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The Galaxy, and the Ground Within: A Novel (Wayfarers Book 4) by [Becky Chambers]

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Becky Chambers

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within: A Novel (Wayfarers Book 4) Kindle Edition

by Becky Chambers (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

3,159 ratings

Book 4 of 4: Wayfarers

Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

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National Bestseller!

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.

With no water, no air, and no native life, the planet Gora is unremarkable. The only thing it has going for it is a chance proximity to more popular worlds, making it a decent stopover for ships traveling between the wormholes that keep the Galactic Commons connected. If deep space is a highway, Gora is just your average truck stop.

At the Five-Hop One-Stop, long-haul spacers can stretch their legs (if they have legs, that is), and get fuel, transit permits, and assorted supplies. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through.

When a freak technological failure halts all traffic to and from Gora, three strangers—all different species with different aims—are thrown together at the Five-Hop. Grounded, 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 are, or could be, to each other.

Print length

333 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper Voyager
Publication date

April 20, 2021
File size

3304 KB
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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

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Editors' pick: This marvelous, character-driven science fiction novel brings a certain warmth that encompasses species and worlds, making the universe a better place."—Adrian Liang, Amazon Editor --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

“[A] delightful, cozy novel. Devoted fans and newcomers alike will thrill with this imaginative sci-fi confection.” -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“A story filled with heart-warming characters and intriguing connections. Chambers once again creates an epic space setting with a detailed, personal view of some of its inhabitants. Humor and heartache weave through her insightful prose and diverse characters.” -- Library Journal (starred review)

"For fans of character-driven science fiction who are interested in how differences can be a source of strength, not weakness." -- Booklist (starred review) --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088RDCLQ4
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Voyager (April 20, 2021)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 20, 2021
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3304 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #11,551 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #4 in LGBTQ+ Science Fiction (Books)
- #21 in LGBTQ+ Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #120 in Colonization Science Fiction

Customer Reviews:
3,159 ratings

About the author

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Becky Chambers
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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.
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Customer reviews

5 star		70%
4 star		24%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

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Top reviews from the United States

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mpeterke

Truly extraordinary

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2021

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This is something truly extraordinary. The whole series is, but I think this is my favorite book in it, although, it has been some time since I read the previous ones. Becky Chambers is a master at world-building and also writes beautifully. The whole universe you experience in this book is so real, so believable and you want to explore it in every detail that you don't need a huge theatrical story of saving the world or ending some huge threat. This is deep and detailed and feel-good all the same time and I love it. I am sure that I will re-read this series in the future and recommend it to anyone as I think this is a true masterpiece of the genre. I'm looking forward to what comes next. Solid 5 stars!

25 people found this helpful

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hola

A final return the the GC.

Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2021

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I've got all 4 of these books - I read (& reread) the 1st, tried to read the 2nd, & basically skimmed the 3rd. I wasn't sure whether to buy the 4th, since the last 2 were truly problematic for me, but Pei was in it so I did - & was glad I got it - it's so much better than the middle 2, if not quite up to the 1st. Chambers tries to write about 4 very different species: the Laru, a Quelin (1 of the villains in the 1st book); an Akarak - a methane-bteathing GC outcast species; & the Aeloun, Pei, Ashby's lover. The Laru, Oolu & her child Tupo, (who seem to resemble marsupials) own the space "hotel" where they all meet; the Quelin, Roveg, is on his way home to see his sons, but he was a declared Cultural Deviant by his people, & exiled, thus may or may not be allowed to see them; Speaker (a new one to me), who must wear a fully enclosed mechanical exoskeleton, is making a brief stop at the 'hotel', as is Pei, who is on her way to meet Ashby. A space disaster prevents them from leaving for several days, & a more humane one unites them in friendship. They each positively affect the other in one way or another by the end, & there is a hint of a future meeting at the same place. It's a fun read. There are a couple of errors: "decent" instead of "descent" was initially confusing, & how the heck did Pei know about "the buck stops" with her since that currency wasn't apparent in the GC; one good thing was hardly anyone smirked (the favorite response in the 1st book). While Chambers did create 4 very divergent species, they all had quite human emotions and reactions, the only really alien thing was their method of communication. I guess it must be difficult to try to think like an 'alien' & portray what the reactions would be of same; to me, these characters all seem to be Americans. I loved the journey to the small angry planet, got kind of bored with Pepper's childhood, & frankly didn't care much about the Spaceborn few (I found it a 'downer'), but this book was a pleasure. I was hoping to see further adventures of the Wayfarer: that won't happen. It is nice to know Ashby & Pei will be together, & I have to hope Kizzy & Jenks, Rosemary & Sissix, Corbin, Ohan, & Dr. Chef are out there somewhere, having fun, boring holes, & making the GC a better place, and the 5 characters here all celebrate Tupo's 'coming out' party, bringing along with those they love. It'll be one helluva gathering.

13 people found this helpful

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Mags

Charming and delightful tale

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2021

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In a way, the sci fi is just window dressing (though it's very imaginative) for a story of tolerance, friendship and generosity. In essence this is a story of 5 main characters, 2 from the same species, the other 3 representing different alien species. They are thrown together through a forced confinement within a small domed habitat on a rock-like planet due to a colossal satellite failure, which lasts for 5 days. Over these 5 days they explore their differences, cultures and motivations. There are back stories to some of these characters - weighty things they are wrestling with - and this enforced sojourn allows them to find resolution and peace with their subsequent decisions.
So, there's no great space opera, no inter-galactic warfare, no alien monsters, no Earth. It's a fairly quiet tale, with one episode of drama which serves to cement the bonds that form between the main characters. At first I was going to give this 4 stars, because of the small scope of the story - but at the end of the book I was smiling - so 5 stars.

11 people found this helpful

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A. P. Examines

Once again, a wonder

Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2021

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Once again, Chambers knocks it out of the park. A simple premise, undramatic, but the story is never really about the events - it's about the people, just like the previous Wayfarer books. Each book has a theme to its examination of the human (or really, sapient) condition, and the theme of this book is family - what makes a family, what doesn't make a family, what a found family or a blood family or an adoptive family can look like. It is truly a wonderful read, sweet and sad and bittersweet by turns. I devoured it in a day, and will doubtless return to read it over and over, just like I have with her other books.

9 people found this helpful

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Kelly L.

Intimate and moving; an excellent return and good-bye.

Reviewed in the United States on April 23, 2021

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The first book is a pretty incredible read - the 2nd and 3rd books struggle to live up to the expectations the 1st leave behind, but I loved them also. This 4th installment I think is just as punchy and impactful as the 1st. All of these books are deeply intimate, have relatively up-to-date commentary on current sociopolitical issues, and very moving. Imagining a fresh universe with all its own rules that make sense isn't easy and Chambers weaves it together very well, without clunky exposition, explaining the details of a diaspora of characters. I love that all the sapient species aren't mashup facsimiles of our own Earth's cultures: they are their own complicated, messy cultures without being a renamed, boiled-down or slightly tweaked version of a real one. Grain of salt, of course, for me being white and American - I would suspect that some of the characteristics of some of the book's situations might trigger folks who have actually had to live the realities that are alluded to with the book's imaginary ones. But, I think above all this series is about connections between people and how they can potentially heal us even when those relationships run parallel to trauma. I was moved to tears by the end.

5 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Annieme

Wonderful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2021

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I can't really express how beautiful I find Becky Chambers writing. It is truly a balm for the soul.

Whilst an avid fantasy reader I rarely delve into scifi. Space operas, weird technology & strange
aliens don't really connect with me.

However the underlying essence of these books is one of both connectivity and inclusivity.
Chambers has the incredible ability to explore the human condition and extrapolate this to encompass an entire universe.
Her detailed observation of the personal & insular issues of a small community that are simultaneously intimate yet somehow universal are honestly astonishing.

Since lockdown + covid I have found it very difficult to read. My source of joy and escapism became somehow blocked.
This is the first book I have been able to read in it's entirety for a very long time. It is also probably the closest I have felt to a sense of belonging to a wider humanity in a long while.

Her characters and environs are pop out of the page real. A recognition of meticulous research that clearly contributes without being obvious.

Her writing somehow manages to ease my heart and I think adds beauty to the world. I am sorry this is the last in this series. I will both miss them and treasure them all the more.

Summary: Worth the read.

11 people found this helpful

Tiny Bulcher

Character-driven SF

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 19, 2021

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I stayed up until 0130 reading this, because as usual with Becky Chambers the characters drew me in and got me invested in them. The characters in this bubble episode are all alien, but of course, like all fictional aliens, portray various aspects of the human experience. We haven't actually met any real aliens yet :) So the three characters stranded for a few days on a lifeless truck-stop world (and their hosts) interact in very human ways, despite the ingenious social and biological differences Chambers has invented for them. It is not a book with a lot of action; if you want bang kerpow space opera, seek elsewhere. There are no villains. It is mainly internal monologue and dialogue, and the reader wil gradually discover more about each characters' thoughts, hopes, dreams and trials. They meet, they discover something about themselves and each other, they part, each on a note of hope. Each is well-drawn and believable, the 'verse they inhabit is solidly built and the writing is sharp and intelligent. And human readers may perhaps find parallels with their own experiences ...

5 people found this helpful

Alan

A good conclusion to the series but...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 10, 2021

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I have enjoyed all of Becky Chambers' novels and this one is no exception. I love the way she throws together 4 non-human species and then develops their individual characters and backgrounds by forcing them into close confines because of a technological problem that delays their journeys. But what starts as a gently interesting story quickly develops into some larger themes (all the characters have secrets) and one story arc in particular is resolved in this book (no spoilers). But I'm sad that that series has come to an end without a return visit to the 'Wayfarer' itself as that was a crew I definitely wanted to spend more time with.

5 people found this helpful

One man's meat

Deep, delightful, celebration of (alien) diversity

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2021

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The fourth book in the “Wayfarers” series is sheer delight. It is the first sci fi novel I’ve ever read which only features one human – and she is a late book walk on part. It is about aliens from three different species temporarily stranded on a stop over planet at a sort of hotel cum refuelling stop owned by a fourth. They all have places they would rather be and their own stories to work out and while ‘the ground within’ is a theme so is their good natured attempt to understand those who are very different : a tiny, beaked arboreal methane breathing creature missing her twin, the tough Pei coping with her taboo breaking love for the absent human Ashby, a multi legged hard shelled soft hearted exile missing his boys, and the furry long necked muppet like Laru mother and daughter. My words of praise may sound condescending – comforting, gentle, good natured, with the small spills of a space soap opera – those who crave ‘car chases’ and plot twists will be disappointed – but it has real depth, it so well done, well thought out, considered and reflective. Simply love it.

2 people found this helpful

Graeme Oswald

Beautiful story well told

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 21, 2021

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It’s difficult to be objective about this book specifically and the Wayfarers series in general. I may well change my mind in a few weeks time when something else comes along that grabs me, but at the moment Becky Chambers is my favourite writer.
This work just resonates with me on so many levels. I love the characters, I love the worlds and I love the stories. Maybe this isn’t for you - we’re all different after all - but all I want to do now is go back and read the whole series again.
Unlike so much science fiction, the characters are neither rich nor powerful nor intent on becoming either. They are ordinary people with ordinary struggles played out over a backdrop over which they have little or no control. But their stories are heartfelt, engrossing and enlightening.
I can’t recommend this series highly enough, but don’t start here. Start with “The long way round to a small angry planet”, which kickstarts this whole wonderful series.

One person found this helpful