Description
LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
'A quietly profound, humane tour de force' Guardian
The beloved debut novel that will restore your faith in humanity
#SmallAngryPlanet
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.
PRAISE FOR THE WAYFARERS
'Never less than deeply involving' DAILY MAIL
'Explores the quieter side of sci-fi while still wowing us with daring leaps of imagination' iBOOKS
'So much fun to read' HEAT
'Chambers is simply an exceptional talent, quietly and beautifully redefining the space opera' TOR.COM
'The most fun that I've had with a novel in a long, long time' iO9
About the Author
Becky Chambers is a science fiction author based in Northern California. She is best known for her Hugo Award-winning Wayfarers series, which currently includes The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, A Closed and Common Orbit, and Record of a Spaceborn Few. Her books have also been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, the Locus Award, and the Women's Prize for Fiction, among others. Her most recent work is To Be Taught, If Fortunate, a standalone novella. Becky has a background in performing arts, and grew up in a family heavily involved in space science. She spends her free time playing video and tabletop games, keeping bees and looking through her telescope. Having hopped around the world a bit, she's now back in her home state, where she lives with her wife. She hopes to see Earth from orbit one day.
Reviews
An action-adventure space opera . . . It is a quietly profound, humane tour de force that tackles politics and gender issues with refreshing optimism * Guardian *
A real treat to read . . . Easily the most fun that I've had with a novel in a long, long time. This is space opera that's not to be missed * io9 *
A joyous, optimistic space opera . . . 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 *
By far the best sci-fi I've read in a long time: something genuinely different, inclusive and compassionate * Joanne Harris, author of The Gospel of Loki *
One of the most delightful novels science-fiction that I've read in recent years * Citior SF *
A huge amount of space-opera-y fun, with some interestingly nuanced perspectives on gender woven into the whole
The Long Way is, very simply, an extremely good book, a seemingly effortless demonstration of how progressive and enjoyable science fiction can be * Pornokitsch *
Becky Chambers writes aliens like no one else ... the only flaw in this series is you'll wish you could spend more time with all of them * NPR 50 Best Sci-fi and Fantasy Books of the Past Decade *
Awards
Short-listed for The Kitschies Golden Tentacle 2014 (UK).
Book Information
ISBN 9781473619814
Author Becky Chambers
Format Paperback
Page Count 432
Imprint Hodder Paperback
Publisher Hodder & Stoughton
Series Wayfarers
Weight(grams) 300g
Dimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 32mm
