Book Review: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers (Chambers)

 

I enjoyed reading this recently for my science fiction club’s monthly Book Discussion meeting in June 2021. This particular volume, published in 2014, is Chambers’ first novel in her Galactic Commons series, which has reached four volumes as of 2021. Set in a distant future, in which human beings are just one small part of a multi-species federation of trade and exploration, the main events of this novel focus on the crew of a tunneling vessel — blue collar workers who are hired to punch a hole through space to create a short-cut between the areas of known space and the edge of a portion of space peopled by a galactic empire that is negotiating to join the others.

 

This is a character-driven novel, though the plot does move forward in bits and pieces. Chambers is far more concerned with introducing a large and diverse cast of humans, aliens and artificial intelligences. Her “worldbuilding” skills are spectacular, and you’ll find yourself invested in the lives of this hardworking spaceship crew. On the other hand, you may also find yourself overwhelmed with characters from extremely diverse cultures — in Chambers’ world, everybody seems to be wholly accepting and embraces all those differences, with hardly any major character conflicts among the central cast (other than one token “curmudgeonly” crewmember whose apparent role is to serve as the singular source of internal conflict). There are numerous elaborate and intriguing set pieces, where the characters (and we readers) learn more about their universe.

 

I enjoyed this very much, but I missed having a storyline where the plot (i.e. “what’s happening” as opposed to “who its happening to”) was more critical. And a few of the more “out there” character quirks seemed a bit heavy-handed. And yet…I was sorry to see this story end, and I look forward to reading more in her Galactic Commons stories. Highly recommended for fans of social science fiction, or of exotic alien races, or of the adventures of blue-collar futuristic workers and “fringe” members of society instead of mainstream. In other words, if you liked Firefly more than Star Trek, this will probably appeal to you.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the rest of The Galactic Commons series by Becky Chambers, the TV series Firefly or the science fiction novels of Ann Leckie.]

[ official The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet page on the official Becky Chambers web site ]

 

See Rio B.’s review of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in the August 2020 Staff Recommendations on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Services

 

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