Paperback
English language
Published Dec. 25, 2018 by Hodder & Stoughton.
Centuries after the last humans left Earth, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, a place many are from but few outsiders have seen. Humanity has finally been accepted into the galactic community, but while this has opened doors for many, those who have not yet left for alien cities fear that their carefully cultivated way of life is under threat.
Centuries after sending colonies into space as insurance against Earth's collapse, humans have integrated into alien civilisation. But now what purpose do those colonies serve, and what happens to their distinctive communal culture? Good premise but not much plot, and a few too many characters.
People talk about the "Wayfarers series", but in most senses the books are quite unalike. One was a roadtrip story. One was about identity and bodies. This one is about sustainability, about a species finding its place, and visiting vs belonging (OK, so plenty of identity there at different levels, but in a different way to Orbit). They do have some things in common, apart from the universe they inhabit and a few characters. They are all relatively low-stakes stories: What's going on matters deeply to those involved, but most of the time they're not about to change the world. Certainly not save the world.
This book is... slices of life. It has lots of characters, which was hard to keep track of at first, and they don't all interact very strongly. It's effectively a series of vignettes looking into parts of life in the Exodus Fleet (a series of …
People talk about the "Wayfarers series", but in most senses the books are quite unalike. One was a roadtrip story. One was about identity and bodies. This one is about sustainability, about a species finding its place, and visiting vs belonging (OK, so plenty of identity there at different levels, but in a different way to Orbit). They do have some things in common, apart from the universe they inhabit and a few characters. They are all relatively low-stakes stories: What's going on matters deeply to those involved, but most of the time they're not about to change the world. Certainly not save the world.
This book is... slices of life. It has lots of characters, which was hard to keep track of at first, and they don't all interact very strongly. It's effectively a series of vignettes looking into parts of life in the Exodus Fleet (a series of generation ships upon which much of humanity embarked when Earth couldn't support them any more). Quite a lot of thought has gone into how things might work in an obviously-closed system, where what you have with you is all that you have for centuries. And because this is Chambers, as much thought has gone into the social implications as the technical.
Unlike the books that came before, although the stakes of the story are low, the scope of the backstory is gigantic. It's about the near-extinction of humanity, and then our species finding a place in the galaxy, seen through the eyes of normal folk. This, combined with the sustainability aspects that are meaningful for me, hit me quite hard. It was one of those books where every so often there was a gut punch, and I had to stop reading and reflect.
As with every book by Becky Chambers that I have read, I struggled in the beginning. The pacing is different in each of her books, the characters have loose links to past storylines at best, and I always need time to ease myself into the new perspectives that slowly develop.
But this book! Yes, it starts slow. But when the story finally takes off, when things start to converge, the payoff is well worth it.
I was smitten with the worldbuilding that was even more intricate and well thought-out than in previous books of the series. I loved the characters, the way they explore facets of the society they inhabit. And in the end, I enjoyed the way the story develops.
I also needed tissues, but that's me.
A little "meh", but the description of the Exodus Fleet is interesting and completes the fleshing of the Wayfarers universe.
I really enjoyed this. After the dip that book 2 represented (imo) this was the author roaring back into form. A gentle study of a place. A unique place. Told through some slice-of-life stories. The Earth died and the survivors took to the stars in ships made from the ruined cities. Then, they encountered a wider Galactic community. This book studies how that place fits into that community. I can definitely recommend this and the whole series.
"The guilt lingered, even so. Ghosts were imaginary, but hauntings were real."
Well, I didn't cry at this one, even though at the funeral I wanted to. It's amazing to me how Chambers just keeps piling people on people, building up history and widening the scope of her universe in each novel.
"Make sure people remember that a closed system is a closed system even when you can’t see the edges."
By the halfway point, I was totally hooked - being a little uncertain from the start made the joy all the sweeter, watching the records of these Spaceborn Few unfold. Morality stories, inter-species exchanges, appreciating what you have and who you are, moving on, letting go, getting old, growing up. It's all here, skillfully blended to provide a vivid, harmonious glimpse into a galaxy of possibilities and variety.
Very much worth buying if the other two appealed in the …
"The guilt lingered, even so. Ghosts were imaginary, but hauntings were real."
Well, I didn't cry at this one, even though at the funeral I wanted to. It's amazing to me how Chambers just keeps piling people on people, building up history and widening the scope of her universe in each novel.
"Make sure people remember that a closed system is a closed system even when you can’t see the edges."
By the halfway point, I was totally hooked - being a little uncertain from the start made the joy all the sweeter, watching the records of these Spaceborn Few unfold. Morality stories, inter-species exchanges, appreciating what you have and who you are, moving on, letting go, getting old, growing up. It's all here, skillfully blended to provide a vivid, harmonious glimpse into a galaxy of possibilities and variety.
Very much worth buying if the other two appealed in the slightest, and to be re-read one day as a whole trilogy, until more comes to engage, excite and contemplate in years to come. I hope!
