Review: A Closed & Common Orbit

Wayfarers: A Closed & Common Orbit | Becky Chambers

Published by: Harper Voyager, March 14th 2017

Genre: Science Fiction, Space

Pages: 464

Format: Ebook

Source: Harper Voyager, via Edelweiss

Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who's determined to help her learn and grow.

Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for - and learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.

A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to Becky Chambers' beloved debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effect and Star Wars.

I didn't love QUITE this as much as The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet, but until I finished A Closed & Common Orbit, I didn't realise just how much I loved THIS book. It's one of those slow, quiet, full-of-heart books that sneaks up on you. The best thing about these books are the characters. They're so real and compelling and full of so many complexities and emotion and tragedy that it's impossible not to fall hard in love with them. I reaaally like the main characters, Pepper and Sidra, but my favourite has to be Blue, my precious stuttering, compassionate, thoughtful, totally endearing bae. I love him so much. Now here's a list of things this book does SO WELL: -Blue struggles with speech, and it's never once mocked or written as anything other than an accepted part of him. This means a whole lot to me. -Pepper (as Jane) is abused, and a huge part of this book is dedicated to recovering from it. It's not quick, and it's not easy, and it's ugly in parts. -Sidra, an A.I. is seen as a thing by most people, not a person, but her autonomy and her struggles with self-identity and discovery were handled so well. It's also nice to see characters realising they've been prejudiced in their past (about A.I.s) and changing their way of thinking (not without great effort too.) It's not easy to change the way you've always thought of something, and I appreciated this element of the book. -Tak, who changes between female and male genders, and whose pronouns change (and are USED accordingly by EVERYONE and it's not A BIG DEAL to make that little change.) -A gender neutral pronoun. This was just really nice. Really, really nice. Xyr/Xe used by pretty much everyone in the whole of space to refer to both people who don't want to use he or she, and also when someone's not sure of a person's gender. Really nice. Well done, book. Look, I love these books. Some books are forgettable and some stay with you - this is the latter. Perfect world building and alien species, welcome representation of different genders, sexualities, and abilities - and characters that feel less like characters than people who really exist.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★☆

The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet (ARC Review)

The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet | Becky Chambers

Published by: Hodder & Stoughton, August 13th 2015

Genre: Adult, Science Fiction, Space, Aliens

Pages: 404

Format: Ebook

Source: Hodder & Stoughton, via Netgalley

Somewhere within our crowded sky, a crew of wormhole builders hops from planet to planet, on their way to the job of a lifetime. To the galaxy at large, humanity is a minor species, and one patched-up construction vessel is a mere speck on the starchart. This is an everyday sort of ship, just trying to get from here to there. 

But all voyages leave their mark, and even the most ordinary of people have stories worth telling. A young Martian woman, hoping the vastness of space will put some distance between herself and the life she‘s left behind. An alien pilot, navigating life without her own kind. A pacifist captain, awaiting the return of a loved one at war. 

Set against a backdrop of curious cultures and distant worlds, this episodic tale weaves together the adventures of nine eclectic characters, each on a journey of their own.

The Long Way... was a total impulse read for me. I wanted something sci-fi and spacey and I was hooked by the blurb. Reading it, though, I expected to like it. I turned out to adore it (spoiler: I immediately pre-ordered it upon finishing it - that's how much I loved it.)

The first thing that impressed me was the representation in this book. You have rep of different genders, sexuality (a f/f cross-species relationship!!), a bunch of people of colour, and the use of gender neutral pronouns. This book has it all, and I can easily recommend it based on that alone, but representation isn't all it has.

This book is so, so unique. It's a totally new take on aliens, with every species and culture being different and identifiable - it's clear the author put a LOT of thought into it. Every character had a story, a life - nobody was one dimension, even background characters. It's detailed without being info-dump-y and passion shows on every page. The relationships in this book are new and strange and heartfelt and a little heartbreaking (I mean, I cried over an A.I.) It was a little slow at the beginning, but oddly enough it didn't matter because it gave plenty of time to get to know the characters and the world and the ship and species.

A fascinating, impressive sci-fi novel I'm not likely to ever forget, with characters you care about as if they were real people and an emotional devastating end that sneaks up on you.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★☆

Follow all my reviews on Bloglovin!