The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

by Becky Chambers

A heartwarming space opera about the crew of the Wayfarer—a tunneling ship that bores wormholes through space. This is the story of their long journey to an isolated planet, and the family they become along the way.

Ashby and Pei

Captain Ashby Santoso and his secret love, Pei—an Aeluon diplomat. Their interspecies relationship must remain hidden due to Aeluon cultural restrictions, yet their bond endures across the vast distances of space.

The Fishbowl

The common area aboard the Wayfarer, where the diverse crew gathers to share meals, stories, and companionship. This is the heart of the ship—where a family of different species learns to understand one another.

Sissix and Her Hatch Family

Sissix, the reptilian Aandrisk pilot, reunites with her hatch family on Hashkath. For the Aandrisk, physical touch and communal bonds are essential—a stark contrast to human customs that Sissix navigates daily.

Rosemary on Cricket

The crew lands on Cricket, a planet teeming with insect-like creatures. Here, stranded during a bug swarm, Rosemary confronts her past when news of her father's arrest reaches her across the stars.

Jenks and Lovey

The computer technician Jenks and Lovey, the Wayfarer's AI, share a beautiful romance that transcends physical form. Their love story explores what it means to connect, to be seen, and to care for someone who exists in an entirely different way than you do.

Kizzy and the Mines

Kizzy Shao, the energetic mechanical technician, faces danger in the mining tunnels. Always cheerful and talkative, Kizzy brings light to the crew—but this moment reveals the serious, focused engineer beneath her playful exterior.

Rosemary and the Akaraks

When Akarak space pirates board the Wayfarer, Rosemary—the newest crew member and ship's clerk— steps up to negotiate. She finds an unexpected solution that honors both the Akaraks' desperation and the Wayfarer's safety, proving her worth to the crew.

Injecting Ohan

Ohan, the Sianat Pair navigator, hosts the Whisperer virus—a symbiotic infection that allows them to see through space and time but slowly destroys their body. When the crew is offered a cure, Ohan must choose between who they are and who they might become.

The Blind Punch

The Wayfarer's primary mission: to "punch" a wormhole tunnel through space, creating a shortcut between distant systems. It's dangerous, precise work that requires the entire crew working in perfect synchronization, plunging into the sublayer of space itself.

The Toremi Attack

At Hedra Ka, political tensions erupt into violence when a Toremi dissenter attacks the Wayfarer mid-punch. The crew barely survives the jump through sublayer space, but the cost is devastating— losses that will change them forever and test the strength of their found family.

"It's not about the destination. It's about the long way there."