author : Becky Chambers

On an Earth struggling with ecological problems, a group is still pursuing the dream of spaceflight. A small group of scientists are sent on an interstellar journey to explore new planets; as they arrive at each one after a long sleep, they will find themselves bio-adapted to the local terrain.

This novella/short novel (150 pages) is another of Chambers’ wonderful space operas peopled with sensible, adult-behaving people coping together with extraordinary circumstances. Here we get vignettes of three different explorations, of very different planets, and see scientists at work, deeply committed to their research, respecting each other’s work, and overcoming what their explorations throw at them, all the while remembering they are doing this for the people back on Earth.

Rosemary Harper signs on as a certified clerk to the small spaceship Wayfarer, whose multi-species crew builds small hyperspace tunnels through navigable space. She wants a fresh start to get away from her secret past, and this looks ideal. But then the Wayfarer is offered a big job: to build a long hyperspace tunnel from a newly joined member of the Galactic Commons. The job is valuable, but it will involve a long trip to the starting point. The contract will allow them to move their tunnelling operation into the big league, so they snap it up. But the long trip will expose everyone’s secrets…

Both that summary, and even moreso the book cover blurb, make this sound as if it is a book about Rosemary and her past, and that thrilling adventures will ensue. In fact, it is a book with an ensemble cast, and an episodic travelogue style, as the ship moves through a variety of encounters that help uncover different aspects and secrets of both the crew members, and their various species. Stakes are high, but on the individual rather than the galactic level.

And it’s just delightful. The various alien species are alien enough to be interestingly different, without being incomprehensible. The different species are not monolithic: there are different characters within each. Humans are more fleshed out than the other species: there are three specific subgroups, of old-Earthers, Mars colonists, and the ship-born. But this is actually a plot point: the rest of the GC think humans are under-civilised because of this. The small events we see do have consequence, if sometimes only for one or two characters, and help gradually paint a rich picture of this future galaxy. There is tension and conflict and loss and revelation, but relatively little violence. The characters are simply adult and competent, rather than overly-dramatic, cartoonish, or hyper-competent. It feels real.

I once summarised a book to a friend as “nothing happens, but it’s very exciting!”. This one is maybe: “nothing happens, but it’s wonderful!” I went straight out and bought the next book.

Lovelace is a former spaceship AI recently housed in a highly illegal human-looking “kit” body. Having to leave her ship, she needs someone to guide her through human society while she adapts to her new form. Pepper is an escaped gene-engineered human slave. She takes in Lovelace for good reasons, but she has her own a hidden agenda.

This book takes two characters from The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, and tells their story. We learn about Pepper in flash-back when she was growing up as Jane 23, while we also watch Lovelace, now known as Sidra, as she tries to adapt to her horrifyingly-curtailed sensory inputs.

This is another great entry in the Wayfarers series. We see a different aspect of the Galactic Commons culture, as we live with Pepper and Sidra in their hackerspace home, and interact with humans and aliens alike. I particularly like the way Sidra constantly refers to her body as if she is just a passenger in it, and I very much like that the resolution of Sidra’s problem doesn’t opt for either of the obvious easy answers.

Humans in the Galactic Commons have different backgrounds: assimilated, Martians, ship-born Exordians. This is a story of the Exordians: the thousands still living on the Exodus Fleet after new worlds have been discovered and granted. Such a life has its benefits and its drawbacks, but what is its purpose now the voyage is over?

The story starts with a disaster in the Fleet, and then follows several different characters and how that has affected them, as they grow, age, change, or stay the same. Maybe even more so than the previous two books, “nothing happens, but it’s wonderful!” Chambers has really got the ensemble story of ordinary life in an alien future down pat. Unlike the earlier stories, there is only one main alien character here, visiting the Fleet, with culture clash a potential source of personal disaster, and a marvellous resolution.

A wonderful story, with some rather deep philosophy on what makes a good life. (tl;dr: it depends.)

This is the the final book in Chambers’ Galactic Commons series, which focusses on personal problems of people (alien and human) trying to live their lives well in a complex universe. Here, for the first time, none of the characters is human.

Three travellers stop off at the Five-Hop One-Stop, for what they expect to be a short stay. But a freak accident strands them. All have urgent personal reasons to be elsewhere, but there is nothing they can do but wait for the situation to clear. They learn about each other, their hosts, and themselves, in the process.

Chambers’ universe is filled with civilised beings: they are not necessarily nice, but they don’t run amok when circumstances are against them. They press on, trying their best to achieve their goals whilst remaining relatively well-mannered. This makes for somewhat gentle narratives: the problems are crucial for the protagonists, but not universe-shattering. Even here, where one of the characters is basically an arms dealer, there is no violence, just difference of opinion.

I have enjoyed this series, although I found this final entry a little disappointing. I’m not sure why. Maybe my expectations were too high? Maybe it is because although the characters learn and change, what they learn about each other doesn’t seem to affect what they learn about themselves. Maybe I was expecting something a little more complex. Even if the destination was a little more prosaic than in the previous books, I still enjoyed to journey.