The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

★ ★ ★ ★ 

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is a fun, friendly, femme-centric sci-fi story full of heart and soul.

I’m a reader who loves her characters, and The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet totally delivers. Chambers doesn’t do any copypasta here. The story starts with Rosemary running from her past by joining a new crew as a clerk. While Rosemary is the center of the story, the whole crew of the Wayfarer was written as complex, unique individuals. Writers often depict motley space voyaging crews as found families, but Chambers made me believe it.

I often ask myself how I would fare in a story’s setting. I think I’d probably be okay in this one. Chambers tossed out many traditional hard sci-fi tropes to craft this tale. This femme-centric story happens in a universe where different doesn’t automatically mean bad, with racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia nowhere to be seen.

But it’s still sci-fi, and Chambers doesn’t skimp on the science. Artificial intelligence, wormhole tunneling, and tense, alien interactions are all part of the recipe. Just don’t come looking for mile-a-minute action here because you won’t find it. But you will find a group of realistic people making a genuine effort to do the right thing. That, in itself, is refreshing.

The story contains some descriptions of violence, death, and PTSD.