Saturday, February 11, 2023

Audiobook Review: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Author:
Becky Chambers
Narrator: Rachel Dulude
Series: Wayfarers (Book 1)
Publication: Harper Voyager (August 18, 2015); HarperAudio (May 21, 2019)
Length: 423 p.; 14 hours and 23 minutes

Description: Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space—and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe—in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.

My Thoughts: This was an engaging story as Rosemary Harper joins the motley crew of the Wayfarer and has adventures in space. Rosemary has fled her privileged life on Mars and changed her identity. She's looking for a new start.

This story has interesting worldbuilding. Earth has been abandoned and humans have dispersed through space. The galaxy has a number of alien species and a galactic civilization which humans have only recently been allowed to join. 

When the Wayfarer - a tunneling ship - gets the lucrative job of building a new wormhole to a planet of a species that is not a member of the GC, they need to travel for a year to get to the planet. They have a variety of adventure and experiences along the way.

The story is also about relationships. The captain is Ashby who was raised on one of Earth's homesteading ships and who has fallen in love with an alien from a warlike culture. They need to keep their relationship a secret because of her culture. One of the ship's engineers Jenks has fallen in love with the ship's AI Lovey and they are plotting to illegally get a body for her. Rosemary begins a relationship with the ship's engineer Sissix who is reptilian. 

Others on the crew include Dr. Chef who is one of the remaining survivors of a dying race, the navigator Ohan who has a virus that allows him to navigate but is killing him, and Artis Corbin who is the algaeist and keeps the fuel optimal for space flight.

I enjoyed meeting all of these characters and was intrigued by the worldbuilding. 

I bought this one October 26, 2021. You can buy your copy here.

1 comment:

  1. I have this on my audio TBR and now that I see your thoughts, I pull it up sooner than later. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

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