The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

 

The Wayfarer has seen better days.  It is a tunneler ship, one that patches wormholes for other ships to use to locations that don't have them, a purpose that means long journeys without seeing civilization.  Luckily, the crew has become something of a family.  There is Ashley, the captain who sets the tone and makes sure everything is moving along.  Sissix is the reptilian pilot.  Kizzy and Jenks are the techs; Kizzy is outgoing and Jenks is in love with the AI that runs the ships communications.  Doctor Chef feeds everyone and makes sure they are healthy.  There is a man who maintains the fuel and a dying navigator.

Ashley has been trying to do the work of several individuals for years and he finally hires an assistant.  Rosemary Harper is running from her family's past and soon settles into the crew.  The Wayfarer has accepted a new job that will set them up for years but it involves creating tunnels into a place no one has gone before and to a location that has warlike inhabitants.  Will they make it?

This is the first book in the Wayfarers series which won the Hugo for Best Series.  This book was also nominated for the Women's Prize for Fiction as well as many other awards.  It is the start of an engaging series.  Each crew member has an interesting background.  There are love affairs, clashes with the law, enemy forces who are determined to end the mission and the love and cooperation between a diverse set of individuals to attain a worthwhile goal.  This book is recommended for readers of science fiction.