A review by ruemilley
Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

i really liked the previous two in this series and this one is still Fine but man was it boring for over half of its runtime. the characters were not as interesting as ones from the previous book- i think this is due to the fact that they mostly have their own things going on with their own half developed side characters instead of interacting together and getting depth as a group. i do think this setup would be impossible to make work but the characters just did not appeal— i kept getting leads mixed up which seems like a bad sign.

that being said, once an Event Finally Happened i felt like the characters worked a bit more. maybe if the book had been more about the dealing of the fallout of the accident that happens in the beginning instead of jumping a ???? amount of time forward and going Wow That Sure Was Bad Wasn’t It we could have had similar development throughout. overall still not bad, just not as good as the other ones.

also i’m so puzzled by the author clearly wanting Communist Utopia (cool) but struggling to deal with things like… giving a kid allowance? what would a trade allowance be? what? early on they work hard to make it clear trade is NOT money but by the end they’re like ‘oops i’m out of trade for the week’ which seems like just money??? also a The Robots Are Taking Our Jobs plot in again communist utopia is fascinating. I HAVE LOGISTICAL CONCERNS IS ALL I AM SAYING