Becky Chambers

For other people with similar names, see Rebecca Chambers (disambiguation).

Becky Chambers
BornRebecca Marie Chambers
(1985-05-03) May 3, 1985 (age 39)
Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
OccupationScience fiction writer
GenreSolarpunk, hopepunk
Notable awards2019 Hugo Award for Best Series
2022 Hugo Award for Best Novella
Website
www.otherscribbles.com

Becky Chambers (born May 3, 1985)[1] is an American science fiction writer. She is the author of the Hugo Award-winning Wayfarers series as well as novellas including To Be Taught, If Fortunate (2019) and the Monk & Robot series, which begins with the Hugo Award-winning A Psalm for the Wild-Built (2021). She is known for her innovative worldbuilding and character-driven stories, and is a pioneer of the hopepunk genre.[2]

Early life, family and education

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Chambers was born in 1985 in Southern California and grew up in Torrance. Chambers' family included several people with an interest in various NASA space exploration efforts. Her parents are an astrobiology educator and a satellite engineer.[3] She became fascinated with space and its exploration at an early age. During her youth, after she first encountered a person who believed that such programs were unwise and that their funding would be better applied to solving Earth's problems, she began studying in detail humans' efforts to explore the cosmos, concluding that these efforts were commendable, although the present methods of funding could be improved. This deep analysis provided much inspiration for her writing.[4]

She moved to San Francisco to study theater arts at the University of San Francisco.[1]

Career

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Chambers worked in theater management and as a freelance writer before self-publishing her first novel, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, in 2014, after successfully raising funds on Kickstarter. The novel received critical acclaim and a Kitschies nomination, becoming the first self-published novel to do so.[5] This prompted Hodder & Stoughton and Harper Voyager to pick up and republish the novel.[6] The novel was the first book in the Wayfarers series, which includes three sequels: A Closed and Common Orbit, in 2016; Record of a Spaceborn Few, in 2018; and The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, in 2021. The series won the 2019 Hugo Award for Best Series. She has announced that the Wayfarers series has concluded.[4]

She published a novella, To Be Taught, If Fortunate, in August 2019, with a story that was not connected to the Wayfarers books.

In July 2018, it was announced that she signed a two-book deal with Tor Books.[7] The first book, A Psalm for the Wild-Built,[8] was published in May 2021. The story introduced Dex, a travelling tea monk, and Mosscap, a sentient robot. The second book, A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, was published in July 2022 and continued the story of Dex and Mosscap.[9]

Style and themes

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Her Wayfarers series novels take place in a fictional universe, governed by the Galactic Commons to which humans are relative newcomers. She has been lauded for the strong world-building in the series, including multiple unique alien races.[10] Reviewers have cited her complex and likeable characters who drive the story.[11] Her work has been alternately criticized and praised for the deliberate, character-driven pacing and lack of the propulsive plots typical of other space opera novels.[12][13]

Personal life

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Chambers has lived in Iceland and Scotland before returning to California, where she currently resides with her wife, Berglaug Asmundardottir,[1][14] in Humboldt County.[3]

Awards

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Year Work Award Category Result Ref
2014 The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Kitschies Golden Tentacle (Best Debut Novel) Nominated [15]
2015 Otherwise Award — Longlisted [16]
2016 British Fantasy Award Best Newcomer (Sydney J. Bounds Award) Nominated [17]
2016 Women's Prize for Fiction — Longlisted [18]
2016 Arthur C. Clarke Award — Nominated [19]
2017 Grand prix de l'Imaginaire Foreign Novel Nominated [20]
2016 A Closed and Common Orbit BSFA Award Novel Nominated [21]
2017 Arthur C. Clarke Award — Nominated [22]
Hugo Award Novel Nominated [23]
Wayfarers series Prix Julia Verlanger — Won [24]
2018 Record of a Spaceborn Few Kitschies Red Tentacle (Best Novel) Nominated [25]
2019 Locus Award Science Fiction Novel Nominated [26]
Hugo Award Novel Nominated [27]
Wayfarers series Hugo Award Series Won [27]
To Be Taught, If Fortunate BSFA Award Shorter Fiction Nominated [28]
2020 Hugo Award Novella Nominated [29]
Locus Award Novella Nominated [30]
2021 A Psalm for the Wild-Built Nebula Award Novella Nominated [31]
2022 Hugo Award Novella Won [32]
Locus Award Novella Nominated [33]
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within Hugo Award Novel Nominated [32]
Locus Award Science Fiction Novel Nominated [33]
2023 A Prayer for the Crown-Shy Locus Award Novella Won [34]

Bibliography

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Novels

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Wayfarers series

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Novellas

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Monk & Robot series

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Short stories

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  • "Chrysalis," Jurassic London's Stocking Stuffer, 2014
  • "The Deckhand, The Nova Blade, and the Thrice-Sung Texts," Cosmic Powers: The Saga Anthology of Far-Away Galaxies, 2017
  • "Last Contact", 2001: An Odyssey in Words, 2018
  • "A Good Heretic" (a Wayfarers story), Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers, 2019
  • "The Tomb Ship", Lost Worlds & Mythological Kingdoms, 2022

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Becky Chambers: To Be Spaceborn". Locus. December 17, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2018.
  2. ^ Kehe, Jason. "Is Becky Chambers the Ultimate Hope for Science Fiction?". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Kehe, Jason (September 16, 2021). "Is Becky Chambers the Ultimate Hope for Science Fiction?". Backchannel, Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Episode 170: Becky Chambers Goes Wayfaring". Imaginary Worlds. April 15, 2021. Retrieved April 16, 2021.
  5. ^ Flood, Alison (February 13, 2015). "Self-published sci-fi debut kickstarts on to Kitschies shortlist". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  6. ^ Liptak, Andrew (September 12, 2015). "The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet Is This Year's Most Delightful Space Opera". Io9. Retrieved July 19, 2018.
  7. ^ Harris, Lee (July 18, 2018). "Announcing a Pair of Solarpunk Novellas from Becky Chambers". Tor.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  8. ^ "Introducing Monk & Robot, a New Series by Becky Chambers". Tor.com. April 16, 2020. Retrieved June 17, 2020.
  9. ^ Publishing, Tor com. "A Prayer for the Crown-Shy". Tordotcom Publishing. Retrieved November 16, 2022.
  10. ^ Clark, M. L. (June 5, 2017). "A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers" (Book review). Strange Horizons. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  11. ^ Roberts, Adam (October 22, 2016). "A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers review – an AI on the run". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  12. ^ Alexander, Niall (July 5, 2016). "The Joy of the Journey: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers". Tor.com. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  13. ^ Martini, Adrienne (March 12, 2016). "Adrienne Martini reviews Becky Chambers". Locus Online. Retrieved May 20, 2020.
  14. ^ "Becky Chambers". HarperCollins. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  15. ^ "2014 Awards". The Kitschies. June 29, 2022. Archived from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  16. ^ "2015 Otherwise Award". Otherwise Award. February 17, 2017. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  17. ^ "British Fantasy Awards 2016: the nominees". The British Fantasy Society. June 7, 2016. Archived from the original on July 30, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  18. ^ "2016 Baileys women's prize for fiction longlist". Women's Prize for Fiction. March 6, 2016. Archived from the original on July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  19. ^ Alexander, Niall (April 27, 2016). "Announcing the 2016 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist". Tor.com. Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  20. ^ "Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire 2017 Winners". Locus. June 5, 2017. Archived from the original on January 24, 2022. Retrieved June 29, 2022.
  21. ^ "2016 BSFA Winners". Locus. April 17, 2017. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  22. ^ "2017 Shortlist Announced". The Arthur C. Clarke Award. Archived from the original on July 10, 2018. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  23. ^ "2017 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. December 31, 2016. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 12, 2022.
  24. ^ "PALMARÈS OFFICIEL DE LA 18E ÉDITION DES UTOPIALES" (PDF). Les Utopiales. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 22, 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
  25. ^ "2018 Awards". The Kitschies. Archived from the original on April 3, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  26. ^ "2019 Locus Awards Finalists". Locus. May 7, 2019. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  27. ^ a b "2019 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. July 28, 2019. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  28. ^ "2019 BSFA Winners". Locus. May 18, 2022. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  29. ^ "2020 Hugo Awards". The Hugo Awards. April 7, 2020. Archived from the original on April 17, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  30. ^ "2020 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 27, 2020. Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  31. ^ Asher-Perrin, Emmett (May 21, 2022). "Here Are the Winners of the 2021 Nebula Awards!". Tor.com. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  32. ^ a b "Announcing the 2022 Hugo Award Winners". Tor.com. September 4, 2022. Archived from the original on September 5, 2022. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  33. ^ a b "2022 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 25, 2022. Archived from the original on July 17, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  34. ^ "2023 Locus Awards Winners". Locus Online. June 25, 2023. Retrieved June 25, 2023.
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