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Feb 12, 2020

A Long Book Not Really About A Planet (A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet book review)

 Image result for a long way to a small angry planet characters


A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

Before I get into my analysis of this book, let me just share my favorite quote, told by Sissix to Ashby: “Come on. Put on your trousers. I want to meet the woman who gets to take them off.”

This book is definitely geared more toward social issues than it is toward plot. However, that really works for the book, and I found myself enjoying all of the species diversity, character interactions, government commentary, and environmental issues.

This book definitely touches on multiple social issues we face in our current society. It speaks to racism and how other species are not only treated, but how they are spoken about. Like how initially Rosemary described Sissix not as beautiful in human standard, but as striking. She can’t judge that the Aandrisk appearances by human norms. That also is seen in how Sissix at the beginning sensors her affection with Rosemary despite Rosemary expecting overt affection from her studies of Aandrisks. They can’t always believe what word of mouth or books teach them about society and morality of others without personal experience. Not only that, but the book touches on language barriers and how different people adapt in order to be able to communicate or interact with other species, like how Ashby knows the basics of Pei’s color language and how she has a vocal implant to be able to speak aloud to him.

The book not only speaks to racial outcasts though, it also speaks to gender and sexuality, and even to mental health. For example, the ‘rashek’ Aandrisk that Sissix sees on the street is very similar to modern day perceptions of Autism. Without the prompt asking this though, I would have just categorized the action with any other form of social isolation to things people see as odd, like how westerners view eating bugs as gross whereas other cultures don’t. But with the prompt, I thought about it more in regards to even people of her own species treating her differently and the answer became clear. She isn’t physical contagious with a disease, she just is ‘awkward’ and doesn’t know how to properly interact with other people around her. Sissix gives her affection while other Aandrisks who are from there walk by and act as if they don’t see the older woman.

A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet made me think back to the social issues addressed in The Bear and the Nightingale as well. That book talked about cultures changing and evolving, like Christianity taking over primarily pagan spaces, or the social expectations of a young girl growing up in that time period and era. This book felt like it also focused on topics like that in regards to outside influences and perspectives views on other societies. Rosemary was a newcomer, someone who had never left her home planet of Mars, and yet she was very accepting in trying to be respectful and not judgmental of all these species lives and customs she wasn’t used to. She even was reasonable with the space pirates, who were a great representation of the lower economic class turning to crime in order to take care of their family.

There are too many social issues to get into in so little space. I haven’t even touched on how society views death, and the perspective of Ohan and the other crew on their dying. Needless to say, this book is much more about the characters and their interactions than about plot. I thought the book was slow until 1/3 of the way through when the crew got a new job for tunneling. But as I got farther into the book, my perspective changed too. I went into the book with expectations of tension and stakes in plot to keep me reading, like I do with most stories, but this book changed my mind. While it is a lot of world building and background information following several characters, it works. When I restructure my framework of what I expect out of a book and take a step back, I really enjoyed the book. It flowed well and I was interested in every single character's goals and motivations.

Verdict: a must-read.

Feb 1, 2020

Books I Read in 2020



The Bear and the Nightingale (Katherine Arden) 312 pgs
A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet (Becky Chambers) 438 pgs
Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer) 208 pgs
The City of Brass (S. A. Chakraborty) 569 pgs
The Calculating Stars (Mary Robinette Kowal) 424 pgs
Spinning Silver (Naomi Novik) 480 pgs
The Haunting of Hill House (Shirley Jackson) 246 pgs
Hell House (Richard Matheson) 304 pgs
Ghost Story (Peter Straub) 567 pgs
Nightmare House (Douglas Clegg) 340 pg
The Amityville Horror (Jay Anson) 256 pg
Grave's End: A True Ghost Story (Elaine Mercado) 192 pg