The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

I should not have liked this book.
I read for enjoyment and what I enjoy is mostly science fiction and adventure.
In high school, it seemed that I was supposed to read books so I could write an insightful book report.
And a lot of the required books where just about the characters, their relationships and inner feelings.
Often the plot was limited to some character trying to figure out how to get the proper hat to wear to the ball.
Fortunately, starting in grade school, I discovered books like the Danny Dunn series and later, the Rick Brant series.
Throw in a heaping helping of Heinlein, Asimov and Clarke and I loved reading already before
my teachers tried to take the fun out out of it.
Now to this book.
It was everything I didn't like about literature.
But I loved it!
The author spend a long time telling us about the characters, their cultures and feelings
but along the way, there is a lot of world building, adventure and serious science fiction.
Very sneaky but it worked and I enjoyed this book very much.