A Closed and Common Orbit: Wayfarers 2 (Wayfarers, #2)

by Becky Chambers

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 HUGO AWARD AND THE ARTHUR C CLARKE AWARD

'Chambers is simply an exceptional talent' Tor.com

**Winner of the 2017 Prix Julia-Verlanger**

The stand-alone sequel to the award-winning The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

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 to start over in a synthetic body, in a world where her kind are illegal. She's never felt so alone.

But she's not alone, not really. Pepper, one of the engineers who risked life and limb to reinstall Lovelace, is determined to help her adjust to her new world. Because Pepper knows a thing or two about starting over.

Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that, huge as the galaxy may be, it's anything but empty.

PRAISE FOR THE WAYFARERS

'Never less than deeply involving' DAILY MAIL

'Explores the quieter side of sci-fi while still wowing us with daring leaps of imagination' iBOOKS

'So much fun to read' HEAT

'Warm, engaging, properly science-fictional, A Closed and Common Orbit is a very likable novel indeed'GUARDIAN

'The most fun that I've had with a novel in a long, long time' iO9

• ISBN10: 1473621437
• ISBN13: 9781473621435
• Publish Date: 20 October 2016
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 29 March 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
• Imprint: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

I really loved the style of this book, I liked it more than the first book, I think because I felt more of a connection with the characters. I absolutely loved jumping between Little Jane's story and Sidra's story and seeing how they connected.

This was a character driven story and I usually like a plot driven story more, but this was written really well and had me captivated with every chapter.

I'm a little nervous to pick up the third book since it's obviosuly a companion novel about characters we haven't really met yet. I felt like with the way book one ended that there's more story to tell from that book, so I kind of hope we get to see it in the next one? However, considering how little of the first book was in this book, I actually doubt it.

Either way, I highly recommend this book! Even if you didn't like the first book, because I felt like this was a very different style.

[dutchfoodie]

I liked this one even better than the first, again because of the believable world-building, but also for the excellent character Chambers has created.

[Joséphine]

Initial thoughts: I didn't think it was possible but A Closed and Common Orbit was even slower than The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

There were two parallel running storylines, one of Lovelace in the present, and one of Pepper in the past. Personally, I cared much more about Lovelace and how as an AI, she came to integrate herself among sentient beings. Pepper's backstory made me zone out every now and then, although I could see why the author made this creative choice.

While alternating plot lines belong to my least favourite storytelling devices, I appreciated the comparisons that became evident between humanity and AI. In a book club setting, I imagine that would give rise to hours and hours of intellectual discourse.

In any case, I tremendously enjoyed the interactions among the various species and the ideas of acceptance despite differences. I also liked seeing how they all adapted to one another. These outweighed some of my misgivings because they were so well thought out with great attention to the smallest details.

_________

Note: I received a finished copy from a local distributor in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

[sarahjay]

I took forever to read this, but I don't regret it. I loved this so much and I'm sad it's over.

[Heather]

This is the sequel to The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. If you haven't read that book this review might be a little spoilery.

At the end of the book, the Artificial Intelligence, Lovelace, that runs the spaceship is put into a body kit to be transferred off of the ship. For Lovelace this is a huge adjustment. She is used to monitoring the vastness of space. She is used to having cameras in all the rooms of the ship. She is used to having a constant flow of information from the data stream that she is hooked into. Now she sees only through her eyes. She doesn't know the answer to any question that she is asked. She feels fragile and vulnerable.

She is taken in by Pepper, an engineer that helped with her transfer. Pepper takes her to her home and tries to teach her how to respond to the world. They have to make her look natural. Putting an A.I. in a body kit is illegal.

The themes of this book are identity and belonging. How do you go about making your own identity? How do you decide where you belong?

I did not like this book as much as the first one. I think that is because Long Way was one of my best books of 2016 and this one had a lot to live up too. I missed the larger cast of all types of species in that book. This novel is much smaller in scope. It focuses on Lovelace's life with Pepper and Pepper's past as an escaped slave child being raised by an A.I. I would still recommend this book. It is not strictly necessary to have read the first one but it is recommended. So much world building was done in the first book that this book assumes that you already know.

I would still recommend this to anyone who loves sci fi and enjoyed the first book.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story