The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

The 4th book of the Wayfarers series was just as great as the others. This time we are stranded on Gora, a small planet with nothing more to offer than its proximity to a bunch of wormholes to other regions of deep space. Here, Ouloo, a Laru, created the Five-Hop One-Stop and caters to all the long-haul travelers. When a technological failure stops all transit, she, her kid Tupo and her 3 guests (an Aeluon, an Akarak and a Quelin) have a lot of time on hand to get to know each other. The plot may not be the most eventful, granted. But the book lives through its lovely and extremely diverse characters. How on earth did Becky Chambers create this whole new set of species, all with their own body form, language, customs, habits and even history? I am truly overwhelmed by the genius of it. This is just such a great and important book. I mean, with the background of being stranded on a little planet, Chambers creates a handbook of how tolerance could and should be lived. And what our future in space will look like. The information offered is just amazing in its complexity. The topics are as diverse as the characters: race, gender, war, exile, integration, communication, home, reproduction, culture, growing up. There‘s everything in it and it is written so expertly wonderful that you don‘t feel overwhelmed. You just want more. Awesome combination! I love that there was no human character this time - it even underlines the complex diversity on all accounts. You begin to understand the alien species but you never forget all the differences. At its core this book, the whole series really, is about tolerance. But it is also so much fun just to learn about space and the different species. I love the Aeluons and their color language. The Larus choosing their gender when old enough. The difficult relationship the Akaraks have with the concept of a homeplanet. I think this book was a great conclusion to a sci-fi saga (even if it probably wasn’t the last book, I hear) Every book has its own charm. One can read them in any order and it‘s not a series as such, more of a bunch of books in the same universe - increasing the feeling of depicting a whole new world, a real glimpse into the future!