his is a very loose followup to A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chamber’s breakout novel. I was very surprised to see the direction she took this – rather than stay with the ship Wayfarer and the interesting characters she’d developed, she went a totally different and interesting direction – centering on Pepper (the mech they brushed up against earlier in the story) and the newly rebooted (i.e. personality-dead) ship’s AI who needed to be removed from the ship.

I was like where are we going with this? With a touch of but I liked the old characters!

Worry not, fellow readers, because Miss Chambers made lightning strike in the same place again. Yes, the story moves forward, looking at the AI being that was Lovey (now named Sidra) as she tries for pass as a robot in her kit (i.e. artificial body). But the story moves backwards as well, going over Pepper’s past. I don’t want to give too much away, but a totally immoral society has a continent made of scrap and they use cloned children to sort it in sealed factories. Yes, it is a combination of Irish Workhouses and Chinese mega-factories, with a touch of African diamond mines thrown in. By the page where the storylines finally mesh, we know more about Pepper (and her strange artist friend Blue) and one or two other fleshed-out and interesting characters (who I will let you discover for yourself).

So yes, if you followed my recommendation for Long Way (I know a couple of you did) then this book should be high on your list. Check it out. Find pain, sorrow, regret and happiness, all  between the covers! You’ll thank me.

>>>AND THE BEST WAY TO THANK ME IS TO BUY ONE OF MY BOOKS!<<<