In last week’s 5 On My TBR I talked about reading A Closed and Common Orbit. I realised that I listened to half of the audiobook already and decided to pick it back up. And I finished it in no time! So today I have my review for you all. Let’s jump in.
Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who's determined to help her learn and grow.
Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for - and learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.
A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to Becky Chambers' beloved debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effect and Star Wars.
A Closed and Common Orbit (Wayfarers, #2) by Becky Chambers
Published by Hodder & Stoughton on 20/10/2016
Pages: 365
Goodreads
Cover
I really like the editions I own. The original covers for this series (I think they are the US ones….) are not my thing at all. I probably wouldn’t even pick them up if I saw them in a store. But these covers I do love! They’re simple yet display the vibe of the story.
“Are we going for an anchor or a compass? A memory to ground you, or a spark to guide you forward?”
Review
I absolutely loved The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet so of course I wanted to read the sequel. At first however I was pretty disappointed. Because while this is a sequel, this is pretty much a standalone story. There is one character in here that was also in the first book but that’s pretty much is. We also get to see a very different side of the universe.
I had some trouble with this one at first. Partly because I wanted a continuation of the first book, and this wasn’t it. And partly because while I really liked these characters, I didn’t really ‘like’ the story so to say. These books are definitely much more focused on the characters than on a plot. And while I usually don’t mind that, I wasn’t completely invested this time around. I just didn’t see where this book was going.
“The planet was beautiful. The planet was horrible. The planet was full of people, and they were beautiful and horrible, too.”
We follow two different perspectives in this book. There is Lovelace; or now Sidra, who has to deal with her new body and finds a friend in Pepper. Then there is Jane, a young girl living in a factory. We get to see a lot less different species compared to the first book, which was a bit of a disappointment. That was definitely one of my favorite parts of the first book so I was hoping for more of that.
“Life is terrifying. None of us have a rule book. None of us know what we’re doing here. So, the easiest way to stare reality in the face and not utterly lose your shit is to believe that you have control over it.”
Like I said, there isn’t much of a plot. This is just not that kind of book, so be prepared for that. In my opinion, there was even less of a plot than in the first book but maybe I just liked the storyline in the first book better haha. I did however love how both perspectives came together towards the end of the book. While I did guess what would happen a bit before it did, I really liked it and I didn’t guess it too early.
I liked the ending a lot, it was very much a feel good ending haha. While I did put the book down half way through because I wasn’t that invested, by the end I liked it a lot and was very happy that I’d read it. I already own the third book and have an eARC of the fourth one so hopefully I won’t leave those as long as I did this one 😉
Have you read this series? What did you think? Or are someone trying to get into the sci-fi genre? Because I would highly recommend this series if you are a contemporary reader trying to get into sci-fi. Would love to talk more about these books in the comments!
