Reviews

A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers

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msrae89's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective tense 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? Yes

4.75

hnweaver's review

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Strong character development? Yes

5.0

writeronherway's review

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5.0

There's something so otherworldly and homely at the same time about A Closed and Common Orbit. Becky Chambers' writes with beautiful imagination but also a solid understanding and belief of the world she has created that the reader can't help but fall in love with.

I really connected with both Pepper and Sidra's struggle to deal with complete isolation; nobody else can truly understand their individual experiences, and how overwhelming and over stimulating rejoining the outside world can be. I think this is extremely topical today as social media brings us closer together and further away. It complicates basic human interaction and people can feel lonely even when they have a large social network and at the same time overwhelmed by the amount of [to borrow a term from Common Orbit] input. For example, Facebook as a live form of biography can lead people to compare their own life achievements. I think this duelling internal conflict of feeling alone and secluded but wanting to belong and then belonging but feeling anxious and overwhelmed was nicely woven into the narrative and arrived at a positive conclusion where a compromise could be met and the characters could move forward.

There was a lovely thematic cohesion between the two perspectives and the timelines closed together like a zip; there was no sudden collision or clash as they caught up with one another. More than anything, there is real heart and I would argue that this sequel finds it's feet even more than the debut; there's a real confidence and intimacy in this one. As usual, Chambers challenges both her characters and her readers to re-examine their viewpoints and what is considered the norm and I'm excited to see how she continues to build on this open-mindedness as her universe expands. This series feels like classic sci-fi [Ursula Guin style] and yet forward-thinking, edgy and of it's time all at once. In case you hadn't gathered, I'm really looking forward to the next one whoever's story it may follow.

emertainment's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.5

sonyakaiser's review

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

snowbenton's review

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4.0

I don’t like AIs, sentient ones even less so. So vast parts of this book were super boring to me because I just don’t care about how difficult it is for a computer program to acclimate to a human body when she was built to command a ship. But I loved learning about Pepper’s background, and I teared up three times so I have to give credit where credit is due. Chambers does a fabulous job of building alien species and handling gender issues.