Book of the Month: To Be Taught if Fortunate

I read my book of the month this month on the plane out to Malaga, which is why I'm squeezing it between some posts about Malaga (yes, I'm not done yet!).

To Be Taught if Fortunate came in a bundle of books by Becky Chambers that Connor gave me. I read her first novel last year (it was Book of the Month last July) and have since read two more set in the same futureverse. I'm not sure where this book is meant to be set. It feels like it could be a prequel to her other works but it also functions fine as a standalone.

The story is a broadcast home to Earth by a long-range exploration team of astronauts. The book's title is part of an address included on the Voyager space probe. This team has been sent out by a crowdfunded humanitarian grassroots space agency, which felt like the most far-fetched part of the whole thing to be honest. 

What I like most about Becky Chambers' science-fiction is the careful consideration she gives to details like how waking up after being plugged into a machine would feel, and why you would want to wake up alone and not surrounded by your crew members. It all feels properly thought through and things like hibernation aren't just plot devices to get the characters into the action.

The crew experience some difficulties, but are never really in jeopardy as they explore the exo-planets they have been sent to survey. The psychological disconnect from Earth is very realistic. News messages are 14 years old when they arrive, and so they become meaningless. The astronauts switch off long before the broadcasts cease with no explanation. 

So the astronauts send a long message home outlining their activity. It's sent in hope of a reply but with low expectations. The conclusion is left very open and the story could go in any direction from where it's left off. I liked that ambiguity. 

Book of the Month: The long way to a small angry planet

I really enjoyed reading this book, the debut science fiction novel by Becky Chambers published a decade ago after the author used a crowdfunder to help her finish it. I picked a good time to read it. I'd just slogged my way through another science fiction book that was tedious and disappointing (and will not be appearing in one of these book of the month posts) so this was the perfect pick-me-up to restore my faith in science-fiction. As ever some mild spoilers may follow!

It's quite a simple story. A spaceship crew that constructs hyperspace lanes receives a government contract to travel deep into new territory and build one end of a new wormhole. Most of the book is about this journey to the small angry planet that is the new construction site. There are various stops and surprises along the way but eventually they get to their destination ready to carry out the work. And then things don't go according to plan.

I really like the idea of a motley crew trogging through space on a beat up old spaceship. It worked in the Final Architecture series by Adrian Tchaikovsky, it worked in The Expanse series, it worked on Firefly, Farscape and my favourite ship in Star Wars was always the Millennium Falcon. It's a trope that I enjoy. 

And Chambers' crew was a little bit different. It's an inter-species, majority-human crew. The alien races are decently drawn and have their own alien view of the universe. If anything it's the humans that are a bit stereotypical - from the ditzy, messy, super-smart, slightly ADHD mechanic, through to the newbie in the crew who acts as a foil for introducing all the other members. However, the humans are distant from Earth, which has succumbed to ecological failure. They are part of the 'Exodus' and that makes them a little bit different and alien too. 

One departure from other books like this is it's not a wild west novel set in Space. There are some violent and dangerous situations, but none of the crew carries or is particularly comfortable with guns. One encounter puts the crew in jeopardy but they negotiate their way out of it using their knowledge of how their alien aggressors think. I really liked that about the book. It doesn't just resort to shooting. "There are alternatives to fighting," to borrow a phrase from another franchise. 

And lots of things happen. All the characters have a range of personal challenges but they all get resolved quickly and it's on to the next weird encounter or problem that needs solving. Nothing gets dwelt on for too long and yet, still. the resolutions to issues are thoughtful and thought-provoking. There are insights into how organic intelligences interact with machine intelligences, comparative morality, reflections on whether warlike races deserve to survive, and how capitalism courts chaos often to the detriment of the many. (The whole wormhole entrance construction project has more cons than pros.)

I like books that make me think without making my head hurt. 

I noticed on the cover of this book that it has won an award for best series - and I liked it so much I asked for the series set as a birthday present. I'm very grateful to Connor for buying them for me! 

No doubt there will be more Book of the Month reviews set in this universe to follow!