To Be Taught, If Fortunate

by Becky Chambers, Brittany Pressley (Read by), TBD (Read by)

Overview

A stand-alone science fiction novella from the award-winning, bestselling, critically-acclaimed author of the Wayfarer series.

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 subzero 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 journey to neighboring exoplanets long known to harbor life.

A team of these explorers, Ariadne O’Neill and her three crewmates, are hard at work in a planetary system fifteen light-years from Sol, on a mission to ecologically survey four habitable worlds. But as Ariadne shifts through both form and time, the culture back on Earth has also been transformed. Faced with the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten those who have left, Ariadne begins to chronicle the story of the wonders and dangers of her mission, in the hope that someone back home might still be listening.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982688868
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 6.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Becky Chambers is the author of the science fiction novels The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet; A Closed and Common Orbit; and Record of a Spaceborn Few. Her books have been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Women’s Prize for Fiction, among others. She grew up in a family heavily involved in space science, and she hopes to see Earth from orbit one day.

Brittany Pressley has won several Earphones Awards as well as the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration in 2018. She has recorded over one hundred titles and has received several nominations for American Library Association’s annual list of Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults. She is also an accomplished singer-songwriter and voice actress. Her voice can be heard on national and international TV and radio commercials as well as several animated series and video games. She is a graduate of Columbia University.

Editorial Reviews

★ 06/17/2019

With technical prowess and outstanding visceral imagery, Chambers (the Wayfarer Series) packs an immense amount of story into a novella worthy of full-length praise. Humans have begun to perfect the process of space exploration at the turn of the 22nd century with the use of somaforming, a technology allowing astronauts to survive under any conditions in the galaxy. With human fragility no longer a concern, astronaut Ariadne O’Neill and her explorer companions are sent to four distant planets. As the voyagers traverse time and change physical forms, the Earth undergoes its own transformation, and Ariadne and her colleagues are forced to confront the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten them. As Ariadne chronicles her missions, her stories raise questions about the ethics of research and beg the reader to empathize with being alone. Using precise language to paint awe-inspiring pictures of the unknown, Chambers offers a troubling, beckoning glimpse into the future of humankind. Agent: Seth Fishman, Gernert Company. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Extraordinary . . . A future sci-fi masterwork in a new and welcome tradition.” — Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat

“With technical prowess and outstanding visceral imagery, Chambers [...] packs an immense amount of story into a novella worthy of full-length praise.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“An extraordinary picture of humanity among the stars.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Becky Chambers takes space opera in a whole new and unexpected direction, her books bring me so much joy.” — Ben Aaronovitch, author of Rivers of London

“Some of the most forward-thinking, inspiring science fiction out there . . . a joyful antidote to crushed spirits and a celebration of the power of curiosity, love, adventure and discovery.”

— Claire North, author of The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August

“Rendered with startling clarity, Chambers’ latest offering is a short but fierce ode to humanity and all our reaches and flaws. Unputdownable.” — Natasha Ngan, author of Girls of Paper and Fire

“An exquisite expression of our moment in time. Here’s why we need to keep going boldly into space - not to exploit, but to learn. Impressive and essential.”   — Stephen Baxter, author of Promixa

“Epic in the scale of discoveries but with a miniaturist’s eye for detail, and as revealing of the observers as the observed. In a word, brilliant.” — Andrew Caldecott, author of Rotherweird

"To Be Taught, If Fortunate is a tight, frequently funny, character-driven novella." — Locus

“Becky Chambers is a master of delivering sadness and devastation right alongside a true and genuine love for humanity, and that is something that illuminates everything she’s written.” — Black Forest Basilisks

From the Publisher

Extraordinary . . . A future sci-fi masterwork in a new and welcome tradition.

Joanne Harris

Becky Chambers is a master of delivering sadness and devastation right alongside a true and genuine love for humanity, and that is something that illuminates everything she’s written.

Black Forest Basilisks

"To Be Taught, If Fortunate is a tight, frequently funny, character-driven novella."

Locus

An exquisite expression of our moment in time. Here’s why we need to keep going boldly into space - not to exploit, but to learn. Impressive and essential.”  

Stephen Baxter

Epic in the scale of discoveries but with a miniaturist’s eye for detail, and as revealing of the observers as the observed. In a word, brilliant.

Andrew Caldecott

Rendered with startling clarity, Chambers’ latest offering is a short but fierce ode to humanity and all our reaches and flaws. Unputdownable.

Natasha Ngan

Becky Chambers takes space opera in a whole new and unexpected direction, her books bring me so much joy.

Ben Aaronovitch

Some of the most forward-thinking, inspiring science fiction out there . . . a joyful antidote to crushed spirits and a celebration of the power of curiosity, love, adventure and discovery.”

Claire North

2019-07-17
In this novella set in the not-too-distant future, four astronauts look for life in a galaxy that's light-years from Earth.

Through somaforming, the four can alter their own biology to fit each new world so as not to alter or interfere with the world itself—a key tenet of their voyage. Their blood can produce antifreeze, their bodies absorb radiation and convert it to nutrition, and their bones can stand up to increases in gravity. The story of their visits to four unique worlds, some filled with the wonder of alien life and others filled with the horror of it, is told by engineer Ariadne O'Neill, who wrestles with the changes to her body and to her knowledge of the universe. When she and her crewmates—Elena Queseda-Cruz, Jack Vo, and Chikondi Daka—lose contact with Earth, they must ultimately decide whether to return home to an uncertain fate or honor their mission and continue to explore new worlds, even if nobody back home is listening…or alive. Chambers (Record of a Spaceborn Few, 2018, etc.) writes with the curiosity of a scientist laced with the wonder of a child in this compelling exploration of home, family, and what makes us human in the midst of all that isn't, but could be.

An extraordinary picture of humanity among the stars.

Kirkus Reviews