Reviews with content warning for Terminal illness - Долгий путь к маленькой сердитой планете

I've heard this book characterised as cosy Sci-Fi but I'd argue that slow-Fi would be a better description. The pacing of this book is episodic; smaller scenes and sequences are woven together as the crew of the Wayfarer make their way to the titular small, angry planet.

I wanted to like this one more than I did, but I just didn't connect with it as much as I was hoping to. There's an extremely diverse cast of characters which is delightful to see, but as the cast was so large, none of them got the 'page'-time I quite needed to connect with them. For example, I wanted to be on board with Jenks and Lovey - to be able to confront some of the interesting questions and concepts raised by their relationship - but I felt like I wasn't given the opportunity to pause and reflect on it.

I'll read the others in the series as there's a lot to like about the setting. I enjoyed the wider themes that Chambers was exploring and the prose was, at turns, very beautiful.

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eleanora's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful relaxing 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

4.5

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corriejn's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This is a 5-star book not because it's some wildly innovative book, or the kind that is so all-absorbing that it leaves you with a "book hangover." But it is just a thoroughly enjoyable read. (All the CWs noted are fairly moderate-- that is, not super graphic content, and in general relate to specific events in the story.)

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thereadinghammock's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

This book made my little mammal brain think real hard about social dynamics in a way I wasn't expecting. Seeing how such a variety of species and cultures interact, mingle, and function on such a large scale was wonderful and really helped put into perspective how even if you think you're open-minded and unbiased, you are still only a product of your own cultural upbringing and experiences. We all have blind spots and that's ok. What matters is how we deal with those blind spots when we're confronted with them, for better or worse.

The crew of the Wayfarer was an absolute delight to travel with. I absolutely loved Kizzy and Sissix, Dr. Chef was a genuine delight. And everyone they met along the way just added more color to their adventure.

There were times that I felt the story took a back seat to the interpersonal ship dynamics--like it felt like there should have been more dealings or context with the Toremi Ka, or follow up from that. The story getting to that point was so rich and then the ending almost felt rushed after? I know there are subsequent sequels/follow up books as well, but I kind of wanted more before this one wrapped up. I think I'll enjoy checking back in on the crew of the Wayfarer again, but I'm not running to my library to request the next one, you know?

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claudiamacpherson's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging slow-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

THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET is about a ship, a crew, a space journey, and the friends they made and (or sometimes tragically lost) along the way.

There are a lot of characters and they generally feel distinct from each other. That means I can't really point to an overall style, other than that once I tracked names enough to tell Jenks and Ashby apart I did all right for the rest of the book (I kept mixing up who was with Pei).
main character - If anyone is the main character it might be Rosemary, she's definitely the reader's way into the narrative as a human who doesn't have any travel experience and is generally unfamiliar with the people and places that they encounter on the way. Because she isn't the only point-of-view character there's a pretty robust diversity not only of perspectives but of angles for explanation.

The ship has a relatively small crew but it's enough to make a character relationship web complicated pretty quickly. Ashby is the captain, which means he doesn't pal around with the crew much but still is close to most of them. I like his relationship with Pei, it's nice to see a long-distance thing portrayed well. Jenks and Kizzy have a friendly working relationship and a great rapport. They get along even when they're getting on each other's nerves, which is good since they're generally working on ship maintenance together. Sissix is my favorite, and I like how she is with Rosemary, especially towards the end. There's even more crew and I'm very bad with names, so that's about my limit of what I can remember and say without spoilers. Generally speaking I like the way that non-human characters have conversations and relationships with each other that don't have anything to do with the human ones. It helps reinforce the feeling of a galaxy that isn't centered on humans, which is definitely a welcome departure from a lot of space sci-fi.

Most of the worldbuilding in terms of physical spaces is focused on the ship, with a few visits to other worlds on the way. Where it shines is in establishing the impression of a full galaxy with complicated dynamics of which we're just getting a tiny slice. I love the descriptions of various aliens, and the way the characters make a specific effort to understand other perspectives and ways of being.

For the first half of the book I was lukewarm, having trouble getting into it but having a good enough time to continue. It more than paid off in the second half, wow. There are a lot of important characters by virtue of paying attention to the entire crew plus a few additional people. Because the big thing that's happening is they're traveling a very long way to a specific destination, plus some stops and occasional complications along the way, most of the plot revolves around developing and continuing relationships between the characters. The main journey is to slowly travel to somewhere very far away for a specific reason, and then because of the tech involved they'll be able to get home very quickly. It makes the ending feel climactic even though technically all they did was go a long way away and then come right back to where they started in a fraction of the time.

The ending is devastating. The emotional culmination of getting to know these characters runs into the dangers of their journey in a way that is sudden, frightening, and grief-stricken. If you like found-family journey stories (especially ones in space), don't miss this one.

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oliverreeds's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny 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? It's complicated

5.0

fantastic. we love language. we love the gays

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szuum's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

3.75

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