The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

The crew of the spaceship Wayfarer, a motley mixture of humans and other species, punch new wormholes through the fabric of space for a living. It's not the most glamorous job, but it's a life they enjoy. And then they're given an extremely lucrative contract, one that quite literally involves taking the long way to a small, angry planet.

It's interesting: I was at least a hundred pages into this novel, and enjoying it greatly, before I suddenly realized that almost nothing had actually happened in it yet. Which is a trend that mostly continues for the rest of it, too, at least up until the end. We learns lots and lots about the crew and their inter-relationships, and about this universe and how things work in it and what role humans show more play and what the various other species are and what their cultures are like. But the actual plot stuff is scattered, episodic, and generally quickly resolved.

In most SF novels, a favoring of exposition over story is something I'd probably complain about, possibly fairly loudly. But in this one, by gum, it works. I was deeply interested in the characters (even the one who's basically a carbon copy of Kaylee from Firefly, which was pretty weird), in their lives and relationships with each other, and in the wider universe the author had created. I really liked these people, and liked living in their world with them for a while. And the writing is so breezy and fun and natural-feeling that I never felt like I was being lectured at, even when I was probably being lectured at.

And then, at the end, it gets genuinely quite tense and exciting, and then genuinely really emotional. At least one thing happens that I never would have expected, but ultimately everything comes together in a way that feels satisfying and even heartwarming.

Apparently there's already a sequel out. That one made its way to my wishlist about two minutes after I finished the last page. show less

I’m a committed Trekkie, but “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” points up a weakness of the franchise. For all the species diversity of the Star Trek galaxy, everyone is just an exaggerated version of humans. Klingons are warrior humans, Vulcans are logical humans, Romulans are crafty humans, and so on. Cultural differences are usually no more prominent than the Forehead of the Week.

If you’re a human and you’re writing a space opera, it’s not easy to avoid the fallacious assumption that aliens are, under the hood, mostly like us. Becky Chambers doesn’t entirely evade this fallacy in her charming debut novel, but she’s put a lot of thought into how a Federation might actually work if hammered out by a bunch of space show more aliens with wildly different assumptions and motivations.

However, unlike Star Trek, this is not a story about the flagship of the Galactic Commons. For one thing, the GC is less a federated nation with a unified fleet and more a treaty organization like the European Union. For another thing, Chambers isn’t interested in the dramas of the GC elite. Instead, she wants to ride along with the crew of the Wayfarer, a galactic frontend loader with a once-in-a-lifetime contract to bore a wormhole to an unusual candidate species at the Galactic Core.

“Long Way” is three celebrations and a caution. First, it’s a celebration of diversity. Each member of the crew contributes something vital to the Wayfarer, but each also contributes species and personality quirks that could easily scuttle the ship’s mission. Diversity is strength only to the extent that everyone is willing to recognize, respect, and elevate each other’s differences. Diversity runs a high risk of fracture and failure, but when fortified with intentional unity offers even higher rewards.

Second, “Long Way” is a celebration of found family. Each member of the crew holds a bit of private pain or something the rest of the galaxy might consider a disability. Even Kizzy, the one character who grated on my nerves as an effervescent bubble of fidgety energy, became much less annoying once I convinced myself she’s managing ADHD. In a galaxy that’s not always kind, the bond between friends who support and honor each other’s originality can be even stronger than blood.

Third, “Long Way” is a celebration of the post-WWII liberal world order. The GC is a coalition of former rivals and enemies, not excluding the tentacled Harmagians who once presided as brutal colonial masters. In the context of history (real or fictional), it’s not self-evident that disparate ideas and past grievances can coexist in peaceful union. We never lack voices preaching the purity of a unitary society, and the “Long Way” is a counterargument that such uniformity is neither practicable or desirable.

The obverse of this latter celebration is a caution. As the crew of the Wayfarer overcomes episodic challenges on their way to the Core, the imperfections of the GC become evident. The cost of unity in diversity is often the rights of the fringe. The price for shared resources is often the welfare of the few. The most dangerous game of all is unifying with the intolerant for the sake of resources — a gamble that threatens the very tolerance that makes the gamble possible.

I was surprised to learn that Chambers self-published this book. Self-published works are usually, to use a technical literary term, steaming garbage. Chambers managed to write a novel that works well despite the lack of editorial oversight. That’s not to say it doesn’t have weaknesses: an editor could’ve tightened its focus and encouraged more dramatic tension. Many readers criticize it for these reasons, but I find it a breath of fresh air in a genre that doesn’t often prioritize hope. Chambers’ universe is inventive and her world-building is excellent, and I look forward to the rest of this award-winning series. show less

Rosemary Harper is escaping her past. She’s signed up to be the clerk on the Wayfarer, a tunneling ship whose crew, while very good at making artificial wormholes in space-time, has trouble keeping up with its formwork for the Galactic Commons. When Rosemary boards the ship, she discovers that she’s one of the few humans aboard. The pilot is a reptile, the navigator is a giant bug with a symbiotic disease that allows them to see in the sublayers when the ship is tunneling, another is a giant furry something with foldable ears, and the humans—one has pink skin and another is the shortest person Rosemary has ever seen. This was nothing like where she grew up, it’s about as multi-cultural and multispecies as it could get. But show more she’ll have time to adjust, because the Wayfarer has landed a job near the galactic core and it’s going to be a long trip getting there.

This is a delightful space travel odyssey filled with fascinating stops along the way, but most of all it’s a story of a very diverse group of beings learning to coexist and work together as a team that grows into a family of choice. It is character driven science fiction. And although she is not specifically named, Mrs. Brown is definitely aboard this spaceship. show less

I feel like I'm the last person on this planet to read this book, and I honestly don't know now why I waited so long to get to it. It was a little bit slow to grab me, but after thirty pages or so I was all in. The story is about relationships of all sorts and how to get on with people and uses the science fiction setting to explore various kinds of societies and ways of making a life. By turns funny, fascinating, and heartfelt. Was a clutch it to my chest read by the end. Recommended.

To my own mild puzzlement, I have to say that I had fun spending time with the Wayfarer crew and that I want to visit with them again soon.

Why the puzzlement?

Well, this isn't usually my kind of Science Fiction.

If I had to give this book a tagline, I'd go with Nice People In Space or A Long Way To Discovering The Value Of Diversity And The Power Of Making A Crew Into Your Chosen Family.

My expectations of Space Opera were set by Banks, Corey, Leckie, Powell and Reynolds. I expected big themes, dark plots, violent conflicts, advanced weaponry and ruthless people brokering power. I quickly saw that this book was aiming for something quite different, I just didn't know what.

At first, I thought it was a riff on Star Trek TNG, stripped of its show more thinly-disguised military structure and freed from the need to solve the universe's problems.

When I finally put aside my 'this is like...' mindset and took the book on its own terms, I started to have fun, albeit very wholesome 'Goodnight, John Boy' Waltons' Mountains fun, redecorated with peace stickers and rainbow flags.

If this book had not been so well done, if the cultures had not been so well-imagined, if the characters were not so engaging, If I hadn't ended up holding my breath waiting to find out the fate of the ship's AI, I would have been gently mocking this book. Instead, I'm mocking myself for having cynicism ingrained in my imagination like machine oil in the skin of a mechanics hands.

Yes, I can see that there's strong messaging here about diversity and choice and pacifism and tolerance that ought to be setting off my propaganda alarms like the storyline on a Christian channel show about raising a family with the grace of God, but the thing is that it works so well that I got all wrapped up in it.

I liked the crew. I liked being shown the different backgrounds that they came from and the different ways that they saw the world. I liked that those differences weren't sanded down into a smooth, 'We're all Starfleet, whatever our species' monoculture, but were bolted together, much like the Wayfarer itself, into something with a unique, improbable, not particularly pretty, that worked because it played to everyone's strengths. I liked that none of the crew carried or used weapons. Ever. Even when boarded by pirates or border patrols or surrounded by warships. They just weren't that kind of people. They made wormhole tunnels that allowed people to travel safely and quickly outside normal space. They were passionate about food and drink and tech toys and each other. They were alien to each other (four different organic species and one AI) and they were family to each other. And that was the point.

So, here I am going: 'A long book in which not much happened (at least on a galactic scale) except me getting to know a crew real well and enjoy the credible optimism and shared strength that they gifted to one another.'

I ought to be going 'Walton's in space? No thanks!' Instead. I'm going, 'What was the name of the second book in the series?' (It's 'A Closed A Common Orbit' in case you were wondering)

All of which is a tribute to Becky Chambers' storytelling and to Patricia Rodriguez's excellent narration. Click on the SoundCloud link below to hear a sample


https://soundcloud.com/hodderbooks/the-long-way-to-a-small-angry-planet-by-becky... show less

A motley crew in a patchwork spaceship make their living picking up odd jobs creating tunnels through space. Some of them get along better than others, but they're all still family. After hiring a new space-administrator (with a dark past), the captain decides they're finally ready to take on a big, high-profile, high-paying job - tunneling through space to connect galactic society to a new alien species - one with a history of violence.

This is the warmest, loveliest space travel story I've ever read. It's much more about the characters than it is about dramatics, and it was such a joy to spend time with. Although theoretically it shares a lot of DNA with other contemporary space operas like Ancillary Justice and Leviathan Wakes, I show more connected with it much more than I did with either of those books. Aside from a few scenes, most of the drama of the story comes not from thrills but from ethics and empathy - how different species with different mores interact with each other, and how to make decisions in a truly diverse culture. There are a lot of politics involved, but they're the politics of social justice, not who will get elected to what powerful office. Chambers does such a great job of creating character and backstory for alien species and the individuals within them. The Wayfarer crew feels instantly familiar. Highly highly recommended. show less

Rosemary needs to leave her past behind, and she's on a shuttle to a new job writing reports for a spaceship that creates tunnels in space for faster travel. Ashby, the captain who hired her, is told to watch news feeds for a potential big job. And as the title and the old saying attest, sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination.

The narrative point of view shifts among the several crew members, including both humans and other intergalactic species. We come to know several of their backstories on the way to the big job - creating a tunnel for a species that is known for its violence but about to make a treaty with the Parliament - and if it slows the action some, it also allows the reader to sympathize with each one of show more them. They don't always get along, but ultimately they care about each other and have created their own space family. The ending left a smile on my face, and I will happily continue the series soon. show less