loppear reviewed To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Review of 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' on Goodreads
4 stars
Beautiful exploratory romp, a science mission to explore extrasolar planets faces wonder and complications, a joyful pace.
Hardcover, 160 pages
English language
Published Aug. 8, 2019 by Hodder & Stoughton.
In the future, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the galaxy transform themselves.
At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in sub-zero temperatures, absorb radiation and convert it for food, and conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to explore neighbouring exoplanets long suspected to harbour life.
Ariadne is one such explorer. On a mission to ecologically survey four habitable worlds fifteen light-years from Earth, she and her fellow crewmates sleep while in transit, and wake each time with different features. But as they shift through both form and time, life back on Earth has also changed. …
In the future, instead of terraforming planets to sustain human life, explorers of the galaxy transform themselves.
At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in sub-zero temperatures, absorb radiation and convert it for food, and conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to explore neighbouring exoplanets long suspected to harbour life.
Ariadne is one such explorer. On a mission to ecologically survey four habitable worlds fifteen light-years from Earth, she and her fellow crewmates sleep while in transit, and wake each time with different features. But as they shift through both form and time, life back on Earth has also changed. Faced with the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten those who have left, Ariadne begins to chronicle the wonders and dangers of her journey, in the hope that someone back home might still be listening.
Beautiful exploratory romp, a science mission to explore extrasolar planets faces wonder and complications, a joyful pace.
Lovely book telling the story of 4 scientists who are missioned to catalogue life on different planets.
"At some point, you have to accept the fact that any movement creates waves, and the only other option is to lie still and learn nothing."
Contrasts interestingly with:
[b:Aurora|23197269|Aurora|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436300570l/23197269.SX50.jpg|42742263] by [a:Kim Stanley Robinson|1858|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1376955089p2/1858.jpg]
Good:
thoughtful characters with warm, caring relationships ([a:Becky Chambers|8389735|Becky Chambers|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1562580587p2/8389735.jpg] writes those really well!)
creative exoplanets
creative astronaut adaptations
concise format
Bad:
I'm bored with "utopian space explorers juxtaposed with dystopian ecologically destroyed Earth" trope
* "scientific finding" at the end should have been foreshadowed
Yet another amazing work by Becky Chambers. In this she manages to get under the skin of the fascination and fear of traveling beyond the bounds of our world. And somewhere between the exhilaration of discovery and the depths of boredom, she manages to do what she does best: explore what it means to be human.
Purchasable
https://audiobookstore.com/audiobooks/to-be-taught-if-fortunate.aspx
.