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lbrunner.net · @lbrunner.net@bridge.neodb.net

Rated The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet 10/10

When I told Ale I was reading this book, they told me it was "very wholesome" and I got very confused. But as I read it, I understood: everyone is just so damn nice.



I mean obviously, everyone is not always nice but apart from a few conflicts (within and without the crew) and a few assholes, everyone behaves extremely decently. Mistakes are acknowledged, people apologizes, they improve, etc. It does mean that it feels some times a bit like a Care Bears branded space opéra, but honestly I am fine with it.



I don't have much to add to be honest, the world-building is good (maybe the races are a bit too humanoid/looks a bit too much like convergent evolution), plot is good (even with fairly low stakes most of the time) and the characters are varied, well written and relatable (shame we don't see more of the Toremi! I don't like them but we don't get many scenes with them).



One thing that really really surprised me though is how this book is just a wholesome version of [b:Shards of Earth|55278507|Shards of Earth (The Final Architecture, #1)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1622277832l/55278507._SY75_.jpg|86200930]... really! Here is a non-exhaustive list:

- Earth inhabitable

- Humans are not the dominant species in the galaxy

- Humans are divided between 2 groups

- One group fled Earth before the catastrophe and is (mostly) ship-bound, the other is (mostly) planet-bound

- One group is very poor, the other is very rich (but reversed)

- Setting is a human-dominated ship with non-humans which all cater to human culture and social conventions

- Ship has an unlikely rag tag crew of colorful spacers

- Some non-humans use pronouns outside he/she

- Early drama is the new comer ("rich" human) coming to terms with spacer culture

- Crew job resolves around deep space travel/exploration

- Crew member has some kind of disability and is into tech

- One group develops parthenogenetic as an advantage over another

Sure, none of those are particularly niche and they fit a lot of books, but the fact they are all in common between these two books is a very eerie feeling. Obviously, Tchaikovsky's book has a completely different tone and a few of those plot points resolve completely differently but still!



In any case, I loved this book and can't wait to read the next one.

#book

Published 2019-08-03 00:20 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere