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  • The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

  • Wayfarers, Book 1
  • By: Becky Chambers
  • Narrated by: Patricia Rodriguez
  • Length: 15 hrs and 41 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (686 ratings)

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The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

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

Critic Reviews

"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)

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

Average Customer Ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Had Potential

If there was a little less emotional fluff and a bit more plot it would have been better. I nearly didn’t get through when then Lizard Human sex scene occurred. Bit too close to beastiality in my opinion and unbelievable. It through me out of the story. I’ll give it three stars for effort.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Not bad, but not good either

Not enough characters, too many caricatures, the reader emits too many little girl squeals for comfortable listening.

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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
    4 out of 5 stars

Rich characters, interesting world, light plot

This story has a range of interesting characters, races, and politics which kept me listening. The plot is secondary to the relationships of the aforementioned. It might be interesting to have the same level of plot development as the author has put into the character development.

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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 space story. fantastic aliens. loved it

Great story. It nice to have a true space adventure. loved the alien cultural concepts.

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

Real life sci fi

Like if Killjoys, Firefly and Mass Effect had a baby. Great characters. Well paced. Loved it!

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

Wonderful!

Chambers has created an amazing galaxy and the reading is so entertaining. Press play or open the book to get lost among the stars with these excellent 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

chicken soup for the soul

i read a lot of reviews about this book that said it’s boring and has no tension.

yes, it’s not The Expanse, it’s not the gritty heart-aching distopian scifi we’re used to.

but i so so so much enjoyed this story for exactly that reason. it’s a wonderful story and it was chicken soup for my soul in a real-life world that’s full enough of stress and distopian already.

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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

Highly Recommend!

Depth added to the universe, human issues expanded across the stars. Great read, great story!

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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

Loved it!

The story was great, really well written & the narrator did an excellent job. Very enjoyable to listen too. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series

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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

brilliant space story

"STARS!" the simple story, is often taken for granted.. i have listened to this book 5 tumes now and it never gets old.

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