A Longa Viagem a Um Pequeno Planeta Hostil

Hardcover

Published April 29, 2017 by DARKSIDE.

ISBN:: 978-85-9454-050-8

(2 reviews)

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that's seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past. But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptilian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life on board is chaotic, but more or less peaceful - exactly what Rosemary wants. Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet.

9 editions

nerd teacher [books] reviewed The long way to a small, angry planet by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers, #1)

Definitely worth reading, if only because it feels different from other sci-fi.

4 stars

I want to just start that I genuinely enjoyed this book more than I was expecting. I've found myself quite disappointed by sci-fi as of late because so much of it feels... the same, even when it's recommended for being 'more queer' or 'more feminist' or something. It still follows the same patterns, same narrative beats, same... failure to even imagine something different or new.

It's also been quite tiring reading a lot of sci-fi that focuses on perpetual conflicts. And while this book includes a conflict of sorts, it does not focus purely on the conflict itself. Instead, it focuses on the relationships between all of the characters. It looks at how things impact them, how they feel about each other, how they get to know each other... It actually gives a very necessary look at people within sci-fi, which I think more stories are in need of.

There …

I want to just start that I genuinely enjoyed this book more than I was expecting. I've found myself quite disappointed by sci-fi as of late because so much of it feels... the same, even when it's recommended for being 'more queer' or 'more feminist' or something. It still follows the same patterns, same narrative beats, same... failure to even imagine something different or new.

It's also been quite tiring reading a lot of sci-fi that focuses on perpetual conflicts. And while this book includes a conflict of sorts, it does not focus purely on the conflict itself. Instead, it focuses on the relationships between all of the characters. It looks at how things impact them, how they feel about each other, how they get to know each other... It actually gives a very necessary look at people within sci-fi, which I think more stories are in need of.

There are areas that I feel disappointed with, and it's largely because they felt glossed over. There's a whole thing between Ohan and Corbin, and their later interactions or the development of their relationship is never explored in the resolution. It's annoying because everything else is so beautifully done, but I feel like this one should've been handled much better considering the whole story around at least one of them. (And also, it leaves Corbin feeling really on the outskirts of the whole ship's crew.)

Goblin reviewed The long way to a small, angry planet by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers, #1)

queerer than I expected

4 stars

Becky Chambers shows us a hopeful future. Sure, the world she creates still has familiar problems like bigotry, exploitation, and war. But most of the characters we see are fairly open minded, diverse, emotionally intelligent, and culturally sensitive.

I really started to appreciate the book more about 2/3 of the way through. All the world building and character development of the beginning finally led up to some interesting social commentary and ethical questions, as well as some queer bits. At one point we meet a character who had to pretend to be something they weren't to survive in their society, until they were able to escape to get treatment to fully become what they knew they were inside. Which seemed like an obvious trans metaphor to me.

I love how the book ends with an open ethical question that the author doesn't resolve for us. We only get to see …

Becky Chambers shows us a hopeful future. Sure, the world she creates still has familiar problems like bigotry, exploitation, and war. But most of the characters we see are fairly open minded, diverse, emotionally intelligent, and culturally sensitive.

I really started to appreciate the book more about 2/3 of the way through. All the world building and character development of the beginning finally led up to some interesting social commentary and ethical questions, as well as some queer bits. At one point we meet a character who had to pretend to be something they weren't to survive in their society, until they were able to escape to get treatment to fully become what they knew they were inside. Which seemed like an obvious trans metaphor to me.

I love how the book ends with an open ethical question that the author doesn't resolve for us. We only get to see a bit of the aftermath, but she leaves it to the reader to decide what was right.

A warning, this book is primarily driven by character interaction and world building, not narrative and plot. From what I've heard that turned some people off. I loved it though.