This is the first book, that I can remember, that has made me laugh (multiple times) out loud(!) and cry. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet has firmly earned itself a place in my top favourite books of all time.
Having finished the book only a couple of days ago, I find myself missing the characters dearly. There's so much that this story had that I hold dearly to my heart and the story is woven with kindness, love and acceptance of others.
I also loved the writing style that Becky Chambers has. I was quickly introduced not only to the characters, but to their character and it was clear what was important to them and how the characters cared about each other.
Another detail in their writing that I noticed and appreciated, was that the mundane aspects of the story, which could easily pad out a book or potentially offer a few interesting scenes - they were entirely omitted. The crew have a successful "punch" (creating a wormhole), and so they decided to head plant-side for some drinks and celebration - it's not in the book. We pick up the next morning. Back with our characters and much more interesting exchanges happen. This happened a number of times and I personally found it refreshing that the story kept me connected to the characters.
The story is set in some distant future where space is explored, species have connected and human kind have spread themselves across the galaxies. But really it's about people (I think), our connections, what makes family, what matters.
I also really enjoyed that the bulk of the crew's journey was their story and that Chambers didn't throw in unnecessary suspense or tension. For me it make the characters and the world all that more real and believable.
It was hard not to fall in love with the crew too, especially the "core crew", comprising of Kizzy and Jenks - the techheads, Sissex the super cool reptilian pilot, Dr Chef - a chef…and a doctor, and Ashby, the kind of captain and person that stands up for their crew and conducts and behaves in a way I wish I could all the time.
Then there was the fact that Chamber's characters don't adhere to (I hate to say) "normal". The alien species approach family and sex differently. They approach gender and identity differently. They approach food and social situations differently. They read as believable and lovable because they're not just another carbon copy of the human archetype white male hero character.
This book is full of hope and love and it was exactly what I needed in my life in 2020. I cannot wait to read the next books set in this world.
I want these characters in my life and I miss them already.
28 Highlight(s)
Silence belonged to the vacuum outside. Silence was death.
The inner airlock door spun open to reveal a pale man with a sour face. He changed his expression as Rosemary stepped forward. It was the most insincere smile she had ever seen.
"Do not judge other species by your own social norms."
"Psh. They're just big sandwiches on hooves," said Jenks, walking in with a grin. "I've had planetside beef too, y'know. It's awesome."
Lovey was always there to call for help. But it was the sort of thing that made a man pause before scratching his balls or picking his nose. Having an AI around forced good manners.
"If I had found her pretty, would that bother you?" Lovey laughed. "No. Jealousy's stupid." "Just because it's stupid doesn't mean you can't feel it."
Dr. Chef's the only doctor I've ever had who's never once told me that my life would be easier if I got a few tweaks. You know, so I could be a normal height. Fuck that.
Have you ever done daffy?" Rosemary blinked. Where she was from, people didn't casually ask about illegal hallucinogens over breakfast.
"Some advice? If Kizzy ever says the words 'you know what would be a great idea?', ignore whatever comes after."
"I have never understood potatoes," Sissix said. "The whole point of a potato is to cover it with salt so you don't notice how bland it is. Why not just get a salt lick and skip the potato?"
Kizzy had managed to drop a sandwich into an air duct last tenday, so they hardly needed to worry about her launching a coup.
"Why snuggle with a weirdo?" Kizzy asked. "Being weird doesn't mean that she doesn't deserve companionship.
"Nobody should be alone," Sissix said. "Being alone and untouched … there's no punishment worse than that. And she's done nothing wrong. She's just different."
In many ways, the idea of a shared stock of genes drifting through the galaxy is far easier to accept than the daunting notion that none of us may ever have the intellectual capacity to understand how life truly works.
he said, with a restrained smile. "I'm sure the psychological damage of my accidental insult cut them real deep."
Ashby didn't care much for gravity that couldn't be turned off.
Humans' preoccupation with "being happy" was something he had never been able to figure out. No sapient could sustain happiness all of the time, just as no one could live permanently within anger, or boredom, or grief.
He could study his grief from a distance, like a scientist observing animals. He embraced it, accepted it, acknowledged that it would never go away. It was as much as part of him as any pleasant feeling. Perhaps even more so.
The memories reached out to Dr. Chef, trying to pull him away from his safe observation point. They tugged, begging for him to give in. But he would not. He was not a prisoner of those memories. He was their warden.
"We cannot blame ourselves for the wars our parents start. Sometimes the very best thing we can do is walk away."
If you have a fractured bone, and I've broken every bone in my body, does that make your fracture go away? Does it hurt you any less, knowing that I am in more pain?" "No, but that's not—" "Yes, it is. Feelings are relative. And at the root, they're all the same, even if they grow from different experiences and exist on different scales."
unfinished projects often kept her up late. It always started with one last circuit, which turned into I bet I could fix this, and just a few more tweaks, and then bam, breakfast time.
"I'll never understand how the rest of you expect brand new adults to be able to teach kids how to be people."
Aandrisks bonded through coupling, too, but Humans — Humans could get crazy over it.
"This is so fucking Human of you. Lie back and let the galaxy do whatever it wants, because you're too guilty about how badly you fucked up your own species to ever take initiative."
The people we remember are the ones who decided how our maps should be drawn. Nobody remembers who built the roads."
Because I've loved you since then.
we Humans can get awful messed up when we've lost someone.
Others I've read in the "Wayfarers" series: