To Be Taught, If Fortunate, by Becky Chambers

To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book is a departure from the Wayfarers series, so bringing a fresh eye to it helps. But I second what one reviewer said below--it's like reading non-fiction about a fantasy place. I think that's what the author was going for, and she succeeded.

There's a lot of exposition in this book, including an exposition on why there's so much exposition. In a way it never ends. The glory of science, including its not-so-glamorous parts, is what is supposed to carry the book along.

I liked it OK, though as hard SF it stayed somewhat superficial. There was drama but it didn't feel artificial. The crew got along super-well, diverse in various ways that seemed to intentionally complement each other.

But it seemed like much of the point of the mission was to be an inspiration to a planet trying to recover from the worst of climate change. That was definitely on the mind of the narrator. And yet there was very little of that inspiration or action in the story. And the ending, while it has a certain likelihood, seemed kind of random.

Decent book, Hugo nomination for best novella, can't see it winning.



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