Buying Options

Print List Price:	$16.99
Kindle Price:	$11.99 Save $5.00 (29%)
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers Price set by seller.

Promotions apply when you purchase

Add Audible narration to your purchase for just $12.99

Deliver to your Kindle Library

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

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

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

Follow the Author

Becky Chambers

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

by Becky Chambers (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

5,770 ratings

Book 4 of 4: Wayfarers

Editors' pick Best Science Fiction & Fantasy

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$11.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$25.84

$17.41

$10.34

Paperback

"Please retry"

$14.99

$10.50

$10.98

Audio CD, Audiobook, CD, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$26.11

$25.99

—

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
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Harper Voyager
Publication date

April 20, 2021
File size

3304 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

All 4 for you in this series See full series

See included books

Total Price: $53.96

Becky Chambers
3,860
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $14.49
Becky Chambers
5,717
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $13.49
Becky Chambers
9,715
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $13.99
Becky Chambers
3,099
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $11.99
Becky Chambers
2,573
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $11.49
Becky Chambers
6,829
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $11.99

Popular Highlights in this book

What are popular highlights?

You had to pause in the face of reflex, ask yourself if the narrative you attached to the knee-jerk was accurate.
Highlighted by 299 Kindle readers
The cheap knick-knack in his hands now carried with it a sentiment of the present he would cherish, and a reminder of the past he would always loathe. Only the finest art could accomplish both those things at once.
Highlighted by 248 Kindle readers
How convenient for you, to at last work with a species whose bodies are compatible with your bureaucracy.
Highlighted by 232 Kindle readers

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

About the Author

Becky Chambers is the author of the science fiction novels The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet; A Closed and Common Orbit; and Record of a Spaceborn Few. Her books have been nominated for the Hugo Award, the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the Womens Prize for Fiction, among others. She grew up in a family heavily involved in space science, and she hopes to see Earth from orbit one day.

--This text refers to the audioCD edition.

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.

Product details

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
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 333 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #22,242 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #15 in LGBTQ+ Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #46 in Space Exploration Science Fiction eBooks
- #78 in Exploration Science Fiction

Customer Reviews:
5,770 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

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

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

4.6 out of 5

5,770 global ratings

5 star		69%
4 star		25%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star 0% (0%)		0%

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all customer images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

I will miss the Wayfarers world so much!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 3, 2022

Verified Purchase

Thoughts: I loved this book just as much as the last one. Where the last book really focuses on the humans that live in the Fleet, this book is more focused on other alien races. The book is set on Gora, a dull planet that's on a major travel route. Gora is pretty much an intergalactic truck stop. In particular we are introduced Ouloo who is Laru, her and her teen child (Tupo) who run the Five-Hop One-Stop travelers rest. It's a place for travelers to park their ships, re-fuel, have a snack and stretch their legs. When disaster strikes above Gora, Ouloo's visitors are forced to interact a lot more and have a much longer stay than they were expecting.

The premise is simple but this book was so rich in thoughtfulness and amazing characters. Ouloo and Tupo are fun characters all on their own. They are joined by Roveg a Quelin (who is a crustacean-like character), Speaker who is one of the Akarak (who as a species was denied entry into the GC because of their short lifespans), and Pei an Aeluon who is Ashby's (Ashby is human) love interest from the first book. Each character is dealing with their own trauma and has their very separate lifestyle but somehow they all ended up coming together and supporting each other.

I absolutely love Chambers' creativity in developing these different alien species and love how she brought them together. This is such a feel good book. The different species all have their different perceptions of the other species as a whole, but of course your perception of a species is not the reality of the individuals of that species. In this book the characters are constantly surprising each other, both with their differences and similarities. They may live different lifespans and breath different types of air but they might love the same music or enjoy the same types of activities. In the end, when a child is injured it doesn't matter what species that child is, they all put aside their differences to help in the best way they each individually can.

Chambers makes these species come alive and I loved all the individual characters as well. They felt so real and reading about them was completely engrossing and intriguing. I am still in awe at how Chambers can pull me completely into a story like this when there really isn't a strong plot driving anything forward. These are just aliens hanging out at a rest stop and the book was completely impossible to put down. I loved every minute of it. My only complaint is that this didn't feel like the end of the series and I feel like there must be a lot more stories that want to be told in the Wayfarers world.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I loved this book and really loved this series as a whole. The amazing alien races and the thoughtfulness with which they interact was fascinating. These characters are so easy to engage with and love and so fascinating to read about. If I have any complaints it is that I am super sad that this series is over and I would love to read more stories set in the Wayfarers universe. I would highly recommend this series if you are interested in the softer more introspective side of science fiction. All the Wayfarers books are thought-provoking, heart-warming and just flat out fascinating.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Mal Warwick

Like dessert after the more substantial of the other Wayfarers novels

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 17, 2021

Verified Purchase

Most Americans think about extraterrestrials in one of two ways. Either the white-faced, goggle-eyed humanoid with an enormous head reported by UFO fantasists. Or the grim-looking denizens of the cantina in the original Star Wars film. But in the final entry in the Becky Chambers series, The Galaxy and the Ground Within, the author does them one better. Actually, much better. Five aliens populate her novel. (There’s not a single human in the bunch.) They represent a wildly diverse set of body plans and sense organs. Two legs, four, dozens. Fingers, prehensile toes, hooks. Fur, scales, beaks, a shell. Eyes or no eyes, ears or none. Yet somehow they manage to communicate with ease through a language called Hanto that is the lingua franca, so to speak, of the Galactic Commons.

How can these creatures understand each other?

But wait! How can these creatures engage in conversation, language or no language? And what are they saying in the first place? They’re alien, after all! Well, just imagine one of those stories about a handful of people stranded by war or misfortune. Human people. They don’t know each other, and once the skies clear they’ll all be on their way. So, what do they do? They talk. And their innermost secrets come out, willingly or not. Yes, the characters in this novel are all extraterrestrial. (They call each other sapient or sentient, because Terra‘s not in the picture.) But it’s hard to imagine that they could be any more human in the ways they think and speak and act. Of course, it’s all in fun. Keep in mind, this is Becky Chambers’ universe—the Galactic Commons—not hard science fiction. In the GC, everybody’s nice—except when they’re at war.

Who’s who in this last of the Becky Chambers series

For the record, I’ll list the characters here. If you plan to read the novel, save this list. It takes a little effort to sort them all out, as they’re introduced piecemeal, and it can be a little confusing at first.

Ouloo

Ooli Oht Ouloo is the proprietor of the Five-Hop One-Stop, a motel of sorts in a habitat dome for galactic travelers on the planet Gora (“the Hanto word for useless”). Ouloo is a Laru. She and her preadolescent son Tupo—he is “too young to have chosen a gender yet”—are covered with thick fur from head to the tips of their four paws. As one of Ooloo’s guests thinks, none too kindly, “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.”

Roveg

A Quelin—”Quelin singular, even if it’s a group”— Roveg is a wealthy trader who was banished from her home planet for creating impertinent “sims,” which seem to be the latest format in education and entertainment. (The Quelin do not tolerate criticism.) She is desperate to obtain a visitor’s pass so she may reunite briefly with the three sons she left behind when she was stripped of the jewels on her carapace and forced to flee fifteen years ago. (“The Quelin Protectorate were a real bunch of bastards.”) Roveg sports dozens of legs, including abdominal and thoracic limbs that enable her to move quickly like a centipede.

Speaker

Speaker is a tiny methane-breathing sapient whose species wanders the galaxy. She moves about inside her shuttle by swinging about from one pole to the next using hooks at the ends of her arms. (“The two short limbs that hung below her as she swung across the room could grasp and passively support, but nothing beyond that.”) Outside the shuttle that brought her to the surface, she lives in a massive spacesuit. Her home planet was colonized and stripped of all value by the rapacious Harmagians, and the Galactic Commons has not seen fit to allocate a new one for them. In Speaker’s species, the Akaraks, everyone has an identical twin. Hers is named Tracker. The two have never been apart for so long.

Pei

Gapei Tem Seri, known as Captain Tem, calls herself Pei. An Aeluon, she is a wealthy arms dealer who travels the galaxy in a ship that rivals planetary art museums. “One of the first things Aeluon children learned after they mastered the complicated matters of walking and eating and using their colours with intensity was that the world around them did not use the same language people did. People, of course, communicated via the swirling chromatophore patches covering both cheeks.” And to communicate with those who speak via sound, Pei had installed a voicebox on what corresponds to her neck. Pei is secretly involved in an interspecies relationship with—gasp!—a Human named Ashby.

So, what happens?

To be blunt, not much happens here. Unlike its three prequels, the last entry in the Becky Chambers series is modeled on those literary novels or films in which a small, disparate group of people are forced together for a time and spill their guts to one another. In this case, some equipment glitch has detonated virtually all of Gora’s huge fleet of communication satellites, and they’re now tumbling in pieces to the surface. The Goran Orbital Cooperative rushes to fix the problem. But in the meantime, everyone on the surface of the planet must shelter in place, within the many domes scattered about and, if possible, within their spacecraft as well. During all the days repairs are underway, the guests in the Five-Hop One-Stop are forced to deal with each other, historic enmities and suspicions notwithstanding. It’s amusing but less than satisfying—like dessert after the more substantial courses of the Wayfarers series.

About the author

Becky Chambers won the Hugo Award for Best Series for the Wayfarers novels. She self-published the first book in the series, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, in 2014. Number four in the series, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, is, sadly, the last of the lot. Chambers was born in Los Angeles County in 1985. At an early age she became fascinated with space exploration. Currently she lives in California with her wife.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Amazon Customer Deb

Loved the Wayfarers books 1-4. Very imaginative and entertaining..

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 11, 2023

Verified Purchase

I liked all the books and how the author presented many sentient beings and the way she brought all the characters to life. So very creative.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 24, 2022

Verified Purchase

A bit disappointing that each book goes in a tangential direction but they are SO WISE that I must forgive the author for leveraging each volume towards a broader understanding of sapience. Lovely writing

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Annieme

Wonderful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 23, 2021

Verified Purchase

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.

18 people found this helpful

Tiny Bulcher

Character-driven SF

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 19, 2021

Verified Purchase

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 ...

9 people found this helpful

Alan

A good conclusion to the series but...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 10, 2021

Verified Purchase

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.

7 people found this helpful

Amazonian Customer

A beautiful ending to a wonderful series

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 27, 2022

Verified Purchase

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is the final instalment of the Wayfarers series. Each book is a separate entity in its own right, but there are links to the others - occasionally characters from previous books pop up, and of course there is the world, or rather universe, building. So you don't have to have read the first three, but they're all great, so why wouldn't you?

The planet Gora is the intergalactic version of a motorway service station. Ouloo runs the Five-Hop One-Stop, one of the establishments catering to visitors' needs such as fuel, food, tech repairs and a bathhouse. When the Goran satellite network suffers a massive failure, the travellers are temporarily marooned.

Throwing a small number of different species into closer than usual proximity for several days gives Becky Chambers a chance to explore the differences and similarities between her characters. As they learn more about their different cultures they build bridges and earn each others' respect.

It's a beautiful story, full of kindness and compassion. It might be a space opera, but there are lessons for us all about being more accepting and understanding of people who are different to ourselves.

2 people found this helpful

Susan Stepney

a universe of civilised beings

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 1, 2023

Verified Purchase

This is the the final book in Chambers’ Galactic Commons series, which focusses on personal problems of people (alien and human) trying to live their lives well in a complex universe. Here, for the first time, none of the characters is human.

Three travellers stop off at the Five-Hop One-Stop, for what they expect to be a short stay. But a freak accident strands them. All have urgent personal reasons to be elsewhere, but there is nothing they can do but wait for the situation to clear. They learn about each other, their hosts, and themselves, in the process.

Chambers’ universe is filled with civilised beings: they are not necessarily nice, but they don’t run amok when circumstances are against them. They press on, trying their best to achieve their goals whilst remaining relatively well-mannered. This makes for somewhat gentle narratives: the problems are crucial for the protagonists, but not universe-shattering. Even here, where one of the characters is basically an arms dealer, there is no violence, just difference of opinion.

I have enjoyed this series, although I found this final entry a little disappointing. I’m not sure why. Maybe my expectations were too high? Maybe it is because although the characters learn and change, what they learn about each other doesn’t seem to affect what they learn about themselves. Maybe I was expecting something a little more complex. Even if the destination was a little more prosaic than in the previous books, I still enjoyed to journey.

Buying Options

Buy for others

Buying and sending eBooks to others

Follow the Author

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

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Amazon.com Review

Review

Product details

Videos

About the author

Becky Chambers

Customer reviews

Reviews with images

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries