The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space—and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe—in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.

–GoodReads

MY REVIEW

I’ve been using a TBR jar I got from Illumicrate a few boxes back, and it’s been fun. However, I am a mood reader so sometimes I see the title of a book, grab it, and then read four other books. Eventually I get to the book though! It’s my way of making myself get through this stack/tower of unread books that I call my library.

I may love Sci-fi but sometimes you have to drag me kicking and screaming to get to a sci-fi book mostly because of page count and my desire for Space Operas (hence page length lol). I bought these books with every intention of reading them but man did it take me a while to get around to them and I’m so glad I did. I’ve only read this one so far but I intend on finishing the series this year hopefully.

I got a lot of Mass Effect-ish vibes from this when it came to the various alien species that Chambers introduced to us. It was great, though now I’m playing Mass Effect Andromeda again so maybe it sent me down a dark path.

Chambers excels in details, the world building is absolutely fantastic. And the pacing? I would say that aside from some bits of action and quite a few emotional punches, it was a bit of a cozy sci-fi. This is found family, traveling and supporting each other and I needed a read like this. The chapters are done in a way that you’re skipping here and there through the journey instead of a constant flow. So you’ll get a few chapters of an event and then the next might be a few days later, etc.

The crew of the Wayfarer are amazing, I loved them all, even if I didn’t like them all (you know who you are, Corbin). I didn’t have any favorites, it was too hard to choose and it was nice that they were all so different and yet in their differences were so genuine in their interactions. None of it felt forced or faked unless it was meant to be forced/faked. They all had such different backgrounds and not because they were different species but because they came from all different family situations and lives but they all connected together on the Wayfarer.

So, pacing a bit slow but it’s about the journey, plot was there too but with lots of little stories to get there and the characters and world were amazing.

5/5 HUGE cups of coffee from me, now I’m off to go play some ME Andromeda lol.