If you’re looking for a fun space opera with depth and heart, check out Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. I snagged a copy from Left Bank Books at Archon 46. This book kept showing up on my to-read list, and I understand why. It’s a delightful romp. It's also a true page-turner. The climax at the end was a nail-biter. I stayed up late finishing the book! |
The novel follows nine colorful characters aboard the Wayfarer, a ship that tunnels wormholes through space (technically subspace).
The two primary characters are Captain Ashby, an idealistic man born on a generation ship, and Rosemary, a human from the Mars colony with a shameful secret. The Wayfarer is piloted by a reptilian alien who prefers to be naked and engage in group sex (nothing pornographic). The two techs that keep the Wayfarer running are a tattooed dwarf in love with the ship’s AI system, and a woman who’s LOUD in voice, mannerisms, and clothing. A cantankerous scientist, six-limbed chef, and symbiont Navigator complete the crew.
The two primary characters are Captain Ashby, an idealistic man born on a generation ship, and Rosemary, a human from the Mars colony with a shameful secret. The Wayfarer is piloted by a reptilian alien who prefers to be naked and engage in group sex (nothing pornographic). The two techs that keep the Wayfarer running are a tattooed dwarf in love with the ship’s AI system, and a woman who’s LOUD in voice, mannerisms, and clothing. A cantankerous scientist, six-limbed chef, and symbiont Navigator complete the crew.
The book is expertly written (read my post on multiple storylines for more).
Despite the huge cast of characters, all of whom have point-of-view scenes, it never gets confusing. The author also manages to make the nonhuman characters both alien and empathetic:
Despite the huge cast of characters, all of whom have point-of-view scenes, it never gets confusing. The author also manages to make the nonhuman characters both alien and empathetic:
- “Ohan [the symbiont Navigator] was afraid. They could disconnect themself from fear, but it lingered, like an unpleasant taste in the back of the throat. Fear. Such a throwback emotion, meant to spur primitive life-forms away from potential predators. Life’s universal constant.”
- [Sissix the reptilian pilot trying to understand human grief]: “The death of a child about to feather, yes, that was sad. But the real tragedy was the loss of an adult with friends and lovers and family. The idea that a loss of potential was somehow worse than a loss of achievement and knowledge was something she had never been able to wrap her brain around.”
- [The philosophical six-limbed Chef]: “People can do terrible things when they feel safe and powerful. . . . all any of us can do is work to be something positive instead. That is a choice that every sapient must make every day of their life. The universe is what we make of it.”
- [Ohan the symbiont Navigator]: “You kill microbes all the time, in your kitchens, your cargo, without a second thought. But consider the bacteria living in your skins, your mouths, your guts, creatures you could not survive without. You, too, are a synthesis between organisms large and small.”