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booksthatburn's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Grief, Ableism, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Gore, Terminal illness, Kidnapping, Confinement, Medical content, Vomit, Torture, Genocide, Animal death, Murder, and Death
Minor: Sexual content
fairyollie's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
while the story started off slowly,, the world (GALAXY) building in this book was worth it. I also appreciate the diversity of the cast; if you are looking for queer characters, inter-species relationships, implied neurodivergence, and characters of color (though their race is undefined,) this is a great read! I look forward to continuing the series, as the ending of the book was where the true action picked up!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Xenophobia, War, and Genocide
Moderate: Ableism, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Confinement and Forced institutionalization
mandaraffe's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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? No
5.0
I loved it so much there’s like literally no plot but it’s perfect. If you like spending time in a lovely, imaginative, expansive world with characters that feel like true friends, this book is for you.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Medical content, Police brutality, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Ableism, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, and Abandonment
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Death of parent, Drug use, Genocide, Sexual content, Slavery, and Trafficking
skudiklier's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I loved this book! It's super fun, thoughtful, and enjoyable. I found it to be a really great mix of adventure/plot, philosophical questions, and queer found family. It's a page-turner with a lot of heart, and I definitely want to keep reading the rest of the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, War, Xenophobia, Terminal illness, and Cursing
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Vomit, Sexual content, Murder, Medical content, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Drug use, Colonisation, Blood, Animal death, Alcohol, and Ableism
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Trafficking, Suicide, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Incest, Infidelity, and Genocide
The racial slurs aren't real ones, but in-world ones (for different species, not human races) Also CWs for nonconsensual medical treatment, andthetainaship's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Torture, Violence, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Racism, Xenophobia, Genocide, and Medical content
Minor: Vomit, War, Slavery, and Religious bigotry
ableist bullying of autistic person justified by narrative; severe disregard of medical consentbluejayreads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
- 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
This is a really hard book to review, because despite what the back cover makes it sound like, Rosemary isn't the main character. The story starts with her, but each member of the Wayfarer crew is a protagonist. This isn't so much a story about Rosemary as much as a story about the people of the Wayfarer as individuals and a group.
Third-person omniscient perspective is hard to do, and either it was done poorly (which again, it's hard, and I don't blame Becky Chambers if she just didn't get it right) or it wasn't going for third-person omniscient and I just got confused by perspective jumps. It also skips through time a fair bit, too, glossing over days and sometimes months with little to mark it, leaving me occasionally confused. But those are overall minor problems, and didn't take too much away from my enjoyment of the book.
The story starts with Rosemary, a girl running from her past and looking to get as far away as possible from her old life on Mars, joining the crew on the Wayfarer. She joins a delightful crew already there - Ashby, Kizzy, Jenks, Sissix, Dr Chef, Corbin, Ohan, and Lovelace the AI. All of them are well-developed and interesting, with unique personalities and backstories, and for the most part are people I would love to spend time with myself.
This is not a plot-driven book. In fact, up until the end there isn't a whole lot of a plot. The Wayfarer takes a long-haul job that requires them to spend nine months traveling to a place that was until very recently a war zone, and this book is almost entirely these characters on this nine-month trip - interacting with each other, stopping off at occasional planets to get more supplies, occasionally meeting interesting people but mostly just being together. It's heavy on the world-building and more than anything is a wonderful, sweet story of found family.
If you go into this expecting a rip-roarin' scifi adventure, you're going to be disappointed. Because that's not what this book is. The world is stunning, but it's not even about the science fiction. It's a sweet, simple story of love and found family and choosing the people you are close to, and it just happens to be set on a wormhole-making spaceship in a spacefaring world and some members of this found family just happen to be aliens. There's plenty of scifi to satisfy a scifi fan, but at the core are emotions. If you go in expecting that, you won't be disappointed.
My only real disappointment is that the Wayfarers series is a bunch of standalone novels in the same world, so this is the only book where I'll get to enjoy these particular friends. I might try reading one of the other books (number three looks most interesting at the moment), but regardless if I pick up any of the rest of the series, I still consider this book to be absolutely stellar (pun intended).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Violence, Grief, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Xenophobia, Genocide, Blood, and Confinement
Minor: Drug use and Ableism
readandfindout's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Style/writing: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars
Themes: 5 stars
Characters: 5 stars
Plot: 4 stars
Worldbuilding: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief and Chronic illness
Moderate: Death, Violence, Terminal illness, Medical content, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Confinement, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, and Drug use
Minor: Ableism, Genocide, Sexual content, Vomit, and Slavery
yvonne_cl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Violence
Moderate: Alcohol, Colonisation, Confinement, Drug use, Gun violence, and Terminal illness
Minor: Ableism, Abortion, and Medical content
beautifulpaxielreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Medical content, and Mental illness
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Violence, and Torture
Minor: Body shaming, Genocide, and Panic attacks/disorders
blackrabbitrun's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-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? No
4.25
This is a delightful slice of life road movie across the galaxy, with wonderful characters, friendships and worldbuilding, but NOT for those looking for a plot
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness and Police brutality
Minor: Ableism