To Be Taught If Fortunate
National Bestseller!
A Hugo and Locus Award Nominee!
“Extraordinary . . . A future sci-fi masterwork in a new and welcome tradition.” — Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat
A stand-alone science fiction novella from the award-winning, bestselling, critically-acclaimed author of the Wayfarers series.
At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in subzero temperatures, absorb radiation and convert it for food, and conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to journey to neighboring exoplanets long known to harbor life.
A team of these explorers, Ariadne O’Neill and her three crewmates, are hard at work in a planetary system fifteen light-years from Sol, on a mission of space exploration to ecologically survey four habitable worlds. But as Ariadne shifts through both form and time, the culture back on Earth has also been transformed. Faced with the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten those who have left, Ariadne begins to chronicle the story of the wonders and dangers of her exoplanet survey mission, in the hope that someone back home might still be listening.
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Community Reviews
This novella was supposed to last me until my trip down to my local indie book store on Saturday to pick up my new books. It did not. I read this in a day, mostly in a single evening.
And I don't even know what to say. I don't think I've ever felt this many things in this few pages. This was just beautiful.
The way that Becky Chambers so perfectly captures the human journey is beyond compare. The way she can so perfectly convey the subtle, nuanced, imperfect, complicated experiences of just - well just existing - left me crying, smiling, and staring out the bedroom window at the shadow of a birch tree moving with the late August night time wind for hours after I finished.
It's the story of four astronauts who leave earth to explore 4 exoplanets. In a microcosm of 135 pages, Chambers captures so much of the love, desire, joy, sorrow... the anxiety, the loneliness and the soft comfort of being surrounded by those you love.... so many facets of the human journey told in such a sympathetic way. No, not told, "shared". This story is shared with you, not told to you.
No spoilers, but page 108 was a moment in the story that broke me in a way I'm not sure I'll ever get over completely. And I don't think I want to. It was one of those moments in a story that changed me as the reader irrecoverably. "All I knew was that one of my options was easy. So easy"
If you've read this book, first "hug"
Second, how long did it take you to recover? Am I going to be okay?
Third, regarding the question at the end of the book: yes or now?
I choose "yes". That's not an easy yes. And the more you dwell on it the harder that "yes" is. But still, I choose yes.
And if you haven't read this book, you really really should. Go read it, and then come back here for a hug
And I don't even know what to say. I don't think I've ever felt this many things in this few pages. This was just beautiful.
The way that Becky Chambers so perfectly captures the human journey is beyond compare. The way she can so perfectly convey the subtle, nuanced, imperfect, complicated experiences of just - well just existing - left me crying, smiling, and staring out the bedroom window at the shadow of a birch tree moving with the late August night time wind for hours after I finished.
It's the story of four astronauts who leave earth to explore 4 exoplanets. In a microcosm of 135 pages, Chambers captures so much of the love, desire, joy, sorrow... the anxiety, the loneliness and the soft comfort of being surrounded by those you love.... so many facets of the human journey told in such a sympathetic way. No, not told, "shared". This story is shared with you, not told to you.
No spoilers, but page 108 was a moment in the story that broke me in a way I'm not sure I'll ever get over completely. And I don't think I want to. It was one of those moments in a story that changed me as the reader irrecoverably. "All I knew was that one of my options was easy. So easy"
If you've read this book, first "hug"
Second, how long did it take you to recover? Am I going to be okay?
Third, regarding the question at the end of the book: yes or now?
I choose "yes". That's not an easy yes. And the more you dwell on it the harder that "yes" is. But still, I choose yes.
And if you haven't read this book, you really really should. Go read it, and then come back here for a hug
As a reader who wants a deep emotional connection to a story, To Be Taught, If Fortunate was a pretty tough read, especially compared to how much I absolutely loved Project Hail Mary. The clinical descriptions throughout the story reminded me of a dry lecture that desperately needed a narrative anchor to make it truly exciting. The logbook format itself wasn't the issue as I've read many books in that format that portrayed intense emotion well enough. Though this is purely due to personal preference, so please keep that in mind as i go on.
I appreciated that the ecosystems were differing and unique, as well as the use of somaforming to be adapted to whichever planet they were visiting. I also enjoyed that they were so careful as to not disrupt each ecosystem they studied. However, for me, the explanation of evolutionary theories in this story felt flat because the science wasn't tied to an active, moving plot. I liked the portion of the story that they spent stuck on the planet Opera because it actually brought out real, raw emotions from the crew compared to Mirabilis, though i would have preferred more in depth inner dialogue about it all outside of surface level observation. For me it lacks that compelling inner dialogue, leaving potentially tense situations feeling way more flat than they should have been. Also, It is incredibly hard to care about the crew or build a connection to them when the focus stays entirely on the technical side of the mission. I could see the author may have just been portraying a calm, healthy familial dynamic, but to me it seemed as though they were all dealing with their problems alone without talking about them. It felt isolating.
This lack of deep connection carried right into the climax, making it feel flat. The text acts as though they are leaving their fate up to a response from Earth, but technically, their decision is to turn their back on Earth to keep all of their research and to discover more, which is an understandable choice, but because the book doesn't describe the deep human emotion or conversations behind this massive choice, the open-ended conclusion just felt completely empty to me.
This is a quiet, academic thought experiment with other subtle moving parts. As much as it was an interesting read, it may not have been my cup of tea and that's totally ok.
To Be Taught, If Fortunate is a short book, but it left a massive impact. Becky Chambers’ writing is both poetic and thoughtful, balancing the technical side of science fiction with deep humanity.
This story follows a small group of explorers traveling beyond Earth, and it doesn’t shy away from asking the big questions: Why do we explore? What do we hope to gain? And what does it mean if the answer is “nothing but knowledge”?
I was struck by how beautifully Chambers captured the mix of wonder and isolation that comes with deep space travel. The world-building felt realistic, grounded in science but never dry. And the characters carried so much heart that I found myself completely immersed in their journey.
The ending was emotional and definitive, the kind that leaves you sitting in silence once it’s over. It was bittersweet, but also incredibly fitting for the themes of the story.
My favorite passage sums it up perfectly:
“We have found nothing you can sell. We have found nothing you can put to practical use. We have found no worlds that could be easily or ethically settled, were that end desired. We have satisfied nothing but curiosity, gained nothing but knowledge. To me, those are the noblest goals.”
This story follows a small group of explorers traveling beyond Earth, and it doesn’t shy away from asking the big questions: Why do we explore? What do we hope to gain? And what does it mean if the answer is “nothing but knowledge”?
I was struck by how beautifully Chambers captured the mix of wonder and isolation that comes with deep space travel. The world-building felt realistic, grounded in science but never dry. And the characters carried so much heart that I found myself completely immersed in their journey.
The ending was emotional and definitive, the kind that leaves you sitting in silence once it’s over. It was bittersweet, but also incredibly fitting for the themes of the story.
My favorite passage sums it up perfectly:
“We have found nothing you can sell. We have found nothing you can put to practical use. We have found no worlds that could be easily or ethically settled, were that end desired. We have satisfied nothing but curiosity, gained nothing but knowledge. To me, those are the noblest goals.”
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