The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
Arthur C. Clarke Award nominee 2016.
Note! This novel was originally self-published in July 2014. It was later published by Hodder & Stoughton in March 2015.
When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The ship, which has seen better days, offers her everything she could possibly want: a small, quiet spot to call home for a while, adventure in far-off corners of the galaxy, and distance from her troubled past.
But Rosemary gets more than she bargained for with the Wayfarer. The crew is a mishmash of species and personalities, from Sissix, the friendly reptillian pilot, to Kizzy and Jenks, the constantly sparring engineers who keep the ship running. Life on board is chaotic, but more or less peaceful – exactly what Rosemary wants.
Until the crew are offered the job of a lifetime: the chance to build a hyperspace tunnel to a distant planet. They'll earn enough money to live comfortably for years... if they survive the long trip through war-torn interstellar space without endangering any of the fragile alliances that keep the galaxy peaceful.
But Rosemary isn't the only person on board with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.
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Becky Chambers
Becky Chambers has carved out a distinctive niche in the science fiction world with her thoughtful, character-driven narratives and imaginative world-building. Known for her Wayfarers series, Chambers takes readers to the far reaches of space, but not for battles or intergalactic wars. Instead, her stories explore the quiet moments of humanity (and alien species alike), offering a vision of the future where empathy, connection, and understanding are at the heart of exploration.
Wayfarers
Wayfarers consists of four books — considered a complete series. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
