A Closed and Common Orbit

Synopsis

Lovelace was once a ship's artificial intelligence. After a shutdown and reboot, she starts again in a synthetic body, a form of existence that is illegal in her world. Pepper, an engineer involved in her new beginning, helps her adapt to changed ways of perceiving and acting. Becky Chambers places support, embodiment and belonging at the centre of a self-contained story in the Wayfarers setting. First published in 2016, this is the series' second book and can be read independently. Its starting premise reveals a change from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, which readers can read first to discover events in order.