Früher hatte Lovelace ihre Augen und Ohren überall. Als KI-System der Wayfarer bekam sie alles mit, was auf ihrem Raumschiff passierte, und sie sorgte für das Wohlbefinden der Crew, für die Lovelace immer mehr eine Freundin war als nur ein System.
Dann kam der totale Systemausfall. Ihre Crew sah nur eine Möglichkeit, Lovelace zu retten: ein Reboot all ihrer Systeme. Als sie aufwacht, ist sie in einem Bodykit gefangen, eingeschränkt auf modifizierte menschliche Körperfunktionen - in einer Gesellschaft, in der eine solche Umwandlung verboten ist. Doch Lovelace ist nicht allein: Pepper, eine chaotische Technikerin, die ihr Leben riskiert hat, um die künstliche Intelligenz zu retten, hilft Lovelace, ihren Platz in der Welt zu finden. Denn Pepper weiß selbst nur zu genau, wie es ist, ganz auf sich allein gestellt zu sein und das Universum neu kennenzulernen…
Loved the concept, but the story kept hitting the same plot beats. I liked it overall, but it still felt a little disappointing coming off of the first Wayfarer book.
Le tome 2 des Voyageurs. Du coup je m’attendais à retrouver l'équipage du tome 1. Pas du tout ! Par contre l'histoire est centrée sur des personnages déjà présent dans le tome 1. L'histoire est la quête d'identité et de sens de deux personnes, l'une humaine et l'autre IA. Comme le premier tome c'est bien écrit, et on attend qu'une chose : lire le tome 3 !
Thoroughly enjoyed the worldbuilding and the story, but I felt like I had to do the work to relate to the characters. They both start off at points in their lives that are unique, interesting - and hard to wrap my head around. The author does a great job giving them distinct voices and letting them grow over time, but I just found them too far removed to really get into the book.
The secondary characters, however! I really loved reading about them from the perspectives of the protagonists, and as always, the interactions are wonderfully crafted.
Chambers is a great author and I love immersing myself into her universes.
i enjoyed A Closed and Common Orbit even more than the prequel one. (which has not enough story to keep up--for my taste at least) i think of it as a kind of double bildungsroman, with two developing characters between which the novel is split.
Chambers connects her scifi(-world) convincingly and smoothly with the problems most of us are facing and can relate to. it's how scifi should comment the present. and although the focus is always on the personalities, there are also a lot of social themes and thoughts.
a lot of readers mention the caring characters throughout the story, which make it so satisfactional to follow. I can support that! but it would be sad to think, it's just another form of escapism, a tweak to the genre. this is a shortcoming of understanding the themes Chambers is working on.
the real impact makes Chambers skill in building …
i enjoyed A Closed and Common Orbit even more than the prequel one. (which has not enough story to keep up--for my taste at least) i think of it as a kind of double bildungsroman, with two developing characters between which the novel is split.
Chambers connects her scifi(-world) convincingly and smoothly with the problems most of us are facing and can relate to. it's how scifi should comment the present. and although the focus is always on the personalities, there are also a lot of social themes and thoughts.
a lot of readers mention the caring characters throughout the story, which make it so satisfactional to follow. I can support that! but it would be sad to think, it's just another form of escapism, a tweak to the genre. this is a shortcoming of understanding the themes Chambers is working on.
the real impact makes Chambers skill in building up and writing emotional scenes. and because i was listening to the audiobook: R. Dulude did a great job on this one (too).
More feel-good scifi. (No spoilers:) It's Pepper backstory, and another minor character from A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. I think this one benefits a lot from taking it slowly and focussing on just two characters.
I absolutely adored this book. I realise that part of this is that it was a perfect little escape while I was stuck at home with covid, but I do also think it's really wonderful.
It has some similar strengths to the first in the series, in that it's mostly about the relationships between a few outcast characters that become a chosen family and just happen to be in space. But if anything I think it's better written (I guess Chambers getting into her stride with book 2), and benefits from being a more focussed story of a smaller number of characters. And has some weightier things to say about embodiment, the tension between fitting in and freedom, and loyalty & reciprocity.
I am excited about the rest of the series.
Becky Chambers' approach to sci-fi has ruined me. No longer will I accept grungy and dystopian worlds that don't have redeeming character arcs filled with friendship, love, and care. This book is just so good.
I found this much more emotional of a read than I expected. The questions about what makes a person a person, and a home a home, and a family a family, not to mention what is the relationship between ourselves and our physical bodies— it’s a lot to handle! And the book does is so gently even as it’s really fierce on valuing lives and loves. Anyway. She’s so good, Becky Chambers.
A wonderful sequel
This book went an entirely different direction from the first in the series, yet it was just as enjoyable. My favorite part of the book was the structure in which the two stories were told in parallel, coming together into a great finish. Can't wait for the third one!
