The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers

Overview

National Bestseller!

The acclaimed modern science fiction masterpiece, Hugo Award winner for Best Series!

Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space—and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe—in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.

Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062444134
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	07/05/2016
Series:	Wayfarers Series , #1
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	4,988
Product dimensions:	5.31(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.05(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

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

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

“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

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

“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

“[A] wonderfully imaginative and quirky novel [...] It is hard to believe that this is Becky Chambers’ first novel, as it is so well constructed, imaginative, and fluently written.” — Strange Horizons

“There are so many amazing things about this book which I have tried to cover in my review, but to sum it up in one word I found this book to be: Perfect!” — Fantasy Book Review (Book of the Month; 10 out of 10)

From the Publisher

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] wonderfully imaginative and quirky novel [...] It is hard to believe that this is Becky Chambers’ first novel, as it is so well constructed, imaginative, and fluently written.

Strange Horizons

A quietly profound, humane tour de force that tackles politics and gender issues with refreshing optimism.

The Guardian

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

There are so many amazing things about this book which I have tried to cover in my review, but to sum it up in one word I found this book to be: Perfect!

Fantasy Book Review (Book of the Month; 10 out of 10)

Great fun!

Ann Leckie

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

James Smythe

05/15/2016
The crew of the Wayfarer make a small living building wormholes to lessen the distances in interstellar travel. They are a diverse bunch, with one new addition: records clerk Rosemary, who signs on just as the ship prepares to go into deep space to construct a wormhole for an alien race long hostile to the rest of the Galactic Commons. What could go wrong? Like so many great space opera novels, this is really the story of the ship's crew as they band together in the face of danger. From Ashby, the affable human captain, to the marvelous extraterrestrial known as Dr. Chef (his two roles on the ship), there are many personalities here to love, and they all get a chance to shine. Rosemary, our newbie team player, predictably has a dangerous secret of her own. VERDICT A huge hit in the UK where it was first self-published and now nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, this delightful debut space opera is less brisk in terms of action than is typical of the genre, but it is no less engaging.—MM

Library Journal

There are so many amazing things about this book which I have tried to cover in my review, but to sum it up in one word I found this book to be: Perfect!

Fantasy Book-Review (Book of the Month; 10 out of 10)