The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
{4.5/5} “Our species — no, forgive me, our cultures — aren’t the same at all. 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… You fear outsiders because they gave you no choice in the change they forced upon you.”
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers, published in 2021
Gora is a place that’s a way station for starships using the nearby wormholes. Ouloo has a dome she calls the Five-Hop One-Stop, a fuel station with a few other things she runs with her child Tupo. On a day when visitors from 3 different species are there, they all look up to find explosions in the sky. It’s all the satellites, and the authorities advise them to stay where they are.
This is the 4th and final novel in the Wayfarers series, following from Record of a Spaceborn Few. It’s a loose series, each book focusing on a different set of characters.
Chambers has mastered the technique of crafting dialogue that’s extremely interesting, like Robert J. Sawyer and Jo Walton.
Her speculation about different species is glorious. She has thought carefully about how species with different body types and mannerisms would interact.
You won’t believe that a conversation about cheese could be so hilarious until you read this book.
It’s about how no matter what kind of difficulty you have in your life, a friend can make it better.
One more quotation: “War was ugly, exhausting, and above all else, tedious — an odd thing to say about a situation in which there were more explosions and adrenaline than you knew what to do with. But for all the strategising, for all the narrow escapes and near misses, when you boiled it down, war was nothing more than an argument in which no one had landed on a better solution than killing each other.”
I’ve read 5 books by Chambers, and I’m looking forward to what she does next. I previously reviewed her novella To Be Taught, If Fortunate.