Reviews

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

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inalamh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

blake_lavanchy's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is my second time reading this books and let me say, again, wow. I am stunned again at how Becky Chambers managed to write a book that is both a fun space-opera romp which made me laugh out-loud, and also a book which meditates on the conflicts between moral outrage and cultural relativism and the challenges and joys of finding your family out in the world. It was so lovely to loose myself in this book again, and no less enjoyable the second time around.

Also, I learned that communicating your needs and wants with a parter is a very sexy activity :)

klueck's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

4.5

fancybone's review against another edition

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4.0

A fun read about a space adventure. The plot seemed to mostly serve as a reason to tell a number of parables by way of the main characters interacting - PTSD! Interspecies romance! Non-traditional family structures! (Well, non-traditional by human standards; it's totally normal by the Aandrisk standards, and to be honest, it's not even that radical compared to humanity.) Artificial Intelligence rights!

My only major complaint is that the major conflict at the end seems tacked on, and we never really get to know much about the Hedra Ka beyond a quick snapshot of one of them.

The universe feels like the beginnings of Banks' Culture universe - most of the societies are largely socially liberal, and those that have conservative leanings have protagonists who buck the trend.

If you like John Scalzi, both as an author and opinion-haver, you'd probably like this as well.

athryn's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This book definitely feels like it was the author's first book. It's unpolished and feels a bit disjoined, almost more like a collection of short stories rather than a complete novel. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and because I've read other books by this author, I figure the writing will improve.