The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

An absolutely delightful, slightly picaresque, romp through a well-realized galaxy of the future.

We need a name for this sub-genre, of which “Firefly” (the TV series) is the exemplar in the same way “Neuromancer” is the exemplar of cypber-punk. Whatever that sub-genre is, this is the best, most original, example of it I've read.

That said, it is entirely original: there is zero similarity to the characters and situations in “Firefly”, but it has the same vibe of a small independent ship with a crew of characters who are diverse and human, driven by different desires and often on each other's nerves.

The opening chunk is a bit heavy as we are introduced to the crew, because we aren't just learning their characters but their species, and it's a lot of information to absorb, but the author handles it just gently enough to make it digestible, and having set us on that solid foundation is free to explore their needs and wants with aplomb.