the world-building, especially the beliefs and characteristics of different species.
The idea that a loss of potential was somehow worse than a loss of achievement and knowledge was something she had never been able to wrap her brain around.
And I love the ideas and bits strwen throughout.
Acting all sanctimonious while spouting bad info was a terrible way to win a debate, but a great way to piss people off.
People can do terrible things when they feel safe and powerful.
I suppose my problem was that all that, along with the technology was a bit more than my brain was up for processing when I read it (my brain has not been up for processing much of anything new in recent years).
I’ll try another book in the series, but…it just wasn’t something I loved the way I immediately adored Murderbot.
Characters: Rosemary Harper, Artis Corbin, Captain Ashby Santoso, Lovelace/Lovey, Kizzy Shao, Jenks, Dr. Chef, Sissix Seshkethet, Ohan, Pei, Pepper, Ember, Bear, Nib
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Rating: 7/10