A Closed and Common Orbit

by Becky Chambers

Overview

National Bestseller!

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Series!

A Publishers Weekly "Best Books of 2017" pick!

Nominated for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel!

Shortlisted for the 2017 Arthur C. Clarke Award!

Winner of the Prix Julia-Verlanger!

Embark on an exciting, adventurous, and dangerous journey through the galaxy with the motley crew of the spaceship Wayfarer in this fun and heart-warming space opera—the sequel to the acclaimed The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

Lovelace was once merely a ship’s artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in a new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who’s determined to help her learn and grow.

Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for—and learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.

A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to that beloved debut novel, and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effect, and Star Wars.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062569400
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	03/14/2017
Series:	Wayfarers , #2
Pages:	384
Sales rank:	19,382
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Becky Chambers is a science fiction author based in Northern California. She is best known for her Hugo Award-winning Wayfarers series, which currently includes The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, A Closed and Common Orbit, and Record of a Spaceborn Few. Her books have also been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Locus Award, and the Women's Prize for Fiction, among others. Her most recent work is To Be Taught, If Fortunate, a standalone novella.

Becky has a background in performing arts, and grew up in a family heavily involved in space science. She spends her free time playing video and tabletop games, keeping bees, and looking through her telescope. Having hopped around the world a bit, she’s now back in her home state, where she lives with her wife. She hopes to see Earth from orbit one day.

 

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/10/2017
This worthy sequel to Chambers’s lovely debut, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, again features marvelously detailed aliens, a universe full of carefully observed peculiarities, and a friendly, soothing atmosphere. This time, though, there’s more emotional weight and depth, adding a necessary ominous shading to Chambers’s generally calming voice. It’s illegal for AIs to have bodies that can be mistaken for those of other sentient beings, but Lovelace downloaded herself into a human-form body on her first day of existence, more to help her ship’s crew than by her real choice. Now, assisted by friendly tech Pepper, Lovelace has to figure out her new identity and make a new life for herself, including how to hack various portions of her own code to keep from being caught and destroyed. Simultaneously, Pepper’s backstory as a cloned factory slave on a rogue planet that doesn’t adhere to galactic laws is brought to the forefront, since not everything from her past can or should remain in the past. Chambers’s clean, careful prose and beautiful pacing and structure keep the narrative engrossing from beginning to end. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

As with her amazing debut, the power of Chamber’s second space opera is in her appealing characters [...] Her protagonists might not all be human, but they possess more humanity than most” — Library Journal (starred review)

“Chambers uses her considerable talent to take a more focused and contained look at a gut-wrenching story of self-determination and personal autonomy [...] No matter what beautiful and strange world Chambers takes us to, we can count on her to lead with humor and heart.” — RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars)

“Warm, engaging, properly science-fictional, A Closed and Common Orbit is a very likable novel indeed.” — The Guardian

“A Closed and Common Orbit may be smaller in scope than the book before it, but in its focus and its force, in the sheer delight it takes in the discoveries it documents, it’s as fine and as fantastical and as fun as Chambers’ absolute darling of a debut.” — Tor.com

“As good, smart and satisfying as its predecessor...If there was such a thing as a Cosy Space Opera subgenre of Speculative Fiction, Becky Chambers’ series would likely be listed alongside the equally excellent On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard and Binti by Nnedi Okorafor.” — Book Smugglers

“While most sequels feel the need to go bigger and bolder, Orbit is a more intimate story than its predecessor, exploring trust, the mind/brain paradox, and unease with one’s body, while examining the ways someone without a family makes their way in the world and forms their own connections.” — AV Club

“The vibrant lines drawn between lives prove as compelling as laser battles and widescreen explosions. If you yearn for science fiction with heart, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better candidate this stellar novel.” — B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog

“Chambers Wayfarers series is the feel-good science fiction series you were looking for. Depressing dystopias got you down? Here’s the antidote [...] This is optimistic science fiction for those who grew up on Original Series Star Trek.” — Pop Verse

“For any of us, life as we think we know it can change at any time. A Closed and Common Orbit simply reminds us that, in a universe of immense and wondrous possibilities, there’s no shame in finding oneself a novice here anew.” — Strange Horizons

“Humane and alien, adventurous and thoughtful, vast in its imagination and wonderfully personal in the characters it builds. But above all else, it is joyously written and a joy to read.” — Claire North, author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

“Great fun!” — Ann Leckie, author of Ancillary Justice

“Becky Chambers’ debut novel . . . is probably the most fun that you’ll have with a space opera novel this year. It’s exciting, adventurous, and the cozy sort of space opera that seems to be in short supply lately. . . . Not to be missed.” — iO9

“Becky Chambers’ debut is a joyous, optimistic space opera ... Although it isn’t shy about tackling Big Questions, Planet is a heart-warming debut novel that will restore your faith in science fiction (specifically) and humanity (in general).” — Tor.com

“A warm, big-hearted, progressive and fun blast of sci-fi. . . . The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is just so much fun to read, and we can’t wait to see what Chambers does next. 5 stars.” — SciFiNow

“A quietly profound, humane tour de force that tackles politics and gender issues with refreshing optimism.” — The Guardian

“One of the most enjoyable, brilliantly realized spacey SF novels I’ve read in ages.” — James Smythe, author of The Echo and The Explorer

From the Publisher

The vibrant lines drawn between lives prove as compelling as laser battles and widescreen explosions. If you yearn for science fiction with heart, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better candidate this stellar novel.

B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog

While most sequels feel the need to go bigger and bolder, Orbit is a more intimate story than its predecessor, exploring trust, the mind/brain paradox, and unease with one’s body, while examining the ways someone without a family makes their way in the world and forms their own connections.

AV Club

As good, smart and satisfying as its predecessor...If there was such a thing as a Cosy Space Opera subgenre of Speculative Fiction, Becky Chambers’ series would likely be listed alongside the equally excellent On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard and Binti by Nnedi Okorafor.

Book Smugglers

A Closed and Common Orbit may be smaller in scope than the book before it, but in its focus and its force, in the sheer delight it takes in the discoveries it documents, it’s as fine and as fantastical and as fun as Chambers’ absolute darling of a debut.

Tor.com

For any of us, life as we think we know it can change at any time. A Closed and Common Orbit simply reminds us that, in a universe of immense and wondrous possibilities, there’s no shame in finding oneself a novice here anew.

Strange Horizons

Warm, engaging, properly science-fictional, A Closed and Common Orbit is a very likable novel indeed.

The Guardian

Chambers Wayfarers series is the feel-good science fiction series you were looking for. Depressing dystopias got you down? Here’s the antidote [...] This is optimistic science fiction for those who grew up on Original Series Star Trek.

Pop Verse

Humane and alien, adventurous and thoughtful, vast in its imagination and wonderfully personal in the characters it builds. But above all else, it is joyously written and a joy to read.

Claire North

Chambers uses her considerable talent to take a more focused and contained look at a gut-wrenching story of self-determination and personal autonomy [...] No matter what beautiful and strange world Chambers takes us to, we can count on her to lead with humor and heart.

RT Book Reviews (4 1/2 stars)

One of the most enjoyable, brilliantly realized spacey SF novels I’ve read in ages.

James Smythe

A warm, big-hearted, progressive and fun blast of sci-fi. . . . The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is just so much fun to read, and we can’t wait to see what Chambers does next. 5 stars.

SciFiNow

Becky Chambers’ debut novel . . . is probably the most fun that you’ll have with a space opera novel this year. It’s exciting, adventurous, and the cozy sort of space opera that seems to be in short supply lately. . . . Not to be missed.

iO9

Great fun!

Ann Leckie

★ 01/01/2017
At the end of A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, Lovelace, the artificial intelligence (AI) of the starship Wayfarer, had undergone a hard reboot that wiped out her former personality. She decides to leave the ship in an illegal body kit and try to make a new life on Port Coriol with engineers Pepper and Blue. Lovelace, now known as Sidra, struggles to find a place where she belongs while hiding that she is an AI. Her chapters alternate with flashbacks to the struggles of a child called Jane who was raised in a brutal dehumanizing factory, who has a significant bond with a different AI. As with her amazing debut, the power of Chamber's second space opera is in her appealing characters. VERDICT While readers might initially be disappointed to leave the Wayfarer behind, they will quickly find this an equally compelling story that gains intimacy with its smaller focus. Her protagonists might not all be human, but they possess more humanity than most.—MM

Library Journal

The vibrant lines drawn between lives prove as compelling as laser battles and widescreen explosions. If you yearn for science fiction with heart, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better candidate this stellar novel.

B&N Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog