Hey! I’m packing for a trip to Winnipeg (not a frozen shithole currently, but it is on fire) but I’ve got some time, and by that I mean I’d rather write a book review than pack.
I read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet over the course of a couple camping trips, which was probably the best possible way to read any book. I borrowed the copy from a friend, the same one who loaned me RF Kuang’s Babel, as she suggested I might like cozy sci-fi.
I don’t actually know what exactly makes something “cozy.” I suppose I’d call it character- and world-driven more than story-driven with low stakes, leaning toward optimism and happy endings. I think Discworld is cozy. Maybe Desertbound is cozy? It feels cozy.
In the distant future, the ragtag crew of a spaceship are sent across the galaxy to open a hyperspace gateway. It really is the long way to a small, angry planet, because this story’s all about the journey and the people on it.
The pacing is the hardest pill to swallow for this book. Between camping trips, I didn’t feel itchy to keep on reading. Granted, I was busy with other things (more on that in a future post!), but I’ve devoured longer books in much shorter time spans. It starts very slowly, to the point where I wasn’t sure what we were doing for the first few chapters, and only hits the gas near the end. On that long, long way, there are many pit stops, and much of it is spent exploring the universe and getting warm fuzzies (and maybe mugged).
The story’s almost episodic structure also leads to elements that I question the inclusion of. For example, the gang makes a stop to pick up a shield, which never comes into play again. Not even when they’re shot at. Why’d we go and get it?
Where Long Way shines is its worldbuilding; I was captivated by the alien races and differences in mindsets and culture, and I was happy to read every block of exposition. The prose is straightforward, ranging from solid to lovely, and the tech is easy to wrap your head around. If you can’t, it doesn’t matter, because this isn’t that kind of sci-fi. Also, and I cannot overstate how important this is to me in a sci-fi setting: there are space raptors, and people do fuck them.
The characters were overall quite good, though I wasn’t charmed by quirky tech Kizzy and found Rosemary, one of the main POV characters, a bit dull. Overall, though, the cast was wonderfully diverse, and I grew attached enough to get misty at the unexpectedly tragic climax.
While it’s at times unsubtle with its philosophies, Long Way isn’t so explicit in how you should feel; the point is that there’s no one right way to think. It’s a lovely exploration of humanity (or personhood, given half the cast is alien or AI). There are no clear villains, just intolerance and systems willing to throw people in harm’s way for profit.
While the first three-quarters didn’t grip me with action, it was a comfortable, wonderful world to visit, and I’ll be checking out Chambers’ other books to visit it again. I’d give Long Way 4/5 stars. If you like comfy reads and getting absorbed in a world, I recommend it, preferably before bed, in a tent, listening to the frogs sing.
