The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet cover art

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

the most hopeful, charming and cosy novel to curl up with

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

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

 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

'A quietly profound, humane tour de force' Guardian

The beloved debut novel that will restore your faith in humanity

#SmallAngryPlanet

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The ship, which has 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 on board 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 on board with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.

PRAISE FOR THE WAYFARERS

'Never less than deeply involving' DAILY MAIL

'Explores the quieter side of sci-fi while still wowing us with daring leaps of imagination' iBOOKS

'So much fun to read' HEAT

'Chambers is simply an exceptional talent, quietly and beautifully redefining the space opera' TOR.COM

'The most fun that I've had with a novel in a long, long time' iO9©2014 Becky Chambers Adventure Science Fiction Space Opera Women's Voices Fiction Interstellar

Critic reviews

An action-adventure space opera . . . It is a quietly profound, humane tour de force that tackles politics and gender issues with refreshing optimism
A real treat to read . . . Easily the most fun that I've had with a novel in a long, long time. This is space opera that's not to be missed
A joyous, optimistic space opera . . . A heart-warming debut novel that will restore your faith in science fiction (specifically) and humanity (in general)
One of the most enjoyable, brilliantly realised spacey SF novels I've read in ages.
By far the best sci-fi I've read in a long time: something genuinely different, inclusive and compassionate
One of the most delightful novels science-fiction that I've read in recent years
A huge amount of space-opera-y fun, with some interestingly nuanced perspectives on gender woven into the whole
The Long Way is, very simply, an extremely good book, a seemingly effortless demonstration of how progressive and enjoyable science fiction can be
Becky Chambers writes aliens like no one else ... the only flaw in this series is you'll wish you could spend more time with all of them
It's easy to dip into and weirdly comforting - a feel-good space novel, if you will
All stars
Most relevant
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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Any additional comments?

I thought this would be a good summer read, especially as it has been nominated for some major fiction prizes in 2016. I like science fiction and so I expect to have to suspend my disbelief for the sake of a good read. But this novel was far, far too long. It could have, and should have, been edited before it hit the bookshops. It was originally self-published (and in some ways reads like fanfiction) and I can only suppose that that accounts for some of the rambling sections that added very little to the plot/story.
Having said that, it was a very entertaining story - Star Trek for the 21st century. The narrator did a good job in bringing the characters, human and alien, to life.
Not for you if you don't like science fiction.

Entertaining Sci-Fi, But Much Too Long

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Would you consider the audio edition of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet to be better than the print version?

Hardly ever read print version of any books nowadays, although I'd consider getting it for this - as I loved the story that much.

What other book might you compare The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet to, and why?

Not a book, but like others - this has a real "firefly" vibe to it.

What does Patricia Rodriguez bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

She does a great job with different voices.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh god yes. Always resented having to turn it off and do something else.

Any additional comments?

I actually fell into a bit of a rut after the story finished, really wanted to say with the characters and find out more about their lives.

Amazing, breathtaking

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I finally gave up on this after 8 chapters. I found it slow-moving - not much had happened yet by this point - and the somewhat hyperactive (but admittedly skilful) narration rather tedious after a while. There are some interesting ideas and some inventive (but - I felt - quite shallow) characters, but this wasn't for me. Dangerous to compare but for me at least not a patch on some other sci-fi I have listened to recently.

Disappointed and gave up

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Well written and a nice break from reality. Putting focus on characters over ever-changing plots.

Immersive and highly detailed.

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