Reviews with content warning for Death - To Be Taught, If Fortunate

Reviews tagging 'Death'

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

26 reviews

withlivjones's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

I knew I’d enjoy this just because it was written by queen of cozy sci-fi Becky Chambers, and I was not disappointed. I loved the interactions between the four characters on board the spaceship, how they all have quite different personalities (in particular, how they deal with adversity in very different ways) but they still work so well together and they’ve become each other’s family on this long journey. There’s a lot of science talk but it’s explained in a way that’s pretty understandable, and I enjoyed Ariadne’s down-to-earth narrative voice. A lot of really interesting questions are brought up about the ethics of space exploration and studying extraterrestrial life. I wish the ending weren’t quite so ambiguous, but I suppose it fits with the format of the story.

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depmythmoon's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The novella follows 4 astronauts: Ariadne (the FMC whose name I’m still unsure how to pronounce), Jack, Chikandi, & Elena. They are sent on a mission to study planets beyond Earth’s solar system. Their trip there takes them 14 years—though they have something called ‘torpor’, which is similar to cryosleep without the ice; it slows their aging so that it’ll feel more like 2 years for them. The mission they’re on will last them a total of 80 years, but they get communications from Earth to hear about what happens in their absence.

This novella isn’t like your typical story that is action-packed or full of twists and turns. It’s not meant to be that, I’m sure. Rather than tell you of some alien that challenges the crew or life or death scenarios, this novella is more of a slice-of-life for astronauts. If you’ve ever been curious about the profession and what it entails, this will be the book for you. We keep track of the discoveries the group makes and get some detailed explanations of how they have to categorize this new information. So, if you’re jumping into this novella expecting a tale of alien civilizations or conquering planets, this may not be the read for you.

I wasn’t expecting it when I started reading, so I did find myself a bit bored for the first 50 or so pages, but I did get more enjoyment from it when the main conflict is introduced. The real enjoyment came when the story was ending. This is a novella that aims to make you think, and it leaves you pondering if the pursuit of knowledge is worth it. I love when reads make me question things in real life, so I found that the ending gave me a second wind of enjoyment. This novella also touches on our, human, impact on the environment. It points out that while there are dangers to us in new environments, we also have to recognize the dangers we cause knowingly and unknowingly. I enjoyed it.

Overall, the majority of the content in this book is mundane and tame compared to other books in the sci-fi genre, but the thoughtfulness and introspection it leaves you with are worth the read, in my opinion.

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talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

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adventurous reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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cookiecat73's review

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adventurous informative reflective fast-paced

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

4.75

Loved this!! I had a couple of nitpicks, but overall I thought it was great, the main thing I want to be different is that I would have liked it to have been longer, it didn't even need to have extra plot thrown in, I just liked reading about these characters and this world

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wickedgrumpy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Listened to this as an audiobook during a road trip and it kept me engaged the entire time. I don't think that this will be enjoyed by all since for a sci-fi it focuses more on the crew and slice-of-life moments, rather than the planets they explore, and the discoveries they make.

It does bring up the topic that there is a lot to be said about the ethics of science and experimentation. I think it all can be boiled down into something along the lines of having good intentions does not inherently guarantee that anyone/thing remains unharmed in the end or even in the midst of the process. This is true for the scientists themselves and/or their subjects.

Becky Chambers has done an excellent job of making distinct and memorable characters that feel real because the book runs the gamut of human emotions. There's quite a bit of existential dread, and it can be rather heavy at times, but it also has it's moments of fun, enchantment, excitement, joy, and happiness.

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thoseoldcrows23's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

If you told me you hate Becky Chambers’ books because you found them boring I’d probably just say “fair enough.” This is essentially slice-of-life sci-fi, and I suspect (know, really) that that is not going to work for a lot of people. However, I personally absolutely love the way Chambers crafts characters and builds worlds. Something about her books just feels so comforting and cozy to me. They feel familiar even though I’ve never read them before, and I can’t help but love them. This book in particular I didn't like quite as much as The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but I chalk that up mostly to this being a novella and me not having as much time with the characters. Effectively ,this is not a book for everyone (it's kind of slow, and it's much more concerned with theme than with plot), but it is very much for me.

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brittni_in_ink's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book deserves so much more attention! I was really moved by the story of this crew going out into space and facing the challenges of each planet they visit. The narrative structure is solid from beginning to end, and the idea of changing humans to suit other planet environments is fascinating to see play out. The book feels like a response to the popular portrayal of the lone space explorer/survivor as seen in works like The Martian - Chambers' story is about a collective effort to learn about other planets, with the highest priority being leaving the alien environments as untouched as possible. The crew dynamics are engaging, although not the key component of the story. There's trans, bi, and asexual rep, which was wonderful to see. This was definitely one of my favourite reads this year.

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