The Galaxy, and the Ground Within: Wayfarers 4

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I jumped straight to The Galaxy, and the Ground Within from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet , and the increased quality of the character work is noticeable. It probably helps that it’s a smaller cast, with only four perspective characters—none of them human!—allowing each more time for development. Each is likable and willing to work in good faith to get along with their fellows, and each has their own reason to be upset by the unexpected interruption of travel plans.

Roveg, a Quelin, is an exiled artist on his way to see his children for the first time in many years. Earth, the battered Human homeworld] Their world isn’t dead, not completely. It’s being repaired, little by little. They can visit, if they want to. There are some who live there still. And their planet wasn’t taken from outside. They killed it from within. They chewed their own hearts out. No, I don’t think we’re the same at all.’ What follows is delightful. Chambers starts somewhat predictably, but then allows some sharp edges to show. This friction is what kept it unpredictable for me:Three other guests have arrived at her inn and gardens when they are forced to stay a bit longer than intended. Ouloo finds herself reminding her child that some of their guests' looks and habits may be a bit unusual. When a freak technological failure halts traffic to and from Gora, three strangers are thrown together at the Five-Hop. Grounded, and with nothing to do but wait, the trio – an exiled artist with an appointment to keep, a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, and a mysterious individual doing her best to help those on the fringes – are compelled to confront where they’ve been, where they might go, and what they might be to each other. When a freak technological failure halts traffic to and from Gora, three strangers are thrown together at the Five-Hop. Grounded, and with nothing to do but wait, the trio - an exiled artist with an appointment to keep, a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, and a mysterious individual doing her best to help those on the fringes - are compelled to confront where they've been, where they might go, and what they might be to each other. As the novel develops, there are a few instances where the stakes get higher, but these aren’t what make the story worth reading. There’s a flash of genuine danger and a(n unrelated) moral dilemma that are competently written but progress pretty much how you would expect them to (with at least one instance of alien species agreeing on exactly what you would expect from a 21st-century Western author–but it’s hard to criticize that aspect too much when it’s justified in-story and when so much of the appeal of the Wayfarers series consists in watching alien species work out their problems in a way that makes sense from the perspective of 21st-century Westerners). They don’t detract from the story, but it’s the time spent building up the characters in the first place that really makes it. Return to the sprawling, Hugo Award-winning universe of the Galactic Commons to explore another corner of the cosmos - one often mentioned, but not yet explored - in this absorbing entry in the Wayfarers series, which blends heart-warming characters and imaginative adventure.

As usual, she gives us wonderfully fleshed out, multi-dimensional characters, incredibly imaginative aliens species and cultures and fun, intriguing settings to explore. Ouloo and her teenage child Tupo have made their little hostel as comfortable as possible for any alien species who might drop by, and frankly, it sounds like the rest stop I would love to find on my next roadtrip: a little garden, a spa room and endless cake? Yes, please! Speaker was our first close view of the Akarak. Coming from a people who are not only refugees following a history of galactic slavery, but also considered outsiders by others, requiring mechs to move around; even Speaker’s name and job relates to her role as the one who interacts with other races. Chambers did a fantastic job of showing the feelings of being an outsider. Indeed, I suspect many reviewers have instantly labelled speaker and the Akarak as a direct allegory for their favourite minority, (and certainly some of her experiences, putting on a front for others, putting others at ease, or feeling a sense of actual amazement at even minimal acceptance, not to mention having most communal environments and technology simply not made for her), are ones I recognise myself as a disabled person. However, here it's Speaker's interactions with others, showing the exploration of a common humanity, occasional conflicts, and indeed others' acceptance of Speaker despite her differences, rather than any clumsy attempts at allegory which made her sections some of the most touching. It’s natural for those in the GC—just like it’s natural for us humans on Earth—to get lost in the day-to-day of one’s own life and the immediate stressors and concerns that go with it. And it’s equally jarring—as the year that was 2020 has shown all of us—when the routine and freedoms we took for granted get upended.Upload images (When uploading images ensure correct source and licensing is listed and included in the file description) Roveg was possibly my favourite character. Initially appealing as an indolent; and indeed quite wealthy artist, Chambers first played on his feverish anxiety to finish his journey, an anxiety which elicited our sympathy. Then, when we really started seeing him interact with others, he proved possibly the kindest and most understanding of the group, especially with Speaker and Tupo. Vanessa Armstrong at Tor noted that "While it’s likely Chambers started this book before the events that were 2020, a post-pandemic (well, almost post, hopefully) reading can’t help but resonate with our own unexpected pause, how an unplanned and undesired halt to where we think we’re going can change things irrevocably." [2] 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'. And had this been punctuated by anything like plot and actual tension and if ever doubting that anything being less than hunky-dory with our decent to the bone protagonists was possible I’d be alright with it. But when the entire book is just fluffy light dessert, I get bored and irritated. I also want some broccoli and maybe even a cheese* enchilada.

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. Return to the sprawling, Hugo Award-winning universe of the Galactic Commons to explore another corner of the cosmos—one often mentioned, but not yet explored—in this absorbing entry in the Wayfarers series, which blends heart-warming characters and imaginative adventure. Pei is a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, torn between her duty to her people, and her duty to herself. Speaker was awake, but hadn’t left her bed. She had no plans to do so anytime soon. It was very, very morning." I fell in love with the other characters as well. Ouloo and Tupo were so wholesome, especially their efforts to make all their guests feel welcome. Roveg was impossible not to like, and his budding friendship with Speaker was heartwarming. In typical Chambers fashion, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is an extremely character-driven story, maybe even more so than any of the previous books in this series. If you like that about this series, you’ll probably like this book too. If you didn’t, you probably won’t.

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Gora’s biggest claim to fame is that it’s a pit stop, the intergalactic equivalent of a rest station that resides near a hub of interspatial tunnels that people in the Wayfarer universe use to get to more interesting planets and places. But when a catastrophic event grounds all travel, we spend time there with a handful of stranded travelers and their host, each of whom has their own distractions, their own preconceived notions, their own stories. While I did like volumes 2 and 3 of the series a lot, volume 1 will always be the best - but this 4th volume is a very close second! I wish I would remember more of what I´ve read, and of course have generally read more, sci-fi to get all the hidden easter eggs and innuendos, because I have a kind of intuitive, subjective feeling that Chambers is the kind of person that likes to put extra hidden inside jokes besides all the underlying social criticism. Or I´m just projecting too much into it because I´m fanboying and glorifying too much, who knows. You had to pause in the face of reflex, ask yourself if the narrative you attached to the knee-jerk was accurate. Once she’d grasped this, she could never again see life as a static thing, something with one immutable definition. 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. Nothing could be taken at face value. Everything had hidden facets, hidden depths that could be interpreted a thousand ways – or misinterpreted in the same manner. Reflexes kept a person safe, but they could also make you stupid.”