2023 read #55: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers.

A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

367 pages

Published 2016

Read from May 17 to May 18

Rating: 4 out of 5

The first follow-up to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Orbit follows Sidra, a ship’s AI newly housed in an illegal “kit” that gives her a human-passing body, and Pepper, a tech-modder who helps Sidra on her journey to become her own self, whatever that might mean. That story is neatly paralleled by flashbacks to Pepper’s past, as her younger self escapes from a child-slave factory at 10, and is helped by a crashed ship’s AI (named Owl) while she becomes her own self, whatever that might mean.

I hesitated before reading this installment, largely because it doesn’t involve Rosemary, Sissix, Ashby, or any other main character from Planet. But as someone newly exploring my own queerness, neurodivergence, and full human identity, after a childhood of abuse and trauma and neglect and an adulthood of comp-het and just trying to fit in, I quickly got wrapped up in Sidra and Pepper. Their parallel stories of constructing senses of self after extensive programming (cultural for Pepper, literal for Sidra) were rich, meaningful, heartbreakingly relatable. “You are more than what they programmed you to be,” one character tells Sidra. It’s something all of us need to hear.

I kept tearing up in the flashback chapters after Owl was introduced. Minor spoilers, but I really could have used that kind of gentle, supportive parenting at any point in my life. Also, this might be the first time I’ve ever seen a space opera story involve a child-education sim, which is an amazing touch. I totally get Pepper’s lifelong obsession with the Big Bug Crew.

This focus on what it means to embody yourself in the way that best makes sense to you, I’m learning, seems to be Chambers’ signature vibe. Building from the found-family baseline established in Planet, Orbit explores the spectrum of experiences we pursue in order to understand our selves: relationships sexual or familial, community, accommodations to sensory needs, tattoos, trying new food, parties, futuristic body-mods, learning, finding purpose and passion, perhaps even (spoilers!) a little museum heist.