Double posted myself off the previous page...

I'm closer to Raiziel than any other review at the moment. I still haven't managed to finish it (a combination of little spare time and little interest) but will hopefully get it done by the end of the coming week.

I'm bang on the fence. I haven't found it a particularly compelling read, but I have enjoyed some of the time I've spent reading it. Some good ideas about how intergalactic society might work, although a lot is quite derivative.

Excellent. You’re all booked in, bud.

It's a very quick read, angry planet. Should be finished after two more sessions, tops.

The Long Way to a Small and Angry Planet

This book is very, very readable. Unlike say, a Gibson novel you dont get stopped by a new word at you dont understand. At all. Its something from the Asimov stable of sci fi where the text is there to be functional rather than a part of the world-building. This is because the book takes the form of a near continuous stream of dialog or trains of thought, many of which are runaways.

The focus on character interactions seems to be a really narrow one. Most of the discussions were about how one character would try to avoid some interplanetary/interspecies social faux pas or translate some behaviour into a familiar context. This would be resolved on first instance within a page or two before moving onto the next vignette about another inconsequential curiosity such as the dietary preferences of another crew member.

If that sounds like a complaint it is not so much that these descriptions exist, but that they are so disposable and unexplored. It has more in common with second scene walkthrough of a new planet with RTD era Doctor Who, where the companion walks through an alien marketplace or science outpost and sees a new type of culture. There is no serious discussion about the way these differences manifest during conflict or friendship aside from a furscalefest hookup. The focus on sex really undermines the focus on diversity and respect for it, because it is very one-dimensional.

The book is enjoyable enough. I finished it in 3 days and that is a rare thing. It just has no challenging ideas. The key act - a long journey - has no gravitas or sense of interminable duration in isolation because everyone is falling over themselves to respect how others get their rocks off. I'm reasonably sure that I've read books half the length of this that do a far better job of conveying danger, isolation and duration.

I guess what it comes down to is that there is no meat to this story. The setup feels eerily akin to Titan AE. The themes of diversity are given so much prominence but explored only to a superficial level. There is no threat, no quandary, no challenge to overcome and no resolution with nothing to resolve from. Its as if the author has identified a number of possible moral questions, and "solved them" by having the challenged character immediately cede to the wishes of the other character in an internal monologue lasting three lines, tops.

Kizzy is a fucking idiot too. A stereotype done far more justice in farscape/sg1.

I don’t think Chambers is a capable enough writer to add meat to the bone of these issues.  She wants to, and she’s having a go, but she has a very underdeveloped, childlike perspective on the things she wants to tackle.

I'm not gonna argue with anything Vela had written, pretty similar take to mine really

If the author develops more nuanced, patient and detailed situations then great. Certainly can't fault her for trying to do something a bit different or focus on characters rather than events. It just needed more than a superficial treatment.

Maybe not for Grem than Raiziel... but novella To Be Taught, If Fortunate, is down to 99p for the day.

It's by Becky Chambers...

The Builders have arrived!

What's happening in June??

acemuzzy wrote:

What's happening in June??

Would like to hear from uncle as to whether he’s definitely in or definitely out.  If he’s out we’ll need someone to swoop in and take the June slot.

It's the only other book I've received so far! It sounds interesting.

I’ve had a quick word with uncle and he’s decided not to pick next month’s book. So who would like to take the June slot? Whoever wants it will also need to pick a book ASAP so everyone participating has a fair chance to get hold of it.