The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

A Reminder Happy Endings is where I review series when they reach the end just to consider the wider impact and if the ending is indeed a happy one!

I would like to thank Hodder and Stoughton for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Hodder & Stoughton

Published – Out Now

Price – £16.99 hardback £10.99 kindle ebooK

The stunning finale to the award-winning Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, author of the beloved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

When a freak technological failure halts traffic to and from the planet Gora, three strangers are thrown together unexpectedly, with seemingly nothing to do but wait.

Pei is a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, torn between her duty to her people, and her duty to herself.

Roveg is an exiled artist, with a deeply urgent, and longed for, family appointment to keep.

Speaker has never been far from her twin but now must endure the unendurable: separation.

Under the care of Ouloo, an enterprising alien, and Tupo, her occasionally helpful child, the trio are compelled to confront where they've been, where they might go, and what they might be to one another.

Together they will discover that even in the vastness of space, they're not alone.

The final book in a sequence should be the full stop. It should be the ending of endings; the neat tying of plot strings and rousing farewell to characters we loved. As with many things I was fascinated that Becky Chambers avoided this in the The Galaxy, and the Ground Within with only a reference to the other adventures and one minor character thrust to the foreground. Instead it is a distillation of the way this series is written that a simple traffic accident in space sets in motion a series of unusual people meeting and learning to understand one another and also for readers an opportunity to learn more about ourselves.

Gora sits between two wormholes – you would usually treat it as a fuel and food depot for a few hours until your slot is called. At the Five Hop One-Shop Ouloo and xyr teenage child Tupo prepare for some visitors while their flight slots become free. A strange group is assembled – Roveg an artist but notably does not have the usual honorifics of the Quelin people; Pei an Aeleon cargorunner and one other stranger ship that eventually is found to be Speaker a member of the outsider and little understood Akarak people. All strangers to one another and all in a hurry to get somewhere else. Then the sky goes on fire as a satellite network crashes into one another. They’re stuck initially for hours and then it seems days. All five individuals have to learn to be around each other leading to some surprising developments.

In many ways this is the most intimate novel in the series since The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet with a very small group and all stuck to one location, but I think this is the distillation of everything Chambers has been talking about in the series for some time. We have here almost no humans in the main cast (although Pei being the lover of Ashby Captain of the Wayfarer is the key link to the wider series); instead Chambers explores four alien cultures with representatives who are not themselves that representative of their people. Oouloo and Tupo left to seek a new way of life and they work damn hard to make their business work while Tupo is gaining xyr own understanding of the world that actually makes their unexpected guests stop and think.

Roveg from the typically isolationist Quelin throws himself into exploring other worlds and cultures so actually os most interested in knowing more but at the same time feels guilt over an appointment he cannot mix despite being a political exile. Pei is battling her role supporting military operations for her people with a forbidden love for a human that even Ashby’s crew is not aware of. Speaker strikes a cord with Roveg and is suspicious of Pei but most of all worries about her sister trapped in the wider orbit. As their stay gets longer the reader gets to explore these characters and find out what makes each one tick and watch their relationships develop in unusual ways. Tupo is entranced by all these aliens, Speaker feels concern as the Akarak have often been viewed dismissively by the wider galactic community and these tensions occasionally boil over as people feel trapped. This a story about people at a crossroads in their lives actually stuck at a crossroads – their decisions will change them fundamentally/

Two strands in particular pulled me in Roveg the political exile who increasingly just wants to say hello to their family one more time feels tragic in many places. Someone who loves seeing alien cultures, sees other worlds as opportunities for learning and yet back home they’re the criminal. The most fascinating though is Speaker a member of a race that lives very short lifetimes; from a conquered planet that no longer exists and no one in the wider galactic community has helped so they make their own way through space often avoiding detection. There is a brutal chapter where the Akarak representatives take the wider galaxy in charge to task for not helping them as they are too different while the very humanoid Exodans who we only met in the last book now get all the attention. It’s a brutal angry passage that struck a cord with me that western governments only ever seem focused on white faces and forget all those other communities that need help – instead viewing them with suspicion and apathy.

I’ve read some fascinating criticism of the wider series by people who feel this series is not great science fiction. They find it too cosy. I think that is an unusual take – in many ways Chamber’s universe is one of the most dangerous there is. Money still exists, the powerful are still in charge and accidents happen such as a spaceship blowing up, a satellite relay etc that can destroy the world without warning. We see political persecution, misuse of clones and AI technology and a lot of isolationism. Chamber’s characters aren’t those in charge; or the best of the best they’re the individuals trying to live in a often uncaring universe and it’s only their friends and family that keeps them going. That for me is the reason these books work so much for so many. The last decade or so has seen huge economic an political shifts that for many people there isn’t any suitable welfare, support, job security that even people like me born just more a couple of decades earlier are used to.  I wonder if many of Chamber’s critics realise, they don’t have this experience in common with some of the newer fans in the genre and that may be why Chamber’s voice works so well for so many new readers instead.

A set of stories that explores those communities that survive in despite of these changes and that has to work itself on the solution I can clearly see why this appeals and again in this tale while the big special effects are all off stage the main plot movement is a helpful teenager making a big mistake. At which point the cast has to put aside their differences and focus on doing the right thing. I found the approach very powerful and uplifting especially after a year in isolation like we’ve just had.

Is this a happy ending?

Oh goodness me yes – this is a damn fine farewell to a great series that I think has a lot to say about the times we live in. In some ways the Wayfarer’s Universe is little changed from when we first met it – the same powers in charge; the way of life is hard and outlook for some still uncertain but a tale of finding hope in your family, friends and your own found family is something I think science fiction has shied away from in it’s focus on empires and rebellions. Revolutions are a lot rarer in reality and keeping yourself going each day can be a hard struggle too. That’s why we need books like this to give us some hope for the future and remind us being kind is often its own kind of rebellion– highly recommended