Book #144 of 2022: A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot #2) This Monk and Robot sequel retains much of what I enjoyed about the setting in the original novella: its “warm hug of hopepunk goodness… rooted in empathetic respect and curiosity toward different cultures,” to quote from my review last …
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Book #364 of 2021: A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers (Monk and Robot #1) As with most titles from author Becky Chambers, this novella reads like a warm hug of hopepunk goodness. Although I wouldn’t say it’s quite on the level of her Wayfarers series, it shares with that space opera of the …
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Book #134 of 2021: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #4) Another lovely and warmhearted picture of alien diversity, reportedly the last in the loose Wayfarers series from author Becky Chambers. (These stories are discrete enough that there’s no internal continuity reason for this to be a conclusion, but that’s what …
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Book #8 of 2020: To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers This Becky Chambers novella offers an interesting look at how earth scientists could explore the cosmos as unintrusively as possible, and it’s refreshing for a genre work to put ethical considerations front and center like that. I also appreciate that the story is …
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Book #250 of 2018: Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #3) I adore every book in this warmhearted series about humanity’s future amid a coalition of other intelligent space-travelers, but this latest volume feels like a minor step down on a technical level. The five new viewpoint characters, all human residents of …
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Book #117 of 2018: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #2) This spinoff sequel to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet shares its predecessor’s compassionate depiction of a sci-fi universe teeming with intelligent and emotional life. Among other qualities, it’s a radically trans-positive future, featuring aliens who regularly change their …
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Book #92 of 2018: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers #1) A gloriously uplifting space opera, featuring a diverse crew of interstellar travelers who are fascinatingly drawn and who all care deeply for one another. The setting is sort of like Firefly amid a Star Trek or Mass Effect-like …
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