“Humans, we’ve got something dangerous in us. We almost destroyed ourselves because of it.” 4.5 stars ⭐️ Outstanding! I’ve officially been converted to sci fi! Until this book I’ve never enjoyed sci fi. This has completely changed my view of sci fi and it is flipping awesome!Some of the most imaginative world building and characterisations I’ve ever come across. The crew of the Wayfarer were amazing and I loved them all in their own way. The relationships were fantastic, both platonic and roman

The future of social Sci-Fi, the evolution of emotion in space, a completely different, fresh, and astonishing approach towards the common Sci-Fi tropes, an immediate, instant modern masterpiece, possibly even a kind of new subgenre changing the landscape of Sci-Fi like Octavia E Butler. We simply don´t know what kind of new relationship models and general consensus about what is appropriate in mixed human, human hybrid, robot, alien, etc. relationships and what not may come. There lie as many p...

Welcome to the Starship Ned Flanders. Seriously though, while the central ship in The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is actually named The Wayfarer almost everyone in the book is so cloyingly sweet that the name of the Simpsons' archetypal nice guy seems like a better fit. There's friendly Captain Flanders, chirpy lady engineer Flanders, friendly dwarf Flanders... you get the idea. Even the ship AI is a little Flandersesque.Everybody seems to want to be everyone else's bestie (with the excepti...

Recommended to me as a cure for the heavy, blood and guts diet that's so prevalent in today's SF/F, I was more than just a little bit interested in an antidote.What I found, instead, was a heartily tasty meal of perfectly prepared insects aboard the Wayfarer, enjoying wonderful conversations and a surprisingly diverse collection of humans, aliens, and a truly beautiful soul within an AI.I mean, this is space-opera. Don't get the wrong idea. There's a couple of tight spots, thievery and tragic de...

The sequel to this was a Hugo nominee, so I figured I'd start with the first one, and requested it from the library. Well, maybe the sequel was a lot better, but unless I am assured of such a circumstance by a large and passionate crowd; I'm unlikely to bother to find out. "The Long Way..." is a concept piece. It's a reaction to traditional space opera. In a "normal" sci-fi adventure, the scrappy crew of the "Wayfarer" would end up getting pulled into some kind of conflict bigger than themselves...

There's so, so much I want to say right now, and I want you all to know: this review can't do this book justice. There's no way to perfectly review one of the most complex, meditative books I've ever read. This is not a book for those who like action-packed scifi. Rather, it's for those who enjoy meditative stories. Chambers has written far more thoughtful scifi than most authors attempt. This is such a thoughtfully built world, incorporating themes we can recognize from our own world. Nothing h...

10 reasons I love The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet:1. Feel-good science fiction. Bad things happen. Injustice exists. And yet, the world is a mostly beautiful and good place. Bad people exist, but people in general are mostly nice and almost always interesting. It’s a truly heart-warming novel.2. It’s a great big world. There are all these interesting alien species, with interesting cultures and history which affect their society. If you love well-written settings where the lore isn’t a bunc...

This was really, really not my cup of tea and I threw in the towel 2/3 of the way in. I was surprised at how disappointing it was given that I picked it up on the basis of the normally dependable Adam Roberts' recommendation in his end of year 2015 round-up in the Guardian.I understand the desire to move SF from plot-driven narratives to character-driven narratives but you are throwing the baby out with the bathwater if your character-driven narrative doesn't actually contain any characters wort...

Niceness is undervalued. In an age of cynicism, we believe very little is done altruistically: this politician is facilitating an international adoption for campaign-fodder; that site is offering $1.99 books to boost web traffic; that church is holding a Sunday neighborhood BBQ to evangelize. Our stories show similar cynicism. We've embraced tortured dark heroes, we give five stars to stories sympathizing with killers and rapists, and although we believe a good guy can still win, the only way he...

DNF@ 60% I went with huge expectations. In blurbs comparisons where made to Ursula Le Guin and Firefly mention those two is sure ways to get my undivided attention. Sadly this book is nothing like my favorite tv show and it's nowhere near of depth of Le Guin's books.If I had to describe this book to anyone I would call it cross between Farscape and Disney fairytale.I did have some fun with it but around 60% of this book amount of sweetness and cheeseness become overwhelming. Character driven sci...

3.5 starsIf you're looking for an action-packed, page-turning adventure story, this book is not for you. However, if you want a sci-fi novel that delivers wonderful characters and thoughtful commentary on existence, you've found the right book.The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is something unique. It blends literary and science fictions into a story that looks at what it means to be human--or alien--amidst a world of chaos.And while I really enjoyed reading about these characters and their q...

This was so god-damn boring.I have taken like two weeks to read this. I cringe when I open my e-reader and it automatically loads to this novel. I can totally understand why people would love this book and if it had even a smidge of actual dramatic tension I would have loved it.The world building was interesting and detailed. It is not only well- thought out, it is thought-provoking.So why two stars? There is no dramatic thru- line.What do I mean by this? Questions, mysteries and potential drama...

I find myself in a difficult position reviewing this book. It's an astonishingly bad book, but it was recommended highly by many people whose opinions I respect. It's hard for me to know if I'm judging this book fairly on its own merits or comparing it unfavourably with the book I was expecting. I was expecting senstive, nuanced writing, good enough to be classed as literary fiction; optimistic and joyful SF in the style of Star Trek or The Martian; and maybe a little bit of adventure or mystery...