A review by storyorc
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

adventurous hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

This book is bold with its aliens, both in how many limbs they get and how it insists we take them seriously anyway. The world is fresh, creative, and colourful. The Wayfarer's journey feels like a television program where each episode showcases alien cultures butting heads, threatens escalation, and then applies radical kindness instead. Her crew are a warm, optimistic view of multiculturalism where people stay humble about the righteousness of their own beliefs and extend charity toward what is strange.

This would be a lovely book for a young teen, anyone in danger of being disillusioned by modern society, or someone just looking to spend a few hours in pleasant escapism.

Not for me, however; I get my thrills from characters being nasty, messy bastards. I was interested in

Sissex accidentally breaking hearts, Jenks trying to mould new Lovelace into dead Lovey, and a spectacular fight between Ohan and Corbin after the forced 'cure'

but alas, those conflicts never really got off the ground.