The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet cover art

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Wayfarers, Book 1

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

By: Becky Chambers
Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez
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About this listen

Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2016.

Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, 2016.

Firefly meets Mass Effect in this thrilling self-published debut!

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that's seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past.

But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptillian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life onboard is chaotic but more or less peaceful - exactly what Rosemary wants.

Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet. They'll earn enough money to live comfortably for years...if they survive the long trip through war-torn interstellar space without endangering any of the fragile alliances that keep the galaxy peaceful. But Rosemary isn't the only person onboard with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.

©2014 Becky Chambers (P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton Adventure Science Fiction Space Opera Space Fiction Interstellar Transportation

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Critic reviews

"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 realised spacey SF novels I've read in ages." (James Smythe, author of The Echo)
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i didnt care for this work, it felt like being taught contemporary morality and selfcentered identity politics by glove puppets via the medium of crap scifi... poorly. dont get me wrong, i'm socially progressive myself but this was peice was just annoying. The narrator did a good job of presenting the story in the spirit in which it was writen so you may be reminded of what story-time was like in kindergarten, perhaps it'll give you a few pointers on how to read simplistic substandard morality tales at your own children.

Tedious and uninteresting.

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This book is a joy to read and to listen too. It is character - driven - and what a range of characters - numerous alien species, a ship -board AI and varied and mostly sympathetic crew on a long journey with the aim of tunnelling through what would likely be called hyperspace by most authors. That this novel is set in space is rather incidental really, since it is all about inter and intra - species relationships and growing mutual understanding of the varied crew members . It is about love in all of its manifestations ( including one of two you might not have
even contemplated! - no spoilers) and comradeship and mistrust between different alien races. There is real loss and coming to terms with it. There are elements of intergalactic politics. This is not military sci-fi and there is nothing you can really call combat, but it is one of the best Sci-Fi novels I have read (I have read a lot recently) and I really want to give it at least SIX stars! Deep Joy!
And a wonderful narrator to boot!

Lovely book beautifully narrated.

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Next please! Really enjoyed that. Great characters and intriguing pace. I hate the fact I have to use 15 words. I just wanted to say it was great! Thank you

Fantastic

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this was a real joy .. many "wrong" turns to finish this book. it's well paced, well written and excellent performance.

a true sci fi classic.

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Love this book. Great performance throughout by Rodriguez. Can't wait for the Wayfarers next adventures.

Love this book, Thanks Becky Chambers.

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It never gripped me at any point. I kept waiting for the story to begin but it was just about the characters. I made it to the rnd but I didn't really feel I knew any of them.

Doesn't go anywhere.

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this was a refreshing change to the hard sci-fi I usually listen to, very much enjoyed it. Great narration too, very distinct voices between the main characters and excellent emotional range.

an unexpected delight

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I loved everything about this tale. I thought it was well read and each character portrayed brilliantly . The team of spacers across the sexes and species gelling as a family . Learning to live and love each other . So so clever

Diversity on the edge

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A young adult novel, full of good advice and admirable characters struggling to define themselves - a little prurient, but there isn't much ambiguity, this prevents you from loving the characters the way you'd like to. It ends a little too abruptly also, there are good ideas that aren't fully developed. I bet it was as fun to write as it was to read. Wonderful narration.

Ernest and joyful

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I looked on the internet for books that were just FUN. Nothing heavy, just a nice pleasurable read. This is exactly what I had here. I saw someone say that if you liked Firefly then you'll like this and that is spot on, it felt very much like a spiritual successor to Firefly.

The plot was a tad confusing, it is about a long journey but I can't quite see why the journey had to be as long as it was. Nonetheless the adventures along the way were enjoyable.

My only criticism would be that the narrator had a bit of trouble doing male voices. It seems like they tried to do a different tone but it wasn't different enough to distinguish who was speaking some of the time. Luckily the book says things like 'Bob said' so you'll find out who's speaking pretty quick.

The was really fun.

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