Book Review:

The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet

by

Becky Chambers

Genre: Science fiction

Rating: A

Year published: 2014

Date finished: September 4, 2016

On the cover of The Long Way to a Small Planet there is a two word quote from Ann Leckie (author of Ancillary Justice and other books) it says

 Great fun!

Indeed it is. I might describe this book as good new-fashioned space opera. I know, the phrase is good old-fashioned XXXX but this book isn't old fashioned at all.  The protagonist has run away from home (old) but .... is female (newish) and is an adult (now that's different!).  She joins a spaceship crew (kind of old) but ... the crew is multi-species (new) and the aliens are interesting!


The spaceship is called Wayfarer and it makes tunnels in space to allow interplanetary travel.  The captain is Ashby Santoso. He's human and is a good man. He's perhaps the most (or only) stereotypical character in the book. His technicians are Kizzy - an irrepressible woman who seems like a teenager - and Jenks - an adult human who is very, very short and is in love with Lovelace who is the ship's computer. The doctor and chef is known as Dr. Chef because his real name is a huge stream of music that is possible because his species has multiple throats. The pilot, Sissix, is reptilian.

There are lots of aliens and, unlike old-fashioned space opera, they don't fall into "evil" and "good" - they are all complex. The plot is pretty straightforward, it's well done and keeps the pages turning, but it's the characters that really kept me interested.

There are some attempts at higher level meaning in The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet and these aren't bad, but the author is at her best when she sticks to the fun and the story. I am glad that The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is the first book in a series and amazed that it is the first novel by Becky Chambers. She funded the novel via Kickstarter. She lives in California with her spouse.  Her Twitter handle is  @beckysaysrawr .
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Interesting words: Obnubilate

Definition:  Obnubilate is a verb meaning "to cloud over" or "obscure".

Pronunciation: Rhymes with rob tube eh late. 

Origin: According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, "obnubilate" comes from Latin obnuliare meaning "to cover with clouds or fog".

Why use it? Obnubilate is just a great sounding word, I think. Much better than its synonyms. Plus, "obscure" is an adjective AND a verb, which can be confusing. And "becloud" doesn't seem like a real word, even though it is.  Sometimes, Latinate words are wonderful to use; one of the joys of English is that we can often choose between words with different origins. "Cloud" for instance, comes from Old English. It's a short word. Obnubilate sounds grander.

Examples: 

There is here fine criticism, classic wit, poetic dreaming, and some grains of sound doctrine, but so obnubilated with the fumes of German metaphysics, that we become giddy.   -  from a book review in The Princeton Review about a book by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (I got this from World Wide Words which has some other examples too).

 

What are you reading?

September 3, 2016

Books 

• Volume 10 of A History of Western Philosophy: The Twentieth Century to Wittgenstein and Sartre by W. T. Jones.  I haven't read the first 9 volumes; I found this one in a used book store.  But I like Jones approach and he makes things clear.  I may pick up the other volumes when I can.  Now on page 41.
• The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers.  Good new fashioned space opera.  That is, all the wonders of space opera plus interesting aliens, well developed characters (some of them female!).  Lots of fun. Now on page 360
• Frederick the Great: King of Prussia by Tim Blanning.  A very good bio of a remarkable ruler, but I wish there were more maps (I often wish this!).  p. 205.
• Tips on Cardplay by Mike Lawrence.  Lawrence is one of the best bridge writers alive.  Play is the worst part of my game.  This book also includes some tips on defense. p. 73.
• Google Blogger for Dummies by Susan Gunelius.  All about Google Blogger!  I like it. But I'm still learning. p. 91.
• Modernity and its Discontents  by Steven B. Smith.  About the Enlightenment and counter Enlightenment and how to have the best of both.  About 19% through (on my Kindle, no page numbers).
• Perdido Street Station  by China Mievelle.  High level science fiction. This one is a bit on hold.  Page 22.
• Overcoming Anxiety and Depression on the Autism Spectrum by Lee Wilkinson.  Takes a cognitive behavioral approach.  Not my favorite approach, but it summarizes the method well.  16% through (no page numbers on my Kindle). 

Periodicals

• The New York Times - I read the front section every day (although I am sometimes behind!), Science Times on Tuesdays, parts of the Food section on Wednesdays and the Book Review and Magazine on Sundays
• The Economist  - Nothing beats it for coverage of world news.
• New York Review of Books - Because I love books
• Mother Jones - Because it aligns with my views.
• The ACBL Bridge Bulletin  - I like bridge
•  Bridge World -  I like bridge.  This is mostly too advanced for me, but I like the Master Solvers' Club
• Foreign Affiars  - Good in-depth articles.
• Various professional publications

Welcome to my blog

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog.  This, as you can tell, is my very first post and this is my very first blog.

I plan to post several types of posts:

1. What are you reading?   -  I hope to post this once a week.  I will list what I am reading with some brief notes and invite you to tell me what you are reading in the comments.
2. Book reviews of books I like. - When I finish a book that I like, I will review it. I will also review some books I've liked in the past.  I will not write negative reviews because, really, what's the point of that?
3. Interesting words -  I will post definitions and thoughts about interesting words.  This might be unusual words or just words I find interesting for some reason.  But I will not be writing about highly technical words.  These are words you might read or even use!
4. Quotations - Of course, you can browse a book of quotations.  But I'll write about the origin of the quotation, the meaning of it to me, connections to other things and so on.

In addition, I may sometimes put in one of my original poems or something else.

I hope you enjoy it!

Feel free to comment.