Record of a Spaceborn Few audiobook

Go eco- social in space if you can handle it and the devastating real life implications The xenosociological exploration of human development, especially regarding the difference between isolationist habitats and the free, traveling spacers and the planet bound groups, are presented as entries into the research diary of an alien. It uses the conversations with a human scientist and the knowledge about human history to find many implications, connotations, and social criticism and that´s one of the many ingenious ways sci-fi owns society. Gaiaism and sustainability aren´t just practiced for ideological reasons, it´s more a question of needing to have a socialist, zero waste, as sustainable circular economy with as much recycling and fairness as possible. The irony lies in the fact that the human mind seems to be so twisted and sick, weird, and mad that, on a potentially endlessly self sustaining planet, greed, politics, and economy tend to destroy everything, while on a small ark ship or space habitat, the humans are far much nicer to each other because of the simple need to survive. Of course, this is highly depending on the sci-if subgenre, tone, and author´s intent of what kind of philosophy she/he wants to promote, but it comes close to the wise insight that a vast majority of rich people are rich, because, well, nothing nice to add, so I´ll better be silent. The ultimate recycling consequence of integrating not just the usual waste such as garbage, feces, etc., (view spoiler)[ but even the corpses (hide spoiler)] into the process of growth and rebirth, has something both romantic and somewhat irritating. It shows the strange, irrational, and often ideologically poisoned approach towards death, especially regarding instrumentalizing it for faith instead of making it part of the endless circle of life, celebrating and embracing it until it is defeated forever by technologically brought immortality. That would be much better than using it as a weapon of mass destruction in the form of genocides, resulting from close to any kind of indoctrinating, state approved, and taxless (cause almighty entities can´t handle money) or fully theocracy, cult. Positive corruption of a not perfect system becoming anachronistic itself (view spoiler)[by becoming conservative in its progressive tendencies and developing intolerance towards potentially positive change because they feel kind of ashamed about their stagnation and don´t really want to deal with that because of positive bias (hide spoiler)] shows the shadows in the paradise. Some more topics, and thereby main storylines are childhood, work, research, and youth in space, making this a completely different reading experience than Chambers´first two novels that were arranged circulating around 2 to 3 main characters and a real red line of one main plot. This work is more of a collection of short stories/novellas that play in the same universe, but aren´t close as interconnected, emotionally impacting, and thereby captivating than the first parts. And I love that. It´s an author's evolution towards more space opera, high social sci-fi, those main features include many, more or less interwoven storylines, social criticism, and a general more plot and less character driven execution of the art. It may irritate readers of the first 2 parts, but let´s one look forward to Chambers´ fourth work https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...(the setting sounds like a combination of great characterization with the backstories of the characters driving the plot dynamic and action compressed in one place like in a good crime novel)with the knowledge that she can do all, character, worldbuilding, and plot, making her one of the most astonishing voices of 21st century female social science fiction. Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

"From the ground, we stand. From our ships, we live. By the stars, we hope." 3.5 ⭐️Now, I went into this one with a bit of trepidation. Despite this technically being a series, only 1 character from book 1 made it into book 2, and none of them were in book 3 from the reviews I read. And I am a big character lover. So when I am reading a series I expect to follow the same characters as they grow and their stories expand - having to start from scratch at the beginning of each book is less appealing to me.Despite this, I tried to keep an open mind, and Becky Chamber's wonderful world building and imagination sucked me in all over again!We have 5 main characters, and each chapter is from one of their POVs. Think I'll review based on characters. All of these characters are human, which is different from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and they all live on the fleet a collection of the original ships flown from earth and inhabited by humans mainly. "Ghosts were imaginary, but hauntings were real." Eyas: Eyas is a caretaker. Which basically means she looks after dead bodies - arranging their funerals etc. We see how she lives a relatively solitary life, I believe she is aromantic as she doesn't display any interest in romantic attachments, and she visits a place designed for people to fulfill sexual needs without romance on a regular basis. By the end she actually becomes good friends with her regular person.Isabel: A woman in her seventies, Isabel is married and works in the archives, maintaining the history of humanity and their travels so that everything can be kept and learned from. Tessa: A mother of two, her husband frequently working away. Tessa is the only connection we have to any of the previous books as her brother is Ashby (the pilot from book 1). The main plot line for this book that happens pretty early on causes her children to become frightened and not feel safe in the fleet anymore. She doesn't know what to do to for them. (view spoiler)[ the major event is that one of the ships is blown up, this worries everyone as they are constantly reusing materials which could be what is making things unsafe. (hide spoiler)]Kip: Kip is sixteen years old and bored. None of the job trials he has tried have stuck, he doesn't feel passionate about anything. And when he overhears a conversation he shouldn't have, between two criminals he has to decide what kind of person he will be.Sawyer: Sawyer is the only character who wasn't born on the fleet he has heard so much about how the people on the fleet live how they trade for food and items rather than use credits. How they live in a hex a combination of family members and neighbours in a big connected group. He is intrigued by their way of life and is determined to make a new start for himself. When he is offered a job on a salvaging ship he thinks he is set. (view spoiler)[ his death was just awful. Absolutely not what I expected from Becky's usually quite optimistic books (hide spoiler)]Overall, I loved being inside each different characters minds, and once again Becky Chamber's has created a wonderfully imaginative and clever world. I will definitely be on the look out for more books from her. "Perhaps none of us can truly explain death. Perhaps none of us should."

4.5 stars and this may bump up to a 5 with some time to simmer. Becky Chambers’ books are this wonderful, slice of life speculative fiction that is just as interesting as action packed sci fi. These books answer questions about how life would go for those that aren’t involved in high stakes war, violence, etc.

It took me a little over 2 years to finally get through this one, but WOW was it worth the wait. Becky Chambers has such a gift. This book was absolutely delightful.

Each book in this series is beautiful in its own way, but RoaSF just really hit in me in a particular way that I can't explain. There's so much humanity in Chambers' books, and while very little actually happens in terms of plot, the stories of the character unfold in a way that never feels boring.

Oddly enough, I had to revise my original rating on book 2 down to accommodate my feelings for this one.Whoa, right? Well, I found I liked this one more than the second, but that's just the thing. I didn't fall head over heels for this one. So I had to deal with that dissonance. This novel is about as bucolic as you can get aboard a spacecraft. Totally pastoral. The focus is on ordinary people doing ordinary things and backing off the whole action schtick to get introspective and a bit aimless. I like that on occasion, but sometimes I just have to be in the mood for it.In this case, I was. These novels are all character driven. I can't expect huge happenings and anyway, they didn't happen. So what do we have left?Details, themes, and asking the biggest question of all... why are we here? What does it mean to live in a place where you're scared, how do you know what to do with your life, and how to hold on to happiness. The big stuff.I liked it. Generational space ship, aliens, communication stuff, closed systems, the spirit of wonder... all this is still in the novel, of course, but the focus threw all that into the background. What we have left is a close to the cuff drama. :)Pretty nice, actually. :)

The lengthy time I took to finish this sweet novel had everything to do with the birth of our son Rai, and nothing to do with my enjoyment of Becky Chambers’ work. While I didn’t find this installment as emotionally gripping as A Close and Common Orbit, I still enjoyed the richness of the people whose stories she told, and the specificity and believability of the societies they inhabit. I’m glad she remains a prolific author so I can continue following her work.

I wasn't sure about this when I started, but it really grew on me. The story is much more understated than in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and the sequel, A Closed and Common Orbit. What all three books do have in common, however, is that they are intensely character focused, and the characters are engaged in reevaluating their lives, and what it means to be a person.Unlike many other books of this genre, Record of a Spaceborn Few doesn't use a central conflict to drive the story, but instead looks the ordinary struggle of the average person in their daily life. The citizens of the Exodan fleet are humans who left Earth behind generations ago, and have since redefined their human culture into something unique. But is living in this place and in these circumstances enough? What does it mean to live a fulfilling life? Ultimately I found this to be a relatable story that follows several different, yet wholly average, people in their personal quests to answer these questions.

I'm not sure if I wanna write a very long review for this one, as there are some books that you just wanna kinda... keep for yourself. Those books that you don't want to sit and analyse, because you'd rather just enjoy the fact that you've just read a great book that really got you.Recor of a Spaceborn Few is a wonderful story that made me tear up a whole bunch of times. It's an exploration of humanity, and of what society could be... But on a very relatable level. It's a slice-of-life tale about the lives of a small cast of characters, their struggles, and their dreams.There's a kid trying to discover what he wants to do with his life. There's a young adult searching for a place to call home. There's a mother trying to care for herself and her family, and there's a woman who helps others grieve when the time comes.All of this is set against the backdrop of a truly "equal" society. There's no need for money, as everyone is provided the same food and standard of living. Nobody needs to work, but they do it for the good of their community. This is the life of the Exodan Fleet, a group of humans that lives in a giant honeycomb-like system of spaceships around a star.I'm making it sound like a perfect utopia, but the beauty of this setting is that it's anything but perfect. Resources may be allocated equally, but that just means that everyone has the same sparse lifestyle, without much in the way of luxuries. To the other species in the universe... the Exodan humans are almost seen as a charity case. Becky Chambers takes the time to explore the problems and challenges of the society she has created. She presents her world to the reader without judgement, and allows them to draw their own conclusions.This is a beautiful, shining little gem of a book. It's wholesome, tragic, thoughtful, and uplifting. Somehow all at once. It took me a little while to forge a connection with the characters, but when I got it... Man, did I care.This is a fantastic addition to the Wayfarers series, and if you're a fan of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet or A Closed and Common Orbit, you should pick this up immediately.My only complaint about Becky Chamber's books is that when they're finished... They're finished. I just want to read about these characters forever.

“From the ground, we stand. From our ships, we live. By the stars, we hope.”Becky Chambers' Record of a Spaceborn Few (Wayfarers, #3) was completely different than previous installments. It really felt like a space opera slice of life and in that way it was refreshing. Still, I wanted either more connection to the earlier series or a full-fledged plot. After I got over this, much like in the second book when I got over the fact that it wasn't much of a continuation of the first book, it was satisfying. And well-written. 3.75 stars “Figure out what you love, specifically. In detail. Figure out what you want to keep. Figure out what you want to change. Otherwise, it’s not love. It’s clinging to the familiar”“If you never leave, you'll always wonder. You'll wonder what your life could've been, if you did the right thing. Well... scratch that. You'll always wonder if you did the right thing, no matter what your decision is, big or small. There's always another path you'll wonder about.”

From the ground, we stand. From our ship, we live. By the stars, we hope.(Motto of the Exodus Fleet)This is the third installment in the Wayfarer series, a slow-burn science fiction series. I say "slow-burn" because there are no epic battles in space and even when a person is killed, it's more about the exploration of grief, how the community deals with the death as well as the local funeral rights, rather than the investigation and arrest of the culprit(s). Here, we are on the "Osteria", one of the 32 generational vessels that make up the Exodus Fleet. Exodans are humans from Earth that had to leave the planet when it became uninhabitable (spoiler alert: we've poisoned the Earth and it, then, poisoned us). Humans have travelled through space ever since and even after finding other life forms, staying in one orbit and technically joining the GC (Galactic Commons) a long time ago, Exodans tend to stay separate - though there is a little bit of intergalactic trade and some people even leave the Fleet for good (such as Ashby, whom we know from the first installment).The entire Fleet is based on the principle of being sustainable. Every Exodan is about being useful to the community, nothing goes to waste, which can also be seen in the ships' design which is like a honeycomb. People share everything although they do still have personal space. It's about survival of the species in the long run while remaining an individual - but how do these principles hold up after contact has been made, making most of the principles a mere philosophical question?! If it's all about the journey, what do you do when you've finally arrived, especially if your ancestors weren't even sure they or any of their descendants would ever reach any place?! It was interesting to see the old values that all had their reason and place (and were very rational and thought through, making me question if humans would actually manage that *lol*) now being questioned thanks to outside influences. Very funny, for example, how some Exodans reacted to young kids and teenagers mixing their language with Clip (the general galactic language). Especially to me, as a linguist, this was a fascinating question since we already discuss this issue enough in real life thanks to slang and emojis and whatnot. There were also questions about the self-sustaining economy (based on trade) reacting to currency and new technology being thrown into the mix.(view spoiler)[Tessa being told that her job will be done by an AI in the future and that she needed to find a new job was VERY interesting. So many jobs have become obsolete thanks to technological advances and it can only get "worse" in the future (if it actually is a bad thing always depends on your point of view and a number of additional circumstances) so what do you do when you identify with your job - especially in a society where your worth is defined by what you do for the community and then you're suddenly no longer supposed to do that?! (hide spoiler)] However, the most heavy-hitting topic, certainly, was that of life and death. You see, when you need to produce your own food and water for lack of a planet and you need to think hundreds and even thousands of generations ahead (the Exodans couldn't have known, upon leaving Earth, when or if they'd run into inhabitable planets and other species), you also have a use for dead bodies. Yes, we're talking about a cycle where dead bodies become compost, and I thought the author had a wonderful way of tactfully but also logically approaching the issue. We get to follow five people of several ages as they interact with one another and react to Exodan customs. One POV was Isabel, an elderly woman and archivist explaining history and therefore the reason and evolution of certain customs to an Aluon (another species) scholar who subsequently writes essays about the Exodan culture to encourage understanding in the entire galaxy. One of the characters being an alien was great beacuse it conveniently provided the reader with a completely different angle on all kinds of topics. Another POV was Tessa, a mother of two, whose husband is a space miner and therefore often away (through her we also got glimpses into how children perceive the Fleet or what her father thinks of certain medical technology). Yet another POV was Kip, a teenager, who is struggling to fit in and therefore rebels against the familiar. Not to mention Sawyer, an immigrant to the Fleet ((view spoiler)[very nice way of slipping in the topic of isolationism into the book when it is talked about how different Exodans reacted to his death and the reason for him having died (hide spoiler)]), and Eyas who is working as a "caretaker" (they accompany Exodans in their last moments, then prepare the bodies for the funeral and subsequent "recycling process"). My second most favourite part of this book was (view spoiler)[the exploration of Sunny and his job as ... well, a prostitute. The thought of it, too, being sort of a caretaking job, just like Eyas', was brilliant - especially since Chambers turned the profession into something nice and clean and very much unlike what we usually associate with it (hide spoiler)]. My favourite? I'll tell you about it in a minute.My favourite character was actually none of the big five but Tessa's dad. He was really cool. What I like about this series most of all is the tone. The people here, no matter their species, are thoughtful. And like I said: it's not about pewpew but about reflection. It's a quiet approach to science fiction, certainly, but maybe that is what makes it even more profound sometimes. This universe isn't peaceful and it isn't perfect, but many people in it have not only been through a lot but also reflect in wonderful ways about their own way of life and those of others, providing the reader with a different kind of exploration. In a way, this was about roots. Weird, since there aren't any in the Fleet, but it's true. We need to know where we come from in order to know who we are and where we want to go next (finding our place in the vastness of the galaxy). Remembering your people's history is important. And this book explores that line of thought, coming back to one species' beginnings, even explaining how humans left Earth and built the Fleet in the first place (Isabel telling that story was my favourite part of the book). I must admit that I didn't love this volume as much as the first and maybe there even is a slight difference to the second installment, but I really love what the author did with this series. Either we're all worthy or none of us are. It's all about respect.

Honestly the most forward-thinking part of Becky Chambers' books isn't the convincing alien societies or the credible, well-developed technology but in daring to imagine a future society in which people are basically decent and caring towards one another.

I think this series keeps getting stronger and stronger. This one was about belonging, colonialism and colonization, the rituals of life and death and the tapestry that weaves around us that we call culture.I don't really know what to say about it other than it's heartfelt, contemplative and beautiful.