Once again, Chambers weaves her magic. We are drawn into the lives of these disparate individuals as they are temporarily trapped at a small stop-over. Each one of these characters are aliens with very different bodies, customs and cultures – Roveg is a Quelin, though exiled from his homeworld; Speaker is an Akarak, frantic at being separated from her twin, and Pei is the one character who links us back to the first book, as he is Ashby’s lover. Their needs are being catered by a Ouloo and her adolescent child Tupo, who both captured my heart more than any of the other characters. That said, each one of them have their own challenges and simply do the best to get by – which resonated with me.

What leapt off the page was everyone’s striving to do their best to be accommodating and polite, despite finding themselves stranded in quite difficult circumstances. Which was often in stark contrast to what has been unfolding during 2020, while we grapple with our own difficult circumstances… Nonetheless there are cultural tensions – and they flare one evening when at least one of the characters has had too much to drink. And it is Ouloo’s response that brought tears to my eyes when she announces that she knows that what has happened to both Pei’s and Speaker’s people is completely unacceptable – but there is nothing that she can do about that. She is simply overwhelmed by the complexity of the arguments on both sides. What she can do is try to help people feel at home and relaxed when they stop off for supplies – and serve desserts they find delicious.

I am conscious that I’ve made this story sound rather sappy and Pollyanna-ish and it’s nothing of the sort. Despite the relative gentleness of Chambers’ writing, she doesn’t shy away from some gnarly subjects our small band of aliens are encountering – sexual and cultural prejudice, and the plight of refugees who through no fault of their own have no planet with no imminent hope of being allocated one because they fall outside the accepted norms in appearance… I’m aware my review hasn’t begun to adequately describe the magic of Chambers’ writing – probably because I’m not really sure how she does it.

However, I urge you to go looking for this one if you’re scratching your head at my inane attempt to try and sum up this book – and try it for yourself. If you fall under her spell, chances are, you’ll be thanking me if you do. It’s made my Outstanding Reads of 2021, that’s for sure. While I obtained an arc of The Galaxy, and the Ground Within from the publishers via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
10/10

Becky Chambers always seems to write the perfect book for the moment. I certainly wasn't expecting the story of a group of people trapped at a space b&b to have too many parallels to lockdown life, but as I read it I was struck by how Chambers has sued her Wayfarers series to expertly speak about the things that make us all- well, human is probably the wrong word. I really loved meeting these characters and finding out what made them who they are- and, as someone who has always had a special fondness for weird goblins, Speaker was an absolute delight as a character and the Akarak are now one of my favourite alien species.

I am deeply sad that this is the last Wayfarers book- but I'm so glad that I got to experience this world. Thank you, Becky.

I am a huge fan of Becky Chambers' previous novels in the Wayfarers series, and I have to say I was quite sad to hear that this would be the last book in the series :( However, I do think it is a good ending to the series, if a little anti-climactic.
Once again, Chambers has created a charming cast, with one character that featured in the first book in the series, with Pei being that character. Chambers does a marvellous job of making the alien species feel so real and easy to picture in real life. She also makes me yearn for space life, and it does make me sad that I will never experience it in my lifetime cause wow does it sound fantastic!! Stand out characters were definitely Speaker and Roveg for me, and I absolutely love the friendship that blossomed between them in particular.

I also enjoyed the politics between the different species that Chambers delves into - brief albeit was. I would have loved for more of that, but unfortunately it was not meant to be which makes sense for the story. I did like that there was enough to flesh out the characters and their backstories which were all compelling and most importantly, made sense.

One problem I have always had with Becky Chambers novels in the past was that the last few chapters of her novels would always be terribly rushed, which was a pity to say the least. However, this time she got the pacing perfectly right! It is so nice to see an author's writing develop and grow over the years and I'm so pleased and happy with how far Chambers has come since book 1 in the series! The only issue is that while the book itself had the perfect ending, I am saddened that this is the last in the Wayfarers series as I feel there is still so many stories left to tell in the universe of the GC. I also do dearly miss the characters from the other books, and while I know the point is to explore other characters with each book, I think I'm still allowed to wonder about what happened to them after the events in said books.

Overall, this book gets a solid 5/5. I loved every part of it, and reading it was such an enjoyable experience that I was very sad when it ended. I love the Wayfarers series and it holds a very special place in my heart, so I am a bit biased there. But I do genuinely believe that non-fans will also enjoy this book, and I highly recommend it!! The books in this series do not need to be read in any particular order, so feel free to pick this one up first~ Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Voyager for sending me the proof!

An absolutely brilliant and stunning finale to the Wayfarers series. Trapped on the planet Gora due to a freak event, three strangers are cast together with the owner of the Five-Hop One Stop and her occasionally helpful youngster, Tupo. This is the only series where I've given every book 5 stars, and I think this might be the best yet.

The strength is in the characters, their interactions, their quirks, their humanity and their philosophies. Loved it.

This basically was The Breakfast Club but with aliens.

Die-hard fans of the Wayfarers series will probably appreciate The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. While I loved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet I was not as taken by its sequel nor by this rather anticlimactic conclusion. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within follows a somewhat basic premise: a bunch of strangers from vastly differentiating backgrounds are forced into close quarters due to circumstances out of their control. Over the course of a few days, they bond and discover that they are not so different and they learn to push aside their prejudices and preconceived notions of 'Others'. The fact that they belong to different species does give this scenario a fresh new angle but ultimately Chambers incorporated the same kind of simplified discussions about social & cultural differences. Chambers often dumbs down potentially interesting arguments so that many of the discussions arising around relevant social issues lack nuance.
The story follows Pei, an Aeluon, Speaker, an Akarak, and Roveg, a Quelin. They all end up grounded at the Five-Hop One-Stop which is run by Ouloo, a Laru. They have all lead distinctive lives and they also necessitate differentiating things given that they belong to a different species. Oxygen, for example, would be lethal to Speaker. At first, they view the others as mere aliens but the more time they spend together—picnics and gettogethers—the more they begin to see the others as individuals in their own right. There is some conflict due to Akarak not being considered a sapient species and therefore they are not part of the GC. They were colonized by another species and are now regarded with distrust. Pei is fighting for the Aeluons against the Rosk (whom, if I record correctly, they had previously colonized).

While Chambers can be creative when it comes to language (they all happen to mention untranslatable words that are emblematic of their species' culture) the gender angle is a bit more tired. In fact, it does not hold a candle to some species from our animal kingdom. It was a bit weird that so many alien species had a gender and I found myself wishing for some genderless aliens. Ouloo's child uses xyr/xe pronouns but after puberty, xe will be either female or male....which, why not have a species that is neither female nor male (ie enby)?
Similarly, it seemed weird to me that all of the characters' thoughts and felt in similar way (even if Aeluons express themselves through the colors in their cheeks). Why do they all feel the same type of emotions? That they all spoke as if they were therapists made them blur together in spite of their alleged differences.

Most of the scenes included in the narrative seemed to try hard to be cute or sweet or heartwarming but I found them unbearably cheesy. And on the topic of cheese, that whole discussion about how weird cheese is was so necessary, the same goes for that discussion on shoes (they are like clothes for feet, ahah, so funny). Given that they have all interacted with or have knowledge of other species it seemed weird that they would go on about cheese and shoes as if these are flabbergasting concepts.
Although I appreciated Chambers inclusion of diverse languages it would have been interesting to learn whether contact between so many different species and the predominance of Klip as a spoken language, had resulted in language death for certain species. At one point the narrative seems to imply that Laru is spoken no longer but later on (if I remember correctly) this information is contradicted.

The story is slow and consists of these characters bonding and widening their mindsets. Explorations of serious and potentially topical issues, such as reproductive rights, are approached with simplicity ("Because I didn't want to. And when it comes to a person's body, that is all the reason there ever needs to be,"). Similarly, the whole Pei/Speaker confrontation results in both making 'valid' points.
The most interesting thing about this novel is the fact that it concerns non-humans but, to be honest, their experiences, desires, fears, and arcs felt a bit too 'human'.
I'm sure that Chamers aficionados will be able to love this in a way that I wasn't but if I had to be completely honest with myself, reading it felt like a waste of my time.

Becky Chambers has a certain outlook on things that chimes very well with me. Her specific brand of Sci-Fi is simultaniously recignisable but fresh and her three previous Wayfarer books have been ones I've returned to again and again. This, her most recent and final Wayfarer book, is a very fitting and glorious end to a Sci-Fi epic that can simultaniously feel intimate yet expansive. The Galaxy and the Ground within, for me, is a classic sci-fi tale brilliantly told. The story takes place on Gora, the sci-fi equivalent of a Truck Stop, where 3 disperate strangers are holed up with nothing to do but wait for rescue when a freak tech accident results in all traffic to and from the stop being halted. The setting and characters themselves were very well written and impressively realised which I have come to expect of Becky Chambers and fans of her work will not be dissapointed in her final Wayfarer outing.

I was automatically approved for a review copy of this book by NetGalley, and despite the utter hassle getting an epub onto my nook has become these days, for the fourth (and final) book in the Wayfarers series I would have endured worse. With the previous book being a slight disappointment for me compared to the first two, I approached this one with a little more caution. I needn’t have. It is absolutely bloody fantastic.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within feels like it brings together elements from all three of the previous books. The adventures of space similar to Angry Planet, the limited number of main characters akin to Common Orbit, and the feeling of isolation from a Spaceborn Few. It takes those elements and makes something wholly new and wonderful.

All five of the main characters are loveable, another common trait for this series of books. Roveg was my standout favourite, though. For someone with a literal hard shell, he was so soft at heart. Similarly, Ouloo, the host of where this group are stranded for several long days, only wants everyone to be happy and does everything she can to make that happen. Pei and Speaker were fascinating, both individually, but especially together; their tentative relationship and the juxtaposition of both their species’ histories. Tupo is the glue holding all the other characters together, simultaneously a moody teenager and a ball of curious energy, xe was definitely my second favourite character.

With an unforeseen hiatus from their travels and stuck for several days on a pit-stop planet with nowhere to go, every single character goes on a journey regardless. They learn from each other, about each other, and give each other advice. There is a blast of action at the start of the book, and some tense action at the end. The middle is a quiet and meaningful meander from one to the other. The characters gradually give up more of themselves and their stories as they get to know one another, and on the whole it was just so peaceful.

Of course, there is the amazing world building that Chambers writes so well. Details and information dotted and sprinkled throughout, always adding depth and interest to the characters; the various species, cultures, and social norms; as well as to the story as a whole. The book touches on important topics as commonplace as dietary requirements, accessibility, and language, to equally important but more philosophical topics such as the concept of home, the merits of war, and the erasure of an entire species.

This book is just… so… lovely. It left me with a feeling of such warmth. A group of such diverse folk in a difficult situation, all making the best of it, being nice and considerate to each other. What does it say about the real world (or perhaps my perceptions of it), that a book about people simply being kind to each other affected me so much?

They say that sometimes a book finds you exactly when you need it. I think for me this was one of those books at one of those times. I didn’t want this book to end. I felt safe while I was reading it, and dragged it out far longer than I needed to. But I just absolutely adored this book. I’m sad to see this series end, but look forward to revisiting it again in the future.

Four complete strangers, thrown together with an extended layover on a planet which is more like a very small airport with very little to offer in way of entertainment.  What makes this interesting is that all of the strangers are from different species and again the host species is also different and none of them are human.    I guess you could say this is a closed room mystery without the mystery.  As with all of Becky Chambers books so far, character takes precedence to plot. There is a plot, but only just. 

Humans feature very little in this book and are only brought up in passing as one of the travellers is on the way to visit her secret human lover.  There is only one actual human in the book and she only makes a brief  appearance about 15% from the end. 

Roveg is an artist and creates simulated worlds for VR like adventures and other simulations and is an exile from his people.  His species,. the Quelin have an insect like body and use six dexterous feet to manipulate their world, they also have a tightly controlled society and are intolerant to anybody questioning it, from inside or out. 

Pei is an Aeluon, a species who cannot hear but communicate with each other by changing the colour of their faces. She has an implant as have most modern Aeluons which send sound data directly to the brain.  We met her briefly in the first book of the series as she is the secret lover of the Wayfarers captain Ashby who she is on route to visit. 

Speaker is from a species who cannot breath the same oxygen rich air that most other species need to survive, they breath methane instead and whilst he is out of his shuttle he exists in a bipedal robot like suit which he pilots from the head space where he resides.   Akaraks like him are rare and try their best to avoid detection by other species. 

The hosts are a Laru mother and son.  The Laru are a hairy bipedal species who carry their young in a pouch a bit like marsupials. They are generally a very relaxed and friendly species and are often found in mixed species habitats. 

This book also explores the concept of belonging and how the different species have families and children and how not all of them have planets they can call home. 

As with the rest of the series the world-building is exquisite and builds seamlessly on the work done in the previous three books.  

I love the fact that the chapters are all very short and they do alternate between the different characters each chapter in the close third person narrative.  

This is a difficult book to review as it is subtle and creeps up on you.  On the surface when picked apart and in pieces it doesn't seem very much but when you take it as a whole it is a breathtaking piece of speculative fiction which has changed the way I think about the possibility of alien life and how we experience the world.

Review due to be posted on Thursday 18 Feb 2021

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is the fourth (and last?) book in Becky Chambers’ wonderful Wayfarers series. Each book has been set in a different location in her vast and imaginative galaxy, featuring different people, and has tackled different aspects of (human) experience from AIs right to a self, to finding a place to belong. The latest isn’t an exception.

The book is set on a small rock of a planet that has no life of its own, but—as Tupo, one of the characters says—even life that is introduced on a planet is life. Gora is a hub of space travel between several wormhole jump points, a place to rest and refuel for a day or two while waiting for a place in the jump queue. Life is contained under large domes, and the only thing connecting the domes is the power grid.

One of the domes is Five-Hop One-Stop, a rest-stop run by Ouloo and Tupo, her child. They are Laru, a species that resemble long-legged and necked dogs or maybe Alpacas; they’re furry and four-legged, with front paws acting as hands. It’s a matter of pride for Ouloo to make each and every traveller feel like home when they visit, whether it’s offering them particular food, accommodating different bathing habits, or finding a suddenly fertile Aeluon the closest place to procreate.

On this occasion, she’s visited by Pei, a female Aeluon, a mostly humanoid species who communicate with colours on their skin; Roveg, a Quelin male who are basically large insects with exoskeletons and multiple legs; and Speaker, a female Akarak, a small species who cannot use oxygen and therefore only exit their ship inside a mechanical armour. Accommodating such different guests isn’t easy, but Ouloo does her best. And then a disaster strikes, stranding them into her dome for days with no way of communicating outside.

Like all the books in the series, this is very much character driven. We follow each character as they try to adjust to a change in their plans, their worries for what they might miss or what awaits them once they reach their destination. Each character has their own story and reason to travel. And for the first time for most of them, it’s a chance to get to know species they find alien. They do this in a respectful manner and with minimal strife, which has become the hallmark of these books. While nothing much happens externally, each character changes through these interactions and by the time they are able to leave, they have made new friends. The epilogue sees everyone to their happy places, the private conflicts solved.

This was a wonderful, happy book that left me warm and fuzzy inside. If this truly is the last one, it’s a great ending, but I wish the series would continue. It’s been imaginative and positive, with great detail and thought put to the biological and cultural differences of the various species, and I’m sure there would be dozens of stories to tell. I for one could read many more Wayfarer books.

Eejit over here (hello) decided to read the LAST book in a four-part series without touching the others and, needless to say, was a little confused as to what the fuck was going on. But because I’d seen the amount of love the Wayfarers books were getting, I was like oh hell yes let’s just run in with no context see what happens.

I was not prepared.

At first, I thought this might be a book about space furries. Cool, I could get on board with that, but I quickly realised that I was being an utter fanny and this was a book about bloody space aliens. Of course it was going to include vastly different looking species considering they were ~ floating ~ about up there. You know… in space. I’ve clearly read too much historical (and very human) fiction – time to wiggle my way into a whole new world.

Also, a wee PSA:
This book uses gender-neutral terms for one of the species. As I’ve not come across these before, it took me a bit of time to get my head around it but after about an hour, it became second nature. You’ll find Xe and Xyr throughout to describe Tupo – a delightful wee character whose gender isn’t determined until later in life.

To cut to the chase, I’ve not read anything quite like this. Here’s what you’re in for:
✨ Space aliens. A lot of them. Each with their own unique cultures and needs
✨ Clashing opinions with no escape from each other
✨ A story with no plot (I’ll explain this later)
✨ A story that’ll stick in your mind

As I’ve not read any of the other three books, I was a little lost as to what was going on at the start. Now this can absolutely be read as a standalone but I am most likely missing a lot of character buildup so if you’re thinking of doing a Jen and jumping in at the end, stop. Go read the rest first.

The story’s set around four main species and their plinky, plonky planet-based shenanigans as they find themselves unexpectedly stranded at what I can only describe as space motorway service stops but on a much grander scale.

The Five-Hop One-Stop on Gora is home to Ouloo and Tupo – a fluffy species known as the Laru of which I now have in my head as looking like an Arcanine from Pokemon. Determined to make the extended layover a bloody delight, Ouloo goes into overdrive to accommodate her guests.

Her guests consist of Roveg, a Quelin artist who creates simulations and has Scyther vibes. Pei – an Aeluon who changes colour depending on her mood and Speaker, an Akaras bird-like creature who stomps around in a mech suit as they can’t breathe the same air as everyone else. For this, I have images Big Bird in a Dr Robotnik robot. All of these wonderful characters have stories to tell. They just need to be comfortable to tell them – thanks to the ol’ stranding issue, they’ve got plenty of time to get to know each other.

So that plot thing I mentioned earlier? It’s not really there. And this isn’t a bad thing – it just caught me off guard. I’m used to manic stories that raced from here to there however this… this felt nice. Relaxed almost. I was seeing different species covering topics from gender, race, exile, culture and xenophobia being played out without a human in sight. It makes you take a step back and think. The complexity of the conversations are wild, but this book just seems to get the points over to you in a wonderful way.

I’ve ummed and ahhed about this book. Did I love it or just I just get sucked into its delightful words? It’s not something I’d normally grab but holy shit has it worked its way into my head. I keep thinking about their relationships and how the non-plot plot crept right up on me. If I could hug all these characters I would and based on my now irrational commitment to the band of misfits, I upped my feelings towards this book.

I’m off to get some JenJen cake (whatever that is…) and catch up on the three books that I missed.

I always look forward to a new book from Becky Chambers - this didn't' disappoint! This is the final instalment in the Wayfarer series and it might be my favourite. Set on Gora, a stop over planet which acts as a service station for those on long journeys, the characters get stuck there after a catastrophic event. The best part of any Becky Chambers book is the relationships between the characters - they drive the narrative and we really care about them because they're so well drawn. I didn't want the book to end and I haven't stopped thinking about it since I finished it.

Having only discovered the Wayfarers series last year, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet quickly became one of the best books I had ever read.

There is so much I admire about Becky Chambers and her writing. One of these is how she manages to explore universally important questions about humanity and modern life in a manner that is not engaging, and also enlightening. It is inclusive and diverse in a way that I believe is hard to find in fiction, and it leaves the reader not only feeling satisfied, but also with plenty of food for thought. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is no exception to that.

I can count on one hand the series I’ve previously read where each story is equally as interesting, compelling, and well written as the last. The Wayfarers series is now counted within this number and this final book completes the circle beautifully.

The simplicity of the plot is genius, for it allows Chambers to open the floor to a number of poignant questions and reflections, also made possible by the wonderful characterization. A moving story, it is clear it has had an immeasurable amount of creativity and energy poured into it, and yet feels effortless to read.

Thank you very, very much for the ARC.

Review posted to Instagram, Twitter, Goodreaders and will be added to Amazon when available.

The 4th book of the Wayfarers series was just as great as the others.
This time we are stranded on Gora, a small planet with nothing more to offer than its proximity to a bunch of wormholes to other regions of deep space. Here, Ouloo, a Laru, created the Five-Hop One-Stop and caters to all the long-haul travelers. When a technological failure stops all transit, she, her kid Tupo and her 3 guests (an Aeluon, an Akarak and a Quelin) have a lot of time on hand to get to know each other.

The plot may not be the most eventful, granted. But the book lives through its lovely and extremely diverse characters. How on earth did Becky Chambers create this whole new set of species, all with their own body form, language, customs, habits and even history? I am truly overwhelmed by the genius of it.
This is just such a great and important book. I mean, with the background of being stranded on a little planet, Chambers creates a handbook of how tolerance could and should be lived. And what our future in space will look like. The information offered is just amazing in its complexity.
The topics are as diverse as the characters: race, gender, war, exile, integration, communication, home, reproduction, culture, growing up. There‘s everything in it and it is written so expertly wonderful that you don‘t feel overwhelmed. You just want more. Awesome combination!
I love that there was no human character this time - it even underlines the complex diversity on all accounts. You begin to understand the alien species but you never forget all the differences.

At its core this book, the whole series really, is about tolerance. But it is also so much fun just to learn about space and the different species. I love the Aeluons and their color language. The Larus choosing their gender when old enough. The difficult relationship the Akaraks have with the concept of a homeplanet.
I think this book was a great conclusion to a sci-fi saga (even if it probably wasn’t the last book, I hear) Every book has its own charm. One can read them in any order and it‘s not a series as such, more of a bunch of books in the same universe - increasing the feeling of depicting a whole new world, a real glimpse into the future!

I have enjoyed the whole of the Wayfarers Quartet but this instalment is the closest match to Long Way to A Small Angry Planet. I really liked Galaxy, it was, as I’ve come to expect from Chambers’ writing a gentle story, a simple story I suppose but one with a lot of heart.

This time we have four species who know and understand varying amounts about each other stuck together in at a layover point when a disaster strikes. The story is not about the disaster that is dealt with mostly ‘off page’ but how our characters deal with it and what they learn from each other.

I loved all of them. They were all very different, in looks, culture and personality but they were all fascinating and likeable. I wanted to know more about all of their stories (I have a real soft spot for Ouloo, the Laru ground host though) Watching them tentatively start to support each other and take the opportunity to learn from each other made for a great read.

We also learnt more about what had bought them to the layover point and where they were going on to as the story progressed. Told from the POV point of all four of our main characters we got to know all of them well.

A lovely, gentle spacer story (that had very little actual space) this was a delight to read.

I only discovered Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series last year but after reading the first book I immediately became obsessed and proceeded to devour the rest of the series. Needless to say I was very excited for the next installment of the series (though naturally, gutted to find out the series was coming to an end). If like me you've been eagerly awaiting the next Becky Chambers book, I'm happy to say you won't be disappointed by The Galaxy, and the Ground Within. Maybe it's the fact that I'm writing this after reading the entire 400-page book in the space of 6 hours and am so utterly consumed by the world, but I think this might be one of my favourite books in the series (ALWTASAP will always be my favourite though, I think).

If you're familiar with Becky Chambers' writing, you'll be well aware of her absolutely genius ability to write characters that are so well-rounded, complex, and realistic (even those that are alien?!). Her world building is impecable and she is a master at transporting and absorbing the reader into different, utterly fascinating settings.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within follows four characters (of different species) who stop at a sort-of rest stop on their way to different locations, but after an accident occurs in the air space, they find themselves unexpectedly locked in, unable to leave the rest stop bubble, communication with the outside is mostly cut off, and they have only each other (as well as the bubbly owner of the rest stop and her child) for company. (Side note: I'm assuming Chambers had the plot of this book planned out before the outbreak of COVID when countries across the world started to go into lockdowns. It's a strange coincidence how the unexpected lockdown situation the characters in this book find themselves in mirrors that of the real world at the time of the book being published!)

One of the main characters is Pei, who we met in book 1. In fact, this book seems to follow on directly from the events that occur in book 1, and we get to see Pei's reaction to the Toremi incident and her struggling with the decision of whether or not to make her relationship with Ashby public. I really loved how we come back to Pei and slightly revisit the storyline of the first book in this final book of the series, it really felt like coming full circle and a fitting way to close things off.

The rest of the main characters are also pretty interesting. Speaker's character was particularly well done, I thought. Speaker is of an alien race that is looked down on and very negatively stereotyped by the rest of the galaxy, essentially, and I thought it was really interesting how Chambers used this character to highlight real-world issues of racism and xenophobia as well as disability and ableism, among others.

The dynamic between the characters was so good. Naturally, being a group of strangers of widely varying backgrounds and personalities, they didn't all always see eye to eye, but there's an overarching theme of friendship and kinship throughout that was so warming to read about. The ending honestly had me feeling emotional and, as is always the case after reading a Wayfarer book, wishing I could spend more time with these characters and find out what they go on to do next.

Overall, if you're a fan of the Wayfarers series and are eager to see how the final book in the series holds up, I don't think you'll be disappointed. It definitely lived up to my expectations and I already can't wait to (inevitably) reread it in a few months or so. If you're new to the series, this book can probably be read as a standalone, though I'd highly recommend checking out at least book 1 first, just for greater understanding of the world; you'll definitely enjoy this book more having read ALWTASAP first.

Three strangers and their two hosts are stranded for a few days in a small habitat bubble on a humdrum little planet. They are in safety while the world around them crashes down in unfortunate and spectacular ways.

Warm, funny and feel-good are not usually words that spring to mind when describing a scifi novel but ‘The Galaxy and the Ground Within’ is just such a delight.
Becky Chambers again manages to explore big ideas from the smallest of spaces. She unfolds strange worlds, introduces us to weird species (not quite as batshit as humans, though) and makes them deeply relatable. And even if not everyone parts as best friends, a bit of good-naturedness goes a long way.

This book is brimming with joy and wonder and I was left with a little tear but also a big smile and a hopeful heart.
Also, an especially timely message in times of pandemic: when your life is on hold – be nice to each other.

“WE ARE NOT ALL IN THE SAME BOAT. WE ARE ALL IN THE SAME STORM. SOME ARE ON SUPER-YACHTS. SOME HAVE JUST ONE OAR.” Damian Barr, British writer, columnist and playwright
“Thank you for your patience. We are all in this together.” – “The galaxy and the ground within”
Characters and their species:
Ouloo, Tupo Laru
Roveg Quelin
Speaker, Tracker Akarak
Pei Aeluon
This is the last book in this wonderful series – and I think it is my favourite of the lot. It differs from the others in having no humans among the main characters, and also in having most of the action taking place in a very small space, in the Five-Hop-One-Stop guest house, on one barren planet, Gora.
Ouloo is the proprietor of the guest house situated at an intergalactic crossroads, where multiple species stay a day or two, waiting for their turn in the wormhole queue to their destination. She is expecting three guests for a short stay, but when the satellite and communications array supporting Gora unexpectedly crash, Roveg, Pei and Speaker are unable to leave and are trapped with Ouloo and her teenager Tupo.
The set-up initially brought to my mind a joke – ‘three aliens walk into a bar …’ or an Agatha Christie style murder/mystery – all the suspects (strangers) trapped together in a house … (There isn’t a murder though part of me kept expecting one, but one character does come very close to death). However, the book is so much more than a cursory glance at the set-up might suggest.
The story is entirely character driven. Each main character (except Tupo) gets their own chapter in each section of the book. The narration is in the third person, and each section is started with an update from the Goran Orbital Cooperative Info Team on the situation re the satellite system.
All the characters are unrepresentative of their species: Ouloo lives apart from other Laru to give her child a maximum exposure to other species and cultures; Roveg is exiled from the Quelin homeworld; Pei is (covertly) dating a human; and Speaker communicates with other species on behalf of Akaraks who cannot. All of them see themselves as open to, and appreciative of, other species and cultures, but each still retains some of the inbred biases of their own species: the Other vs the Us.
“Quelin fear outsiders because we use them as scapegoats for the things we fear about ourselves. We bar cultural exchange because change frightens us. Whereas your people …’ He looked at her (Speaker).‘You fear outsiders because they gave you no choice in the change they forced upon you.’”
“There were Quelin, and there were aliens. Quelin were people. Aliens were … aliens. They were almost like people, but not quite, and never would be. Never could be. You could talk to an alien, and trade with an alien, but aliens were not like you. You should be polite to them. You should respect the laws you shared. You should not be their friends.”
“(Pei) had no idea when exactly the Aeluon taboo against interspecies relationships had taken root in mainstream society, only that it was older than the GC and as much of a given as rain on a winter’s day.”
One of the most telling sequences, was when Tupo sang the sapient song:
“‘What are the Five Pillars?’ Speaker asked. Tupo burst into energetic song. ‘Water for drinking, oxygen for breathing—’ ‘Tupo—’ Ouloo said pleadingly. The child continued singing the bouncing tune, despite xyr mother rubbing her face with her paw. ‘Sunlight to make life go! Protein for building, carbon for bonding, that’s how all sapients grow!’ ‘It’s the basic ingredients all sapient species need,’ Pei explained. ‘I thought everybody knows that,’ Tupo said. ‘Don’t you know the song?’ Speaker was quiet. ‘I don’t,’ she said at last. ‘Because it doesn’t apply to me.’”
For me, whether you are racist, sexist etc, does not depend on how you initially might (subconsciously or not) judge others, but on how prepared you are to change your opinions. We all – anti-racist, feminist, pro-LGBT+, or archconservative – have our prejudices. It is whether we are able to rise above them or not that counts. And this is what the aliens also come to discover about themselves. The story is one of personal development – and so beautifully and sensitively done.
And the ending – it had me in tears. Each character gives to another a present from their soul, something than means so much to the recipient, so much more that they could have ever felt possible.
I love every bit of this series, and especially this book. The characters, the language, the descriptions … I cannot recommend this series highly enough.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not influenced by either the author nor by the publisher.

Other quotes that I loved:
“But as the host of a multispecies establishment, she (Ouloo) knew all too well that what might smell delicious to her might trigger anything from an allergic reaction to a personal insult in someone else, and she valued the long-term satisfaction of her customers exponentially higher than the fleeting indulgence of a rich springweed lather.”
“Awaiting him (Roveg) at the airlock entrance was a Laru – a large child, too young to have chosen a gender yet, comprised of angles that didn’t look comfortable and feet that didn’t match xyr body.”
“He (Roveg) was sure he looked odd to plenty of people outside of his own phenotype. But stars above, Laru were so floppy. Their limbs were like animated noodles, their stubby torsos thick and bumbling, their long tail-like necks somewhere between a nightmare and a grand cosmic joke.”
“The child exhaled from the depths of xyr lungs, as though this were just one more injustice from a universe that existed only to conspire against xyr.”
“The universe was not an object. It was a beam of light, and the colours that it split into changed depending on whose eyes were doing the looking.”
“The time in which we (Akaraks) exist is enough to learn one subject really, really well. We’re specialists, not generalists. That’s what our names reflect. We don’t have abstract names like you do. Your identity is what you do for your community.”
“That’s the thing about rakree. Needs can be big or small, but they all matter.’ ‘So it’s not a barter, then. It’s a truly open exchange.’ ‘It can be a barter, but yes, you’ve got it. There’s no expectation of receiving something in return for what you give, and no guilt about taking what you need.’”
“The Human species, which destroyed its own world and which no one in the GC knew existed seventy-five standards ago. You will grant them full rights. You will give them a star to park their ships around. You will allow them to build colonies. When we expressed our outrage about this, we were told that the circumstances were so very different with them. Humans breathe the same air you do. Their ways were easier for you to understand. They don’t die in the middle of political talks. How convenient for you, to at last work with a species whose bodies are compatible with your bureaucracy.”
“The only proper way to approach such inequities was to figure out how best to wield them, so as to bring others up to where you stood.”
“‘We’re not in their ****ing territory. They can do – or not do – anything they want on their side of the map.’ ‘Yes,’ Speaker said. ‘But who drew the map?’”

A gentle, lovely story of three space travellers who are forced to spend some time together during a stop on their long-haul travels.

Though it's number 4 of the Wayfarers series, and there are some connections between the books, I believe you can read these all standalone (I haven't read number 3, and when I read number 2, I'd completely forgotten what had happened in number 1), as each one focuses on different characters in a different part of the galaxy.

This is a slow-paced book, and it might be that doesn't suit your needs. But for many others, it's worth persevering with.

It begins on the planet Gora, a planet that's got no natural life of its own and is no good for anything except a stopping point on the way to somewhere more interesting. Think the services on the motorway, but with a touch more charm. Ouloo and her child Tupo run the Five-Hop and welcome three strangers to stay over one day. Three strangers from three separate species and completely different ways of living. Then something happens to the satellites above and no one can get in and out of Gora at all! It can be fixed, but until then the strangers will have to figure out a way to get along within the confines of the Five-Hop...

So it's an interesting premise, but not one that hits with you with 'Wow, gonna have to stay up all night to see how this turns out'.

But that doesn't really matter. Read it when you want a warm hug. Read it when you want to be transported into another world. Read it so you're there when lift-off is finally allowed again, and you get to see how these spacefarers have been changed by spending time with one another.

It's really a book about kindness, sympathy and understanding.

A massive thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for this review copy!

This is the fourth and final book in the Wayfarer’s Quartet, and what a finale it was!

I was so happy to dive back into this world again. We got to meet so many more characters and species. It was remarkable.

I liked how this one wasn’t centred around a human perspective as in the previous books. We got to know so much more about other species. I loved Ouloo and Tupo, Roveg, Pei and Speaker who are the main POV’s of this book.

I can’t say too much about the plot as I don’t want to ruin it (or the previous three books), but I felt that the author’s world building skills were soo much better. You can feel how much work has been put into it.

If you haven’t read any of the Wayfarers books yet, then I urge you to do so!

When I reviewed Record of a Spaceborn Few, the third instalment in the Wayfarers series, I concluded by stating that "where Chambers really excels is in the world building." I was slightly wrong - this author is not just a world builder, but has exquisitely crafted an entire universe. It's always absorbing, always engaging, always interesting.

This time we revisit a character from the original novel. Pei the Aeluon captain returns, stopping off on the planet Gora on the way to visit her lover Ashby. Interspecies relationships for Aeluon are taboo and here we see Pei wrestling with her secret. Joining her at what is essentially an intergalactic version of a motorway service station crossed with an airport, are a mismatch of several different alien species: Roveg (an exiled Quelin), Speaker (an Akarak who is separated from her sister Tracker who is still on the ship) and Ouloo (the Laru owner of the aforementioned service station who is a single mother to Tupo). When a technological failure means all ships are grounded for longer than expected, these characters are forced together and in typical Chambers fashion, learn more about themselves and each other.

One joy contained for the dedicated follower of the Wayfarers series is that this book does not centre a human as one of the chief protagonists. Instead, we get to fully and deeply embrace the weird and wonderful quirks of the alien species that Chambers has created. This allows the reader to hold up a mirror to their human experience. For example, Laru children use gender neutral pronouns until they come of age. Such a detail is sensitively explained throughout thus allowing us to question our own social constructs. It's funny how concepts such as race, sexual orientation and gender seem less worth fighting about when we begin to take into consideration a whole plethora of alien species. There are many thought provoking moments as each character finds themselves, not just in the middle of a journey through space, but in the middle of a journey in their life.

Like the three novels proceeding this one, there's a lovely sense of family and unity that is gently woven throughout the story. I always feel warm and fuzzy as I immerse myself in these writings. Chambers' characters teach us to embrace difference and to learn to love when it might be easier to run away and hide. This is something that in 2021 we all so desperately need.