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scvalentine's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-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
5.0
Becky Chambers did it again. This is the sequel to A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but it’s really more of a spin off. There’s a lot more darkness in this one but well balanced with hope, self discovery, and friendship.
The book follows the AI, Lovelace, who was tragically rebooted and put into an illegal body kit. She leaves the Wayfarer with Pepper, who takes her in. Pepper and her partner, Blue, nurture Lovelace/Sidra and help her acclimate to living in a body rather than a ship. Throughout the story, Sidra makes friends and struggles to find her purpose.
The second point of view is a girl named Jane, created by a community of Enhanced humans as a cheap source of labor. She lives her life sorting junk in a factory, supervised by faceless robots, until suddenly a hole is blown in her world and she discovers that something exists outside of the factory walls. 10 year old Jane then has to learn how to survive, with the help of a lonely AI in a crashed ship.
Both POVs are heartfelt stories about learning what it means to be alive in a world full of mysteries and surprises and rules. Becky Chambers remains one of the only authors to consistently leave me in tears for the last 60-ish pages of each book. I can’t wait to read the next one.
The book follows the AI, Lovelace, who was tragically rebooted and put into an illegal body kit. She leaves the Wayfarer with Pepper, who takes her in. Pepper and her partner, Blue, nurture Lovelace/Sidra and help her acclimate to living in a body rather than a ship. Throughout the story, Sidra makes friends and struggles to find her purpose.
The second point of view is a girl named Jane, created by a community of Enhanced humans as a cheap source of labor. She lives her life sorting junk in a factory, supervised by faceless robots, until suddenly a hole is blown in her world and she discovers that something exists outside of the factory walls. 10 year old Jane then has to learn how to survive, with the help of a lonely AI in a crashed ship.
Both POVs are heartfelt stories about learning what it means to be alive in a world full of mysteries and surprises and rules. Becky Chambers remains one of the only authors to consistently leave me in tears for the last 60-ish pages of each book. I can’t wait to read the next one.
pototato's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
5.0
ceraface's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
edriessen's review
4.0
An interesting story. The structure of the book, with an AI coming to grips with having a body (with help from people), and a young girl, always having lived inside a boxed closed off space, coming to grips with the real outside world (with help of an AI), it’s just very very interesting.
wg1795's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
fast-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
5.0
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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? No
5.0
5 ⭐ CW: swearing
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers is book two in the Wayfarer series. I cannot express how much I am loving this series! This is the best cosy scifi I've ever read. Becky Chambers has a hold on my soul.
We get two timelines in this book: one taking place after the events of book one following the sentient AI Sidra, and one that takes place twenty years before following Pepper's story. I was kind of sad at first that we wouldn't be continuing to follow the crew of the Wayfarer, but I absolutely love what Chambers did with this story. She is a genius at writing character centric stories.
We get to see a lot more of Port Coriol and learn a bit more about Aeluons. I love that we get Pepper's backstory, and get her as a more well rounded character, as well as learning more about her partner Blue. We are also following Sidra, an AI that has been illegally downloaded into a body kit. In the GC, AI aren't considered people, so this has to be kept secret. Sidra finds being in a body a difficult transition with a lot of barriers. A lot of this story is about Sidra figuring out how to be a person which is also mirrored by Pepper's experiences as a sheltered Jane on a fringe planet.
Sidra reminds me of a more emotional Data from Star Trek TNG. The way she learns and her curiosity and wanting to understand herself and become more. Pepper's story is also one of resilience. An overarching theme of the book is about who gets rights. Just because someone is made instead of born, doesn't mean they aren't a person. I loved learning about the AI that raised Pepper. It was such a good story with a sweet ending.
So looking forward to book three!
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers is book two in the Wayfarer series. I cannot express how much I am loving this series! This is the best cosy scifi I've ever read. Becky Chambers has a hold on my soul.
We get two timelines in this book: one taking place after the events of book one following the sentient AI Sidra, and one that takes place twenty years before following Pepper's story. I was kind of sad at first that we wouldn't be continuing to follow the crew of the Wayfarer, but I absolutely love what Chambers did with this story. She is a genius at writing character centric stories.
We get to see a lot more of Port Coriol and learn a bit more about Aeluons. I love that we get Pepper's backstory, and get her as a more well rounded character, as well as learning more about her partner Blue. We are also following Sidra, an AI that has been illegally downloaded into a body kit. In the GC, AI aren't considered people, so this has to be kept secret. Sidra finds being in a body a difficult transition with a lot of barriers. A lot of this story is about Sidra figuring out how to be a person which is also mirrored by Pepper's experiences as a sheltered Jane on a fringe planet.
Sidra reminds me of a more emotional Data from Star Trek TNG. The way she learns and her curiosity and wanting to understand herself and become more. Pepper's story is also one of resilience. An overarching theme of the book is about who gets rights. Just because someone is made instead of born, doesn't mean they aren't a person. I loved learning about the AI that raised Pepper. It was such a good story with a sweet ending.
So looking forward to book three!
Moderate: Cursing
messywitch's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
I love this series so much, there's so much hope and desperately clinging to your people in this book
kavanomo's review
adventurous
emotional
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
4.0