The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet cover art

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

the most hopeful, charming and cosy novel to curl up with

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

By: Becky Chambers
Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez Rodriguez
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Summary

 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

'A quietly profound, humane tour de force' Guardian

The beloved debut novel that will restore your faith in humanity

#SmallAngryPlanet

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The ship, which has seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past.

But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptillian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life on board is chaotic, but more or less peaceful - exactly what Rosemary wants.

Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet. They'll earn enough money to live comfortably for years... if they survive the long trip through war-torn interstellar space without endangering any of the fragile alliances that keep the galaxy peaceful.

But Rosemary isn't the only person on board with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.

PRAISE FOR THE WAYFARERS

'Never less than deeply involving' DAILY MAIL

'Explores the quieter side of sci-fi while still wowing us with daring leaps of imagination' iBOOKS

'So much fun to read' HEAT

'Chambers is simply an exceptional talent, quietly and beautifully redefining the space opera' TOR.COM

'The most fun that I've had with a novel in a long, long time' iO9©2014 Becky Chambers Adventure Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Interstellar
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Critic Reviews

An action-adventure space opera . . . It is a quietly profound, humane tour de force that tackles politics and gender issues with refreshing optimism
A real treat to read . . . Easily the most fun that I've had with a novel in a long, long time. This is space opera that's not to be missed
A joyous, optimistic space opera . . . A heart-warming debut novel that will restore your faith in science fiction (specifically) and humanity (in general)
One of the most enjoyable, brilliantly realised spacey SF novels I've read in ages.
By far the best sci-fi I've read in a long time: something genuinely different, inclusive and compassionate
One of the most delightful novels science-fiction that I've read in recent years
A huge amount of space-opera-y fun, with some interestingly nuanced perspectives on gender woven into the whole
The Long Way is, very simply, an extremely good book, a seemingly effortless demonstration of how progressive and enjoyable science fiction can be
Becky Chambers writes aliens like no one else ... the only flaw in this series is you'll wish you could spend more time with all of them
It's easy to dip into and weirdly comforting - a feel-good space novel, if you will
All stars
Most relevant

What would have made The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet better?

It seems the characters get so many opportunities to explain for the reader instead of developing the story.

Would you ever listen to anything by Becky Chambers again?

Maybe, depending on recomendations

How could the performance have been better?

The performance was fine

Too much explaining and long winded feelings

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Was unsure to start as its a slow burner, but really worth getting into the characters because you get so invested by the end. Brilliant finish.

Compelling story

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This book drew me in with its tagline of Mass Effect meets serenity. And it certainly delivers that. Unfortunately its the interesting in context by boring by themselves, living on a ship parts of those two franchises. Imagine Mass Effect without the reapers or Serenity without anything even slightly dangerous or exciting happening. Ok ok i really did enjoy most of this book, the writing was solid, the characters were interesting and relatable and the world building was creative and pretty innovative. Little details like the fact that everyone doesn't speak english but "clip" because humans are a minor footnote in the galaxy. Or how most of the aliens were not the trek "humans painted blue or with forehead bumps" variety but living breathy distinct races.
i was drawn in i wanted to know more. But the whole book seemed to be constantly waiting for something to happen. Traditionally your ship adventure sees you introduce interesting characters then travel around having adventures and getting into trouble. In this i think they had one issue apart from the climax.

The climax to was dissapointing, it was basically the most exciting part of the book and it was very tense with real danger. But the reason for it was filmsy and it was over in a chapter. I wanted more.

If this were the prologue to a much longer series i would be really happy and would happily listen to the next installments. But as a stand alone work is just kinda missing something. Solid start , add more danger and adventure please.

Interesting premise thats underutilised.

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great story lots of outer space adventure and excitement- creative unusual species and future possibilities

fun story with interesting characters and concepts

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Wonderful introduction to the world of sci-fi for people who aren’t sure if it is their thing or not. It will make you smile, laugh and I am a bit of a sap so YMMV but I cried. An easy introduction to aliens and inter species relations aswell as space travel in general.

Sci-fi readers will love this less intense wholesome read. I found it to be good as a breather between some intense books I was reading eg Malazan.

It’s just fun. Read it!!

Wholesome Sci-fi suitable for beginners to the genre and sci-fi veterans.

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