#RRSciFiMonth The Long Way to A Small Angry Planet Read-Along Week No.3

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. There is a lot of focus on some of the different alien races in this section, from Dr Chef recounting the story of his people’s decline and Sissix introducing Rosemary to her families, to the surprise visit from the Aeluons and the much less welcome search by the Quelin. What are your thoughts on the various beliefs systems we encounter? Does anything specific pique your interest more than the rest?

It’s definitely interesting to see the differences in the alien cultures. Dr. Chef’s story is a very unsettling reminder of that humans could have easily gone down that same route of violence and self-destruction. I thought it very appropriate that he was sharing his memories with Rosemary, especially given the circumstances of her own father. One point Rosemary brought up really stuck with me, though: the fact that Dr. Chef’s people fought among themselves in a very personal war, and each side knew the costs and experienced their own losses. Rosemary’s father on the other hand sold weapons from afar, without having to sacrifice anything of his own. I’m not sure if this speaks more about the callousness of some humans or their ignorance; one hopes that if Rosemary’s father had been forced to witness firsthand the destruction and death in the war he fueled, he might have reconsidered his decisions.

On to happier things, I really enjoyed the scene where Sissix brought Rosemary and Ashby down to meet her family. What can I say, but her species’ customs are fascinating. They are like the opposite of Vulcans. In fact, to Sixxix, we all must seem like Spocks.

I really wish we’d gotten more of Aeluon and Quelin cultures though! To be honest, I’m still a bit mystified as to why the relationship between Ashby and Pei would be so taboo to the Aeluons. An explanation was given earlier on in the book, but I’m not sure I find it all that convincing; watching Pei and her crew act so affably towards the the Wayfarer gang, I can’t really imagine the Aeluon holding such views in response to relations with other species. (By the way, I also have to add: I find it funny how the entire galaxy finds the Aeluons beautiful. They actually sound pretty creepy according to their descriptions, but that might just be me! I guess they are like the Asari from Mass Effect.)

2. Ashby gets the chance to give Pei a tour of his ship and introduce her to his crew, meanwhile Jenks and Lovey decide not to risk transferring the AI into a body just yet, and Rosemary initiates a relationship of sorts with Sissix. Were you happy to see any of these developments, or not so fussed?

Ah, I felt so bad for Ashby and Pei. I just wanted to yell, JUST KISS DAMMIT WHO CARES WHAT EVERYONE THINKS! But I guess you have to some forbidden love to spice things up. Speaking of which, I actually found myself sighing with relief that Jenks decided to forgo the plan with Lovey and the body kit. There would have been way too many complications, and I had a feeling that if they’d gone ahead with it, Ashby would have forced them to leave the ship, as reluctant as he would have been to do it. We saw with the Quelin what could happen if someone was caught breaking intergalactic law. It’s just too much risk for the Wayfarer. Plus, Jenks’ reasoning not to do it makes perfect sense. I’d rather see them both safe.

As for Rosemary and Sissix, I love their new “arrangement”! I couldn’t have been happier with this turn of events. To tell the truth, if it had been me on the Wayfarer I would have jumped Sissix’s bones the very first week. Sissix is just such a kind, gentle and open soul; it doesn’t matter what gender or alien species you are, it’s a sexy trait and I’m really attracted to that.

3. Cloning technology exists and is used in many sci-fi universes, but the GC does not look kindly on it and it is abomination to the Quelin. Did the reveal of Corbin’s nature change your view of the character?

A jerk is still a jerk even if he’s a clone, so my opinion of his personality hasn’t really changed all that much. Now we have some answers as to why he is the way he is, though–even if I don’t entirely believe it should excuse his rude behavior. But I have to admit, the whole fiasco with the Quelin made me feel pretty angry at how he was abused and humiliated. Even a jerk doesn’t deserve that kind of treatment.

I also liked how the whole crew came together to save Corbin (I guess it’s one of those “He may be an asshole, but he’s our asshole!” kind of situations.) In truth, I’m also glad this plot twist happened so that I can finally relax, because up until this point I’ve been pinning Corbin down as a villain, just waiting for the moment he betrays the Wayfarer some way or another. I mean, not that it still couldn’t happen that way, but it’s much less likely now.

About time that Corbin got to play a bigger role in this book too. Up until this point, he’d always been relegated to the backseat. When I was answering last week’s questions, I’d actually forgotten his name.

4. Each chapter told a different and fairly self-contained story, without any big cliffhangers from one to the next. How did you feel about the pacing of the story so far? Are you satisfied with how long the long journey is taking or are you impatient for the crew to finally get to their destination and do some tunneling?

I’m really glad this question was asked because it’s something I’ve been wondering, and I’m curious to see if I’m the only one who feels this way. As much I I’ve been enjoying this book, I’m definitely ready for things in the book to move on from “The Long Way” and get going to the part involving “A Small Angry Planet.” I can’t deny I’m feeling a bit antsy, and this sensation has been nagging at me since about a third of the way through the novel. I’m quite anxious for the crew to get tunneling, and to see what all this fuss with the Toremi is about.

I think I would have been more bothered though, if I hadn’t noticed the term “episodic” in the book’s description some time last week. It made me wonder if the author hadn’t written this novel in a serial format of some sort, imagining it akin to a series of short stories, or something that could unfold like a TV show? Not that I don’t want to see things get moving along, because I do! But basically, once I realized that the style and structure could be by design, I was able to understand the laid-back pacing a bit more.