Reviews

The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers

jess_mango's review against another edition

4.0

Gora is a pretty unremarkable planet. It is basically a rock with no water or air. It is a sort of rest stop on the way to somewhere else. The Five-Hop-One-Stop is a rest station on Gora where you can get food or fuel and take a break from driving your ship. It is run by an alien mom and her child. After an incident traps a group of strangers on the planet, they are forced to get to know each other. They come from various species, backgrounds etc.

This is the sort of laid-back, contemplative sci-fi that I've come to expect from Becky Chamber's Wayfarer's series. Here we don't have TOO much going on, just a lot of conversations and thoughts. Different people, different beliefs that all come to understand each other a little more after being forced to spend time together. As usual there are aspects of sexuality and gender that play a part in the story that Chambers is telling. This is inclusive, feel-good fiction at its best.

What to listen to while reading...
Alien Days by MGMT
Habits (Hippie Sabotage Remix) by Tove Lo
Breathless by Caroline Polachek
home with you by FKA Twigs
Feeling Lonely by boy pablo
Horizons by Surfaces

Thank you to the publisher for the review copy!

lorendia's review

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Sometimes the metaphor seemed heavy-handed, but who can’t love a story about 4 species connecting for a short time at a planetary truck stop? Ouloo is the cut from the same cloth as Dex (the Monk) from the Monk & Robit Series, and Becky Chambers helps us see the power of connection, curiosity, and welcoming all. 

awoodenbird's review

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

mssunnyskies's review

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

kdahlo's review

3.0

I really like the Wayfarers series, this book also stands alone just fine. No required knowledge from other books and only a tiny overlap in characters. If you know the series, you know not to expect intense plotting, the story here is people (aliens) meeting, building relationships and changing a little bit because of what they learn in those relationships. There is always great world-building and the characters are lovely and detailed. I'll admit, I'm still waiting for *something to happen* in this series because that's what I like. If you can get past that impulse entirely it will help you enjoy these books even more.

speedireads's review

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

proofofruin's review

4.0

shoutout becky chambers i adore you

full thoughts here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CYpdAuavmul/?utm_medium=copy_link

bluejaybooks's review against another edition

A character driven book about aliens where the main draw is the focus on the characters. I really thought the author was trying to write a book without humans on the page until the part where

Spoiler

a minor human character made an appearance.

Still, this is about the closest to a book without humans as you can get though the aliens are of the sort that you sometimes forget they aren't human until they start talking about their antennae or various other appendages.

Spoiler

They also talk about a few things that either presently or historically varied across cultures as though all humans engaged in such behavior. For example, the characters had a lengthy explanation of what cheese was and how it's weird that human adults like it. It's my understanding that--at least historically--some human cultures have also thought of adults eating cheese as weird. Then again, it makes sense that the space faring humans these aliens have come into contact with would eat cheese given its current wide spread consumption.

braganina's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

creosote's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5