Reviews

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

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offworldcolony's review against another edition

5.0

Becky Chambers has a hotline right to all of the minuscule details that make us, us. She represents the best and worst of human beings (as all good sci-fi does) through the races and cultures and politics of the world she has created. But by and large it's a deliriously hopeful world, full of support and boundless love and great ideas.
Small, Angry Planet is a book that feels like the best movie or TV show ever but not in a disparaging way; it flows and reads very well, it's perfect for the train or for those small moments and her writing style allows you to engage with little preamble and very little need to re-read sentences to try and understand the emotion or intent beneath. I cried several times at how honest and candid and raw this book is about the human condition. And while it's far from preachy, some aspects of this book can almost function as self-help, they're so tacit and as if a hand is being extended through paper from author to reader.
I started at Becky Chamber's bio which was so earnest, sweet and different and I ended the final pages of the book feeling like she had poured her heart and soul, passion and worldview into the pages of the book. A dear friend told me that Small, Angry Planet is a great book where nothing happens, but I beg to differ, I think it's a great book where everything that matters happens.

lucardus's review against another edition

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3.0

Es hat nicht ganz für 4 Sterne gereicht. Es fehlte mir der letzte Kick, die Außerirdischen waren mir teilweise dann doch zu sehr irdische Tiere von einem fremden Planeten und intelligent. Und das fast schon episodenhafte, bei dem alle mal ein Kapitel "für sich" hatten, gefiel mir nicht so. Es wird etwas zu viel geredet, aber wenig der Phantasie bzw. dem Entdeckergeist des Lesers überlassen. Dieser Roman würde sicher als Fernsehserie funktionieren, als Roman hat er mich nicht vollends überzeugt, auch wenn Chambers es immer wieder geschafft hat, mich zu emotional zu berühren. Das allein reicht mir aber nicht. Darum eine fette 3-Sterne-Wertung.

tablereader234's review against another edition

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5.0

An absolutely delightful sci-fi novel with non-human races that actually manage to be interesting and not just "humans but a little different". There are fundamentally different species and cultures and the exploration of character in this book is fantastic. I can't wait to read the next two.