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strategineer's review
2.0
Humm...
It was OK.
Unlike The Galaxy and The Ground Within (also written by Becky Chambers), this novella doesn't have a lot of space (see what I did there?) to develop its characters and have you care about them.
There's a little bit of tension as the crew navigates to each planet they've been tasked with scouring for life. Will they be ok? What will they find? Etc.
But it was hard for me to care.
I powered through the novella because Becky Chambers's writing style is easy to read but I'm not sure I got much out of reading it.
It was OK.
Unlike The Galaxy and The Ground Within (also written by Becky Chambers), this novella doesn't have a lot of space (see what I did there?) to develop its characters and have you care about them.
There's a little bit of tension as the crew navigates to each planet they've been tasked with scouring for life. Will they be ok? What will they find? Etc.
But it was hard for me to care.
I powered through the novella because Becky Chambers's writing style is easy to read but I'm not sure I got much out of reading it.
whatcassiedid's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
Everything Becky Chambers does is perfect
lfancher's review
adventurous
emotional
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
reading_about_tigerlilies's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
ledade503's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
erisxo's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
4.0
logicalstroopwafel's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
annettebooksofhopeanddreams's review against another edition
4.0
Even though one of my best friends and I both love fantasy, we both love a different side of it. She prefers the historical fantasies, where I lean a little more towards the sci-fi. When Fairyloot was doing a book by Becky Chambers I therefore didn't just get it. I also got all the other books she had written. Yesterday I needed a shorter sci-fi novel to fill a sci-fi prompt for a challenge and I discovered that this was a stand-alone. Time to dive in!
It took me a little while to really get into this book, mostly because for a while I was actually searching for a bigger plot, for a point, and it didn't really come soon enough. However, once I dared to let go that this book needed a plot, once I started enjoying the exploring, getting to see different planets, getting to meet life in outer-space, I could read faster and faster and actually liked the mix of science and fantasy Chambers presented.
Although the novel is focussed on the science, mostly because the characters in the novel are focussed on the science, I like how we get to know the four astronauts quite well through small tellings and almost meaningless interactions. We see why they do the job they do, what makes them tick and what kind of personality they have. We also see what they offer each other and why the four of them make such a good team.
However, when a book is focussed this much on science and on the different planets and the things the astronauts discover, the science needs to be good, needs to be sold well. I quite liked how in the extra material the author explains that even though it's still fiction, the science must feel real enough and must therefore be rooted in the truth. Chambers did this amazingly well. I bought her science, mostly because the factual science was right.
It took me a little while to really get into this book, mostly because for a while I was actually searching for a bigger plot, for a point, and it didn't really come soon enough. However, once I dared to let go that this book needed a plot, once I started enjoying the exploring, getting to see different planets, getting to meet life in outer-space, I could read faster and faster and actually liked the mix of science and fantasy Chambers presented.
Although the novel is focussed on the science, mostly because the characters in the novel are focussed on the science, I like how we get to know the four astronauts quite well through small tellings and almost meaningless interactions. We see why they do the job they do, what makes them tick and what kind of personality they have. We also see what they offer each other and why the four of them make such a good team.
However, when a book is focussed this much on science and on the different planets and the things the astronauts discover, the science needs to be good, needs to be sold well. I quite liked how in the extra material the author explains that even though it's still fiction, the science must feel real enough and must therefore be rooted in the truth. Chambers did this amazingly well. I bought her science, mostly because the factual science was right.