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

"I send greetings on behalf of the people of our planet. We step out of our solar system into the universe seeking only peace and friendship, to teach if we are called upon, to be taught if we are fortunate. We know full well that our planet and all its inhabitants are but a small part of the immense universe that surrounds us and it is with humility and hope that we take this step." -- Secretary-General of the United Nations Kurt Waldheim, on the Voyager Golden Record, 1977.

This one has kind of grown on me as I've sat with it after finishing it. This is not your typical sci-fi adventure story, though the characters do travel to distant worlds. There's a lot more science in this than many so-called hard science fiction books I've read -- I would argue there's quite a bit more science than plot, though that's not a complaint.

There's really not a lot that happens in this story at all, in the traditional sense. Definitely after reading all the available Murderbot books, this book felt extremely contemplative and slow. To Be Taught is definitely a human story -- what happens to us when we leave our home and venture outward. What we discover, what we hold on to, what we leave behind. It's less about the places we go than about what those places do and mean to us.

The story: A four-person multinational crew comprised of Elena, Jack, Chikondi, and Ariadne are part of a publicly-funded nonprofit space mission from Earth to explore exoplanets. Earth has mastered a technique called somaforming -- altering human cells to adapt to the rigors of space travel and other worlds. Instead of destroying other biomes by making them habitable for humans, humans have found ways to make themselves adaptable to other biomes. The missions are sent to explore other planets for four years -- take samples, study climates, conduct experiments -- and eventually return to Earth. But the tradeoff for their discoveries is that they will not return to the Earth they knew -- to get to these outer worlds they must travel at half-light speed in a state of torpor, or a kind of suspended animation, aging two years in the travel time of 50 of Earth's years, with a 14-year communication gap each way. They know when they leave that they will never see anyone they love on Earth again, even if they come back. Everyone will be long dead, and everything will have irrevocably changed.

So the crew is their own family, in many ways. They function as a unit -- as coworkers, as partners, as siblings, as friends. These relationships are one of Chambers' strong suits, in my opinion -- from reading her Wayfarers series I know she's adept at creating people who feel strong bonds for one another and are able to express them. Sometimes her people feel a little too perfect -- our narrator, Ariadne, never mentions any huge fights or misunderstandings that blow up into catastrophes or pet peeves that spiral into rage. I may be a cynic, but I just feel like something like that would have to happen between four isolated humans under immense pressure, three of whom are sexually involved, over years and years together.

But regardless. The crew experience four planets together: icy Aecor, where they discover life under the endless glaciers; the giant planet Mirabilis, teeming with life of all shapes and sizes; stormy and waterlogged Opera, where they're trapped for four months; and the desert Votum, where they are able to come to terms with what their mission truly means.

I don't want to give away spoilers -- this is a short read (the audiobook is about 4.5 hours) and if you're interested I'd recommend giving it a go since it's not going to take a lot of your time. But Ariadne is basically narrating the story of her journey and discovery for people back on Earth because of some things that have happened, or might have happened, and I found the ending really quite lovely. I'm kind of a major space nerd, have been for years. This is definitely a book about science and space nerds for science and space nerds -- for people who do science because it's beautiful and important; not because it's patentable or has monetary value.

Possible Negatives:

If you're looking for adventure, this isn't going to be your jam. This is mostly internal and interpersonal (mostly internal, honestly).

There's a pretty upsetting scene on Mirabilis where a lifeform accidentally gets past the decontamination protocol and they have to put it down and it doesn't quite go as expected and it's not pleasant. It's not presented as pleasant for the crew either, but heads up for folks who feel for furry creatures, even those that don't look anything like what we have here.

There's also what I would consider a pretty vivid sequence of something I might call a character's brief suicidal ideation after a prolonged period of stress and sleep deprivation, so if that might bother you, be aware of that.

Content Warnings

beccaruthe's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

lovely_lisa's review

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adventurous informative reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

kris386's review

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slow-paced

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

1.0

I appear to be in the minority, but I absolutely hated this book. The whole thing was incredibly dull and the characters were equally awful. I went in expecting a story about astronauts stranded in space after something happens on Earth. I didn't expect to need a content warning for "animal" torture and death. It was disturbing and added nothing to the overall story, in my opinion. And, worse, the ending rendered the death completely unnecessary. The characters were already vaguely detestable prior to that horrific event and afterward I just wanted them all to waste away in space for the rest of their artificially prolonged lives anyway. So I don't know what everyone else saw in this book, but I clearly missed it.

Content Warnings

kiaira's review

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-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

5.0

Content Warnings

stormwise's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

I love sci-fi that focuses on exploration and discovery, and this beautiful little novella is a perfect example of that subset of the genre.

Chambers examines the relationship between the self and the species, recognising how all human accomplishments are achieved through the work and contributions of many, be it funding, designing and launching an expedition to distant exoplanets; raising, providing for and educating a future astronaut; or simply the different skills each person brings to a team. In our current climate of capitalist greed fuelled by the arrogance of "self-made" billionaires, it's pertinent to recognise how reliant we all are on the legacies of humanity.

Another major theme of the novella is metamorphosis and change - the characters physically change through the process of 'somaforming' but they also reflect on the effects of aging, experiences and trauma. Linked to this are thoughts of home and how its definition can change over time.

If you like sci-fi but you're put off by complicated science, give this a try - the science aspects were interesting and accessible, allowing the characters to take centre stage and enhancing their reactions to the story's events. This book reminded me of when I would sit up and listen in science lessons, fascinated by what we were learning.

Last but certainly not least, if you like queer characters, then I hope you like a cast comprised ENTIRELY of queer characters! The characters simply exist as queer people - it's no more remarkable than any other part of their identity. Chambers also writes a beautiful chosen family narrative, truly giving the gays everything they want.

Content Warnings

eloiseisreading's review

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adventurous inspiring reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

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