The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet: Wayfarers 1

Description

***SHORTLISTED FOR THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARD*** *** SHORTLISTED FOR THE KITSCHIES GOLDEN TENTACLE*** *** LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2016*** The astonishing self-published debut novel that Guardian calls 'a quietly profound, humane tour de force.' 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 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.

Becky Chambers was raised in California as the progeny of an astrobiology educator, an aerospace engineer, and an Apollo-era rocket scientist. An inevitable space enthusiast, she made the obvious choice of studying performing arts. After a few years in theatre administration, she shifted her focus toward writing. Her creative work has appeared at The Mary Sue, Tor.com, Five Out Of Ten, The Toast, and Pornokitsch.

Aquietly profound, humane tour de force that tackles politics and gender issues with refreshing optimism. - Guardian 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. One of the most delightful novels science-fiction that I've read in recent years. - Citior SF The Long Way is, very simply, an extremely good book, a seemingly effortless demonstration of how progressive and enjoyable science fiction can be. - Pornokitsch.com A huge amount of space-opera-y fun, with some interestingly nuanced perspectives on gender woven into the whole.