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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 stars. A well-crafted character-driven hard sci-fi novel. I understand why this is so beloved, but you have to be okay with a lack of plot to enjoy this book.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-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:
No
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very much a fun escapades with a found family kind of book. The characters were great but for me it often felt like too much time was spent on inconsequential scenes and not much plot.
Wasn’t interested in the characters or story. Just wasn’t for me, but I can see why so many people enjoy it.
This is a space opera that follows the story of the ‘Wayfarer’, a tunnelling ship with a diverse group made up of different species and personalities. Their job is to make wormholes allowing for space travel. Their next job is a chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet, the home world of an unpredictable new species negotiating a deal to enter the Galactic Confederation. They'll earn enough money to live comfortably for years, but they must survive a trip through war-torn space.
This was a genuinely heart-warming story, and provided a fantastic change to traditional ‘heavy action’/complex science sci-fi. It doesn’t focus on big and explosive action scenes, rather choosing to adopt a more reflective, slow-burn character driven story. This isn’t perhaps something I would have usually gone for, but it was a incredibly pleasant surprise.
The focus of the book was on the build up and slow journey to this ‘small, angry planet’, rather than the drama when they get to their destination, and it gave opportunity to flesh out a wonderful cast of human and non-human characters, whom are memorable and endearing. The crew all get their ‘spotlight’ moment across the story, with the novel essentially being broken down into a number of ‘mini-episodes’ that focus on a member of the crew, even the more quiet ones. It leant itself to giving a range of characters you become incredibly fond of.
I have also struggled previously with overwhelming and heavy sci-fi, which focuses more on the science than the fiction. This was the opposite. Whilst it consists of a fully fleshed out and diverse universe, with a brilliant range of species, history and politics in the ‘Galactic Commons’, it wasn’t overwhelming, and the dollops of ‘science’ included were manageable.
Becky Chambers has written a book here that emits positivity. It was cozy, and the kind of read that just makes you feel good inside. Whilst being more in the gentle-side of the spectrum of sci-fi, its message speaks loud and beams of optimism. A wonderful story that gets 5 stars because it gave so much more than I expected.
This was a genuinely heart-warming story, and provided a fantastic change to traditional ‘heavy action’/complex science sci-fi. It doesn’t focus on big and explosive action scenes, rather choosing to adopt a more reflective, slow-burn character driven story. This isn’t perhaps something I would have usually gone for, but it was a incredibly pleasant surprise.
The focus of the book was on the build up and slow journey to this ‘small, angry planet’, rather than the drama when they get to their destination, and it gave opportunity to flesh out a wonderful cast of human and non-human characters, whom are memorable and endearing. The crew all get their ‘spotlight’ moment across the story, with the novel essentially being broken down into a number of ‘mini-episodes’ that focus on a member of the crew, even the more quiet ones. It leant itself to giving a range of characters you become incredibly fond of.
I have also struggled previously with overwhelming and heavy sci-fi, which focuses more on the science than the fiction. This was the opposite. Whilst it consists of a fully fleshed out and diverse universe, with a brilliant range of species, history and politics in the ‘Galactic Commons’, it wasn’t overwhelming, and the dollops of ‘science’ included were manageable.
Becky Chambers has written a book here that emits positivity. It was cozy, and the kind of read that just makes you feel good inside. Whilst being more in the gentle-side of the spectrum of sci-fi, its message speaks loud and beams of optimism. A wonderful story that gets 5 stars because it gave so much more than I expected.
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
relaxing
A fairly predictable spaceship adventure with vague Firefly vibes. The aliens suffer from the usual issue, and that is not being very alien at all, just humans in different suits. There are some nice ideas in it, for example the Sianat Pairs with their "blessed" disease or the different understanding of family by Aandrisks, but they are only described in passing while the book concentrates on the daily doings of the rather uncharismatic crew (beginning with Rosemary who is more bland than her name deserves). Though the characters encounter danger, it never feels like it matters one way or another. At least they try to be nice to each other, but that doesn't make for a good book on its own.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Wow, what a ride that was. I'm sad it's finished I grew to love the crew of the Wayfarer