Record of a Spaceborn Few

By: Becky Chambers

Narrated by: Rachel Dulude

Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

Winner of the Hugo Award for Best Series!

Brimming with Chambers' signature blend of heart-warming character relationships and dazzling adventure, Record of a Spaceborn Few is the third standalone installment of the Wayfarers series, set in the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, and following a new motley crew on a journey to another corner corner of the cosmos - one often mentioned, but not yet explored.

Return to the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons as humans, artificial intelligence, aliens, and some beings yet undiscovered explore what it means to be a community in this exciting third adventure in the acclaimed and multi-award-nominated science-fiction Wayfarers series, brimming with heartwarming characters and dazzling space adventure.

Hundreds of years ago, the last humans on Earth boarded the Exodus Fleet in search of a new home among the stars. After centuries spent wandering empty space, their descendants were eventually accepted by the well-established species that govern the Milky Way.

But that was long ago. Today, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, the birthplace of many, yet a place few outsiders have ever visited. While the Exodans take great pride in their original community and traditions, their culture has been influenced by others beyond their bulkheads. As many Exodans leave for alien cities or terrestrial colonies, those who remain are left to ponder their own lives and futures: What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination? Why remain in space when there are habitable worlds available to live? What is the price of sustaining their carefully balanced way of life - and is it worth saving at all?

A young apprentice, a lifelong spacer with young children, a planet-raised traveler, an alien academic, a caretaker for the dead, and an archivist whose mission is to ensure no one’s story is forgotten, wrestle with these profound universal questions. The answers may seem small on the galactic scale, but to these individuals, it could mean everything.

©2018 Becky Chambers (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

In depth character study but no action

Characters were well developed but there was basically no action. It was just stories of peoples lives. Ordinary people. Ok they were in space but this wasn’t what I consider real science fiction

Am unexpected delight

Too often writers write their coming of age novels first when they really have yet to come of age. The first two novels of the Wayfarers series were very different from each other and each quite enjoyable — what made this different was there was very little outward conflict. It was all internal. Not to say that most of the first two weren’t dealing with internal conflict but this was all about what made things okay for you — and becoming comfortable knowing what it is that you value. And all the while deciding to continue to try. Coming of age.

I get bored when there are big action set pieces in books these days, little to no character development happens within those scenes — but all the same I kept waiting dutifully for one to appear. And when at last I realized it was never coming, I smiled.

I feel like we are in for bigger and bigger things from Becky Chambers. I feel like we have gotten on board at the ground floor. Can’t wait to ploughing ahead through her expanding bibliography!

Not Bad

Not as amazing as the first two books, but a good story all the same.

Give it a chance.

Multiple separate story lines leave the story starting slow, and it takes a while to get invested in the characters. Without any over arching crisis that needs to be solved, it’s different from most sci-fi. But after listening to the first two books, I stuck this out and was very happy with it by the end.

Another Great Wayfarer book.

While ever so slightly less engaging than the others in the series so far, this is still filled with the heartwarming imaginative storytelling that Becky Chamber's has a special knack for. Rachel Dulude's narration is extraordinary. Great listen.

Life Centered Aboard a Spacecraft

The book is based on how a successful human society would be structured to survive on an ark vessel. The lives of numerous central characters are woven together to give a glimpse of this society. Narrator did an excellent job and is an excellent storyteller. Writing and character development was also well done.

The four star rating was based on the fact that I was not emotionally drawn into the story. I like the writing style of this author and the low conflict worlds she describes.

Melodrama among the exodus

Becky Chambers' Record of a Spaceborn Few is her 3rd installment (and perhaps the final) in her wayfarers series. This story picks up immediately after the 1st book with no connection to book 2. Various human characters and their lives are portrayed that provide a flavor of the descendants of the exodus fleet that left Earth centuries earlier, along with some background on their current lives and how generations in space have changed them. There's good and bad people, but everyone is mostly surviving.

There's little of alien races, save for one species that has a quite different social and child rearing conventions. Much time is spent describing adaptations humanity has made and endured through generations living in space. Through an archivist, we learn much of the history, while a young man who doesn't fit in finds no peace and teenagers will always be teenagers.

The narration is well done with decent character distinction and good pacing.

Thoughtful and very, very good

Ms. Chambers continues to provide insight and provoke thoughts, once again in thoroughly enjoyable fashion. In no way denigrating her earlier works, this is my favorite so far. Through examination of a few intersecting but not overlapping lives, she has woven a very cohesive tale that is both believable in its context and imaginative in creating that context. It’s a coming of age story for multiple ages. And as narrator, Ms. Dulude took this excellent material and made it even better. This is really not an “action” story, but it moves quickly and deliberately, engrossing the listener. I look forward to more!

it's good

good book, good narrator. fun to listen to, good stuff. finish review three words remaining

love this universe

keep them coming becky - such good characters and storylines - such depth and breadth of the universe