The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers

In the past year, I discovered this multiverse of fellow bibliophiles many of whom seem to have a greater ability to experiment with the offerings of the world of written fiction. From their vast experiences, I am slowly picking off little bits and pieces from their experiences and trying them out for size. This particular book has made its way into multiple lists of people who speak about Sci-fi and to top it all, it has a gorgeous cover. I paid more attention to its appearance on many of the blogs because I ran into the third book of the series on NetGalley.I do not know about you, but seeing a series available always makes me itch to jump right in and pick them up.Coming back to this book, I casually checked to see if my library carried it and voila! I could not help myself from clicking the request button. This is a tendency which is not helping me too much, it just seems to be digging me into a deeper problem and covering up the exits. Though the ‘problem’ is in fact something I enjoy, so there is that.

This is a different kind of Sci-fi than some of the others I have tried recently. I am relatively new to the Genre having attempted (successfully) to try out a few in the past. This story is not just about interplanetary harmony/disharmony or about a world that might still be our future. It is about all the people who constitute our main cast. We meet a woman on her way to a new future trying to get away from something in her past. She ends up in this assorted crew of sapient beings aboard a ship that drills tunnels in space for faster travel. Not all of the crew are of the same species and there is a new job on the horizon. Each crew member (or at least almost all) is carrying a heavy load. There is a very linear storyline but as mentioned earlier,the inter-crew relationship and all the things that they go through in the course of one slightly irregular job forms the bulk of the tale. The myriad planets, species and other cultural aspects of the world is put forward for our enjoyment. It is like taking the trip with them. I would give it a 4.5 stars but since GoodReads does not have the option, I am sticking with 4. I have high hopes for the second book.