I have *points to icon* similarly complicated feelings about this book -- I, too, found the worldbuilding elements delightful, especially all the alien stuff, and hated the way the book treated Corbin (also my favorite) without seeming to realize/care just how drastic a departure in tone that was from everything else, and also hated/was baffled by the way this book seemed allergic to character growth or any kind of meaningful arc by resolving every conflict, as you say, immediately as it started by everyone-but-Corbin being flawless and sweetly understanding. (I am also still really mad about the way the whole thing with Ohan and nonconsensual medical treatment was resolved, farming out the ethically questionable decision to the Designated Asshole and calling that good, so the book could have its cake and eat it too.)
But anyway, let me offer you the following data point: I liked books 2 (A Close and Common Orbit) and 3 (Record of a Spaceborn Few) a lot more than I did this one. There's not quite as much delightful alien stuff, but still a lot of interesting space society worldbuilding stuff, and characters are actually allowed to have flaws and conflict. It's still very "cozy" compared to most sci-fi, but not in this saccharine way that ended up setting my teeth on edge in 'Small, Angry Planet'. Book 4 (The Galaxy, and the Ground Within) worked less well for me -- there's a lot of alien stuff again, but I missed characters having meaningful arcs, which Chambers demonstrated she could do with the middle two books -- but still better than this first one. Tl, dr, was extremely conflicted about book 1 to the point of hating it, read the rest of the series and no regrets (but it also helps to go in with adjusted expectations).
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2021-12-14 03:42 pm (UTC)But anyway, let me offer you the following data point: I liked books 2 (A Close and Common Orbit) and 3 (Record of a Spaceborn Few) a lot more than I did this one. There's not quite as much delightful alien stuff, but still a lot of interesting space society worldbuilding stuff, and characters are actually allowed to have flaws and conflict. It's still very "cozy" compared to most sci-fi, but not in this saccharine way that ended up setting my teeth on edge in 'Small, Angry Planet'. Book 4 (The Galaxy, and the Ground Within) worked less well for me -- there's a lot of alien stuff again, but I missed characters having meaningful arcs, which Chambers demonstrated she could do with the middle two books -- but still better than this first one. Tl, dr, was extremely conflicted about book 1 to the point of hating it, read the rest of the series and no regrets (but it also helps to go in with adjusted expectations).