Reviews

Loved this! I've read other sci-fi novels that deal with long distance space travel and characters being in suspension for so long that everyone they knew is gone, but this one just dealt with the subject in a way that really emphasized it and made me feel for the characters.

Also the aliens seemed much more realistic than most other books I've read, which mostly either have relatively humanoid aliens or keep them off the page.

This novella reads a little like The Martian if their mission had gone according to plan, but they'd instead run into interstellar communication difficulties.

Spoiler

*spoilers* Though I honestly can't say I would have agreed to stay in suspension for the rest of my life if things turned out the way they did for the characters. If it were me on that spaceship, I'd probably be giving them about 10 years of aging (about 120 years of Earth time--minus the 28 years it would take for their message to reach Earth and Earth's response to get back to them.) In my mind about a 100 years is probably as much time as it might take Earth to recover from a catastrophe if it's ever going to, and call me selfish but I want to live if there is still a chance to do so with a reasonable quality of life. Staying in a suspension pod like object for the rest of your existence does not sound like a high quality of life.

rocketdea's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

sorrycalamari's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

adrian_crawford's review against another edition

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4.0

if you like other becky chambers books and you like the martian, you will also probably enjoy this book. not really any plot to be found but thats ok if you wanna watch scientists explore alien worlds. it ends in the classic hopeful optimism in humanity which was esp home-hitting as an astronomer (we also are not providing many products to humanity other than pretty pictures and knowledge.) im knocking off a star just bc it lagged (on purpose) on the ocean planet and i kinda got bored then.

jennyalexandra's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

lindseyrms's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.5

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