Reviews with content warning for Death - Record of a Spaceborn Few

Reviews tagging 'Death'

Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers

98 reviews

brianneh's review

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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maddieshort00's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

This one felt like an emotionally harder read than the first two in the wayfarers series but fundamentally it hits at very human questions of life, death, and safety. I also took from it a strong appreciation for archivists and historians as is my way in life! Parts were utopian and some dystopian, but all were human. Well done.

Spoiler

if this were ao3 I’d tag major character death as one of the narrators dies.

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athryn's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

A really fascinating read, these almost slice of life stories that Chambers does, but they just work their way in to you. Reminds me a little bit of the Emily St. John Mandel books I read earlier this year.

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thewildmageslibrary's review against another edition

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4.0

This definitely felt more character-driven than the previous two books in the series. We've got a new cast again (I miss Rosemary!) but by the end they had grabbed my heart.

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librarianmage's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

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beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

Becky Chambers does it again, folks.

Record of a Spaceborn Few is the third book in her Wayfarers series, and her writing style is filled with compassion and enthusiasm for the intricate world - or in this case, galaxy - she has created.

These books are not for those who like their plots fast-paced. Indeed, for the first two-thirds of Record, there is hardly any plot at all.

I would normally count myself among those who prefer a fast pace, but for Becky Chambers I've learned to make an exception. Her books are slow, for sure, but for me, I find the worldbuilding to be incredibly detailed and endlessly fascinating, so I don't get too bored.

Such was the case - yet again - for Record. It took time for me to readjust to the pace, the terminology used in this series, but once I did, I found myself intrigued and absorbed.

Chambers uses Record to explore the concept of something with which we are all familiar: what makes us human. And here's the genius thing: she does this from the point of view of the descendants of the original humans who abandoned earth when it became uninhabitable, and built giant space ships to live in. The characters here are largely human, with a few notable exceptions which I won't spoil here.

I've read criticism that the vision of society depicted in Record is too idealistic to be believable, and I agree that argument has some merit. But for me personally, I'm willing to accept this idealised view, mostly because in the world we live in now, I like to be able to imagine a society where people work and live in harmony with one another. It's a fantasy, sure, but in my opinion we all need a little escapism from time to time.

To sum up, this book shows us Becky Chambers in peak form, and I look forward to reading the final book in the Wayfarers series, The Galaxy and the Ground Within.

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racheleanne06's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful relaxing slow-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

Although I didn’t quite love this book as much as I did ‘a close and common orbit’ (that one is hard to top for me though, I absolutely adored it), this book was still wonderful.

Wayfarers is a science fiction series, set in a time and place very far from our own. Yet the stories, the emotions and the people are so real and recognisable. And I just want to eat up every single detail of this universe that Becky has created, as I have mentioned before, she has the most incredible imagination.

I never thought I would enjoy a character-focused series so much as I do this one (I have always favoured plot-based books in the past) but Becky has really changed that for me.

I am sad I only have one more book left to read.

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