Kindle
$14.99
Available instantly
Audible Logo Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial
Hardcover
$58.97
Paperback
$11.99
Kindle Price: $14.99

Save $3.00 (17%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Audiobook Price: $13.46

Save: $0.97 (7%)

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Becky Chambers
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

To Be Taught, If Fortunate Kindle Edition

by Becky Chambers (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 4,909 ratings
Goodreads Choice Award nominee
See all formats and editions

“Extraordinary . . . A future sci-fi masterwork in a new and welcome tradition.” -- Joanne Harris, author of Chocolat

A stand-alone science fiction novella from the award-winning, bestselling, critically-acclaimed author of the Wayfarer series.

At the turn of the twenty-second century, scientists make a breakthrough in human spaceflight. Through a revolutionary method known as somaforming, astronauts can survive in hostile environments off Earth using synthetic biological supplementations. They can produce antifreeze in subzero temperatures, absorb radiation and convert it for food, and conveniently adjust to the pull of different gravitational forces. With the fragility of the body no longer a limiting factor, human beings are at last able to journey to neighboring exoplanets long known to harbor life.

A team of these explorers, Ariadne O’Neill and her three crewmates, are hard at work in a planetary system fifteen light-years from Sol, on a mission to ecologically survey four habitable worlds. But as Ariadne shifts through both form and time, the culture back on Earth has also been transformed. Faced with the possibility of returning to a planet that has forgotten those who have left, Ariadne begins to chronicle the story of the wonders and dangers of her mission, in the hope that someone back home might still be listening.

Previous page
  1. Print length
    160 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Harper Voyager
  5. Publication date
    September 3, 2019
  6. File size
    4321 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card
Popular Highlights in this book
What are popular highlights?
Previous page
  1. The amount a person can spare is relative; the value of generosity is not.
    Highlighted by 1,008 Kindle readers
  2. It’s difficult to assign value to discovery when you haven’t sorted out the parameters of reality yet.
    Highlighted by 753 Kindle readers
  3. A forest is an interdependent community. Resources are shared, and life in isolation is a death sentence.
    Highlighted by 735 Kindle readers
Next page

From the Publisher

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within Becky Chambers More from
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet A Closed and Common Orbit Record of a Spaceborn Few To Be Taught, If Fortunate The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet A Closed and Common Orbit Record of a Spaceborn Few To Be Taught, If Fortunate The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
Customer Reviews
4.4 out of 5 stars
25,823
4.6 out of 5 stars
15,811
4.3 out of 5 stars
8,520
4.3 out of 5 stars
4,909
4.6 out of 5 stars
7,318
Price $11.49 $12.49 $10.99 $11.99 $13.59

Editorial Reviews

Review

"With technical prowess and outstanding visceral imagery, Chambers packs an immense amount of story into a novella worthy of full-length praise...As Ariadne chronicles her missions, her stories raise questions about the ethics of research and beg the reader to empathize with being alone. Using precise language to paint awe-inspiring pictures of the unknown, Chambers offers a troubling, beckoning glimpse into the future of humankind."

-- "Publishers Weekly (starred review) "

About the Author

Becky Chambers was raised in California as the progeny of an astrobiology educator, an aerospace engineer, and an Apollo-era rocket scientist. Her first novel, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, was originally funded via Kickstarter in 2012. It went on to be nominated for the 2014 Kitschies and the 2016 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07L2Z4DBK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Voyager (September 3, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 3, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 4321 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 4,909 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Becky Chambers

Becky Chambers

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Becky Chambers was raised in California as the progeny of an astrobiology educator, an aerospace engineer, and an Apollo-era rocket scientist. Her first novel, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, was originally funded via Kickstarter in 2012. Her books have been nominated for the Kitschies Award, the Hugo Award, the Locus Award, the Arthus C. Clarke Award and the Women's Prize for Fiction, among others, and won the Prix Julia Verlanger.

After living in Scotland and Iceland, Becky is now back in her home state, where she lives with her spouse. She is a devotee of video and tabletop games, and enjoys spending time in nature. She hopes to see Earth from orbit one day.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
4,909 global ratings
Great sci-fi
5 Stars
Great sci-fi
Space, the final frontier.This was a beautiful work of science fiction. I love to get a bit existential about space and our small teeny tiny planet in the midst of an infinite universe. It puts things in perspective. See photo of The Menagerie of Galaxies, I think about it often 🙃Our narrator, Ariadne is writing a journal to everyone back on Earth, it will take fourteen years to reach their home planet. As part of the education mission Lawki 6, Ari and her crew are studying four different planets, spanning decades in space, and sending the knowledge back to Earth. After 50 years exploring exoplanets, communication from Earth simply stops.Wonderful writing and very interesting characters, it didn’t seem like a novella at all! In our current reality, humans will never be able to travel the universe, the technology just simply doesn’t exist, it may not happen at all and that’s okay. The novella briefly mentions events on Earth, wars, famine and global climate change that affect us all, and unfortunately that’s a reality we are running towards 😔I’m impressed by the research Becky Chambers put into this book, even though she says it’s all made up, I think the themes are very real. I highly recommend this quick read if you are a fan of science fiction!5 stars⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hide
Thank you for your feedback
Sorry, there was an error
Sorry we couldn't load the review

Top reviews from the United States

Emmanuel Ifediba
5.0 out of 5 stars To Be Taught, If Fortunate - A Captivating Journey of Exploration and Discovery!
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2023
Verified Purchase
"To Be Taught, If Fortunate" by Becky Chambers is a breathtaking novella that takes readers on an unforgettable journey through the cosmos. This science fiction masterpiece follows the adventures of a team of astronauts as they embark on a mission to explore distant planets and the potential for life beyond our solar system. The novella is a compelling exploration of humanity's curiosity and resilience in the face of the unknown, with each member of the team bringing their unique perspectives and strengths to the forefront.

What sets "To Be Taught, If Fortunate" apart is its remarkable storytelling and evocative prose. Becky Chambers' writing weaves a tapestry of emotions and wonder, immersing readers in the awe-inspiring beauty of the universe and the complexities of the human spirit. The characters are brilliantly crafted, with their personal journeys and experiences adding depth to the narrative. This novella beautifully captures the essence of exploration and discovery, reminding us of the boundless possibilities that lie beyond the stars. If you're a fan of thought-provoking science fiction with a focus on the human spirit, "To Be Taught, If Fortunate" is a must-read that will leave you contemplating the mysteries of the cosmos long after you've turned the last page.
2 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
B4UBY
4.0 out of 5 stars Terrific SciFi, Quick Read
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2023
Verified Purchase
This well-written novella grabbed my attention from page one and held it right through to the end. I read the author's debut novel, A Long, Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet after I finished this one (liked it as well) and can safely state that both share some common thematic elements that I can't do without in my Scifi. These are:

1. I need the characters in my SciFi fiction to be consummate professionals with an unmatched expertise in their fields of specialty. I really can't tolerate books or movies that depict crewmates on scientific expeditions as incompetent, or worse, psychotic. Really. Does anyone think that a mission to space to save mankind, something that, say, took a decade to prepare, would be manned by crew members with personality disorder?

2. Duty. Crews aboard space ships that travel at relativistic speeds have to be unquestionably dedicated to their mission. There is no room for doubt.

3. Sacrifice. Every man and woman aboard ship must put the needs of their fellow crewmen and the mission first.

4. Camaraderie. Everyone must get along. It's a prerequisite to success.

I find that a lot of SciFi writers manufacture drama between characters serving on starships because it's easy, and they're too conditioned to the cliche Hollywood formula to write a story without personality conflicts between characters. If you want to write about conflict between crew members on a Starship, you need to make it entirely plausible. For example, in this novella, an unpredictable incident creates a situation that doesn't seem to have a remedy. The situation leads to an entirely plausible and contagious sense of despair. Kind of like in the movie, Perfect Storm, when the crew of the Andrea Gale ran out of options and knew death was on their doorstep.

This isn't to say I liked every aspect of this read equally. There is a certain Kumbaya element in the author's writing that seems over the top. Imagine you go to friend's house for a dinner party and everyone there is raving about the house and meal to the hosts, and then complimenting each other all night long.

Still, a great book.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Elisabeth Carey
5.0 out of 5 stars What if the culture that launch your relativistic space mission no longer exists?
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2019
Verified Purchase
This is a standalone novella unconnected to Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series.

Climate change accelerated to a severe crisis that drained the ability and willingness of governments to support space exploration. Yet the drive to explore is not dead, and a private institute forms, to crowd-fund continued research and exploration. With contributions coming from anyone, anywhere in the world, who wants to support it, and all contributions, tiny or enormous, acknowledged, it works.

This story follows Lawki 6, a mission to a red dwarf system with four planets that may be habitable. Five missions to other star systems were launched before them, but results from the first weren't yet received when Lawki 6, ship name Merian, departs.

The crew is engineer Ariadne O'Neill, nominally in charge, and mission specialists Elena Quesada-Cruz, Jack Vo, and Chikondi Daka. With the information about the worlds gathered before their departure, they have patches that, while they are in deep sleep between worlds, make small but significant changes in their bodies to improve their ability to do their jobs. It might be skin glitter to make them more visible to each other in low light conditions, or improved bone density and musculature for high gravity, or any other small, useful changes that don't require remaking basic body form.

And on each world they make fascinating discoveries--sometimes, not always, including life.

The system is 14 lightyears away, so news and mission updates from Earth are fourteen years old, essentially history, when received. Likewise, their mission reports are fourteen years old by the time they reach Earth. Because they don't have FTL, they are separated from those they left behind by a good deal more than fourteen years. But this is not designed as a one-way mission. They expected to return to Earth eventually. It's the distance and time delay from Earth, the years of changes in what feels to them like a brief nap, in torpor traveling between their target worlds, that ultimately produces their major crisis.

Their instruments are picking up data from another star system, one that has a planet that not only has life, but may have a technological civilization. On the one hand, they have no reason not to go check it out. Distances and consumables reserves are such that they can go there, and still be able to return to Earth. There seems to be no immediate need to return, given the information they have.

But why are they out here? What's the purpose of their exploration, and who is it for? They weren't funded, equipped, trained to indulge their own curiosity; they're doing it for Earth. What does Earth want? Is it right or wrong to continue?

Chambers always gives us absorbing, compelling characters, whose dilemmas are real and challenging. In this novella, she gives us interesting worlds and life forms, and characters we really care about and understand by the time they face their big decision.

Recommended.

I received a free electronic galley from the publisher via Edelweiss.
71 people found this helpful
Helpful
 Report

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
Tom Goodfellow
5.0 out of 5 stars Great writing, great short story, very moving.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 2, 2024
Verified Purchase
Great writing as always from Chambers.
Report
Kaustubh
1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed totally. Do not buy here
Reviewed in India on July 29, 2022
Verified Purchase
Yellow pages. Poor quality. Dismal value for money. Please do not buy here
One person found this helpful
 Report
Simon Lövbacka
4.0 out of 5 stars Läsvärd!
Reviewed in Sweden on November 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
Med väldigt få sidor leverar Becky Chambers en levande berättelse, klart läsvärd!
Report
Juliana Coelho
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice short story, would like to see more
Reviewed in Brazil on January 7, 2020
Verified Purchase
Great book, although not as good as the wayfarers trilogy. Actually my biggest critique is that this book is a bit too small.

Spoiler alert: I particularly liked the (non) solution to long distance space travel, and the idea of a public funded space agency. Also, as in her previous books, i liked how the author presents lgbt characters without a big fanfare, and how being lgbt is but a small aspect of the characters lives.
One person found this helpful
 Report
Renee
5.0 out of 5 stars Delightful!
Reviewed in Canada on August 16, 2019
Verified Purchase
Wonderful read. Conversational and relateable, it reminded me of classic sci-fi a la Sagan, Asimov, and the Heinlein juveniles -- the descriptions of scientific concepts and procedures. Taking the pattern from those old masters, Chambers has added her trademark: rich characterizations and complex relationships. Our heros are grown-ups, flawed and magnificent and fascinating. I didn't want it to end, but when it did, the ending was absolutely perfect.
2 people found this helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report