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crofteereader 's review for:
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
by Becky Chambers
So I had no idea this was THE END of the Wayfarers series until I got to the acknowledgments and that makes the book so much more bittersweet. This is probably the... Softest book in the series. No one is running for their lives, there's no action. What it is is people of four different species trapped in one place together, finding common ground.
Physiologically, our main characters are so different, and they come from different backgrounds. Roveg from the people who have all but isolated themselves from the rest of the galaxy. Pei whose people are fairly ubiquitous but retain a deep sense of tradition - particularly surrounding child rearing. Speaker, whose people have no home after their planet was destroyed in a long-ago war but were never given leave to settle a new one because their physiology and needs are antithetical to other sapient species. And Ouloo and Tupo who have built their home in a world where people only ever visit but they get to see all kinds.
As always with a Wayfarers book, we dig deep into various species' cultures and biases. In this case, we use a child's curiosity as the catalyst for learning about these species and their interactions with each other. Chambers is so good at weaving in frank conversations about social justice, equality, bias, difference in cultural backgrounds and their effect on things like politics/war/economy. But also always finding common ground, even when characters can't wholly agree. And we get to see how these conversations have lasting impacts on our characters, beyond the mere scope of the book.
TL;DR If you haven't read the Wayfarers series yet, please do so.
{Thank you Harper Voyager for the DRC via NetGalley; all thoughts are my own}
Physiologically, our main characters are so different, and they come from different backgrounds. Roveg from the people who have all but isolated themselves from the rest of the galaxy. Pei whose people are fairly ubiquitous but retain a deep sense of tradition - particularly surrounding child rearing. Speaker, whose people have no home after their planet was destroyed in a long-ago war but were never given leave to settle a new one because their physiology and needs are antithetical to other sapient species. And Ouloo and Tupo who have built their home in a world where people only ever visit but they get to see all kinds.
As always with a Wayfarers book, we dig deep into various species' cultures and biases. In this case, we use a child's curiosity as the catalyst for learning about these species and their interactions with each other. Chambers is so good at weaving in frank conversations about social justice, equality, bias, difference in cultural backgrounds and their effect on things like politics/war/economy. But also always finding common ground, even when characters can't wholly agree. And we get to see how these conversations have lasting impacts on our characters, beyond the mere scope of the book.
TL;DR If you haven't read the Wayfarers series yet, please do so.
{Thank you Harper Voyager for the DRC via NetGalley; all thoughts are my own}