Reviews

Perhaps my love for The Martian and other harder scifi biases me, but this book just seams to be lacking in the science and triumph and awe. Well. If anything its too much awe and a kinda bland repetitive awe with not enough… plot and struggle. This is meant to be an introspective story but, too much philosophizing and poetry really makes this feel like a slog to me. It feels like its trying to capture the feeling of The martian or other space exploration but it just fails at that, or im reading this book with too much of the wrong expectations. Characters feel flat and copies of each other with only minor differences and honestly wholey unfit for space travel.

olliums's review against another edition

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5.0

becky chambers has a lot to say about Science Fiction Concepts and as usual i eat it all up. thank you becky. this book is about like, Xenobiology and Ecosystems and that kicks ass. the narrator talks in a very poetic way which works in the style of this book i think. i've read a few novellas lately and had various thoughts on the length of them, but this one is Just Right. also as always ms chambers thank you for my life when you create interplanetary space crews and none of them are straight

mintyfreshsocks's review against another edition

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5.0

This utterly hit the spot. Like many Chambers books, this isn't high drama - it's an exploration of life. And in this case, oh is it an exploration of (xeno)life! If you love science, if you want to imagine true space exploration (not colonialism), if you want to sit for a moment in a long flight space crew... yeah, read this.

jaxxgrillot's review against another edition

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5.0

I rarely get choked up reading, but this has me completely hooked and emotional. A true masterpiece of what I would believe we want to achieve as future space travelers.

jayl's review against another edition

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5.0

This sci-fi novella manages perfectly to tip-toe along the fine line between being too close to reality (too 'hard' sci-fi) and being too imaginative (unexplainable technology and aliens galore). The entire setup of the story seems plausible, and even encountering a huge number of alien species feels rooted in reality somehow.

At the same time, To Be Taught, If Fortunate also hits that sweetspot of having an overall positive and optimistic feeling, while still containing enough serious setbacks, conflicts and tragedies to feel grounded.

What's more, even though the book features a cast of only four characters, it nevertheless manages to include a wide range of representation, and that without any of it feeling forced or unnatural. Becky Chambers really excels at this (and on the above point, too).

For me, this book is Space Exploration done right. The perfect book to read with a clear view of the night sky.

sxmuel98's review against another edition

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2.0

It was sadly very boring to me

charliebriggs96's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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