The Galaxy, and the Ground Within: Wayfarers 4

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It’s natural for those in the GC—just like it’s natural for us humans on Earth—to get lost in the day-to-day of one’s own life and the immediate stressors and concerns that go with it. And it’s equally jarring—as the year that was 2020 has shown all of us—when the routine and freedoms we took for granted get upended. So. On a paragraph-by-paragraph level, it's very good. Just not very... gripping. Well, a good deal of Vance's work isn't particularly gripping, either. Overall, I'm rating this one at 3.5 stars, and rounding down because its narrative thrust is so weak. YMMV, and others liked it more, or less. If you've liked previous Chambers books, give it a try. Almost certainly your library will have a copy. It begins with a Laru hostess, Ouloo, and her child, at an intergalactic way station. I picture them something like llamas, although Tupo is finally an adolescent. The message I got from this fourth and final book is one of agency. Which is true for the whole series, come to think of it. (Re)claiming one’s power, whether it be on one’s body, one’s mind, one’s story. Deciding for yourself, making your own choices in a way that, in the end, benefits everyone. This book captures the simultaneous close-encounter-with and detachment-from the here-now that we experience during a crisis really well, while also incorporating several other themes like a refugee crisis, speciesism, ableism, war, social taboos, motherhood, the unbridgeable gap between us and the other and the extra kindness that our interactions therefore demand. And relief of all reliefs: there isn't a single heteronormative, white, human male character here. Actually, there isn't any sort of human character if you don't count mere mentions.

As is usual for this author, the story is not about explosions and action scenes, but about the character studies and developments. This results in a very colorful and interesting story but one that isn’t "loud". Either one likes that sort of thing or one doesn’t. I happen to appreciate both, depending on the execution. At the Five-Hop One-Stop, long-haul spacers can stretch their legs (if they have legs, that is), and get fuel, transit permits, and assorted supplies. The Five-Hop is run by an enterprising alien and her sometimes helpful child, who work hard to provide a little piece of home to everyone passing through. Pei is a cargo runner at a personal crossroads, torn between her duty to her people, and her duty to herself. Chambers has always put character first. Written with a short, focused style which emphasises quirks, positivity and humour over historical explanation or serious ongoing plot, it was fairly obvious that here Chambers was playing to her strengths. As with Record of a Space Born Few, the book alternates between its five characters, slowly letting us understand who they are, and how the others see them, then, once the disaster hits, mixing them together and letting them spark off each other. The story follows Pei, an Aeluon, Speaker, an Akarak, and Roveg, a Quelin. They all end up grounded at the Five-Hop One-Stop which is run by Ouloo, a Laru. They have all lead distinctive lives and they also necessitate differentiating things given that they belong to a different species. Oxygen, for example, would be lethal to Speaker. At first, they view the others as mere aliens but the more time they spend together—picnics and get-togethers—the more they begin to see the others as individuals in their own right. There is some conflict due to Akarak not being considered a sapient species and therefore they are not part of the GC. They were colonized by another species and are now regarded with distrust. Pei is fighting for the Aeluons against the Rosk (whom, if I record correctly, they had previously colonized).

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It wasn’t perfect, but it would make most people happy. Roveg had the feeling that was the underlying aim with everything in this place.” Ouloo, a Laru, is the owner of the Five-Hop One-Stop, the place where nearly all of the novel takes place. And sometimes fear is good. Fear keeps you alive. But it can also keep you from what you really want." Her way of depicting emotions and her ability in creating such calm, endearing, empowered and caring characters are truly something that needs to be celebrated and properly highlighted.

Well . . . to have your own planet means that despite knowing the universe is edgeless, that everything is relative to everything else, you feel there’s one place that’s the true centre of it. I don’t mean the true centre in an astronomical way, or a topographical way. I mean the true centre. It’s the anchor, the . . . the weight that holds the weaving together. It’s not the true centre for everyone, but it is for you. Pei, who’s an Aeluon, a race that can’t hear and communicates in colors. is teaching the Lawn Party group to dance: Another wonderful addition to the Wayfarers series. Although I don’t think any of them have topped A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, I’ve enjoyed continuing nonetheless. I also liked the setting in which the topics where explored. I mean, what do you do if you can’t just walk away? If you can’t just call emergency services in case of an actual emergency? When you’re stranded and shut in? Gora’s biggest claim to fame is that it’s a pit stop, the intergalactic equivalent of a rest station that resides near a hub of interspatial tunnels that people in the Wayfarer universe use to get to more interesting planets and places. But when a catastrophic event grounds all travel, we spend time there with a handful of stranded travelers and their host, each of whom has their own distractions, their own preconceived notions, their own stories.The most interesting thing about this novel is the fact that it concerns non-humans but, to be honest, their experiences, desires, fears, and arcs felt a bit too 'human'. I have been tended. I have been taken care of. I have been loved. I have been nourished. I have been nurtured. I have been cocooned. I have been blessed.

Embrace the xenology in this chamberplay, because the plot or setting is nearly not existent. It could be played against a grey curtain without loosing too much. The novel has all the charming, positive, and sometimes funny atmosphere as all the previous novels and dives deep into the characterizations and the relationships between the five protagonists. There are a couple of social conflicts, some of them caused by misinterpretation, others by contrary attitudes. None of them are heavy-weight or lead to fights. Three other guests have arrived at her inn and gardens when they are forced to stay a bit longer than intended. Ouloo finds herself reminding her child that some of their guests' looks and habits may be a bit unusual.

Now, the horrified reaction of all those aliens to the mere concept of cheese almost got this book an extra star. Almost. Earth, the battered Human homeworld] Their world isn’t dead, not completely. It’s being repaired, little by little. They can visit, if they want to. There are some who live there still. And their planet wasn’t taken from outside. They killed it from within. They chewed their own hearts out. No, I don’t think we’re the same at all.’

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. Tupo was still so soft, so babylike in temperament, but had finally crossed the threshold from small and cute to big and dumb." Ouloo - Ouloo is the owner of the one stop five hop, a sort of resort for travellers to take a rest on their way to where they are going next, whilst waiting for their turn in the wormhole gate crew. Ouloo is mother to Tupo and is very passionate about making her guests feel welcome and accepted. Apply this concept into the universe, across species and galaxies, and that's what you get with the Wayfarers series, which was felt most keenly in the first and last book of the series. However, humans are still physiologically the same despite the differences I've mentioned above. By extending this to multi-species, where some aliens don't even breath the same air or reproduce the same way, the barriers are magnified manifold. Somehow Chambers managed to make it work wonderfully in her stories, which are just narratives of these characters (with all their past history, cultural heritage, and even career choices) interacting with each other and learning how to tolerate, accept or even welcome the differences. Given these strong themes of acceptance, LBGTQIA representations are important in these books.Upload images (When uploading images ensure correct source and licensing is listed and included in the file description) Apparently I want a bit more in my space domestic science fiction. Just because I think calm chill life is ideal doesn’t mean I want the same from my escapist reading. Cheese! And an embarrassingly out-of-their-depth government agency that very much reminded me of governments and how they are (not) handling this pandemic. Just two very hilarious / poignant details in this 4th volume of the Wayfarers series and yes, there is a direct connection to the characters of the first book. :) While it’s likely Chambers started this book before the events that were 2020, a post-pandemic (well, almost post, hopefully) reading can’t help but resonate with our own unexpected pause, how an unplanned and undesired halt to where we think we’re going can change things irrevocably. Having a child is a major life decision, for an Aeluon even more so, and one rife with the potential for writing drama and character conflict, especially when Pei seeks advice or needs to analyse her own feelings and why she might have them.