A Closed and Common Review

What made the experience of listening to A Closed and Common Orbit the most enjoyable?

The themes, characters, and narrative style were all wonderfully drawn together. Becky Chambers continues to create the kind of science fiction I wish I was reading all the time. The tone, depth, and complexities of the worlds and societies she has built, coupled with a crisp, clear breath of optimism and hope make this a perfect read for these dark days.

Who was your favorite character and why?

I loved Sidra.
What I particularly enjoyed was the fact that she discovers her personhood through platonic relationships, through found family, and friendships. So often, in stories of robots or AIs where they are perceived as female it ends with them engaging in a sexual relationship with a - usually male - human. That was not the case here. Sidra develops close familial and platonic bonds with humans and aliens and through their shared experiences and love for one another, she grows. She gets to know her own personhood through her love and friendship, and it is not tied to sex, and perhaps it's my ace side making me biased, but I really thought that was a stroke of genius.

What about Patricia Rodriguez’s performance did you like?

It was a stellar performance (pun intended), though the moments where an online style text conversation is described tended to be a little tedious as the narrator had to read out every single identifying line, every single timestamp, and so on. Other than that, it was great.

Any additional comments?

Ideas like personhood are nothing new to the science fiction genre, and having an AI be the catalyst for such discussions and explorations are fairly common. But where Chambers takes a relatively lesser trod path is that much of the perspective on this is from that very AI, and how she navigates questions like 'am I a person?' Which feels very different to people asking 'is that a person?' in the more abstract. To make this a very personal journey, to put our eyes in that of a computer, does make the reader much more likely to empathise and to connect.

6 people found this helpful

Wonderful story wonderfully read!

A great follow on from Long Way To A Small Angry Planet. Not featuring the crew of the Wayfairer this time but related characters in the same universe, and what characters!
Chambers has a way of not only crafting s great and very tangible universe but also making rich characters that grow throughout the books.

The audiobook is magnificently performed by Rodriguez. She gives each character their distinct voices using subtle inflections that just make the character so unique and real to the listener.

I absolutely loved it!

4 people found this helpful

Loved it!

My first reaction in beginning to listen to this was I would have liked there to be more characters common with first book but as I got further into the book I began to fall in love with the new characters, I grew to love them all but I especially loved Tak.

Another great character driven story from Becky where I cared about every one of the characters that the book focused on and that's rare for a book to do. The narration was once again great. I can't wait to read/listen the next one when it comes out and probably anything else Becky writes after that.

2 people found this helpful

Even better than Book 1

I loved Book 1 and this, despite leaving most of those characters behind was even better. Several teary moments at the end! This series seems to be about tolerance, acceptance, empathy, finding one's place and purpose, and many other things. There are also moments where characters have to act against someone's ill but for their own good. As I get further into the series I am seeing deeper things to chew on.

1 person found this helpful

Something different

I don't normally like twin timeline, circular stories, but this one is done so well I couldn't help but like it. It's the story of the clone Pepper/Jane and a couple of AIs who form a deep friendship in a universe populated with many friendly species. One of them is lost and the others set out to find her.

Breathtaking in its brilliance and simplicity, with a satisfyingly warm ending.

1 person found this helpful

Great followup.

I was a little bit hesitant as the story is tangentially related to the first book. but the story line was rich and fleshed out more of the universe, at times quite funny. I really enjoyed!

Peaceful easy reading

Having read (and enjoyed) book 1 was not too sure about this book until a random tweet made me rethink that decision. And I’m glad I did.

A story that moves along at a pleasing pace, sci-if that does not give you a headache trying to understand it, and characters you become invested in.

The fact I want to jump straight into book 3 should be praise enough.

The only critique I have is Patricia Rodriguez’s range of voices is limited but this is offset by the fact you do not have a vast cast of characters. That said, her pacing is excellent and is easy to listen to.

a beautiful story on autonomy and family

I adored 'Long Way' so I started this immediately after and found it a slow build, but when you get invested into the characters the story is very affective. It builds well on every conflict and the economy of words to action is wonderful. like the wayfarer crew every character is vibrant, had a chance to shine, and is flawed.

The framing device that shifts perspective between chapters can be confusing and feel a little like a TV commercial break at times, but when the story goes is stride it is utilised well

Perfect

I enjoyed everything about this book and will look for more titles by the author and the narrator.

Superb

An excellent follow up to the stunning A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. Narrated so, so well too