As You Wake, Break the Shell
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
Explore a universe of stubborn survival and found family, of persistent danger and quiet wonder in the first installment of a heartfelt new duology from Hugo Award–winning author Becky Chambers.
Life on the resource-poor planet of Fortune is challenging, but for its inhabitants, it’s home. For two of them, Signy and Cora, this home might no longer be enough.
Signy is a brilliant but reclusive botanist who bio-prints medicine from her small plant shop, often bending the rules to help those the system leaves behind. Her life is filled with the green of her store, the warmth of her one elderly friend, and the quiet determination to help others without putting herself in danger.
Cora is a rorqual pilot, one of the few with the unique ability to navigate the massive, living ships that connect the scattered settlements of their solar system. Her bond with her rorqual, Colibri, is profound—a connection that is both her greatest gift and a threat to her career.
It is that threat—the “mindbleed,” a dangerous side effect of her piloting—that brings her to Signy’s shop, and her appearance puts Signy in the danger she so fears. But it’s soon apparent it’s not just about losing her license—this delicate balance between risk and trust has the potential to change everything for them.
Told in an alternating timeline of their initial coming together and a not-so-distant future where they have found domestic bliss, this is a story harrowing and haunting, heartfelt and hopeful. Through a love story centered around survival, we are given a glimpse into the very best of what Becky Chambers does in her writing: explore what it means to be human, and what it means to come together.
Customer Reviews
Drop-Dumpling Soup for the Soul
I do not exaggerate when I say I have read every A-list sci-fi franchise, and every B list, sci-fi franchise, and I’ve spent the last three years working my way through the hidden gems of the C-list…
And, having read so much sci-fi, it all begins to run together a bit and eventually you find that there are certain series and authors that stand out from the pack. And Becky Chambers is definitely one of those. There is science, and there is fiction, there is action, there is biology, pharmacology, etc.… But this is a truly character driven narrative. And unlike so many other sci-fi stories where the action or the technology, the war, the geopolitics or 1 million other surface level themes are the focus… This one is about the love. And I don’t mean, romantic love, though there is some of that. This is more just about networks of people who care about each other other, and the amazing things that people who care about each other will do for each other, the risks they will take the sacrifices they will make. So when I say “in this book, you can feel the love”… I mean it.
Now, haven’t given that glowing review, I should add a couple disclaimers: if you are on the redder side of the culture wars, you might as well skip this book because you’re going to hate it. If you think that queerness of any kind is a character flaw rather than a natural human attribute, you’re going to hate it. And if the words “two women in love“ bring up images of a particular type of WWE wrestling match, you’re really really going to hate it.. But, if you’re looking for a Haven from the kind of anger and hate that is everywhere these days and a book that will leave you feeling warm and and fuzzy afterwards, this is the book for you. I know it was for me.