Like Record of a Spaceborn Few, this is a very character-driven story. Unlike its predecessor, The Galaxy and the Ground Within has compelling characters, and an interesting, albeit slow-paced, story of these characters coming together under unexpected circumstances. I really liked that the whole cast was comprised of aliens, especially since most of them were species we’d seen very little, if any, of in previous books. Once again, I want to praise Chambers for her creativity regarding these aliens, as reading and learning about them is consistently fascinating to me.

But damn it, I wanted to see the original crew. I thought, since Pei was on her way to see Ashby, we’d get to see said crew, but no. Not even for a chapter. The series is over and we didn’t get a single cameo, and I’m not gonna lie, I’m a teeny tiny bit disappointed. As that’s my only complaint and more of a personal one than anything truly critical, I won’t hold it against the book. But still. *sigh*

Overall ranking of the Wayfarers books:

And, just for fun (and so I don’t forget), my favorites of the aliens are the Aeluons and Aandrisks. I feel like there was a third I wanted to mention? But I don’t remember. So anyway. (I’ll probably remember at like 3 a.m. or something.)

I would definitely recommend this series! It’s a fun, immersive sci-fi with great characters and easily understandable world-building. (Galaxy-building?) Just… maybe skip the third one. ;)

Representation