Becky Chambers

Illustrated by Zoë van Dijk

Introduced by the author

Limited to 750 hand-numbered copies

Explore the far future with the first illustrated edition of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. The groundbreaking debut novel of Hugo Award-winning author Becky Chambers, one of the most imaginative voices in contemporary science fiction, is a truly galactic limited edition.

‘Chambers is simply an exceptional talent, quietly and beautifully redefining the space opera.’

Tor.com

On a mission to punch a hole through space, the Wayfarer, a battered mining freighter with a multi-species crew, welcomes Martian-born human Rosemary onboard and heads to the far side of the galaxy. On the way they join a multitude of sapients speaking a dizzying array of languages, shake hands and clasp paws and brush tendrils at Port Coriol, secure help from the modder community and face gun-toting Akarak pirates. In this ‘Hopepunk’ space opera seen through a contemporary lens, Becky Chambers explores fresh perspectives on social and cultural change. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is both a crucial waypoint in the collection of any sci-fi connoisseur and the perfect gateway for literary explorers new to the genre.

The small, angry planet broods red in a field of stars and spacecraft on the extraordinary presentation box. Diagonal wings open to reveal the Wayfarer diving through a hyperspace tunnel on the printed cloth binding blocked with metallic foil. Inside, award-winning illustrator Zoë van Dijk’s vivid artwork captures the novel’s contrasting world in neon-soaked colours, sensitive character images and wonderous starscapes, and Chambers shares fresh details about the origin and the ongoing legacy of this influential novel in her new introduction. Each book has been signed by both the author and the artist on a tipped-on envelope – in a nod to a galaxy where letters are reserved only for very special (or secret) occasions and paper is a thing of wonder. An exclusive art print completes this fabulous edition, strictly limited to 750 copies.

PRODUCTION DETAILS

Limited to 750 hand-numbered copies 

Limitation ‘envelope’ signed by Becky Chambers and Zoë van Dijk  

Bound in dark blue buckram printed in black ink and blocked in
lemon-gold foil  

Set in Meta Serif with Industria as display  

Printed in two colours on Abbey Lynx paper   

408 pages  

10 illustrations printed on GardaPat 13 Bianka paper  

Printed page edges  

Ribbon marker 

Endpapers printed with a design by the artist  

Presentation box covered in printed and blocked paper  

10˝ x 7½˝  

Exclusive print in a presentation folder 

A SINGULAR JOURNEY

From the ground, we stand. From our ships, we live. By the stars, we hope.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet has made its own singular journey from Kickstarter sensation – it was the first self-published novel to be nominated by British speculative fiction awards the Kitschies – to best-selling first volume in a series that has won both Hugo and Prix Julia Verlanger awards. Combining the quirky characters of Douglas Adams with the humane space opera of Lois McMaster Bujold, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet is an important step forward in the evolution of science fiction.

BIOGRAPHIES

About Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers is the author of the Hugo Award-winning Wayfarer novels, which include The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (2015; Folio 2023), A Closed and Common Orbit (2016) and Record of a Spaceborn Few (2018). Her novella A Psalm for the Wild-Built also won a Hugo and her books have been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction among others. Chambers also writes essays and short stories. She lives in northern California.

About Zoë van Dijk

Zoë van Dijk is an award-winning freelance illustrator who was born and raised in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Since graduating with a BFA in Illustration from the School of Visual Arts in 2014, she has worked across a wide spectrum of industries with clients ranging from Penguin Random House to Netflix to 2k games. Her work has been honoured by the Society of Illustrators, the World Illustration Awards, Communication Arts, The American Society of Magazine Editors, American Illustration and 3×3 Magazine. She lives in Los Angeles where, in addition to her freelance work, she teaches narrative drawing at the Roski School of Fine Arts at The University of Southern California.