The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Wayfarers, Book 1

By: Becky Chambers

Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez

Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2016.

Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, 2016.

Firefly meets Mass Effect in this thrilling self-published debut!

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that's 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 onboard 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 onboard with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.

©2014 Becky Chambers (P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton

Critic reviews

"A joyous, optimistic space opera.... Although it isn't shy about tackling Big Questions, Planet is a heart-warming debut novel that will restore your faith in science fiction (specifically) and humanity (in general)." (Tor.com)

"One of the most enjoyable, brilliantly realised spacey SF novels I've read in ages." (James Smythe, author of The Echo)

loved it

I read this book a while ago and used the audiobook to refresh my mind before digging into the second one. I love it the first read through and I think I now live it even more.

What’s the opposite word for boring?

This book is just perfect. I’ve heard some from this category but never kept the interest till the end. I was actually surprised when it ended, expecting another adventure to start. Supposed it will in the next one.
The performance is also very good, dramatic and calm in the right places. I’m definitely going to get the whole series.

I really liked it

It was really captivating and I liked the different characters and voices. Loved that there were gay, non binary and polyamory people

Rich world-building, wholesome, gripping

The world this story takes places in is deep, kinda Tolkien-like. The story moves at a slow, but not too slow, pace. The characters - likeable, even the “bad” ones have a deeper story.
The voice performance (audiobook) is just brilliant

A funny, refreshing but very relevant sci fi story

The book was passed between my adult kids and husband with them on the second and third books (they stand alone) by the time I got the audio version. We enjoyed the writing and story. There are lines that are quotable. Many of the issues between species are reflective of human history and the present which brought up discussion. The characters develop with lessons for readers about how to see other perspectives, see commonalities and hold onto values. Suitable for teens and an excellent challenge read for those not sure they would like sci-fi. Enough technical references and explanations of space life for those who do. Looking forward to more from this author!

Wonderful

I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come. Great listen.

Feelgood scifi, i love it

Just interesting slow paced ideas of how life is in space in a multisentient universe, I really enjoyed it

Good little sci-fi book, more about relationships

Good little sci-fi book that deals more with the relationships between people (and species) than with space battles or even space travel. While yes, it all happens in space and is about space travel, it was a really interesting look into how a crew of very mixed characters would get along and make it through challenges together. The narrator for this book was also a major factor of me rating it this high. She did the human voices exactly as I'd imagine them and the alien ones were funny and strange, just like sci-fi should be. One good thing about the book was it made me compare the situations in the plot to the real world I live in, which is what good sci-fi should do. There were a lot of easily-identifiable situations, relationships and choices. But there were also things that, when you read deeper, were great insights into life. Lots of things I could see related to Trump, or to the racial struggles around the world, to politics and economics. All in all a good listen, kept me entertained and even had me thinking at times!

compassionate space drama

This book is great. It's as if the crew of Firefly was multi-species instead of just human and lived in something like the Star Trek universe but populated by aliens as diverse and creatively done as those in Star Wars.

The aliens here are portrayed well. Each species is distinct and not just a human analog. The world comparison to the Star Trek universe is only in the broadest most general sense; this book definitely does it's own thing as far as showing new ideas on what a galactic alliance of intelligent species might look like. For starters, humans are not the dominant species, which was interesting and refreshing.

The characters are very enjoyable and well developed. I haven't liked a group of characters this much in awhile. The writer really does a good job at bringing out their identities and struggles and the dynamics of the crew that the story follows.

Since the focus is more on the characters and their journeys instead of any overall struggle or universe shattering plot some may find the book slow but I found the writing was so fun and there were so many interesting ideas and spending time with this crew was so enjoyable that the lack of a "save the galaxy" story was in no way a loss. I am very much looking forward to the sequel and seeing where the writer takes things next.

very enjoyable, many good ideas

It took a little while for me to get into it but then I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not too geeky on the tech but the future the author describes is well thought through and makes good sense. I particularly enjoyed the theme of inter cultural/inter species communication / interaction as well as the way the author looks at us humans and our peculiar ways through the eyes of other species. This book was entertaining, sometimes funny, sometimes moving and often thought provoking.