A Record of a Space Born Few review

A Record of a Space Born Few, by Becky Chambers, was the second book I read on the road this summer. It could be a far future sequel to The Calculating Stars, but isn’t. I was looking forward to this one. It’s the third Wayfarer book and I love them because the author has created a future where decent human beings reside. It’s not perfect, but it’s a future I could inhabit.

As Earth's climate slowly became uninhabitable, there was no choice but to leave. Humanity pulled together and built a fleet of massive ships by dismantling Earth’s cities. When the ships set out, they containing the remnants of humanity. After generations of travel, humans make contact with a group of aliens who help them out.

Now in orbit around a star, the aging ships have lost their purpose. Many of the inhabitants have left to seek a better life elsewhere. There’s a melancholy quality, kinda like walking around the streets of Venice and looking in the empty windows—some people still live there, but the place is decaying and no longer what it once was.

A group of characters living in the fleet struggle with deciding where they belong. These people are complex and unexpected. Each cares deeply about their home, their future and their traditions. In the end, they each make the best decision they can.

Life in the fleet felt real and was conducted on a human scale where people were expected to work together. Nothing was fancy, but the author described it as a way of life I’d find satisfying.