The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

, #1

416 pages

English language

Published Aug. 7, 2015 by Hodder & Stoughton.

ISBN:
978-1-4736-1980-7
Copied ISBN!

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (12 reviews)

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 reptilian 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.

7 editions

Fluffy en warm

4 stars

Je moet er een beetje van houden denk ik, het is een beetje fluffy en lief met allemaal aardige mensen die het beste met elkaar voor hebben. De Grote Geheimen waar het in de flaptekst over gaat zijn niet heel erg wereldschokkend, en zelfs de (weinige) slechteriken zijn grotendeels niet echt slecht. Niet echt een nagelbijter dus. Maar ach, het is bijna kerst, en we kunnen wel wat woke feelgood gebruiken in de wereld.

Review of 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I really needed a fun little sci-fi road trip story, and this delivered quite well! The characters are all quite likable, and the world building with such a diverse array of alien species made for a lot of fun scenarios.

There is a romance later on that comes seemingly out of nowhere, and I wasn’t a big fan of how Ohan’s they/them pronouns are treated as a symptom of a disease. It kind of nearly crosses the border into demonizing plurality, but I know for sure that wasn’t the author’s intention.

Review of 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

I really don't know where to start. This book just plain sucks, sorry. No overarching story and character development is pretty much non-existent. Just finished it, and I'm now sitting here thinking what the book was about. What was the story? I read a lot of not-so-good books, but this is the worst in a long time. Character story lines just come and go, none, except for Lovie is resolved. And that is also badly written. Wtf. I really can't fathom how this book has a 4.16 star rating. Is it because the author was "progressive" with the weird pronoun thing? Am I too old for this book?

What I did like though, where the characters and the energy of the techs.

a story that thrives on its characters

5 stars

The basic storyline of this book is nothing entirely out of the ordinary: Space crew gets dangerous but lucrative job offer, travels to their destinations, stuff happens there and along the way. You can take the title literally: it's a long way but only a small planet (episode).

I liked the world building, but especially the way the protagonists interact with each other. It's a story that is, for once, not driven by toxic behavior and the inability to communicate, but instead based on empathy and mutual support. The characters belong to different alien and human races, they do sometimes face conflicts over their specific needs, but frequently try to find solutions that work for everyone. In some ways, it seemed like an enhanced and more diverse version of the "Firefly" crew to me (which I loved).

This is a read leaves you with more positive than negative emotions, while …

a story that thrives on its characters

5 stars

The basic storyline of this book is nothing entirely out of the ordinary: Space crew gets dangerous but lucrative job offer, travels to their destinations, stuff happens there and along the way. You can take the title literally: it's a long way but only a small planet (episode).

I liked the world building, but especially the way the protagonists interact with each other. It's a story that is, for once, not driven by toxic behavior and the inability to communicate, but instead based on empathy and mutual support. The characters belong to different alien and human races, they do sometimes face conflicts over their specific needs, but frequently try to find solutions that work for everyone. In some ways, it seemed like an enhanced and more diverse version of the "Firefly" crew to me (which I loved).

This is a read leaves you with more positive than negative emotions, while …

Review of 'The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Well, what a pleasant surprise. I must confess to being a fan of realistic, crude, bleak sci-fi (e.g. the expanse), but every now and then a more optimistic view of the future is refreshing, if not necessary. This novel is one of those, mainly when it gets to interpersonal relations: it's full of nice people without them seeming excessively naive. And I mean Firefly-like full of nice people. Every character works hard to overcome the huge cultural differences that separate him/her from other people in his/her life (and mostly succeeds).
But there's not only good characters. World building is top notch too, especially regarding the social aspects. Every new piece introduced in each chapter fits nicely in the overall picture, which feels detailed and vivid.
Sometimes this novel feels more like a collection of short stories, but that does not compromise the final result, which is an engaging sci-fi space …

Subjects

  • Fiction, science fiction, general