What a lovely book. Becky Chambers came across my radar because so many Cannonballers have reviewed her books, and I’m glad I finally got around to reading them.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is bookended by the POV of Rosemary Harper, a human woman from Mars who has joined the crew of the spaceship Wayfarer as a clerk for the captain. The ship creates wormholes to aid in space travel. However, the POVs throughout the novel shift among the rest of the ensemble cast, so I don’t think we get more of Rosemary’s perspective than that of anyone else.
This is not an action-packed book. It’s character-driven and focused on world-building, and I really enjoyed it. There’s plot, of course, and some bad things happen, but the slow pace and the focus on details about all of the various species really work. Chambers has put an amazing amount of thought into the intelligent species she writes, developing not just physical descriptions but cultural and religious ones. I loved the racial, gender, and sexual inclusivity, and it never felt she was just checking off boxes.
My only complaint is that after 400 pages, I would have hoped to know the characters a little better. With so many characters to write about and so much world to build, I didn’t get to know most of the characters as well as I’d have liked. Sissix seemed the most fleshed-out to me – and what a great character she is! I was a little disappointed to find that the other books in the Wayfarers series don’t follow the same characters because I’d really love to spend more time with them.
cbr15bingo Bodies, Bodies