A review by moonknitter
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Before I read this I was disappointed that the same characters of the first book would not really be in the second one but Becky Chambers has done it again. Even tho I was sad to not hear more about sissix & rosemary and even tho the whole Jenks & Lovelace storyline didn’t really appeal to me in the first book, the way this explored AI rights and genetic modification and both the utopian and dystopian aspects of both was just incredible, wholesome in some ways, and very inspiring! I’ve sometimes really hated books that go back n forth between 2. Characters or time periods but this one did it so incredibly well and I think the book would have not been as good if they’d been separate or only 1 together. When I got tired of sidra complaining about being in a body, the chapter ended and I got a glimpse of Jane working hard to survive. When I got tired of hearing the horrible parts of janes story, the chapter ended and I could learn about sidra experience something new for the first time. I’ve also been really terrified about the future of AI over the next few years just based on our society, and this book gave me a different perspective to all that. The Owl and Jane storyline was a big part of that for me. However, the ending was sort of confusing for me. I didn’t totally understand exactly what happened it was like tech jargon and it went over my head. On a basic level I kind of get it but it wasn’t super clear. I also think one thing this book did similar to the last one was that it was much more character based than plot based. The climax/ ending came fast and in the last 60 pages or so. Which was fine with me because I liked getting to understand these different worlds and seeing things for the first time through an AI perspective as well as Jane’s. Becky chambers also does a really great job of writing different voices. Janes voice as a 10 year old made it very easy to put yourself in her shoes, as did janes narration voice as a teenager (as she learned how to cuss and starts to be annoyed with Owl, as all teens do). This is a small thing but also the voice of Blue with his speech impediment is just a small thing that many authors wouldn’t think to do. Each character truly had a voice through her writing. The other thing I noticed as soon as janes story began is that it is very much Plato’s allegory of a cave and I think that allegory speaks to the parallels between both Sidra and Janes story. 
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