Review: Record of a Spaceborn Few

Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, I liked this one but nowhere near as much as the first two. My first impression was that there was too much going on. Book two switched perspective in each subsequent chapter, back and forth between two of the main characters. This story switches around between five or six perspectives and sometimes pretty quickly at the start. I honestly couldn't keep up.

I think it eventually stepped down to three main stories but I have to admit that I was still a little lost. So, you'll find some of my review to be fairly vague, and perhaps even mistaken on some of the details.

One of the threads seems to follow Captain Ashby's family, they hear the news of his previously told misadventures (from book one) but past their introduction that isn't really an important part of their story.

There's another thread about a couple of youngsters trying to get laid. And then another one about a couple trying to get some alone time, so they can get laid. I suppose there was plenty of talk about sex in the previous books, especially in book one, but it didn't seem to be quite as much the focus as it is in the first half of this one.

There's yet another thread (or maybe a joined up one) about a Salvage Crew that are recruiting before heading out to a recent wreck.

"That’s not the point," Mom said. "The point is, you did something illegal and dangerous. You got lucky."
"Not in the way he was hoping," Grandma Ko laughed.

Having a smartass, fun grandma was great for the story and in general the characters were as fabulous in this story as we've come to expect from Chambers.

The main themes in this book seemed to me to be about making decisions; bad choices and big choices and learning to live with them.

My interest level was quite low this time, so it was almost a middle-of-the-road read, but I couldn't fault the writing and I found myself enjoying the content without being particularly engaged. So, slightly above average for me then.

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