mxawprince's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
1.5
I know this book was written in 3014, and that it's a first novel, but (amongst many other similar things) there's an autistic-coded character that in the end gets "cured". Blegh.
I'll probably read something more recent from this author to see if it gets better.
I'll probably read something more recent from this author to see if it gets better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Colonisation, and Cultural appropriation
Moderate: Gun violence, Xenophobia, Genocide, Racism, and War
Minor: Chronic illness, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Antisemitism, Gun violence, and Fatphobia
anni_swanilda's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Cursing, Death, Gore, Grief, Confinement, Violence, Vomit, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Medical content and Blood
Minor: Ableism, Alcohol, and War
plume_de_renarde's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Sexual content, Drug use, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racism and Ableism
amphibianwitch's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
Me estaba planteando darle 3 estrellas a este libro. Está bien, la narración es entretenida, el wordbuilding es chulo y los personajes son interesantes. Ha habido ciertas cosas, como que la narración fuera tan parcial a favor de según que personajes o algunas partes de exposición que se me hicieron un poco rollo, pero lo normal.
Sin embargo, sí hay cosas que no puedo pasar por alto. Durante la lectura no me estaba dando la sensación de que el libro fuese muy trans-friendly ni nb-friendly, pero no estaba segura de ello. Desde luego no me ha parecido nada ace ni aro-friendly, y de hecho no se lo recomendaría a una persona arromántica ni asexual. Pero lo que me ha terminado de cabrear es una cosa que pasa casi al final y que se analiza en este artículo (en inglés) mejor de lo que lo podría explicar yo. Me ha parecido dañino y me es completamente imposible reconciliarme con esta lectura tras ello. Una pena.
Sin embargo, sí hay cosas que no puedo pasar por alto. Durante la lectura no me estaba dando la sensación de que el libro fuese muy trans-friendly ni nb-friendly, pero no estaba segura de ello. Desde luego no me ha parecido nada ace ni aro-friendly, y de hecho no se lo recomendaría a una persona arromántica ni asexual. Pero lo que me ha terminado de cabrear es una cosa que pasa casi al final y que se analiza en este artículo (en inglés) mejor de lo que lo podría explicar yo. Me ha parecido dañino y me es completamente imposible reconciliarme con esta lectura tras ello. Una pena.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Ableism, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, Terminal illness, War, Drug use, and Alcohol
nannahnannah's review against another edition
2.0
This book’s concept is wonderful! I wish the execution matched it, though, because at the end of the day I just didn’t enjoy reading it. I’d give my soul for more books with this kind of diversity, but I still do want them to be … good. I also really thought that this would be the futuristic sci-fi book to not include ableism and actual eugenics disguised as “gene therapy”. Especially going by all the reviews.
Representation:
There are nine main characters …
- four of the five humans are a futuristic mixed human race that aren’t considered white
- one character has dwarfism
- two characters are sapphic and poly
- one character's species changes genders halfway through their lives (he's now male)
- Ohan is discussed in the review below (I believe he is autistic coded)
The Long Way … proves that the journey is indeed more important than the destination. A ragtag, multispecies crew on a spaceship that’s seen better days heads out on a year-long trip to build a wormhole tunnel between the rest of the Galactic Commons (GC) and a small, angry planet that holds much-desired resources. On the crew is
1. Rosemary, a human trying to escape her past;
2. Ashby, a pacifist human captain in an illegal multispecies relationship;
3. Kizzy, a quirky human tech;
4. Jenks, a human tech with dwarfism in love with the ship’s AI;
5. Corbin, a cranky human who works with the ship’s algae fuel;
6. Lovey, the ship’s AI who is considering getting an illegal “body kit”;
7. Sissix, the compassionate reptilian pilot;
8. Dr. Chef, a member of a dying species who serves as the crew’s doctor and … chef;
9. Ohan, the reclusive navigator, able to see the space-time continuum due to a virus called “The Whisperer”.
What plot this book has is very thin, which is okay because that’s not its priority. Instead, the conversations and interactions between the many characters during their long trip is what obviously keeps many people entertained. The story feels very episodic, broken down into sections where a small event happens and wraps up nicely, and then the characters move onto the next one. I do wish that there were more connection between these episodes, though, because it felt as though the slate was wiped clean between them and they could more or less be swapped around.
And I just wish I liked the book more! I do love character-driven stories, but I felt that the characters failed to actually drive anything here, besides the overly preachy and hammered-out point that “prejudice and oppression is bad.” It failed to add anything new to these discussions or add any nuance. Near the end there’s a glimmer of something promising, which I hope will be explored in the next books.
The characters are all overly sweet (save for the token grump), never saying anything wrong or doing anything bad or behaving like flawed, realistic people. The dialogue sounds like it could come from a Marvel movie, and every character’s lines could be switched around and I wouldn’t know who said what; they all speak too similarly for being so different from one another. The one time there’s an opportunity for tension (Rosemary’s secret past is revealed), the author skips over the confrontational scene to mention it in passing as having happened and so-and-so was mad but it’s all better now. I don’t believe conflict is necessary for all stories (see the 4-act structure), but these things feel like cop-outs.
eugenics mention below
But the worst offense here is the book’s ableism, and I’m livid that very few other reviewers have been talking about it. I can’t even tell you how disappointed I am that this book has eugenics disguised as “gene therapy”. Jenks only has dwarfism because his mother didn’t undergo prenatal therapy. It’s implied no one has dwarfism or bad eyesight, etc. because of this. And then the author has the gall to have her characters shake a fist at Jenk’s mother’s old people who actively believe that leaving behind and/or killing disabled people and children would strengthen the human race.
end of eugenics mention
Then there’s Ohan, who’s infected with The Whisperer, a virus that gives him wonderful abilities (he can see through space and time) but also a dramatically shortened lifespan. It’s revealed that his people, who all become infected as children, die when they’re around thirty years old, which makes Ohan about to die himself. In the last three-quarters of the book, These people give the crew a cure, and the crew offers the cure to Ohan, who refuses it. Ohan knows everything, that they could survive without The Whisperer, that they could still navigate, and they still refuse it. What happens? The cure is forced upon them without their consent, and the author spins the narrative to make this a good thing.
But the problem is that we’re not just observing this within the context of the story. I have autism. My autism gives me gifts in the form of hyperfixiation, which allows me to finish projects quickly, it allows me to focus on details, and autism can give others many gifts in the arts, in math, etc. It’s also possible autism will shorten my lifespan; you can look up why if you really want to, because I won’t link all the studies here. At one point, Ohan mentions that they don’t know what they would be like without The Whisperer, something many neurodivergent people can relate to. Ohan is a social recluse … they don’t like to be touched … do you see where I’m drawing this comparison from? To read Ohan have a cure forced upon them even though they refused it with all the knowledge given to them is a kick to the gut in a world that still has Autism Speaks scrambling to “cure” autism. But the worst is having Ohan, cured Ohan, happy to be social, happy to be touched, and having all the chapters surrounding the crew finding the cure, even to events after Ohan being cured in POVs of everyone besides Ohan. At no point do we ever see how Ohan actually feels about any of this.
I know there’s also a scene with a strongly autistic-coded character, where Sissix makes a point to say everyone deserves love, but it isn’t actually necessary to the story … it’s just there to make a moral point. As an autistic person, reading this scene where an autistic-coded character is homeless, without a family, being made fun of by passersby, etc. all because of being "different", when all sexualities and genders are accepted feels cruel.
Do I think that Becky Chambers did all this out of malice? Definitely not, she seems like a really cool person, honestly. And this series is obviously very well loved; it just wasn't for me. I only spent so long talking about the ableism because I didn't see others here do it yet. I probably won’t read on in this series, but I will check out what Becky Chambers writes next.
Representation:
There are nine main characters …
- four of the five humans are a futuristic mixed human race that aren’t considered white
- one character has dwarfism
- two characters are sapphic and poly
- one character's species changes genders halfway through their lives (he's now male)
- Ohan is discussed in the review below (I believe he is autistic coded)
The Long Way … proves that the journey is indeed more important than the destination. A ragtag, multispecies crew on a spaceship that’s seen better days heads out on a year-long trip to build a wormhole tunnel between the rest of the Galactic Commons (GC) and a small, angry planet that holds much-desired resources. On the crew is
1. Rosemary, a human trying to escape her past;
2. Ashby, a pacifist human captain in an illegal multispecies relationship;
3. Kizzy, a quirky human tech;
4. Jenks, a human tech with dwarfism in love with the ship’s AI;
5. Corbin, a cranky human who works with the ship’s algae fuel;
6. Lovey, the ship’s AI who is considering getting an illegal “body kit”;
7. Sissix, the compassionate reptilian pilot;
8. Dr. Chef, a member of a dying species who serves as the crew’s doctor and … chef;
9. Ohan, the reclusive navigator, able to see the space-time continuum due to a virus called “The Whisperer”.
What plot this book has is very thin, which is okay because that’s not its priority. Instead, the conversations and interactions between the many characters during their long trip is what obviously keeps many people entertained. The story feels very episodic, broken down into sections where a small event happens and wraps up nicely, and then the characters move onto the next one. I do wish that there were more connection between these episodes, though, because it felt as though the slate was wiped clean between them and they could more or less be swapped around.
And I just wish I liked the book more! I do love character-driven stories, but I felt that the characters failed to actually drive anything here, besides the overly preachy and hammered-out point that “prejudice and oppression is bad.” It failed to add anything new to these discussions or add any nuance. Near the end there’s a glimmer of something promising, which I hope will be explored in the next books.
The characters are all overly sweet (save for the token grump), never saying anything wrong or doing anything bad or behaving like flawed, realistic people. The dialogue sounds like it could come from a Marvel movie, and every character’s lines could be switched around and I wouldn’t know who said what; they all speak too similarly for being so different from one another. The one time there’s an opportunity for tension (Rosemary’s secret past is revealed), the author skips over the confrontational scene to mention it in passing as having happened and so-and-so was mad but it’s all better now. I don’t believe conflict is necessary for all stories (see the 4-act structure), but these things feel like cop-outs.
eugenics mention below
But the worst offense here is the book’s ableism, and I’m livid that very few other reviewers have been talking about it. I can’t even tell you how disappointed I am that this book has eugenics disguised as “gene therapy”. Jenks only has dwarfism because his mother didn’t undergo prenatal therapy. It’s implied no one has dwarfism or bad eyesight, etc. because of this. And then the author has the gall to have her characters shake a fist at Jenk’s mother’s old people who actively believe that leaving behind and/or killing disabled people and children would strengthen the human race.
end of eugenics mention
Then there’s Ohan, who’s infected with The Whisperer, a virus that gives him wonderful abilities (he can see through space and time) but also a dramatically shortened lifespan. It’s revealed that his people, who all become infected as children, die when they’re around thirty years old, which makes Ohan about to die himself. In the last three-quarters of the book,
Spoiler
the crew needs to stop planetside to get something for the ship, and the nearest planet is inhabited only by members of Ohan’s species who have “broken” from their virus--and therefore survived past thirty.But the problem is that we’re not just observing this within the context of the story. I have autism. My autism gives me gifts in the form of hyperfixiation, which allows me to finish projects quickly, it allows me to focus on details, and autism can give others many gifts in the arts, in math, etc. It’s also possible autism will shorten my lifespan; you can look up why if you really want to, because I won’t link all the studies here. At one point, Ohan mentions that they don’t know what they would be like without The Whisperer, something many neurodivergent people can relate to. Ohan is a social recluse … they don’t like to be touched … do you see where I’m drawing this comparison from? To read Ohan have a cure forced upon them even though they refused it with all the knowledge given to them is a kick to the gut in a world that still has Autism Speaks scrambling to “cure” autism. But the worst is having Ohan, cured Ohan, happy to be social, happy to be touched, and having all the chapters surrounding the crew finding the cure, even to events after Ohan being cured in POVs of everyone besides Ohan. At no point do we ever see how Ohan actually feels about any of this.
I know there’s also a scene with a strongly autistic-coded character, where Sissix makes a point to say everyone deserves love, but it isn’t actually necessary to the story … it’s just there to make a moral point. As an autistic person, reading this scene where an autistic-coded character is homeless, without a family, being made fun of by passersby, etc. all because of being "different", when all sexualities and genders are accepted feels cruel.
Do I think that Becky Chambers did all this out of malice? Definitely not, she seems like a really cool person, honestly. And this series is obviously very well loved; it just wasn't for me. I only spent so long talking about the ableism because I didn't see others here do it yet. I probably won’t read on in this series, but I will check out what Becky Chambers writes next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
also: implied eugenics mentionsacredgayometry's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
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
5.0
This is one of my favorite books I have ever read, and one of the best sci-fi novels of all time in my opinion. The story is compelling but the found family relationships are the real draw of the book. You will become attached to characters you didn’t expect to, and feel like part of the family yourself as the reader. The world building is fantastic and I felt like a tourist learning about strange and beautiful new places at times. I love this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, Ableism, Animal death, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: Xenophobia, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Ableism, Bullying, Alcohol, Animal death, Terminal illness, Cursing, Murder, and War
There are some challenging themes especially near the end of the book surrounding war, conflict, colonialism and xenophobia. There is challenging content surrounding death and grief as well as memory loss. Cultural misunderstandings and cultural differences are central to the book, and I felt were generally approached very respectfully. Otherwise a lighthearted read.rgraham's review against another edition
The racism amd ableism was constant and disgusting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Ableism
lipstickitotheman's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Confinement, Colonisation, Ableism, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Police brutality, and Violence
emzhay's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
I really enjoyed reading this book! I was looking for some lighthearted sci-fi and it definitely delivered. It’s a slice of life type story so there’s no main plot at the forefront, which I personally really enjoyed, but may not be for everyone.
I did have some issues with how race was portrayed among humans. It seems like the author went with the route of humans all being ambiguously brown (though no one is mentioned as being darker than “tan”) thus ending racism among ourselves since we all look the same now. It came off as a pretty lazy writing ploy to me given how much the book pushed embracing differences among species.
And why are we so far into the future and to be fully accepting of neopronouns, but it’s still ”confusing” to use singular they? It’s great to see neopronouns used so casual, but as someone who uses they/them pronouns and was told this book had great trans rep, it was really off putting.
I did have some issues with how race was portrayed among humans. It seems like the author went with the route of humans all being ambiguously brown (though no one is mentioned as being darker than “tan”) thus ending racism among ourselves since we all look the same now. It came off as a pretty lazy writing ploy to me given how much the book pushed embracing differences among species.
And why are we so far into the future and to be fully accepting of neopronouns, but it’s still ”confusing” to use singular they?
Spoiler
or in this case it actually is a plural they.Spoiler
I also really disliked how Ohan’s bodily autonomy was violated with seemingly no consequence. They were cured with zero input on their part and it just gets glossed over
Content Warnings
Graphic: Police brutality, Terminal illness, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Ableism and War
corriejn's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This is a 5-star book not because it's some wildly innovative book, or the kind that is so all-absorbing that it leaves you with a "book hangover." But it is just a thoroughly enjoyable read. (All the CWs noted are fairly moderate-- that is, not super graphic content, and in general relate to specific events in the story.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Death, and Terminal illness
Minor: Racism, Death of parent, Infidelity, Violence, Confinement, Alcohol, Drug use, Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Pregnancy