![]() ![]() I understand the desire to move SF from plot-driven narratives to character-driven narratives but you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater if your character-driven narrative doesn't actually contain any characters worth reading about. I was surprised at how disappointing it was given that I picked it up on the basis of the normally dependable Adam Roberts' recommendation in his end of year 2015 round-up in the Guardian. It has a leisurely pacing as opposed to the fast story line one would expect from the blurb.This was really, really not my cup of tea and I threw in the towel 2/3 of the way in. When I started reading I did think the book is not worth the hype. It took me a few chapters to get into the book. I kept relating it to the present world scenario, so perhaps this is a book that is much beyond “just a story”. The journey to the small angry planet is only a spine on which Chambers has created a wonderful and original world. I felt the book was less plot driven and more character centric with a fabulous world building. The book also gives the message of harmonious co-existence amidst diversity. There are sections on cloning, sexuality across gender (and species), artificial intelligence, euthanasia, family bonds, the right to choose how you live, warfare and blind following of dogmas. I LOVE how wonderfully Chambers has beaded the themes, well spread out and not crammed. Still there are strands of racism that creep in. There are very few members of each species left and the only way life can go forward is if they co-exist. But Sissix does, inorder to not make the humans aboard uncomfortable. For eg: the Aandrisks do not wear clothes. The book puts forward the message of co-existence. Aandrisks are most complex having three families- birth family, hatch family and feather family, each with its different dynamics. The cultural norms of different species are very very different from ours- some simpler and some complex. The Sianat pair are always addressed as ‘they’. The more I read the more I felt how close to real life politics it seemed to be.įor Dr. The Galactic Commons are made up of a number of different species of all shapes and sizes, like a fictional United Nations. Each character gets sufficient build up for xe’s (the book’s way of addressing a character whose gender is unknown) own story. Chef a healer cum cook Corbain, the scientist who supervises the algae for fuel and Ohan, the reclusive Sianat Pair and the Navigator of the ship. ![]() On board the Wayfarer we have Ashby, the Exodan Captain, Rosemary, a girl on the run from Mars with a secret Sissix, an Aandrisk pilot Kizzy and Jenks who are the technicians Lovey, the artificial intelligence system, Dr. ![]() There are humans reptilian Aandrisks, graceful fighters called Aeluons, wealthy Harmagins and Artificial Intelligence systems. There are two kinds of humans – the nomadic Exodans who had left the solar system and roam around in spaceships and Solans, who made their home on Mars. ![]() Humankind is one of the lower species (Surprise!). Here’s why you will love the book (apart from the fact that it was self-published at first, gathered a HUGE following, later bagged a book deal, got shortlisted for many awards and is fantabulous) Science fiction in all its glory with lots of scientific terms.The Long way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers The novel reads like literary science fiction. But this is more like a fun story of love and friendship in a world inhabited by different species, not just humans. I wasn’t sure I would like the book as I started reading since science fiction is not something that I usually pick. I bought without reading the blurb because of consistently seeing 5 star reviews for the book. And onward is a journey to an angry planet inhabited by the war-loving clans of the Toremi, and a journey of self discovery. Their new project is to punch a hole for possible alliance with a hostile species at the edge of Galaxy. It specializes in punching holes through sublayers of galaxy for transport paths between planets. The Wayfarer is a small spaceship captained by Ashby and fueled by algae. ![]()
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