Record of a Spaceborn Few is the third book in the Wayfarers series. We know from previous novels that the final surviving inhabitants of Earth escaped the planet and have continued to live on the Exodus Fleet for many generations. Less of a direct sequel and more of a companion, world building piece, Spaceborn Few provides insight into the day-to-day lives of this section of humanity who are now referred to as the Exodans.

The novel follows the perspective of several different characters. Tessa (brother to Ashby from the original book), Isabel, Eyas, Kip, Sawyer and Ghuh’loloan. It’s a diverse cast – Tessa has a young family and a husband often travelling with work, Isabel is from an older generation, maintaining the Fleet’s records, Eyas is a caretaker of the dead, Kip is a young person figuring out his place in the universe, Sawyer is a planetside human who has moved to join the Fleet and Ghuh’loloan is an Harmagian ethnographer observing and studying the Exodans. These stories seldom intersect at the beginning and it was therefore quite hard to truly connect with the novel. However, half way through I came to understand each perspective and care for the characters. It’s a slow build that never really gets going. Such a journey brings inner conflict – this book could be considered both frustrating but also rewarding.

Herein lies the main problem – essentially, this is a snapshot of some events on a fleet of ships in space. Maybe the title is the perfect summary – the book is a record of a few humans born and living in space. I don’t read many books like this but it is an intriguing style.

Where Becky Chambers really excels is in the world building. Over these three novels I have been completely immersed in the universe she has created. It is that dynamic which is most beautiful about these books.

Did this one live up to its potential? More than usual, I think that will fall to the reader to the decide. I think I grew to truly enjoy it.

Wonderful piece of sci fi writing by the ever talented Becky Chambers. The perfect end to a wonderful trilogy exploring mankind's place within the universe. Highly recommend.

I agreed to review this book honestly for netgalley.
I had no idea that this was part of a series. It was easy to pick up and drop straight into the story.
It's told through the eyes of various crew members aboard a human space fleet and one alien blog but the stories and lives of them all intertwine and compliment each other so well.
Despite the disparity in ages and occupations of all the different characters you really come to care about them and enjoy their stories.
I was particularly fond of Isabel and her hosting of the alien species to learn more about the galactic council.
It wasn't until I got the end that I realised that this was in the middle of a series and, to me, that shows how clever and engaging the writing is-you don't even realise that the author has dropped slices of the past stories in such a way that you feel you've read them.
Brilliantly done.

This is the best book I've read all year. Yet it's also one of the hardest ones to try and recommend to friends, simply because it's hard to describe in a way that encompasses everything I love about it. I came into this not having read any of the other Wayfarer books, but having heard unanimously positive things about them, which helped my enjoyment as I had no idea what to expect. "Record of a Spaceborn Few" doesn't feel like your average sci-fi: it's the story of a group of people figuring out what home means to them, which just happens to be set in space. I can't pick a favourite story, though I had a soft spot for Isabel the archivist who has invited an alien colleague to visit her in the fleet to learn about their way of life. Sawyer is another favourite, an immigrant to the fleet, searching for meaning and family as his ancestors had originally been from the fleet.

Also there is some amazing world building here. The barter economy works so well and is incredibly evocative, especially when it's contrasted with how the arrival of aliens with official currency has impacted the fleet.

Really warm to read, fantastic characters. Chambers extension of her universe works really well in this book, and I enjoy how she’s branching out into other characters rather than recycling old ones. Will recommend to audience and friends

I love Becky Chambers Wayfarer series. It may not be hard hitting sci-fi but the science side of things is always on point and the author uses the setting to explore questions of identity, humanity, humaneness, culture and conquest to great effect. An author who can tackle all the big questions and yet still have me compulsively turning pages because the book is just so much fun is a rare creature indeed. While this is more story adjacent to The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet than an actual sequel, it is still a wonderfully satisfying episode in the series, with a great new cast of characters and mentions of a few old favourites. I highly recommend this to all SFF fans.

Absolutely beautiful book. Read like slice-of-life fanfiction with tangible characters dealing with real life events, albeit on a space station many generations into the future! One thing I always like about Becky Chamber's books is that almost all the characters are, in the end, kind. This shows off the best that humanity could be and demonstrates that people, both human and non-human, are almost all ultimately good. The diversity in the books is understated but present everywhere, expected even. The book is a celebration of kindness, love and home, whatever that means to an individual. A book I'm sure I'll reread over and over again.

Another absolute gem from Becky Chambers, who writes beautiful sci-fi with heart that is completely unlike anything else out there. Becky Chambers will always be on my must-buy list.

I can't thank the publisher enough for gifting me with an early review copy of this book and cannot wait to handsell this title (and encourage my customers to read the entire series!) when it comes out next month. Thank you Becky Chambers for writing one of the best, most exciting, emotional and utterly delightful SFF series in years!

I love Becky Chambers! It took me a little longer to get into this books than her previous, possibly because there are so many new characters but the effort was well worth it. An amazing new world and society in this book which I can't wait to reccomend to my customers

The third volume of the Wayfarer-Series is set among the Exodan Fleet. The fleet consists of thirty homesteader spaceships that once set out from the destroyed Earth to find a new home and a new way of life.
We follow a handful of characters, an archivist, a teenager, a care-taker and a new arrival to the fleet in their day-to-day routines. We learn of their struggles and their dreams and from the small, domestic minutiae slowly emerge the bigger issues that face the human race and its place in the rest of the universe, the Galactic Commons.

The pace of the novel is on the slow side, don’t expect galactic battles, instead, Becky Chambers skillfully draws you into this vast and fascinating world so full of detail that it’s like hanging out with your space-faring cousins. Told with emotional warmth, there is a mix of the everyday (nobody likes to do the cleaning up) and the exotic (we get a closer look at the Harmagian species), making the story relatable yet strange.

I really hope that this isn’t the end of the series but that Chambers decides to set many more novels in her wondrous worlds.

A slower and more contemplative book than the two previous in the Wayfarers series, this nevertheless starts with a massive explosion in space. The disaster, which kills tens of thousands of people on board, causes a rethink for many who are part of the Exodan Fleet; is it time to leave the ageing ships their ancestors used to flee a dying Earth, or does their unique way of life hold value still?

A fascinating depiction of a society based on barter and recycling, where the stories that matter are about how badly we destroyed Earth, and how imperative it is to learn from that terrible mistake. Therefore, the role of archivist is very important - cataloging people's stories and experiences so that those on board can benefit from past experiences of others.

So we see life through the eyes of several characters on board; a restless young apprentice, a visiting alien, a technician worried about her job and family, a immigrant trying to find his place on board, a caretaker for the dead, and an archivist. Everyday lives are used to explore the big questions - who are we? are we really communicating when our circumstances are so alien to each other? what gives us purpose?

A thoughtful and thought-provoking book.

#SpacebornFew #Netgalley

My first reaction on finishing was that nothing really happens, and that it felt more like a fictional documentary about life in the Exodan Fleet than a novel, but that's not really fair. The more I think about this one, the more I like it. The characters we follow change and develop, and all their stories come to a resolution. There's no gosh wow action setpieces (well, maybe one), and all the drama comes from characters talking and thinking. It's a very human story, full of compassion for people at all stages of their lives. It's also a well thought through and executed future setting, painting a convincing picture of far future off planet life. Another winner for Becky Chambers.

As amazing as Chambers' previous books. The character-focused moments, like with previous books, make this a must read for fans of Chamber's previous novels.