The Long Game
Ratings41
Average rating3.6
An inquisitive life-form finds there’s more to existence than they ever dreamed in an imaginative short story by New York Times bestselling and Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author Ann Leckie.
On a far-off colony, humans tower over the local species who grow the plants they need. Narr keeps the workers in line—someone has to. But when Narr learns just how short-lived their species is, the little alien embarks on a big to find out why their people die and how to stop it. Stubborn and hopeful, Narr has a plan for the locals, for humans, and for the future.
Ann Leckie’s The Long Game is part of The Far Reaches, a collection of science-fiction stories that stretch the imagination and open the heart. They can be read or listened to in one sitting.
Series
Featured Series
6 primary books#4 in The Far Reaches
The Far Reaches is a 6-book series with 6 released primary works first released in 2023 with contributions by James S. A. Corey, Veronica Roth, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
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Popular Reviews
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I'm not entirely sure I understood this story.
The story illustrates a being who discovers its race once lived much longer before the arrival of humans and a new dust that changed the species' lifecycle. This being makes a deal with the humans that will extend its personal lifecycle in exchange for providing the humans what they want, the growth of more plants they like to harvest. Still, this being is determined to teach the next generations to read and write and to understand DNA so they can learn to take control of their own lives and make lives better for themselves without depending on the humans.
This story feels hopeless and hopeful at the same time. There is a sense of not giving up despite the odds. The hope that life in generations future, long after one is gone is a fight with fighting, a life worth living. Even if one never sees the rewards. I wonder if Leckie is trying to help us learn to consider “The Long Game”. To learn to value this world and the life that will live here long after we're gone.
Note that the book has made me think, I like it better!
Another good one.
Okay this whole series is a giant brain fuck. Making you question your existence and purpose. Good job on the existential crisis, guys.
