A review by mwaltos
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

5.0

This novel has everything that I could possibly want in a space book: a lovable and complex crew; a cool, well-fleshed out ship, fascinating aliens with intriguing cultural differences, beautiful descriptions of space, and an intentional engagement with moral and philosophical issues. 

To start off, I loved how humans are characterized in this book. In this world, we are a minor species with a relatively new membership in the Galactic Commons, which means that humans have very little political or economic clout. Additionally, humans are known as a species with a great capacity for cruelty, which has made some humans pacifist to the point of problematic neutrality. 

Like any great space opera, there is a plethora of fun alien species to learn about in this world. While all the sapient species depicted in this novel share some fundamental commonalities that allow for interspecies corroboration, each species has interesting cultural idiosyncrasies as a result of their physiology and planetary environment, all of which Chambers does a great job of exploring through natural sounding dialogue and fun interspecies interactions. 

Amongst all this strangeness, I was impressed that Chambers was able to slowly unravel the mysteries of this world while also crafting the wonderful characters of the Wayfarer, the protagonists' wormhole punching spaceship. Her pacing is incredible, and I am impressed at her ability to create such engaging plot points without relying solely on combat--or villains--for that matter. I can see why some folks who prefer plot-driven books over character-driven books may not like this story as much as I do, but I think the quality of the world-building is enough to give it universal appeal. I would describe the novel as almost episodic, so don't expect a huge emphasis on the plot. The various tangents and vignettes throughout this book are what I love about it, but I know some folks do not enjoy that storytelling approach as much as I do. 

In summary, the best compliment I can give this book is that it often made me stay up late into the early morning out of excitement and a desire to stay enmeshed in this world, which is quite the rarity for me. If you are looking for a new sci-fi world and cast of characters to fall in love with and follow as they try to come together as a family on a relatively light-hearted adventure (with the occasional serious conflict), then I highly recommend this novel.