Wayfarers Series 4 Books Collection Set by Becky Chambers (The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, A Closed and Common Orbit, Record of a Spaceborn Few & To Be Taught, If Fortunate)

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There aren’t any humans in this story, and it feels like a perfect choice to end the series, especially as book three, Record of a Spaceborn Few, was all about humans. It brings perspective to the universe and while reminding the reader of how tiny each of us is in the grand scheme of things, it’s also fascinating to realise how relatable these characters are. One might argue that Chambers failed to make them diverse enough, considering they’re all different species, but I like the idea of common emotions and reactions regardless of how dissimilar they are in other respects. Their bonding over their shared confusion as to humans’ love of cheese is probably the funniest scene of the book. I think there is a valuable place for SciFi that focusses on how society develops under different conditions, on relationships with alien minds. I understand that not everyone can be good at physics or technology. I value, very very much, the skills the author has got. The diversity. The balanced viewpoints. The coping strategies and acts of kindness. Tupo was still so soft, so babylike in temperament, but had finally crossed the threshold from small and cute to big and dumb." Chambers shows, by transporting the endless variety of emotional, personal topics into a character is story setting, that there is an unexplored land of imagining social and emotional life into the future, especially regarding completely different cultural conditioning, norms, rules, epigenetic traits, letting aliens species with completely different attitudes collide, quarrel, love, interbreed, to construct a resource of an amount of stories as potentially endless as space. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is something unique. It blends literary and science fictions into a story that looks at what it means to be human--or alien--amidst a world of chaos.

I think just deleting the hard science parts in future editions would massively improve the book. It is okay if the author can't write them - she can, on the other hand, write emotional depth that clearly and beautifully, in a way a lot of male authors could not write. (Looking at you, Alastair Reynolds). I value these equally. Either can stand on their own, I think. Alexander, Niall (27 April 2016). "Announcing the 2016 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist". Tor.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2022 . Retrieved 12 July 2022. This book also emphasizes the importance of respect; respecting peoples’ pronouns, peoples’ bodies, and peoples’ feelings. And the representation in this book is honestly unparalleled. From different species, to different races, to different genders, to different sexualities, to different mental health issues, to different bodies types, to different upbringings, to different cultures, to different traditions, to different religions, to different social settings, to so much more. Review: This fourth novel concludes the author's Wayfarer series, and it isn't to be expected that Chambers will return to this universe. Imagine a male hard SciFi author who wrote absolutely brilliant scifi on the technological and physical parts, but also kept adding long sequences where people explain that they have treated their depression through the magic of pulling themselves together, treated their disability through the magic of yoga, dealt with jealousy by suppressing it and with anger by unleashing it on weaker people, so that they are now perfectly mentally stable, physically healthy and social, and had all the other characters go, unironically, wow, that makes sense, this strikes me as ideal and like it would totally work. - This is how I feel every time a Chambers character explains how their ship is a perpetual energy machine and everyone around them nods.)

Apparently I want a bit more in my space domestic science fiction. Just because I think calm chill life is ideal doesn’t mean I want the same from my escapist reading. But it isn’t all bad. Increasingly, authors are writing “hopepunk” stories (a slightly cringeworthy term inspired by cyberpunk) that weaponise optimism, according to one Vox journalist. A good book, but not a gripping one. At the moment, I'm giving it a 3.5 star rating, and wobbling between rounding up or down. Not her best work, and I wouldn't start here -- though it is a standalone. Another of her trademark "found family" stories, this one recycles old stories of travelers stranded in a temporary refuge, while a natural disaster is sorted out. As you will see, there is a large range of reactions to the book. But the average rating for all readers is a solid, near-masterpiece 4.5 stars. I'm definitely not going that high! Kizzy - A technician on the Wayfarer. Never, have I ever, read a character that I felt I was personally more like than Kizzy Shao. From her being so talkative, to always trying to be cheerful and positive, to her playing dating sims and loving all food, especially all things spicy, to her loving so unconditionally. I will never answer another bookish question of “what character are you most like” with bits and pieces from other books, because I truly see all of myself in Kizzy. Oh, and her being Asian warms my damn heart, too. Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022 . Retrieved 17 July 2022.

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. Sissix - An Aandrisk and pilot of the Wayfarer. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read in my entire life was seeing Rosemary learn about Sissix’s hatch family, feather family, and house family. Seriously, it’s so beautiful that I don’t even have words. Sissix not only beautifully gave me a polyamorous story line, but also the f/f romance of my dreams. This is the kind of book that makes you remember why you fell in love with reading. This is the kind of book that feels so powerful you can’t believe it exists. This is the kind of book that sets your very soul on fire and makes you want to do better. This is the kind of book that instills a hope so great that you feel like you could make a difference. This is the kind of book that you won’t be the same after finishing. But they all go above and beyond to help each other do whatever to help out. They make tunnels to other places to make it easier for other people/aliens in the galaxy. They make good money but this latest job, which is more money than they have ever gotten, leads them into enemy territory under a planned alliance with the Toremi Ka. This doesn't go very well, but they are an evil race so it's to be expected. They almost lost their lives. They did lose a few things and almost lost the ship. 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.The actual story is about who these individuals are, where they’ve been and where they want to go from here. Chambers’ other work is equally revered by critics and fans alike. She’s become one of the genre’s staples, releasing quality work at a steady clip. I rely on Chambers’ books for a healthy dose of uplifting and hopeful sci-fi each year. Should her success continue to grow (and I think it will), Hollywood might just take notice and pounce at the opportunity to adapt Chambers’ remarkable work. For now, happily, we have the books, and if you haven’t read them…now is the time. Similarly, it seemed weird to me that all of the characters' thoughts and felt in similar way (even if Aeluons express themselves through the colors in their cheeks). Why do they all feel the same type of emotions? That they all spoke as if they were therapists made them blur together in spite of their alleged differences. So is this space-opera, or not? Of course it is! But think of it more like distilling and creating anew some of those old favorites, bits and pieces here from Babylon 5, ST:TNG, Red Dwarf, or even a taste of Enterprise. The tropes are familiar, but the tale-crafter, her worlds, and her spacecraft is most certainly not. There are also artificial intelligences that run ships and other hardware, but it is illegal to upload an AI to a humanoid robot. This is key in the second book, A Closed and Common Orbit, which is a fantastic examination of identity and autonomy.