Book Review: Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers

 

Goodreads Summary:  Brimming with Chambers' signature blend of heart-warming character relationships and dazzling adventure, Record of a Spaceborn few is the third standalone installment of the Wayfarers series, set in the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, and following a new motley crew on a journey to another corner corner of the cosmos—one often mentioned, but not yet explored.

Return to the sprawling universe of the Galactic Commons, as humans, artificial intelligence, aliens, and some beings yet undiscovered explore what it means to be a community in this exciting third adventure in the acclaimed and multi-award-nominated science fiction Wayfarers series, brimming with heartwarming characters and dazzling space adventure.

Hundreds of years ago, the last humans on Earth boarded the Exodus Fleet in search of a new home among the stars. After centuries spent wandering empty space, their descendants were eventually accepted by the well-established species that govern the Milky Way.

But that was long ago. Today, the Exodus Fleet is a living relic, the birthplace of many, yet a place few outsiders have ever visited. While the Exodans take great pride in their original community and traditions, their culture has been influenced by others beyond their bulkheads. As many Exodans leave for alien cities or terrestrial colonies, those who remain are left to ponder their own lives and futures: What is the purpose of a ship that has reached its destination? Why remain in space when there are habitable worlds available to live? What is the price of sustaining their carefully balanced way of life—and is it worth saving at all?

A young apprentice, a lifelong spacer with young children, a planet-raised traveler, an alien academic, a caretaker for the dead, and an Archivist whose mission is to ensure no one’s story is forgotten, wrestle with these profound universal questions. The answers may seem small on the galactic scale, but to these individuals, it could mean everything.

Genre Listing: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera, LGBT

Goodreads/StoryGraph Challenge: 2/48

2026 Reading Challenge:  #47 Read a Space Opera (See the full challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, readers! It’s the first post of 2026, and I’m trying to get back into the swing of writing actual book reviews. I probably won't do one for every book like I used to, but I’m going to try to do them more consistently. Anyway, let’s get into Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers.

This is the third book in the Wayfarers series, a Space Opera series I’ve really enjoyed. Since I didn’t post much last year, I don’t think I’ve talked about this series at all! Each book is set in the same universe but focuses on different, loosely connected characters. While the connection between books one and two is more obvious, book three follows the sister of a character from the first book. Other characters might be connected as well, but I don't quite remember the details.

I love the world Becky Chambers has created. The first two books focus more on planet dwellers, whereas book three follows those residing in the fleet. Society in this series is very accepting and accommodating of other species (for the most part). Unlike many stories, the plot isn't driven by simple misunderstandings; instead, the characters have well-developed conversations about acceptance, consent, and purpose. The series is also very pro-LGBTQA+, written in a way that feels natural rather than forced.

At first, the characters in Record of a Spaceborn Few don't seem connected, but their stories intertwine as the plot evolves. It results in a beautiful connection, and I enjoyed the book immensely. I’m already planning to make the fourth book my next audiobook listen.

Speaking of audiobooks, I really enjoy Rachel Dulude’s narration. Her voice is clear, and she uses a variety of distinct character voices that make the experience immersive. I highly recommend Record of a Spaceborn Few to anyone who wants an interesting Sci-Fi story where the stakes feel more aligned with the 'Cozy' genre.

Also, as a fun treat, I noticed this on the Audiobook. The chapter titles form a poem. 

"From The Beginning

We Have Wandered

To This Day, We Wander Still

But For Our Travels

We Are Not Lost

We Fly With Courage

And Will Undying"

Book Review: The Clockwork Chimera series by Scott Baron

 

Goodreads Summary: As if nearly blowing up on her way to Earth wasn't bad enough, Daisy had a whole mess of other trouble on her plate. Big trouble. And she was going to clean it off if it was the last thing she'd do... which it was looking like it very well might be.
Daisy had a simple rule for space travel. Don't blow up. So far she'd been managing to abide by that, but something was very much not right.

With the powerful AI supercomputer guiding the craft beginning to show some disconcerting quirks of its own, and its unsettling cyborg assistant nosing into her affairs, Daisy's unease was rapidly growing, as was her bigotry toward artificially intelligent beings. Add to the mix a crew of mechanically-enhanced humans, any one of whom she suspected might not be what they seemed, and Daisy found herself with a sense of pending dread tickling the periphery of her mind.

Something was very much not right––she could feel it in her bones. The tricky part now was going to be overcoming her biases and figuring out what the threat was, before it could manifest from a mere sinking feeling in her gut into a potentially deadly reality.

Only things were far different and far worse than she could ever have imagined, forcing her to repeatedly adjust and overcome a reality that turned out to be far from what it had originally seemed.

The complete series set of all five of the Clockwork Chimera books:

1. Daisy's Run
2. Pushing Daisy
3. Daisy's Gambit
4. Chasing Daisy
5. Daisy's War

A space opera adventure featuring damaged spaceships, rogue artificial intelligence, homicidal cyborgs, mechanically-enhanced humans, genetic engineering, nanotech, and, of course, bloodthirsty aliens.

Genre Listing: Science Fiction, Space Opera

Goodreads Rating: 4.53 stars with 400 ratings

Goodreads/Storygraph Challenge: 8/30 books
2025 Reading Challenge: See the whole challenge here

7 Read a book with a person's name in the title - Pushing Daisy by Scott Baron

8 Read a book that takes place in the future- Daisy's War by Scott Baron 34 Read a book that has a war or battle in it - Daisy's Gambit by Scott Baron

44 Read a book that references a TV show or movie - Daisy's Run by Scott Baron

55 Read a book that involves amnesia or memory manipulation- Chasing Daisy by Scott Baron

Social Media Update:

I deactivated my Twitter/X account because, well (gestures vaguely at the world). I do, however, have a Bluesky account.

It'll be a little more of a personal/blog combo than just strictly for the blog. You can find me at: https://bsky.app/profile/linzthebookworm.bsky.social. 

All of my other Socials are the same.

Book Review: 

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well. It's been a busy few weeks, but no significant life updates. I'm super thankful for audiobooks right now. I'm back on-site for work after nearly 5 years of working from home. I have a relatively long commute, so audiobooks have been necessary. The omnibus for The Clockwork Chimera was helpful during this drive time since it had five books. 

Because I listened to these non-stop, I decided to do an overall review of the entire series instead of each individual book. I took some notes on each book, but they'd have a lot of spoilers. Overall, I really enjoyed the series. Surprisingly, Science Fiction is not a genre I've read much. I definitely haven't read much in the way of "Space Opera" stories, but I enjoyed this quite a bit. I was unable to guess what would happen next because the series hit so many different Science Fiction tropes in each of the five books. I can't go into the specific tropes because it will give much of the story away if I do. It was really well done, however, and not overwhelming. The only downside was that some trickier Science Fiction aspects were hard to grasp. 

Along with the various tropes, there were many movie and TV references. It was like a Nerdy Pop Culture Easter Egg hung. I loved it. I felt like this every time I picked up on one:

I was happy to see some character growth in Daisy. She is unlikeable in the first couple of books because she is incredibly prejudiced against Cyborgs. The story was interesting and continued, but initially, it was hard to root for Daisy. Aside from that, each book has some great characters that were a lot of fun to read. Freya and George were my favorite characters. 

I appreciated that the series came full circle and had a happy ending (sorry, spoiler). It ended really sweetly, and while I guessed a lot of it, I was still pleased. Honestly, right now, we need more stories that make us go, "Aww." 

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a fun Science Fiction escape. The audiobooks were well done, and I really enjoyed how the narrator told the story. Oh, and for those of us doing the challenge - the first or second books also work for the reluctant hero category.

My Ratings for each of the books are as follows:

Daisy's Run - 4 stars

Pushing Daisy- 4 stars

Daisy's Gambit - 3 stars

Chasing Daisy - 3 stars

Daisy's War - 4 stars

The average is 3.6 stars, so I will give the series 4 stars/moons.