The Wayfarers series, four character-driven sci-fi books all loosely connected in the same interstellar Galactic Commons setting, has been an absolute breath of fresh air. A palate cleanser from the dystopian world we find ourselves living in. I recommend starting with THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET, but each stands alone and can come in any order after that. This last one, THE GALAXY, AND THE GROUND WITHIN, is one of my favorites.

A small group of strangers is temporarily stuck in the middle of galactic nowhere, in a random rest stop at a wormhole crossroads. They are all different species, all have somewhere else they need to be, someone else they'd rather be with. Their host is gracious, but tensions remain. Of course, that basic plot description gives away about as much of the real story as a Quelin's rigid exoskeleton. And that's what I love about Chambers's books — the world building is superb, and the characters are beautifully drawn, but the story at the heart of each book is both intimate, focusing on interspecies interpersonal relationships, and expansive, with a philosophical, big-ideas base. They're warm, profound, uplifting, heart-expanding human stories. Even the ones with hardly any humans in them.

Topics, tropes and themes: diversity, physical ability and accommodations, gender, war, politics, colonialism, refugees, hospitality, kindness, family, bodily autonomy, stranded strangers

Content notes: strong language, exiled character separated from family, colonialism, references to war and battle, references to sex, injured child in a coma

My thanks to #NetGalley and Harper Voyager for a digital review copy!