 | A Closed and Common Orbit follows the adventures of Lovey, a spaceship AI in a human-like body, a mechanic named Pepper, her companion Blue, and an Aeluon tattoo artist named Tak. The novel weaves back and forth between Lovey’s challenges adapting to her new body and Pepper’s backstory as Jane 23, which provides the impetus for the novel’s exciting climax. The stakes are high: an AI in a human-like housing is illegal. If Lovey is discovered, she will be destroyed—and everyone associated with her will go to prison. |
The jacket copy suggests the crew of the Wayfarer in The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet appear in this book. They don’t. Lovey’s former lover Jenks is mentioned once by name in an email. Lovey longs for her life as a shipboard AI system, but none of the Wayfarer crew (other than Lovey) appear in this book.
Setting the misleading jacket copy aside, this is a delightful story on its own.
We discover the multispecies world of Port Coriel right along with Lovey. It’s a world full of wildly different species and customs, and offerings both legal and illegal. And similarly, we learn about cloned slaves and the larger galaxy from another AI character, Owl, in Pepper’s backstory.
The writing is a wonderful blend of suspense, gentle humor, emotional conflict, harrowing dilemmas, and kindness. There are so many instances of people meaning well and causing harm—but also giving comfort and finding ways past their differences. We see people striving to do the right thing, even when that isn’t at all clear, and working hard to see past their own prejudices and limitations.
Setting the misleading jacket copy aside, this is a delightful story on its own.
We discover the multispecies world of Port Coriel right along with Lovey. It’s a world full of wildly different species and customs, and offerings both legal and illegal. And similarly, we learn about cloned slaves and the larger galaxy from another AI character, Owl, in Pepper’s backstory.
The writing is a wonderful blend of suspense, gentle humor, emotional conflict, harrowing dilemmas, and kindness. There are so many instances of people meaning well and causing harm—but also giving comfort and finding ways past their differences. We see people striving to do the right thing, even when that isn’t at all clear, and working hard to see past their own prejudices and limitations.
Two favorite quotes:
- “Life is terrifying. None of us have a rule book. None of us know what we’re doing here. So the easiest way to stare reality in the face and not utterly lose your shit is to believe that you have control over it . . . believe that you’re at the top. And if you’re at the top, then people who aren’t like you . . . well, they’ve got to be somewhere lower, right? Every species does this. Does it again and again and again. Doesn’t matter if they do it to themselves, or another species, or someone they created.”
- “Every organic sapient I’ve ever talked to, every book I’ve read, every piece of art I’ve studied. You are all desperate for purpose, even though you don’t have one. . . . animals like you—the ones who make tools and build cities and itch to explore, you all share a need for purpose.”
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