Review | A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

A Closed and Common Orbit

by Becky Chambers

My Rating:

Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who's determined to help her learn and grow.

Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

Check out my review of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet here!

Considering The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is one of my favourite books of all time, I'm a little ashamed it's taken me quite this long to get to A Closed and Common Orbit. If you haven't read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet yet and you're planning to, I advise you to stop reading this review now! I try to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but I don't think you should go near A Closed and Common Orbit at all if you've yet to read the first book.

It was lovely to be back in this world, in this universe I fell in love with in the first book, and stepping back into it felt like stepping into a place that restores my faith in humanity. Unfortunately I didn't love this one as much as I loved the first one, but I also wasn't expecting to; The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is one of those rare books that's simply perfect.

When I read the blurb for A Closed and Common Orbit I predicted that I'd find Lovelace's story much more interesting than Pepper's, but it actually turned out to be the other way around. That's not to say that I didn't find Lovelace's chapters interesting because I really did; as I expected, Chambers' exploration of AIs was fantastic throughout the novel, but while I enjoyed those particular parts of Lovelace's chapters and completely empathised with her frustration at being trapped in a body she felt she wasn't suited for, Lovelace just didn't grow on me in the same way that Pepper did.

I'm not sure I can accurately pinpoint what it was about Pepper that made me so fond of her. We discover how much crap the poor woman went through as a child, so I found something really rewarding in watching her overcome all that hardship with the help of a woman called Owl who may have been my favourite character in the book. The relationship between the two of them was heart-warming, and while it became just the slightest bit saccharine near the end of the novel I didn't mind; I needed to read something nice, something hopeful, and though this book isn't hopeful in the same way The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is, it's still lovely.

It would be unfair to compare another book, even a book set in the same universe, with A Closed and Common Orbit. The two books are such different stories - A Closed and Common Orbit is a much more confined, secretive story, as the title suggests - that it's impossible to truly compare them. Chambers excels at quiet, kind science fiction, and I enjoyed learning more about AIs and Aeluons in this book. I can't wait to return to this universe for a third time, and will happily gobble up whatever Chambers writes.

This Week in Books | 23/11/16

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

Now: I'm a little behind on my Non-Fiction November and Native American November reading, though I'm pleased that I have actually been reading this month, and right now I'm reading Thomas King's The Inconvenient Indian which I'm really enjoying so far. I'm hoping I can complete my Non-Fiction November reading this month, even if I end up reading some slightly different books to my original TBR. This one shouldn't take me too long to finish, though; it's really easy to read even though the topic is often very upsetting.

Then: I read my very first Donoghue, her latest novel, The Wonder. I enjoyed it but I still haven't decided how I feel about it completely, I think I may have to mull it over a little. Look out for my review!

Next: I still haven't read A Closed and Common Orbit which is ridiculous considering The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is one of my favourite books of all time. I'm planning to pick it up soon, though!

What are you reading?

Second Novels I Can't Wait For!

I never used to be much of an author follower. When I was younger the only author whose work I'd consciously seek out was Jacqueline Wilson, and while I've often read books by the same author, whether they're in the same series or not, I never used to be too interested in checking out an author's backlist. I don't know why - maybe for no other reason than that there are so many authors in the world I want to read as many as I can, or maybe for no reason at all. Maybe I just never used to notice.

Now, though, I'm a lot more eager to seek out an author's other work if I enjoyed one of their novels. Last year I read four debut novels that I adored and all four authors have a second novel coming out this year, three of which I've already pre-ordered and I'm eagerly anticipating, so I thought I'd share them with you for no other reason than that I think these authors deserve attention.

Hannah Kent's 2013 debut, Burial Rites, was the first book I read last year and it was exquisite. Emotional and haunting, Burial Rites is a fictionalised account of the last months of Agnes Magnúsdóttir, the last woman to be executed in Iceland. It's historical fiction at its best, and if Hannah Kent can write so fantastically for her debut I can't wait to see what awaits in her second novel. Kent recently announced that her second novel, The Good People, will be released in October; it's more historical fiction, this time set in 19th century Ireland with the possibility of some Changeling folklore. I can't wait! I don't think it's actually coming out in the UK until 2017, but I'm going to try and get my hands on a copy this year if I can because I want it in my life. Check out my review of Burial Rites here.

If you were following my blog last year then you probably got sick of me talking about Silvia Moreno-Garcia, but when I enjoy a novel as much as I enjoyed her 2015 debut, Signal to Noise, I have to rave about it. Moreno-Garcia is also releasing her second novel in October, Certain Dark Things, and I'm so excited to get my hands on it! Also set in Mexico City, it features drug lord vampires. I'm sold. Check out my review of Signal to Noise here.

Published in 2014, Jessie Burton's debut, The Miniaturist, basically took over the publishing world and it's no surprise why. Like Burial Rites, The Miniaturist is historical fiction written so beautifully it's hard to believe it's Burton's first novel. Thankfully her second novel, The Muse, is coming out at the end of this month, so I don't have to wait quite as long for it! The Muse is also historical fiction, set in England in the '60s and Spain in the '30s - I listened to Burton read a couple of extracts from it here and I'm so looking forward to reading it. Check out my review of The Miniaturist here.

Becky Chambers' debut, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, was another of my favourite reads of 2015, and easily one of my favourite books of all time. It's definitely my favourite sci-fi book - it's the kind of sci-fi I've always wanted. In October Chambers is releasing A Closed and Common Orbit, which is set in the same universe as The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet but isn't a direct sequel, and I'm hoping to love it just as much. Check out my review of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet here.

Are you looking forward to any of these releases?