Book #1 - The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet
The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
»Somewhere within our crowded sky, a crew of wormhole builders hops from planet to planet, on their way to the job of a lifetime. To the galaxy at large, humanity is a minor species, and one patched-up construction vessel is a mere speck on the starchart. This is an everyday sort of ship, just trying to get from here to there.
But all voyages leave their mark, and even the most ordinary of people have stories worth telling. A young Martian woman, hoping the vastness of space will put some distance between herself and the life she‘s left behind. An alien pilot, navigating life without her own kind. A pacifist captain, awaiting the return of a loved one at war.
Set against a backdrop of curious cultures and distant worlds, this episodic tale weaves together the adventures of nine eclectic characters, each on a journey of their own.«
The blurb describes the book well: this story is all about characters. I could write a ton of stuff on this book, but they're all spoilers so I'm going to put those thoughts under a cut below.
The setup is very reminiscent of Firefly, except this universe has aliens. There are quirky characters, loud market planets, a patched-up ship with a captain who just wants to make a peaceful living. I liked it - as long as it wasn't too close to Firefly, which unfortunately, in one character, it was.
The plot takes a backseat to the character development, and it felt like the protagonists didn't really have much to do with the unfolding of the plot, but I liked it nonetheless. Some things that happened felt a bit construed. But maybe that was because I'm not fan of the diary/logbook-like format picking out selected highlights. It just didn't read like a continuous story.
I liked the incredible thoughtfulness that went into the alien character design, including different ideas of gender and culture in general. I loved how different all the species were - in appearance, communication, and culture. It was a beautiful case for tolerance expected from and displayed by everyone. All in all, the diverse universe she created is what kept me reading.
There are two things in the first few chapters that almost made me drop the book:
1) Kizzy = Kaylee. I could not see Kizzy as her own person, because she shared so many characteristics with Kaylee. It made me want to read Firefly fanfic more than I wanted to read the book. Unfortunately, this feeling didn't really fade over the course of the book.
2) So many aliens and different genders, and Rosemary being so conscious about addressing them right and not offending them, but then there's that one throwaway sentence where Sissix says "Your shoes are amazing, I wish I could wear shoes." Which, just, nooooooooo. Not all women love shoes! Especially not alien ones who don't even wear clothes! That one moment of thoughtlessness made me seriously doubt the author. Gender-stereotyping at its stupidest.
Apart from that:
* I liked Ashby and Pei, even though the whole interspecies sex thing was never explained, it was just a "normal" thing to do, apparently.
* I liked Dr Chef, although I don't believe for a second that a species can decide as a whole not to procreate anymore. That seems too counterintuitive to evolution.
* I could understand Corbin, except for curing Ohan. That was way over the line. I can see that it makes in-story sense for Ashby to eventually forgive him because Ohan did, but damn that needed a non-con warning. I also really would have liked some more and stronger fallout there - another place where the anecdotal format did not work for me. Did Corbin even know that Ohan would keep his navigation skills after the cure? I thought that whole aspect was a bit of a cop-out.
* I liked that Ohan chose to do something else than either the Heretics nor his upbringing expected him to do.
* I really like Sissix, but I honestly would have preferred if Rosemary had offered cuddles without sex. There was no buildup to the ship, and I just didn't feel it.
* I really liked Jenks, and Jenks with Kizzy, and Jenks with Lovey. Although the fact that Lovey had loved him from the day he installed her made me go ewwww. It would be interesting if Lovelace had a bug that made the AI fall in love with the first person they saw. :) Anyway, I can see their relationship from both Jenks's and Corbin's point of view. It was interesting to think about and it raised interesting problems.
* I very much hope that the second book gives us those AI-in-a-body problems. What Pepper did might have been an attempt to salvage a bad situation, but I expect it to backfire like woah. It's nowhere near what would have happened had the old Lovey gone into that body kit. Can you tell I am interested in AIs?
* I liked all the specific worlds she came up with, Cricket, Coriol, Hashkath, the Core, as well as the known planets Earth, Mars, and Corbin's father's lab assignment.
Despite all the quibbles, I liked the book and would recommend it.
**** - 4 of 5 stars
1 - The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet
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