Review: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (Wayfarers, #2)

The first book in the Wayfarers series, Becky Chambers' A Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet (2014) was one of my favorite reads, surprises and discoveries of 2017, but I didn't have a lot to say about it. I loved it. I recommended it to friends and they loved it. It was fun.

My Goodreads review: Enormously fun and thoughtful Star Trekian space opera. I loved it and have had that wonderful experience of recommending this book and having friends get back to me and say, "Hey, I did love that!" 

But I haven't been reading a lot of series or even stand alones by the same author, I like to explore and mix it up. So, I wasn't in a hurry to read A Closed and Common Orbit (2016). I figured when I needed what I call a "bon-bon book," something I'm going to quickly and happily devour, I'd pick it up. Then, friends started talking about their favorite books read in 2017 and Chambers' Wayfarers series kept coming up so I moved it to the top of my to-read list.

And, wow! Loved it!

A Closed and Common Orbit is very different from the first book in the series. Instead of an ensemble cast and Star Trek, Star Wars or Firefly feel, this book explores the back stories of two characters introduced in A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in depth. It shifts back and forth between the stories of Jane 23, a clone, and Sidra, an AI.

Changing point of view characters like this can be tricky to pull off. The author has to bring the reader along again with each shift and both stories must be equally engaging. Chambers' does this artfully. While I was especially interested in Jane 23's story, Sidra's was also engaging and the stories twisted together tightly as the narrative continued bringing the novel together to a wonderful and emotional resolution.

When a book is fun and fast-paced, there's no doubt great skill at hand. So, I was impressed with A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet — fun and smart, thoughtful candy.

But with her second novel, Chambers' craft becomes even more evident — smart and fun, sweet and poignant. It further explores issues of humanity and identity with emotional resonance and empathy and comes to a touching conclusion. I enjoyed talking about some of the ideas and scenes in the book with my spouse on walks after work.

I'll be recommending this book confidently to friends and I'm not going to wait around again. When the third book in the Wayfarers series, Record of a Spaceborn Few, comes out in 2018, I'm going to read it right away!