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A review by robinbridgefour
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
4.0
The Wayfarers series with Record of a Spaceborn few has now given us a look at three distinctly different types of lifestyle since the humans left a decimated earth centuries ago. Each book also delves deeper into the culture of one of the alien civilizations and with this installment we get to see the Harmagians and learn a little of their culture, studies and also what it is like to come from the sea to be a creature that lives on land.
It seems that both the Harmagian’s and humans have more in common than they like to admit. As one of the Harmagian’s tours the Fleet of ships that left Earth so many years ago to learn about their lifestyle we also learn about how the humans on the ships live together in harmony for the most part. How everyone has a job and a purpose and how trade functions as currency. They are a community of thinkers and repurposers, leaving nothing to waste and making new and sometimes interesting ways of re-using resources.
Through the stories of a few on these ships we learn what is like to be a family with some children, a older couple who’ve lived their entire life with the fleet, a kid coming of age and trying to decided if he wants to stay with the fleet or venture out into the world and live on land. In the wake of one of the ships having a catastrophic failure and the loss of so many, more and more people are questioning if it is right to still live on these vessels orbiting a moon or if it is time to leave a home they’ve know for centuries, give up on some traditions and live a different kind of life.
The Wayfarer stories aren’t action packed or anything like that but delve into how people would live, what they would do for fun, how they’d get into trouble as kids, how they live their lives on a day to day basis and why they make certain choices. I enjoy these tales but it is a little like watching the discovery channel in some ways.
So if you are just looking to venture out into space and see how everyone is fairing this will be a great book for you. But if you were thinking space fights and constant action then you will be sorely disappointed. I’ve definitely enjoyed the books but I totally get the reviews that say there isn’t a lot of plot happening. It is more a character study than a plotted out story.
“We are the wealthiest species alive today. We want for nothing. Without us, there would be no tunnels, no ambi, no galactic map. But we achieved these things through subjugation. Violence. We destroyed entire worlds - entire species. It took a galactic war to stop us. We learned. We apologized. We changed. But we can't give back the things we took. We're still benefiting from them, and others are still suffering from actions centuries old. So, are we worthy? We, who give so much only because we took so much?”
It seems that both the Harmagian’s and humans have more in common than they like to admit. As one of the Harmagian’s tours the Fleet of ships that left Earth so many years ago to learn about their lifestyle we also learn about how the humans on the ships live together in harmony for the most part. How everyone has a job and a purpose and how trade functions as currency. They are a community of thinkers and repurposers, leaving nothing to waste and making new and sometimes interesting ways of re-using resources.
Through the stories of a few on these ships we learn what is like to be a family with some children, a older couple who’ve lived their entire life with the fleet, a kid coming of age and trying to decided if he wants to stay with the fleet or venture out into the world and live on land. In the wake of one of the ships having a catastrophic failure and the loss of so many, more and more people are questioning if it is right to still live on these vessels orbiting a moon or if it is time to leave a home they’ve know for centuries, give up on some traditions and live a different kind of life.
The Wayfarer stories aren’t action packed or anything like that but delve into how people would live, what they would do for fun, how they’d get into trouble as kids, how they live their lives on a day to day basis and why they make certain choices. I enjoy these tales but it is a little like watching the discovery channel in some ways.
So if you are just looking to venture out into space and see how everyone is fairing this will be a great book for you. But if you were thinking space fights and constant action then you will be sorely disappointed. I’ve definitely enjoyed the books but I totally get the reviews that say there isn’t a lot of plot happening. It is more a character study than a plotted out story.