Hello and welcome to this guest review on Track of Words, where today I’m handing over to author Rob Young to talk about The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Rob’s debut Black Library story The Roar of the Void is featured in the Inferno! Presents The Inquisition anthology, and it’s a genuinely fantastic debut, so I’m calling it now – Rob is a new BL author to watch! I’m delighted he has agreed to write this guest review, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I’ve been meaning to read this book for ages, so when Rob suggested it as the subject for a review I jumped at the chance to get his thoughts on it…and now I’m even more determined to read this asap!
Anyway, without further ado here’s Rob to tell us more…
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The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (which I’m going to call Long Way from this point forward as it’s a bit of a mouthful!) is a galaxy-spanning story with a very human heart. Its slow-burning narrative explores complex themes with clarity and humour, creating a surprisingly strong emotional attachment to the characters that persists long after you turn the last page.
However, it needs to be pointed out that nothing really happens in Long Way. This isn’t a criticism – it’s the book’s biggest strength. But to understand why, I need to quickly set the scene.
Long Way follows Rosemary Harper as she joins the crew of the Wayfarer, a spaceship that creates hyperspace tunnels that connect the far-flung corners of the galaxy. The crew, a mix of human and alien misfits, have been employed to connect a small, angry planet with the rest of the Galactic Commons. Their journey to this planet takes up the entirety of the book, chronicling the events that occur along the way.
So far, so Firefly you may be thinking. But whilst it’s true that Long Way has a lot in common with shows like Firefly and Star Trek: Voyager, its soul is very much its own.
This is down to the key narrative decision mentioned earlier: nothing really happens in Long Way, at least not in the grand sense. There’s no intergalactic war brewing on the horizon or a magical universe-ending mcguffin that our band of misfits are destined to destroy. The protagonist, Rosemary Harper, isn’t even a chosen one or a heroic warrior – she’s a clerk, armed with both a good education and strong administrative skills.
By making the brave decision to strip away all of these distractions, Chambers is able to focus on the crew and their ever-evolving relationships. They have agency and independence, and are free to experience their lives in a way that simply wouldn’t be possible or believable against the grand backdrop of a space opera.
The crew of the Wayfarer, both human and alien, are strong enough to withstand this kind of scrutiny, and they are what sets Long Way apart from its contemporaries. From the strong-willed reptilian pilot to the ship’s enigmatic AI, each is a complete character in their own right. It’s testament to Chambers’ skill that you only ever get the sense that you are skimming the surface of each character’s rich backstory, which a weaker writer may have unloaded in a single great exposition dump.
She also manages not to neglect the setting, which feels as lived-in as the Wayfarer itself. The backdrop of the Galactic Commons is by no means unique, but is utterly believable as the reader experiences it the same way as the characters in the book. Each time the crew of the Wayfarer encounter another race, or make a detour to visit old friends, more colour is added to Chambers’ world. Each new hue adds depth which she builds upon in later entries in the Wayfarer series, but those are reviews for another time.
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is an instant recommendation, not only to fans of Sci-Fi but to those who have a general love for good stories and great characters – I’ve bought this book several times as gifts for friends, and have rediscovered my love for it in writing this review.
It’s rare that a writer is able to deliver a fresh perspective on a well-developed genre, but that’s exactly what Becky Chambers did with Long Way. By focusing on her characters and their relationships, she stripped away the trappings and distractions to uncover something far more powerful – so much so that when the last emotional punch is thrown, it will leave a lasting mark.
Not bad for a book where nothing really happens.
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Rob Young is a copywriter and graphic designer from Lancashire. When he’s not reading or writing, you’ll find him working on his latest Warhammer project. The Roar of the Void is Rob’s first story for Black Library.
You can find Rob on Twitter.
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Thanks so much to Rob for agreeing to contribute to Track of Words, and for writing such an engaging, interesting review! I don’t know about anyone else, but this has really just reinforced my confidence that Becky Chambers’ Wayfarers series is right up my street – and now I really can’t wait to read Long Way!
Check out the links below to order* a copy of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and make up your own mind about it!
*If you buy anything using one of these links, I will receive a small affiliate commission – see here for more details.
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