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Becky Chambers is an American award-winning author that writes science fiction. Born in 1985 in Southern California as Rebecca Marie Chambers, Becky’s family was heavily involved in space science when she was growing up.
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Order of Monk & Robot Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Psalm for the Wild-Built | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | A Prayer for the Crown-Shy | 2022 | Description / Buy |
Order of Wayfarers Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | A Closed and Common Orbit | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Record of a Spaceborn Few | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | The Galaxy, and the Ground Within | 2021 | Description / Buy |
Order of Becky Chambers Short Stories/Novellas
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | To Be Taught, If Fortunate | 2019 | Description / Buy |
Becky Chambers Anthologies
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Book Smugglers' Quarterly Almanac, Volume 3 | 2017 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | 2001: An Odyssey in Words | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Rocket Fuel | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Infinite Stars | 2019 | Description / Buy |
For instance, her mother is an astrobiologist and Becky did not hesitate to use her knowledge when she started crafting the uniquely imaginative alien worlds for which is known. Though, it should be noted that the author had a background in performing arts. She worked in theater management
A fan of video games and tabletop games, not to mention beekeeping, she was also a freelance writer before abandoning the field to pursue her publishing career. She laid the foundation for ‘The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet’, her first novel, in 2012.
At the time, her freelance writing gigs kept her quite busy. Everything changed when her regular work went away. This placed the author in a difficult situation. She could either abandon her freelance writing career to focus on her book or discard the book in favor of hunting and securing paying freelance writing work.
She couldn’t do both. Against all odds, Becky chose her novel. She also started a Kickstarter campaign that, to her surprise, got her the funds she needed to survive while she wrote and proofread her manuscript.
When the novel was finally completed, she acquired an agent, and then she made submissions to various publishers. Becky was initially optimistic. She knew that the competition was stiff but she also believed that there was a place for her within the traditional publishing arena.
But then her agent got a new job and Becky was forced to start from scratch. This gave her the encouragement she needed to self-publish ‘The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet’. The reception garnered by the novel was so strong that ‘Hodder & Stoughton’ and ‘Harper Voyager’ came calling. They signed a deal with the author to re-publish the novel.
Becky doesn’t favor any particular publishing medium. She believes that both indie publishing and traditional publishing have their strengths and weaknesses, and she does not encourage writers to pursue any particular publishing model.
Rather, she pushes them to find a method that suits their style. Becky’s success came, not from the publishing model she chose, but from the strength of her writing. Her work is unique because it is non-violent.
Unlike most science fiction writers, Becky Chambers isn’t as interested in exploring intergalactic conflicts as she is in unraveling the ordinary lives of flawed humans as they traverse a vast and unknowable universe.
Her ideas were inspired by shows like Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and Firefly. Her universe has a variety of distinct alien species. She wants her readers to realize that humans are not quite as important as they think they are.
Becky Chambers Awards
The author has received Arthur C. Clark, British Science Fiction Association, and Locus Award nominations. She won a Hugo Award for ‘Best Series’.
Best Becky Chambers Books
Becky has been commended for her imaginative settings and character-driven stories, with some of the best titles in her bibliography including:
Long Way to a Small Angry Planet: For Rosemary Harper, the Wayfarer had everything she wanted. It was old but it had a warm bed. It would also give her the opportunity to visit the distant corners of space. It was the sort of escape from her past she desperately needed.
She couldn’t ask for more. If life on the wayfarer meant sharing her days with an odd but diverse crew, Rosemary was willing to make the sacrifice. It wasn’t until the team was tasked with tunneling wormholes through space that Rosemary finally started to question her decision.
A Closed and Common Orbit: To everyone that knew her, Lovelace was just an AI. She kept the ship running. But then things went wrong and Lovelace woke up in a new body. Now she must adopt an entirely new way of life in a universe she doesn’t understand quite as well as she thought she did.
Fortunately, she isn’t alone. Pepper is an excitable engineer that refuses to leave Lovelace’s side. She is determined to help the AI discover who she is, what she is capable of, and how she fits into the universe.
When Does The Next Becky Chambers book come out?
Becky Chambers doesn't seem to have an upcoming book. Their newest book is A Prayer for the Crown-Shy and was released on July, 12th 2022. It is the newest book in the Monk & Robot Series.