Becky Chambers (1) (1985–)

This is my second favorite book in the Wayfarers series, but like the rest of books in the series it is super low-key and spends too little time on the parts of the universe that actually interest me. But, hey, at least this one has a plot, even if it is just a mash-up of Breakfast Club and Come From Away.

Pleasant aliens share a mostly pleasant time stranded at a space truck stop, experiencing one brief brush with danger but mostly growing as individuals through communication, interaction and empathy.

It's all just so . . . nice.

(Side note: Thank you to my wife for reading this to me over the last month while I cooked and drove.)… (mer)

The writing was impeccable. The creatures, scenery and the overall atmosphere of the world was quite bland though. It felt like a second hand abridged version of Farscape. Everything felt rushed and and at times sterile. I wanted to care about the Galactic Commons, the political landscape of the various planets and everything in between,but I couldn't. The pacing was ridiculously fast. So fast in fact that I could not keep up with the constant dumps of information/exposition and the ever-changing viewpoints for each chapter. It was hard establishing any sort of connection with any of the characters because everyone had a story to tell and not enough time to fully flesh them out into something meaningful. The entire story felt like a collection of false starts that were haphazardly glued together to explain why this crew existed. Unfortunately I did not care that much for the crew in the end after all.… (mer)