The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, 1)
National Bestseller!
The acclaimed modern science fiction masterpiece, Hugo Award winner for Best Series!
Follow a motley crew on an exciting journey through space--and one adventurous young explorer who discovers the meaning of family in the far reaches of the universe--in this light-hearted debut space opera from a rising sci-fi star.
Rosemary Harper doesn't expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she's never met anyone remotely like the ship's diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.
Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy--exactly what Rosemary wants. It's also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn't part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary's got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs--an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn't necessarily the worst thing in the universe.
BUY THE BOOK
These clubs recently read this book...
Community Reviews
A Psalm for the Wild-Built is one of my favorite books of all time, and yet it took me a while to finally pick this up. Like a Psalm for the Wild-Built, the sci-fi setting is both a compelling atmosphere and a mechanism for philosophical discussion. The descriptions of how non-human sentient species approach the world and each other will often lead the presumably human reader to reconsider aspects of our own culture in comparison.
The book is also an excellent example of a found family almost slice-of-life story with a diverse cast of characters dealing with a variety of circumstances with a variety of stakes. It's like Firefly, but with more focus on the "small stuff" and interpersonal relationships. The emotional experience of the characters is always at the core of the more action-heavy sequences, which I appreciated. I did cry at one point, so I certainly got invested in this crew.
The audiobook narrator wasn't my favorite, but she did well enough covering a variety of voices.
Content Warnings:
Moderate: Death, Grief, and Violence
Minor: War, Sexual content, Drug use, Xenophobia, Genocide, Medical content, and Terminal illness
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.