The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

The first time I read this book, I thought it was pleasant, but there seemed to be something missing.

On second reading, I realized that the book is differently oriented, compared with most of the sf that I've read. I've been reading sf for well over 50 years, and generally speaking the point of it is that you enjoy the scenario, the plot, and the situations. The characters are there to implement the plot, and to serve as incidental decoration. If the characters are good, so much the better, but they're not the main point of the thing.

In this book, the characters and their interactions are the main point of the thing. The plot serves to provide a series of opportunities for them to interact in new ways. There's certainly a plot, but it's episodic, and secondary to the characters. Once I understood this, I appreciated the book better. Although I like some episodes better than others.

Broadly speaking, the scenario is not unusual. It's a future universe with interstellar travel, in which humans interact with various other intelligent species from other solar systems. But this one is somewhat original in its details, and carries conviction, being well imagined in some depth. The author isn't just making it up as she goes along, she probably has detailed background notes and knows more about her universe than she's telling us.

The book struck me as pleasant even at first reading, because the main characters are mostly likeable and good company; although there are also some characters that are less likeable and even malevolent. When she has time, the author tries to explain things from their point of view, to show why they behave in that way. I like that.

It comes as a relief to get through a novel in good company, after all the other novels out there in which the company is less congenial. The characters suffer serious problems at times (thus making a story of it), but on the whole this is a feel-good story with a positive attitude. The snag is that the likeable characters are rather too likeable to be completely plausible, giving me a slight sensation of watching a jolly children's television programme.

We have here a universe in which humans are not the Top Species: they're working their way up from the bottom. However, they're making progress, and are at the time of the story adequately respected by most other species. The other species are devised with varying degrees of ingenuity; the most interesting are the Sianat Pairs, who co-exist with a virus that gives them a unique ability but shortens their lifespan; and the Aeluons, who communicate with each other by rapidly changing the colours of their skin. Aeluons lack voices and need artificial talkboxes to communicate with other species.

Overall, this book is a good effort for a first novel, enjoyable and worth rereading. Full marks for world-building.

The story is divided quite sharply into separate chapters with distinct themes, almost like a connected series of short stories; that's not necessarily a fault, but most novels seem to flow more smoothly, somehow.

The characters seem slightly too cute. However, we come to know each of them in some detail, not just their personalities but their backgrounds and secrets and worries. This is not a story that concentrates on one protagonist: all members of the Wayfarer's crew are more or less equal protagonists, and are all given attention.