have you ever read a sci-fi book and wondered what happened with the characters on the spaceship in between all the annoying plot points? this is the book for you!

i kept waiting for A Big Plot to set in (and became increasingly confused with every page that it just… wasn’t setting in) but about halfway through I accepted that the plot of this book is just an excuse for vignettes to develop the crew of the wayfarer and the world they live in. once I wrapped my mind around that, I found myself more able to settle in and just enjoy the ride. in a lot of ways, it felt less like a standalone novel and more like the kind of short stories that authors sometimes release between entries in a series to bridge the gaps between the main novels.

ultimately, i liked the characters and the world building enough to not EXACTLY care that the plot is super thin. chambers does a really great job of fleshing out an entire galactic council with multiple alien races that feel unique from not only each other but from your more stereotypical secondary and tertiary aliens in a story. the world building is extensive and sets the stage nicely for the rest of the books in the series, and (most importantly in a story that relies on you liking the characters enough to look past the aforementioned thin plot), there are some really incredible character beats that end up making everything feel super worthwhile.