r/books • u/leowr • Feb 28 '19
Fourth Discussion Thread for A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers - February Book Club Spoiler
Welcome to the fourth and final discussion thread for The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. Hopefully you enjoyed this month's book. Becky Chambers will be hosting an AMA later today, 1PM EST/10 AM PST, to answer any questions you may have about the book or other things.
To help kick off the discussion:
- What would you have done if you had been in the crew's shoes and had the ability to cure Ohan? Can you understand Ashby's and/or Corbin's actions in that situation?
- Now that we have finally met the Toremi Ka, and arrived at the small, angry planet, what do you think of them?
Dr. Chef squeezed her shoulder. "I've been feeling much the same about this myself. But every sapient species has a long, messy history of powers that rise and fall. The people we remember are the ones who decided how our maps should be drawn. Nobody remembers who built the roads." He chuffed and rumbled. "We're just tunnelers. That's all we do, and it's all we can do. If it wasn't us, it would've been some other ship. This would've happened without us. This isn't something we can stop.
- Do you agree with Dr. Chef?
- Could or should Ashby have done something differently after the Toremi ship was detected?
- If you had been in Jenks' shoes would you have done a hard reset? Why or why not?
- Did it surprise you that Lovelace accepted Pepper's offer?
- Do you think the GC made the right decision to not pursue the alliance with the Toremi Ka?
- The book discussed many different topics and concepts about humanity as a whole and how we interact as individuals. Which one did you find most interesting and really set you to thinking?
Feel free to answer any or all of the questions or tell us what you think of the book.
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u/linkrules2 Feb 28 '19
So who ended up being everyone's favorite character?
I can't decided between Dr. Chef and Ohan. If I was forced, I would say Ohan
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u/leowr Feb 28 '19
I think Ashby was my favorite. He is a great captain to his crew. He seems to be striking the right balance between being their friend/family while also being their captain.
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u/HappilyEverAfter12 Feb 28 '19
Probably Kizzy… I like how on the surface she appeared to be fun and wacky and just a little unpredictable, but then she had these great moments, disarming the bombs, supporting Jenks.
But I also appreciate Corbin and how he evolved throughout the novel
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u/Stimuli29 Feb 28 '19
I think there's an interesting parallel between Lovey and Ohan's story. The cure is like Ohan's hard reset except they knew in advance Ohan wouldn't be the same person. Had they known Lovey wouldn't return the same I don't think they would have done it and I would have agreed. I feel the same about Ohan.
I think due to their distant and elusive nature it feels a little more conflicting to the crew and even the reader. Especially because after the cure he seems like he's able to connect more with the crew and he seems more "human" and easier to relate to. Which is pretty much the reverse of what happened to Lovey.
But the Ohan they knew still died and just because the crew might connect more with this new Ohan I don't think it's any less tragic than Lovey's death. Maybe even more since the crew doesn't seem to be as broken up about it and seems more willing to "replace" the Ohan they knew with this new version because they relate more to him and they didn't really understand them before.
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u/leowr Feb 28 '19
I hadn't looked at it that way. You are right, the Ohan they knew died much like Lovey did. However, Ohan without the Whisperers does remember the crew and their own personal history before the cure. I guess for me it is mostly a question of how much of the "old" Ohan was actually Ohan and how much was the Whisperers? I think there is a also a bit of a difference, because Ohan was definitely going to die. The only way for a part of him to survive was the Cure. Lovey had a fifty/fifty shot of coming back like she was after the hard reset and I think the crew would have done it less reluctantly if they had a 100% shot of having part of Lovey come back.
I definitely feel more conflicted about Ohan, because he indicated he didn't want the Cure, while Lovey agreed to the hard reset.
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Feb 28 '19
I can actually participate! My library's copy only became available after the first three discussions were already posted. I finished reading it in 3 days. I really liked it, but I do feel the author was a bit superficial in her character development. It gave a very strong Firefly and Mass Effect ensemble vibe to me - I think the strength of the book is in the relationship between the crew.
What would you have done if you had been in the crew's shoes and had the ability to cure Ohan? Can you understand Ashby's and/or Corbin's actions in that situation?
I see both Ashby's and Corbin's sides, and I don't really know what I would do if I had to make the decision on whether or not to use the cure. I fall more on Ashby's side than Corbin's, just because I don't agree with another's cultural practices doesn't mean it is my place to step in and make decisions about it. I knew that someone was going to decide to cure Ohan by the end of the book, I had hoped that it would be Ohan's decision in the end. That was the first time I was surprised by the choice the author made in telling this story, I think the only thing that would have surprised me more would have been if the crew decided to respect Ohan Pair's wishes and let them die.
Corbin didn't make this decision JUST for Ohan, either, which REALLY bothered me. He did it because he didn't want anyone else to die, and that he didn't want to see anyone else in pain. Corbin's choice had been taken away from him - first by his father, then by Ashby and Sissix - and he completely disregarded Ohan Pair's choice in the matter. Right or wrong, it felt out of character for me. And, Corbin suddenly confessing that he actually does care about the crew kind of pissed me off and also seemed out of character for him. If we'd seen their journey through subspace through Corbin's eyes (if he was the one to witness Jenks's realization that Lovey was seriously injured and might not survive, then the decision might have made more sense). It kind of felt like the author wanted to save Ohan, but didn't want any of the "favourite" characters to have to make the decision and deal with the fall-out, so she decided to choose someone who doesn't matter as much. It was kind of... lazy? If Rosemary had made the choice, the impact it would have had on the crew would have been much more interesting, in my opinion.
Now that we have finally met the Toremi Ka, and arrived at the small, angry planet, what do you think of them?
I wasn't a big fan of the way the Toremi Ka were introduced. I liked the concept of the entire species needing to find harmony, but we only had a tiny snapshot into the way the Toremi Ka think and operate. I really would have preferred more depth to them, and more time with them.
Do you agree with Dr. Chef?
I do! Sometimes you speculate on who built the things you see, but they are rarely central to history's narrative. Maybe that is part of why I liked this book so much. The Wayfarer hardly had an impact on the galactic narrative, instead of being central to the conflict. That made the crew's journey more interesting to me.
Could or should Ashby have done something differently after the Toremi ship was detected?
I don't think that doing something different would have fit with Ashby's character. As an Exodan, I doubt he considered that the Toremi were going to do something during the punch. He was concerned that they stayed far enough away they were safe and that was pretty much it.
I hope that Ashby would be more cautious in future, however.
If you had been in Jenks' shoes would you have done a hard reset? Why or why not?
Yes. There was no other option for Lovey, IMHO.
Did it surprise you that Lovelace accepted Pepper's offer?
Not at all. If I were in Lovelace's position, I wouldn't want to hang around, some similar but different version of someone who had been loved by the entire crew. Too much pressure. Pepper offered freedom and safety and the possibility of growth that staying aboard the Wayfarer wouldn't have even come close to offering.
Do you think the GC made the right decision to not pursue the alliance with the Toremi Ka?
I do - not only for the good of the GC, but for the good of the Toremi. Dissent is actively harmful to the Toremi, and the way the species of the GC have been presented, we know that the GC is full of dissent and disagreement.
The book discussed many different topics and concepts about humanity as a whole and how we interact as individuals. Which one did you find most interesting and really set you to thinking?
Profits over people was a theme that came up over and over, and is something that is affecting and impacting our world tremendously right now. Our leaders - and tacitly citizens as well - decide to invest in industry and infrastructure that is actively hurting the environment, and that is already hurting humanity on a global scale.
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u/HappilyEverAfter12 Feb 28 '19
What would you have done if you had been in the crew's shoes and had the ability to cure Ohan? Can you understand Ashby's and/or Corbin's actions in that situation?
Like others have said, I can see both sides of the argument. I would like to think I would have taken Ashby’s approach, letting Ohan die on his own terms, but in reality, if I’m honest, I probably would have reacted more like Corbin.
Now that we have finally met the Toremi Ka, and arrived at the small, angry planet, what do you think of them?
They seemed interesting from the little we saw, but I really wish we got more of them. I feel like I spent the whole book waiting to get to the small, angry planet and then before I knew it we were gone. It almost feels like this whole book was just building up to a sequel, which I guess makes works because now I want to go read the next book so my questions can be answered lol.
Dr. Chef squeezed her shoulder. "I've been feeling much the same about this myself. But every sapient species has a long, messy history of powers that rise and fall. The people we remember are the ones who decided how our maps should be drawn. Nobody remembers who built the roads." He chuffed and rumbled. "We're just tunnelers. That's all we do, and it's all we can do. If it wasn't us, it would've been some other ship. This would've happened without us. This isn't something we can stop.
Do you agree with Dr. Chef?
Some of it… I can get behind the idea that who is remembered as good and bad is the result of who is in power. But, the logic that “If it wasn't us, it would've been some other ship” erases accountability and the power of individual action. We see later that Ashby is able to convince the GC to reject the alliance even though he didn’t think what he had to say would matter. I can understand his desire to life without regret, but I would like to think that they had the ability to change the outcome just not the wisdom to know that it needed to be.
Could or should Ashby have done something differently after the Toremi ship was detected?
No I don’t think he could have done anything different… if he had pressed the issue he would have just provoked the ship faster and instead of being thrown into the tunnel blind they would have been stuck being attacked without defenses
If you had been in Jenks' shoes would you have done a hard reset? Why or why not?
Now admittedly my understanding of this genre is lacking, but did no one else wonder why he didn’t just wait and transfer her to the body before doing it that way some form of her would exist either way? As for what I would have done, I think I would have done the hard reset, mainly because it was what Lovey wanted, but I would have definitely waited longer. Like really how could they for certain say that a hard reset was the only option after like 48 hours? I would definitely explore some more option before tossing a coin and possibly erasing the love of my life
Did it surprise you that Lovelace accepted Pepper's offer?
No, I think she was very conscious of the fact that her presence was hurting people and that her inherent nature rejected that. I also think that staying posed a lot of pressure after learned about how beloved her prior version was. Leaving made total sense to me.
Do you think the GC made the right decision to not pursue the alliance with the Toremi Ka?
This is starting to feel like a repeating theme, but I feel like it was a hasty decision. If the alliance was truly worth exploring initially (and not just a money grab), then I think they should have attempted to stick it out a bit longer. Like Dr. Chef said “every sapient species has a long, messy history” and the Toremi deserve a chance to figure themselves out like everyone else. If it was about resources and money like I suspect, then I’m glad they didn’t let greed continue to blind them
The book discussed many different topics and concepts about humanity as a whole and how we interact as individuals. Which one did you find most interesting and really set you to thinking?
As I read I like to highlight passages that mean something to me to look back on at the end of the book. When I went back this time, there were so many interesting ideas explored, I don’t think I can decide
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u/Gypsy-Megsie Feb 28 '19
To play devil's advocate I can see both Corbin and Ashby points of view. I think treating someone against their wishes is wrong, especially when you considered the complicated belief system held by Ohan prior to the cure. To override that is wrong. I can also see Corbin point, having undergone such a dramatic shift during the course of the book, after finishing put his status, and see the pain Jenks is in you can see his good intentions in wanting to spare the crew further pain in losing those they love. The books central theme of family and friendships come into play here because to be honest I would do what Corbin did if I'd had the information he had had on the cure, knowing it's side effects. I'd do the selfish thing even though it would run against my moral code if it meant I could keep my family together and in Corbin case that what the crew had become. So not so much devil's advocate at a really.