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  • The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

  • Wayfarers, Book 1
  • Written by: Becky Chambers
  • Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez
  • Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (234 ratings)

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Written by: Becky Chambers
Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez
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Publisher's Summary

Shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2016.

Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction, 2016.

Firefly meets Mass Effect in this thrilling self-published debut!

When Rosemary Harper joins the crew of the Wayfarer, she isn't expecting much. The Wayfarer, a patched-up ship that's 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 onboard 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 onboard with secrets to hide, and the crew will soon discover that space may be vast, but spaceships are very small indeed.

©2014 Becky Chambers (P)2015 Hodder & Stoughton

What the critics say

"A joyous, optimistic space opera.... Although it isn't shy about tackling Big Questions, Planet is a heart-warming debut novel that will restore your faith in science fiction (specifically) and humanity (in general)." (Tor.com)
"One of the most enjoyable, brilliantly realised spacey SF novels I've read in ages." (James Smythe, author of The Echo)

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What listeners say about The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

poorly written and as subtle as a brick

I couldn't get more than about half way through. every scene is some sort of PSA, the message is fine but it feels very rigid, forced and unnatural. it suffers badly from telling instead of showing, there is a confusingly huge number of aliens to keep track of and the characters don't really seem to have any room for character growth. the characters are also rather inconsistent and hamfisted. overall it feels like a fanfiction without any source material.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A must read in the exploration of difference.

amazing look at different species and cultures and how they interact. An exploration of ourselves through the eyes of otherness. An amazing, exciting story!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

So disappointed in this

On first review of the cover blurb, I thought this book, and the crews' job, sounded intriguing. And the universe the author has imagined has great potential. And then it was wasted. The relentless perkiness of the characters, simplistic adolescent responses to what should be complex adult situations, the lack of depth in character creation, all proved too much for me. I tried but couldn't manage to get more than a third of the way through it, I was so bored and irritated by the characters and their problems I couldn't force myself to finish. A pity.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great!

The performance was amazing and really fit the text well! The change in time used to speak for a character was really distinctive without ever getting annoying or distracting

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Diversity and side stories

i liked all the side stories of each character but was lacking of an main story that wasn't enough developed. Each race have a good description to visualize physical characteristics. pretty nice univers to discover

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

every bit as good as the book

I read the book when it came out and devoured it, as well as the rest of the series as it came out. Listening to it now, a few years later is like reconnecting with friends.

Patricia Rodriguez is amazing! Sje gives life to everyone in such a beautiful way.

Did I mention I really liked it?

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Pollyanna travels space

Tastes vary. I found this book excruciating. A little bit of plot is buried in endless exposition and everyone is nice .

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Character studies cunningly disguised as a story.

I enjoyed this book but not as much as I wanted to. The plot is very thin just used as a vehicle to give us the origin stories of the crew. Hopefully the sequel will tell more of a story more we know the main characters.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen

Loved every part. Was sad when was done.. Learned to feel for every main character. Narrator good with the different voices. Touched on number of underlying themes. Would recommend to any one

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful in every way

New favorite book. New favorite author. Brilliant narration. highly recommended audiobook. Please listen. Thanks.

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