Play Book Tag discussion

I loved Becky Chambers' first "Wayfarers" book (The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet), so was thrilled to find she'd written a follow-up. It stands on its own, but it's lovely to engage more closely with some of the delightful peripheral characters in the first book.

Lovelace used to be an autonomous AI, installed in a ship. After an emergency reboot, she lost her original memories and knowledge of who she was. She has also - entirely illegally - acquired what looks like a Human body to live in, and has to come to terms with a whole new way of seeing and living and being, while pretending to be normal so that she does not put herself or her friends in peril. She's supported by Pepper, the modder (tech modification whizz-kid) and Pepper's partner Blue (artist, and all round sweet guy) whom we met in the first book. We get Pepper's back story in a series of flashback chapters and get to understand why she is so supportive of AIs and their rights as independent people.

This is a lovely, gentle story about what it means to be human, about finding one's identity and about learning to live. Underpinning this is a continuation of the first book's focus on tolerance, inclusion, multiculturalism and rights of sentient beings. I love the writing style too - straightforward but with real depth and sound construction. Lovelace's episodes tend to be more psychological than action-focused except towards the end. Pepper's episodes provide much of the plot that carries the story forwards. Switching between the two is a clever device - they complement and support one another, but keep the reader more engaged than a pure introspective narrative could do.

Four and a half happy stars, and soundly recommended!