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A review by saucy_bookdragon
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
5.0
"The law forgot to make space for people like me."
I am a simple man. You write a book about robots learning to be human and understanding their feelings, I'm going to have a good time.
A Closed and Common Orbit is a lot darker and more existential than its predecessor, which makes sense given the setup for it in A Long Way To a Small, Angry Planet was the most tragic section of that book, but damn it was a lot darker. In this, we follow an AI in an illegal synthetic body and a clone trying to escape a desolate planet with the help of an AI.
Something I've noticed in this and Becky Chambers's other series, Monk and Robot, is that she's in love with the cultural and sociological aspects of world building and it just oozes off the page. Though her books certainly have plots, they tend to be slower and lacking in tension. Really what makes them good is the world building, so fascinating, so alien, and so goddamn optimistic! She creates worlds I want to live in and populates them with lively characters and emotional bonds.
As for this book specifically, I found it so deeply fascinating and thought-provoking, questioning who gets to be counted as sentient in this galaxy. As I said, this is a lot darker than the first book, specifically with the clone storyline. The added edge made the optimism strike so much deeper, it was bittersweet and just so earned. But it's also still a story about what mundanity looks like in an interstellar society, which maybe paradoxically, makes this series stand out.
TWs not included under the tag: dogs die and there's dog-on-dog cannibalism.
I am a simple man. You write a book about robots learning to be human and understanding their feelings, I'm going to have a good time.
A Closed and Common Orbit is a lot darker and more existential than its predecessor, which makes sense given the setup for it in A Long Way To a Small, Angry Planet was the most tragic section of that book, but damn it was a lot darker. In this, we follow an AI in an illegal synthetic body and a clone trying to escape a desolate planet with the help of an AI.
Something I've noticed in this and Becky Chambers's other series, Monk and Robot, is that she's in love with the cultural and sociological aspects of world building and it just oozes off the page. Though her books certainly have plots, they tend to be slower and lacking in tension. Really what makes them good is the world building, so fascinating, so alien, and so goddamn optimistic! She creates worlds I want to live in and populates them with lively characters and emotional bonds.
As for this book specifically, I found it so deeply fascinating and thought-provoking, questioning who gets to be counted as sentient in this galaxy. As I said, this is a lot darker than the first book, specifically with the clone storyline. The added edge made the optimism strike so much deeper, it was bittersweet and just so earned. But it's also still a story about what mundanity looks like in an interstellar society, which maybe paradoxically, makes this series stand out.
TWs not included under the tag: dogs die and there's dog-on-dog cannibalism.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Gore, Medical content, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail