When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The patched-up ship has seen better days, but it offers her everything she could possibly want: a spot to call home, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and some distance from her past.
And nothing could be further from what she's known than the crew of the Wayfarer.
From Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the chatty engineers who keep the ship running, to the noble captain Ashby, life aboard is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. That is until the crew is offered the job of a lifetime tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet. Sure, they'll earn enough money to live comfortably for years, but risking her life wasn't part of the job description.
The journey through the …
A rollicking space adventure with a lot of heart
When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The patched-up ship has seen better days, but it offers her everything she could possibly want: a spot to call home, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and some distance from her past.
And nothing could be further from what she's known than the crew of the Wayfarer.
From Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the chatty engineers who keep the ship running, to the noble captain Ashby, life aboard is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. That is until the crew is offered the job of a lifetime tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet. Sure, they'll earn enough money to live comfortably for years, but risking her life wasn't part of the job description.
The journey through the galaxy is full of excitement, adventure, and mishaps for the Wayfarer team. And along the way, Rosemary comes to realize that a crew is a family, and that family isn't necessarily the worst thing in the universe…as long as you actually like them.
In general I really liked this book. It is obvious that Chambers loves worldbuilding.
For how queer it was though, I kept getting distracted by how rigidly it stuck to the gender binary. One character is introduced as "they", but then it turns out that they're plural. The diversity in the story wasn't bad exactly, but as an enby it felt really alienating.
Je moet er een beetje van houden denk ik, het is een beetje fluffy en lief met allemaal aardige mensen die het beste met elkaar voor hebben. De Grote Geheimen waar het in de flaptekst over gaat zijn niet heel erg wereldschokkend, en zelfs de (weinige) slechteriken zijn grotendeels niet echt slecht. Niet echt een nagelbijter dus. Maar ach, het is bijna kerst, en we kunnen wel wat woke feelgood gebruiken in de wereld.
Review of 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I had my issues with the book at first. Highly praised, I had gone in expecting an ass-kicking story with diverse, interesting characters in an SF world. The book most definitely had the most diverse cast I have ever experienced in any SF universe. What it did not have was an ass-kicking story. Once I got over my disappointment that there's basically no plot and opened myself to the character relationships on the Wayfarer, then the book clicked for me.
The Wayfarer is the a punching ship, a spaceship that opens travel routes through out the galaxy. Humans are just one race amongst many in the Galactic Commons, the alliance that controls the galaxy. The Wayfarer has a human captain, a pilot from the reptile race of the Aandrisk, a doctor and chef in one person called Dr. Chef from a race that is described as a mix of gecko …
I had my issues with the book at first. Highly praised, I had gone in expecting an ass-kicking story with diverse, interesting characters in an SF world. The book most definitely had the most diverse cast I have ever experienced in any SF universe. What it did not have was an ass-kicking story. Once I got over my disappointment that there's basically no plot and opened myself to the character relationships on the Wayfarer, then the book clicked for me.
The Wayfarer is the a punching ship, a spaceship that opens travel routes through out the galaxy. Humans are just one race amongst many in the Galactic Commons, the alliance that controls the galaxy. The Wayfarer has a human captain, a pilot from the reptile race of the Aandrisk, a doctor and chef in one person called Dr. Chef from a race that is described as a mix of gecko and otter, one of the techs on-board has dwarfism and is in love with the AI on board, etc etc. There are inter-species relationships, there are inter-species lesbian relationships, and the tech tries to illegally get their AI Lovey a body kit. These are just examples. There's a vague story about a new race trying to join the GC but ultimately it's not about the Toremi Ka but all the relationships of the Wayfarer crew. It's about people who ultimately love each other, and their reactions to that crazy world out there.
