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moonbasket's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse and Mental illness
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Confinement, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Slavery, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Blood
voldycat's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Confinement
Moderate: Xenophobia and Alcohol
Minor: Medical content
amazelan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
j'ai adoré les switchs entre le présent du pdv de Sidra et le passé de Pepper
l'écriture est toujours aussi chouette, avec des messages vraiment beaux
toute la réflexion autour de l'IA et de ce qui fait de qqn.e une personne était méga bien amenée et développée
et les relations entre les personnages sont si douces aaaa
un livre doudou vraiment, malgré les giga sujets abordés
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Violence, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
therainbowshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Blood, Medical content, Abandonment, and Classism
saucy_bookdragon's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I am a simple man. You write a book about robots learning to be human and understanding their feelings, I'm going to have a good time.
A Closed and Common Orbit is a lot darker and more existential than its predecessor, which makes sense given the setup for it in A Long Way To a Small, Angry Planet was the most tragic section of that book, but damn it was a lot darker. In this, we follow an AI in an illegal synthetic body and a clone trying to escape a desolate planet with the help of an AI.
Something I've noticed in this and Becky Chambers's other series, Monk and Robot, is that she's in love with the cultural and sociological aspects of world building and it just oozes off the page. Though her books certainly have plots, they tend to be slower and lacking in tension. Really what makes them good is the world building, so fascinating, so alien, and so goddamn optimistic! She creates worlds I want to live in and populates them with lively characters and emotional bonds.
As for this book specifically, I found it so deeply fascinating and thought-provoking, questioning who gets to be counted as sentient in this galaxy. As I said, this is a lot darker than the first book, specifically with the clone storyline. The added edge made the optimism strike so much deeper, it was bittersweet and just so earned. But it's also still a story about what mundanity looks like in an interstellar society, which maybe paradoxically, makes this series stand out.
TWs not included under the tag: dogs die and there's dog-on-dog cannibalism.
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Gore, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
bookcheshirecat's review against another edition
4.0
“The enhanced call us misfits - people who don't fit their intended purpose. So maybe you're a misfit too. Doesn't mean you're not deserving. Doesn't mean you shouldn't be here.”
➽ A Closed and Common Orbit was a great, introspective companion novel in the Wayfarers universe. I read The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet ages ago and was eager to check out more books from the Wayfarer series. I like Becky Chambers's full-length sci-fi novels much more than her novellas (the Monk and Robot series was unfortunately mediocre for me)! I definitely recommend reading the first book, as A Closed and Common Orbit follows Lovelace, the former AI system of the Wayfarer who is now setting out on her own in a (highly illegal) body kit. Due to a system restart she's lost her previous identity and parting ways with her former crew that she doesn't really feel attached to anymore.
➽ Lovelace (later renaming herself Sidra) struggles with finding her place and purpose! Since AIs are considered property and only allowed to be installed in specific areas, she has to hide her true identity from everyone. Pepper (and her partner Blue) are the only people who know as they offer her refuge in their home Port Corisol. I really liked seeing Sidra trying to fit into human society when she isn't like everyone else. She still has issues with overstimulation and a lack of constant linking access. Fitting into the human world is difficult for Sidra as she's something other and has to hide it for her own safety! Her POV is introspective and slow-paced, so don't expect any big action scenes!
➽ There's also a second perspective that takes place almost 20 years prior and follows Pepper (formerly named Jane). I have to admit that I enjoyed this POV slightly more, as Lovelace's journey was slow and focused on slice-of-life instead of action. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Jane's journey as it's uncommon to look into the past of a supporting character. It worked out here as it showed why Pepper was willing to help Lovelace in the first place. Her story is heavy, as she starts out as a factory worker unaware of her true identity who's been locked up all her life. After a daring escape, she uncovers an abandoned ship with an AI on board who is her only point of contact. This perspective is much more survival-focused as Jane has to survive with whatever she can scavenge and dreams of somewhere escaping!
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
kastix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Dysphoria, and Classism
Moderate: Body horror, Slavery, Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Death, Infertility, Excrement, Medical content, and Medical trauma
lynxpardinus's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Slavery, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and War
plantdonut's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Animal death and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical content, and Grief
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Colonisation
anni_swanilda's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Death, and Physical abuse
Minor: Blood, Vomit, Abandonment, and Alcohol