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A review by laskinline
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
4.0
3 1/2 stars rounded up.
I have really mixed feelings about this one. If A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is like a string of television episodes wrapped up with a season finale and A Closed and Common Orbit is a more traditional novel with a focused story arc and narrowed in on a specific journey, Record of a Spaceborn Few is a documentary. And at first I thought it was a documentary without focus. It's told from several points of view and has a glacial pace that doesn't really pick up until well over halfway in. That's also when I came to actually see what the point was, the overall story this book was attempting to tell. And I think it did, I'm not saying it didn't. And I got quite touched by it over the last third of the book, I'd say. I got misty-eyed several times as the book was wrapping up. But before then, I would have given this a solid three stars and maybe just because of my fondness for Becky Chambers' universe. Because for a while this felt just like an author fleshing out some new characters in a new angle of world building that had only been mentioned in passing in the previous two books, and was basically stringing together writing exercises that were good but seemed to be going nowhere. I think this book suffers from a lack of focus in the first half, from too many POV characters thrown in at once, and no real clear idea of how it's going to come together until almost the end. Then yes, it makes sense and it's satisfying in a way I never would have guessed about while I was reading the beginning. But I can imagine so many readers giving up before they get to that point.
This book was focused on humanity in a way the others were not and I think Becky Chambers has a lot of good things to say about who we are as a people, what we can become, and what weaknesses we'll always carry with us. For that, I think it's worth reading. But it's a Sunday afternoon drive, two miles an hour through the countryside, so don't expect the story to get anywhere fast. But if you're the type that can just sit back and enjoy the view, then it'll be a good book for you.
I have really mixed feelings about this one. If A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is like a string of television episodes wrapped up with a season finale and A Closed and Common Orbit is a more traditional novel with a focused story arc and narrowed in on a specific journey, Record of a Spaceborn Few is a documentary. And at first I thought it was a documentary without focus. It's told from several points of view and has a glacial pace that doesn't really pick up until well over halfway in. That's also when I came to actually see what the point was, the overall story this book was attempting to tell. And I think it did, I'm not saying it didn't. And I got quite touched by it over the last third of the book, I'd say. I got misty-eyed several times as the book was wrapping up. But before then, I would have given this a solid three stars and maybe just because of my fondness for Becky Chambers' universe. Because for a while this felt just like an author fleshing out some new characters in a new angle of world building that had only been mentioned in passing in the previous two books, and was basically stringing together writing exercises that were good but seemed to be going nowhere. I think this book suffers from a lack of focus in the first half, from too many POV characters thrown in at once, and no real clear idea of how it's going to come together until almost the end. Then yes, it makes sense and it's satisfying in a way I never would have guessed about while I was reading the beginning. But I can imagine so many readers giving up before they get to that point.
This book was focused on humanity in a way the others were not and I think Becky Chambers has a lot of good things to say about who we are as a people, what we can become, and what weaknesses we'll always carry with us. For that, I think it's worth reading. But it's a Sunday afternoon drive, two miles an hour through the countryside, so don't expect the story to get anywhere fast. But if you're the type that can just sit back and enjoy the view, then it'll be a good book for you.