Wayfarers #1

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is the story of roughly a year in the life of the crew of the Wayfarer, a small-scale tunnelling ship that has just landed a contract to build a hyperspace tunnel to connect a distant planet to ‘Central Place’. The tunnel is needed thanks to the Galactic Commons (GC) – the controlling political force in this world (they sound like the United Federation of Planets in Star Trek) – negotiating an alliance with the dominant Toremi clan, the Toremi Ka. The Toremi are not a race that many in the GC know much about, other than that they control an area around the galactic core and that the various clans have been industriously killing each other for as long as the GC have been aware of them. The GC are prepared to overlook the violent tendencies of the Toremi for access to the galactic core and its abundance of ‘ambi’, anti-matter that is used as a powerful fuel in this world. They need tunnelling ships to provide fast access to the Toremi system.

When I first started reading this book, I was waiting for the action to begin, after the initial world building of the opening chapters. And my reading suffered by only being able to grab small amounts of time to read it. Once I had some time to embrace the story and immerse myself, I started to realise that plot wasn't going to be what is important in this book. This is not a book for anyone who is after fast-paced action, but rather for someone wanting a delightful, cosy, slice-of-life story, where we are slowly acquainted with the characters and their problems. The ‘long way’ part of the title is far more important than the ‘small angry planet’ part, although admittedly, the ‘small angry planet’ part does provide for some nail-biting action at the end.

The Wayfarer has a small crew of interesting characters. Five are human, but they represent different phases of the human diaspora. Then there are three characters from three very different species and a final character, the ship’s AI. There is a heavy focus on the everyday life of these characters and of other random people they meet on their journey. The plot is episodic in nature, with each chapter basically a different encounter or incident on their journey. And each of these episodes gives us a further insight into one or more of the characters, or provides some development for them. If this book was a TV series, each chapter would be a new episode.

The book is set around 200 years in our future. The Earth has become unliveable and humans have generally left it for space. The wealthy and privileged left first, colonising Mars. Most of those remaining on Earth eventually escaped on a fleet of ships, the Exodus Fleet. Exodans form the majority of humans living in this world. Ashby, the ship’s captain, is an Exodan, born on one of the homestead vessels that had left Earth and now orbit a moon. Corbin is the ship’s algaeist and comes from the Sol system, born on one of Saturn’s moons. Algae is used as the main fuel for long haul space vessels, with ambi reserved for fuelling for the bores needed to create the hyperspace tunnels. Kizzy, head Tech on the ship, is also descended from Exodans, but is from an extrasolar colony. Jenks, the other Tech, was actually born on Earth in a survivalist colony, but was raised on a satellite orbiting Earth where there is a human-led reclamation project. The final human is Rosemary, the newly arrived clerk for the ship. Rosemary is also a Solan, born and raised on Mars, from a much wealthier family than the rest of the crew. She generally attempts to downplay her privileged background, ostensibly because she is aware of the resentment most Exodans feel for the Mars settlers who, for example, chose to import live cattle from Earth rather than assisting those left on Earth. But she also fled Mars for a very specific reason that she feels would turn the crew against her if they knew, so she keeps her past life a secret from the others.

The non-human crew are the pilot Sissix, an Aandrisk, a lizard-like race with scales and feathers; the doctor/cook Dr Chef, a Grum who are insect-like in appearance; and the navigator Ohan, a Sianat Pair. Sianat Pairs are formed when a Sianat, a blue furred mammal, is infected with what they call the Whisperer. This infection is part of Sianat religion and is prized by them, even though it shortens life expectancy. The final crew member is one that is not generally regarded as part of a crew by most people in the GC world: Lovey, a sentient AI.

The story is told from the viewpoints of all the characters except Lovey (we really only get to know Lovey from her interactions with the others). Because everyone is living and working together in a fairly confined space, we get to hear everyone’s perspectives on everyone else and their views on the prejudices they have, through the everyday conflicts you get when people are forced to spend too much time together.

The various problems faced by the crew are similar to problems faced by most people at different points in their life and are relatable, such as the simple fitting-in with a new group of people when you start a new job, or dealing with hostility when you make a relationship choice that others disagree with. Chambers has her characters deal with issues related to sexuality, identity, the right-to-die and the right to defend yourself. There is a lot of emotion, and the story feels realistic, even though it is set in a made-up world with unrealistic characters. It has a similar feelgood vibe to The House in the Cerulean Sea, but when I read that book, I had a problem with its saccharine message being slammed in my face. I didn't get that with Small Angry Planet, despite the similar vibe. Chambers is far more nuanced with her characters, and shows us alternating points of view. She leaves us to form our own views about the situations that arise, rather than directly telling us how we have to feel. None of the characters are perfect. There are arseholes on the ship, but the gentle conflicts that arise from this just make the book more interesting to read.

My only real disappointment with this book was discovering that the second book in the series (A Closed and Common Orbit) doesn't continue with the story of the Wayfarer crew but shifts to another part of the world Chambers has created. That is something I can live with. Highly recommended.