The Galaxy, and the Ground Within Review

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers is the astounding conclusion to the Wayfarer series. In it, a group of strangers staying at the same hotel on the unremarkable planet of Gora are forced to lean on each other after a freak technological failure prevents them from leaving.

General Impressions

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi, especially books that feature aliens and different cultures and space politics. The only other stories I read with worthwhile aliens are Jamie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff's The Aurora Cycles genre-wise and The Alien Warrior series by Penelope Fletcher setting and subject matter wise.

If like me you had never heard of Becky Chambers, don't be afraid: this can be as a standalone and pick up the rest later on.

What initially drew me and surprised me was how simple the prompt was: six people from different species, planets, and cultures stuck with each other in a time of need. And in the middle of this ordinary and meaningful plot, we find the most extraordinary world-building.

The number of cultures, languages, and species that the author came up with alone is enough to set this story apart from everything else. Biological and historical differences informed every culture and every character culminating in a world wonderfully complex and easy to understand at the same time. The fact that these aliens were not just the same as humans but stronger or a different colour but truly diverse, some not even being mammals was truly welcome.

This is a book filled with notable conversations about ableism, family planning, people displacement, discrimination, and minorities that I loved to see. That was also what made me so sad about it: it's the perfect book for our time in that it's about a group of people that disagree politically, that have prejudices, that are used to trust only those that look like them and have shared their experience and story. People for whom reaching their hand (or paw or any other member) in help might not be easy at first but they do it because it's the right thing. It's a book about not having to love everyone or agree on everything but making an effort to put yourself in someone else's place and choosing to be kind. It's about seeing people as worthy of life, respect, and freedom no matter if they look, love, or think alike.

Becky Chambers is also notable for writing some of the most diverse stories when it comes to sexuality and gender. This was the first story I ever read in which the pronouns xe/xyr were used not only towards one character but as something common across the galaxy, considering all the different ways societies and individuals characterize and present gender as, which I found truly lovely.

Conclusions

This was one of the most human stories I have ever read and the human race is only mentioned as an afterthought. I want to read everything Becky Chambers has ever written.

Thank you to Hodder and Stoughton for this ARC.

Rating: 4/5