#RRSciFiMonth The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet Read-ALong Week No.1

For SciFi Month I’m  participating in a special Read-ALong of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. If you’re interested in joining in, visit the SF/F Read-ALong group for more information.

Banner by Anya @ On Starships and Dragonwings

Week 1 (Friday, November 6th): “Transit” to “The Job” – hosted by Over The Effing Rainbow
Week 2 (Friday, November 13th): “Port Coriol” to “Cricket” – hosted by Chris @ Galleywampus
Week 3 (Friday, November 20th): “The Last War” to “October 25” – hosted by Claire Rousseau
Week 4 (Friday, November 27th): “Heresy” to end – hosted by Over The Effing Rainbow

***Warning: there may be spoilers contained in the questions and answers.***

1. First things first, we get to meet the central cast – the crew of the Wayfarer. What are your first impressions of this crew? Which members, if any, stand out the most to you and why?

My answer is probably no surprise, but Kizzy stood out to me the most. The other members of the crew were interesting, but no doubt about it Kiz had enough personality for everyone and then some. But the question asks who stood out to me the most, not who my favorite character is so far — that honor would go to Dr. Chef, who is one cool alien dude.

2. Rosemary gets a rather entertaining physics lesson regarding space tunnelling from Kizzy, upon her first full day as a crew member. What are your thoughts on the science part of the fiction?

The science-y parts are making my head spin! I really tried to wrap my head around the finer details of tunneling and pinhole tugs, but I’m afraid I might have been just as confused as Rosemary. I’m really impressed by concept of tunneling through space to make a wormhole, though. It seems to build on the “folding space” theory and yet it also brings a fresh take, incorporating the buoys, cages, high-powered bores and all that advanced tech and equipment. Oh, and mustn’t forget Ohan, the Sianat pair.

3. We go into the story aware that Rosemary is hiding something from the rest of the crew, and that she’s gone to great lengths to do so. Any ideas/suspicions/speculation you’d like to share on what her secret might be?

It’s definitely got to be something to do with her family. From what we know so far, Rosemary comes from a rich, privileged family, and she probably lived a rather sheltered life before striking out on her own. I can only speculate right now, but I’m going to guess it has to do with some kind of corruption or scandal or some criminal activity that her family is involved with, which Rosemary wants no part of. But that also seems too predictable, so another part of me thinks it is likely something more unexpected.

4. Ashby scores a huge job – and a huge potential payout – for the Wayfarer, but it means possibly having to get mixed up in a violent civil war. What do you make of what we know so far about the Toremi?

I don’t think a civilization like the Toremi is going to suddenly play nice, just because one of their clans has reached a sort of agreement with the GC. There’s got to be something more to that. It could be the Toremi are trying to pull the wool over everyone’s eyes, or that one clan is going to be the target of all the others. Either way, the peace probably won’t last.