A Closed and Common Orbit

Lovelace was meant to be a ship’s AI, processing and monitoring her crew. But when circumstances push her towards uploading into a kit, her grasp of purpose and understanding begin to unravel. Pepper stays by Lovelace’s side, as she tries to process the new world around her from the eyes of a human looking kit. Along the way, readers will discover Pepper’s tragic past and heartwarming experience with artificial intelligence.

Through Lovelace, or as readers come to know her as Sidra, there are many moments where the new perception of the world is too much for her to handle. She has what amounts to panic attacks and struggles with feeling the kit is not actually her own body. The way Becky Chambers can capture these internal struggles is heart-wrenching. But no matter how difficult it may be, Sidra has the love and support of her friends.

And one of those friends is Pepper, a woman who has gone through a traumatic past. As Sidra’s story grows and develops, readers are also taken back to when Pepper was known as Jane. While there are hints at her past in the first book, A Closed and Common Orbit will dive fully into Pepper’s abusive upbringing and escape. It is a sad read, but knowing that Pepper is around to help Sidra in the future lets readers know there is hope for her in the end.

The two storylines interconnect and show how acclimating to a new society and worldview isn’t easy regardless of who is experiencing it. They also are in line with the understanding AI’s are much more than just pieces of software, yet the world at large still doesn’t want to accept it.

A Closed and Common Orbit may be the sequel to A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but it can also be standalone. However, if you do read this book first there will be major spoilers for book one. While book two may not follow the same cast of characters from the prior novel, it is no less phenomenal. I could hardly put this book down and highly recommend it to fans of sci-fi.