Book Review: ‘A Closed and Common Orbit’ by Becky Chambers

A Closed and Common Orbit is the second book in Becky Chambers’ The Wayfarer Series.

The story starts immediately after the final events of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet. A story of self-discovery, we follow the journey of the Wayfarer’s AI Lovelace after she opts to transfer her consciousness to a synthetic body and leave the ship with the crew’s friend Pepper.

When I first heard of The Wayfarer Series, I’d assumed that all four books would feature the same group of characters. This is not the case. In both an interesting and bold choice, Chambers takes two of her supporting characters from her first book and makes them the focus of the sequel. I was curious and also nervous about how or even if this shift in direction would work.

I needn’t have worried.

From her writing and the details included in novels, it’s clear just how much Chambers cares about this futuristic alien universe she has created. Although I’m sad we won’t get to see more adventures with the Wayfarer’s crew, I’m actually really pleased she made the decision to explore and expand this universe.

Whereas Small Angry Planet featured a large ensemble of characters, Common Orbit focuses on just two. The book has a dual narrative split over past and present. Even though Common Orbit features different protagonists, the characterisation was still one of the strongest parts of the novel.

The present day storyline follows Lovelace (now named Sidra) as she struggles with her identity and desperately looks for a new purpose to her life. Sidra’s story is set to the backdrop of a society that sees AIs as tools, not people. A society that would likely dismantle her if they found out the truth.

The second storyline explores Pepper’s past as a child slave on an unnamed planet. When the ten year old Pepper (originally known as Jane 23) escapes she finds a broken shuttle; home to the AI Owl. Over these flashback chapters we watch Owl raise an adolescent Pepper while the latter struggles to stay alive long enough to fix the ship. At the same time Pepper has to put behind her the person she was and discover the person she wants to be.

We were given a brief overview of Pepper’s history in the first novel but it was brilliant to revisit her story in a lot more detail. Despite knowing that her story would have a happy ending, I still found Pepper’s chapters just as engaging and enjoyable as Sidra’s.

This theme of identity plays an important role within the story. Even though it takes place in an alien setting, I’m sure many readers will be able to connect to some aspects of both main characters. Similar to body dysmorphia, Sidra is constantly battling the sensation of feeling ill-at-ease in her own body and she continually tries new ideas and methods to ease her symptoms. At the same time, Sidra switches from angry to listless as she searches for a role that will give her life meaning and satisfaction now that the direction her life was previously taking has changed. Through Pepper’s chapters we see the growing pains of youth as well as the overcoming of childhood trauma. After years of being made to see herself in a certain way, we watch Pepper develop into her own unique person.

Although Common Orbit is different from Small Angry Planet in a lot of ways, it still feels like a natural continuation of the story. Full of heart and emotion, the book is an excellent second entry in this series.

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