Meet the crew of the Wayfarer, an interspecies crew that takes jobs creating wormholes through space. This creates shortcuts from one location to another. Becky Chambers’ novel, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, is a character-driven novel featuring a found family.
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Summary
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet begins with the arrival of Rosemary Harper. Rosemary isnât expecting much from her new job on the Wayfarer; she just wants to start over where nobody knows who she is. She certainly isnât expecting anything glamorous. What Rosemary finds is a somewhat chaotic group of individuals who support each other through thick and thin.
One day, someone offers the Wayfarer what seems to be a job of a lifetime. This job, however, becomes very dangerous and has a profound impact on the crew.Â
Thoughts
Friends, I have put off reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet for ages and I really shouldnât have. Itâs soâŚ.good. Let me share what I loved about Chambers’ novel (because why not?).
The characters drive the narrative
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is a very character-driven story. If youâre looking for something more plot-driven, Chambersâ novel may not be for you. However, if youâre looking for interesting characters with their own unique backgrounds and motivations, this might be for you. I really liked the character development here.
I previously reviewed Magica Riot by Kara Buchanan. While I enjoyed the book overall, one of my criticisms was that I left with a lot of questions about some of the charactersâ backstories and motivations. This certainly wasnât an issue with The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.
The crew of the Wayfarer felt like fully fleshed out people with their own backstories, motivations, and cultures.
Aliens as allegories for different cultures
As I mentioned, the Wayfarer features a group of different alien species. There are several humans (including Rosemary, Kizzy and Jenks) as well as Sissix (a member of an alien species that resemble lizards; they thrive on cuddling and casual intimacy), Dr. Chef (an alien with six handfeet), and Ohan (whose alien species is infected with a virus, giving them a secondary persona).
Additionally, the crew of the Wayfarer interacts with aliens off the ship as well. Despite their differences in culture, appearance, and abilities, they strive to support and understand each other.
Found Family
Through a conversation between Rosemary and Sissix, we learn that Aandrisks (Sissixâs species) have a very different concept of family from humans. Among other things, Aandrisks are expected to register their âfeather family.â Rosemary is surprised to learn that Sissix has registered the crew of the Wayfarer as her feather family.
Indeed, the entire crew is a tight knit bunch that considers each other family. Even their AI – Lovey – is part of the family.
Thereâs a sweet scene between Kizzy and Jenks where Kizzy tells Jenks that she really wanted a brother when she was a kid – and sheâs super grateful that she gets to have Jenks in her life now, because she sees him as her brother.
Love is love
In addition to seeing each other as family, the crew of the Wayfarer doesnât bat their eyes at who the members of the crew love.
As a result, we see interspecies romantic relationships (Ashby and Pei; Rosemary and Sissix) as well as human/AI relationships (Jenks and Lovey).
Thereâs absolutely some queer coding in these relaitonships.
Interesting female characters
Itâs hard to decide who I love more: the inexperienced academic whoâs fleeing her past, the badass pilot who will be intimate with whomever will have her without apology, or the mechanic who spreads joy wherever she goes. And thatâs just on the Wayfarer.
Aliens who defy the gender binary
âGender binary? Whatâs that? Fuck that shit.â
Not everyone is white
One of the things Chambers emphasizes at the beginning of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is that Corbin is white. Like, very white. And in this world, thatâs super weird.
And yet, after mentioning it towards the beginning, it really isnât made a big deal of.
Those of my thoughts on The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. This is such a fun book, and Iâm looking forward to reading more of Chambersâ work.
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This post may contain affiliate links, which means Iâll receive a commission if you purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you. Please read full disclosure for more information.
Where to buy The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
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