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4.46 AVERAGE
4.46 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
emotional
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
This one took me so long because I had to take an unexpected two-week break from it. Becky Chambers and Rachel Dulude are an amazing pairing, and I can't wait to read more from both of them.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
sad
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
So I had no idea this was THE END of the Wayfarers series until I got to the acknowledgments and that makes the book so much more bittersweet. This is probably the... Softest book in the series. No one is running for their lives, there's no action. What it is is people of four different species trapped in one place together, finding common ground.
Physiologically, our main characters are so different, and they come from different backgrounds. Roveg from the people who have all but isolated themselves from the rest of the galaxy. Pei whose people are fairly ubiquitous but retain a deep sense of tradition - particularly surrounding child rearing. Speaker, whose people have no home after their planet was destroyed in a long-ago war but were never given leave to settle a new one because their physiology and needs are antithetical to other sapient species. And Ouloo and Tupo who have built their home in a world where people only ever visit but they get to see all kinds.
As always with a Wayfarers book, we dig deep into various species' cultures and biases. In this case, we use a child's curiosity as the catalyst for learning about these species and their interactions with each other. Chambers is so good at weaving in frank conversations about social justice, equality, bias, difference in cultural backgrounds and their effect on things like politics/war/economy. But also always finding common ground, even when characters can't wholly agree. And we get to see how these conversations have lasting impacts on our characters, beyond the mere scope of the book.
TL;DR If you haven't read the Wayfarers series yet, please do so.
{Thank you Harper Voyager for the DRC via NetGalley; all thoughts are my own}
Physiologically, our main characters are so different, and they come from different backgrounds. Roveg from the people who have all but isolated themselves from the rest of the galaxy. Pei whose people are fairly ubiquitous but retain a deep sense of tradition - particularly surrounding child rearing. Speaker, whose people have no home after their planet was destroyed in a long-ago war but were never given leave to settle a new one because their physiology and needs are antithetical to other sapient species. And Ouloo and Tupo who have built their home in a world where people only ever visit but they get to see all kinds.
As always with a Wayfarers book, we dig deep into various species' cultures and biases. In this case, we use a child's curiosity as the catalyst for learning about these species and their interactions with each other. Chambers is so good at weaving in frank conversations about social justice, equality, bias, difference in cultural backgrounds and their effect on things like politics/war/economy. But also always finding common ground, even when characters can't wholly agree. And we get to see how these conversations have lasting impacts on our characters, beyond the mere scope of the book.
TL;DR If you haven't read the Wayfarers series yet, please do so.
{Thank you Harper Voyager for the DRC via NetGalley; all thoughts are my own}
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Maybe I am just over-saturated on this series, because this last installment felt a little corny. I appreciated that the characters here were from under-represented "species" in the Galactic Commons, so that was fun and novel about it, but like orations on why humans like cheese and trying to describe what tickling feels like? Those weren't as delightful for me as I think Chambers intended for her readers. Still sweet cast of characters though, and their ethnographic relationship-building was still interesting!
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A curious but wholly unsurprising way for Chambers to end the Wayfarer series! I wonder if fans were disappointed that they never received one final adventure with the Ashby crew from the Long Way first novel, which seems to reign champion as the favorite of these four entries.
This was a charming book. Definitely cheesy and heavy-handed too, one of my biggest critiques for Chambers' writing. For sure, I wanted desserts constantly because of this story (many ice cream bars have been devoured over the last week...). I almost feel like cozy sci-fi and slice of life anime shows should hang out together and drink tea + eat pastries, all while avoiding their plotlines 🤣
I liked the characters well enough, especially Pei (a returning character from Wayfarer 1, Ashby's interspecies Aeluon love interest) and Roveg, an exiled Quelin, a beetle-like species. He was giving old queen vibes with his particular and fancy interests, all backed by his rich background of traveling the galaxy and making oodles of friends. Ouloo, their Laru hostess, was mainly the overly anxious mother character and her kid Tupo annoyed me to no end (perhaps that was a successful character since kids can be SO irritating IRL). And I found Speaker the Akarak compelling, but also her argument with Pei near the end was incredibly frustrating and rigid and I have no idea how Chambers wants us to unpack that argument. It almost made me pissed at the author rather than the characters, I don't know why!
All in all, I'm happy to have finally completed the Wayfarer books, took me long enough. Since they're cozy sci-fi/hopepunk, I found them harder to binge as there often wasn't enough action or plot to sink my teeth in. But that's what many readers love now! The first Monk & Robot novella is still my favorite of Chambers' works, but I will be tackling To Be Taught, If Fortunate. I've heard excellent things, so we'll see!
This was a charming book. Definitely cheesy and heavy-handed too, one of my biggest critiques for Chambers' writing. For sure, I wanted desserts constantly because of this story (many ice cream bars have been devoured over the last week...). I almost feel like cozy sci-fi and slice of life anime shows should hang out together and drink tea + eat pastries, all while avoiding their plotlines 🤣
I liked the characters well enough, especially Pei (a returning character from Wayfarer 1, Ashby's interspecies Aeluon love interest) and Roveg, an exiled Quelin, a beetle-like species. He was giving old queen vibes with his particular and fancy interests, all backed by his rich background of traveling the galaxy and making oodles of friends. Ouloo, their Laru hostess, was mainly the overly anxious mother character and her kid Tupo annoyed me to no end (perhaps that was a successful character since kids can be SO irritating IRL). And I found Speaker the Akarak compelling, but also her argument with Pei near the end was incredibly frustrating and rigid and I have no idea how Chambers wants us to unpack that argument. It almost made me pissed at the author rather than the characters, I don't know why!
All in all, I'm happy to have finally completed the Wayfarer books, took me long enough. Since they're cozy sci-fi/hopepunk, I found them harder to binge as there often wasn't enough action or plot to sink my teeth in. But that's what many readers love now! The first Monk & Robot novella is still my favorite of Chambers' works, but I will be tackling To Be Taught, If Fortunate. I've heard excellent things, so we'll see!
emotional
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
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:
Yes
Lot of big feelings about this one
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes