The Galaxy, and the Ground Within [Feb 23, 2021]

[Niki Hawkes, I made it past GOTM... barely]

This is a Buddy Read for The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers starting February 23, 2021.

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I have such a love-hate relationship with Becky Chambers... will probably read... nothing can be worse than book 3, right? :D

[Soo]

Don't say that! Don't jinx it. I'm hoping for another like the first book vibe. lol

[Mel]

I've liked all of them so far, so I'm going in with expectations for a good time. :)

[Emma]

I’m in for this! I’ve just read the first chapter and am going to stop now until any one else starts- hopefully tomorrow.

[Charlie]

I'm late on 4 buddy reads this week! I'll be starting this at the weekend!

[Charlie]

Sorry for being so late guys, my partner has been really poorly and was hospitalised so I've just been focusing on that. He's coming home today! Once he gets settled I'll likely be able to curl up and read for a bit tonight :)

[Charlie]

I started last night and I love it, I adore Becky Chambers writing and the complex races and cultures she creates.

There's no chapters numbers but I'm 23 pages in (view spoiler)[ I like the perspectives we've seen so far. Gora seems a cool planet, I'm excited to see more! (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

Page 75 (23%) (view spoiler)[ So the sky is falling and the travellers are all stuck together, how exciting! I know Becky Chambers' books are very character focused rather than plot heavy but it's still nice to have a bit of drama and action, even if it's just to set up a situation for more character exploration.

As it is, I love these character focused books, this series is one of my favourites and I'm excellent to read more. So far we're off to a very solid start. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

Page 93 /29% / end of part 3

(view spoiler)[ I really like Speaker and I feel so sorry for her. Her species seems to have been really poorly treated by the GC as a whole and by all people in general. No-one bothers to learn anything about them, the world isn't adapted to be accessible for them the way it is for every other species and they're not represented in GC government. It seems they're usually met with hostility and distrust. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

Page 120 / 37% (view spoiler)[ once again I'm so angry on Speaker's behalf! I hope Roveg makes a sim for her.

I really like Roveg, he seems really friendly despite it being suggested that his species doesn't like to mix with others.

I like Pei's perspective too. It seems like she has a lot of responsibly in her everyday life so being trapped on the planet is probably a nice break, despite the stress of the situation. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

251/ 77% (view spoiler)[ Okay so Pei and Speaker's argument was intense. I can totally see both sides and they both have valid points. This is one of the things I love about Becky Chamber's books, her characters and their cultures, identities and perspectives are unique and often contradictory, it's super interesting.

It was also nice to see Speaker really stand up for herself. Coming from a marginalised and distrusted race, she clearly has to constantly manage her behaviour to present a pleasant and non-threatening front. That must be freaking exhausting. It's okay not to agree with everyone and not everyone has to be your friend. It's doesn't make you a bad person and I'm glad Speaker is getting this. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

I'm finished! (view spoiler)[ I really loved the ending, friendships were made, understandings were had and God I have so many feelings!

The Sim that Roveg made for Speaker was such a thoughtful gift, it was truly touching to watch her experience life planetside for the first time.

I'm so glad that Roveg was able to visit his sons. He's such a good person and I was rooting for him!

Im happy that Pei made her choice and chose to do what made her happy. She's not my favourite character but she deserves her happy ending, or at least, happy for now.

This whole book was just wonderful. It wasn't my favourite in the series but I thoroughly enjoyed it. (hide spoiler)]

[Rob]

Does this have two release dates? I can't get it from amazon.

[Charlie]

I'm honestly not sure. I'm in the UK and I preordered it from Waterstones. The book was Published Feb 18th in England and I'm pretty sure my copy arrived on the day. It may have other release dates elsewhere :).

[Rob]

yes, we have to wait a few more weeks here. Sad....

[Charlie]

Well it's well worth the wait, it was fantastic!

[Mel]

Much belated, but I finally got a copy of this one.
It's been a while, so I had to look back at Pei's character, to refresh my impression of her from the first book, and also the interaction with the Akarak species, when in the first book (view spoiler)[they were boarded by Akarak pirates, but who turned out to have an innate sense of equality and could be bargained with. (hide spoiler)]

I'm at 29%, just finished a chapter where Pei is alone with her thoughts, which is just so... Chambers. The intent in regulating and being aware of one's emotions makes sense for a species that literally shows them on its face.

I also feel a lot of sympathy for Speaker, (view spoiler)[ being separated from Tracker, and being treated with suspicion, or put under a social microscope, as Roveg put it. I'm heartened though that each of the others is growing out of their prejudice in their own tiny way. The look that Ouloo gives by way of apology; Pei realizing she has a significant knowledge gap about their species, and how odd it is that they aren't represented in the GC Parliament; Roveg empathizing with being the odd-species-out. (hide spoiler)]

I'm interested to find out more about Roveg's secretive plans.

Also, the discussion about human cheese was pretty great.

[Mel]

36%

"So we wait?"
"Roveg bent his legs affirmatively. "We wait."

It occurs to me how timely this book is, of characters stuck in limbo. Unable to move on, stuck in an isolated bubble. The world came crashing down, and we are witness how they cope in the interim, individually and together, before their lives move on again.

[Mel]

38%

Mmm, the bath scene is my ultimate 「癒し系」 "iyashikei" healing-type experience. I miss going to the public bathhouses so much. The relaxation, the friendly chatter and echoing splashes in the steamy indoor halls, or the peaceful sounds outside - silent but for the rustling wind though the branches and gurgling water, the soft splashing of others entering and exiting the pools.

I also like the parallels of her turning off her auditory implant, and the validation of Deaf culture, and (view spoiler)[ of her worries about "coming out" as being in an interspecies relationship with Ashby and being similar to LGBT and other invisible identities. (hide spoiler)] The bathhouse is perfect for that kind of quiet contemplation.

[Mel]

54%
I knew it!
(view spoiler)[When Pei started to complain of vague body symptoms I'm like... she's pregnant. Well... in her case, Shimmering. But yes. I wonder if that sort of thing is just instinctive for female readers. Gosh, just thinking about how men walk about life without decoding symptoms and hormones suddenly just struck me as so stupidly carefree. (hide spoiler)]
Anyway... *grabs popcorn* This should be interesting.

[Charlie]

@Melissa (view spoiler)[ The cheese discussion was the best!

I agree with what you said about the validation of deaf culture and marginalized identities. I really love how Becky Chambers deals with prejudice and acceptance, it really shines in this book specifically.

Yes! I guessed about Pei being pregnant too! (hide spoiler)]

[Mel]

Finished, and it was just as wholesome and comforting as I imagined.

I think this one came closest back around to the 1st book in the sense that it focused on the small group of people, and their intersecting cultures... but MORE so in some ways, because we stay in one places and sit with those thoughts, rather than encounter new experiences on a journey.

Embodies the Japanese tea ceremony concept of 一期一会 (ichi go ichi e) which means each meeting of people and moment in time is unique and irreplaceable.

(view spoiler)[I'm also so glad that they all had their happy endings. I think that it shined though how they changed each other and affected one another.

Speaker's affirmation that you can not do something simply because "you don't want to" seemed to be that extra push Pei needed.

Pei was able to push through that contract for Roveg so that he could get his visa to see his sons. And given the opportunity to make sims of his homeworld.

And Roveg... he gave an unimaginable gift to Speaker and Tracker, and their whole species. I got the same feels as watching those videos of colorblind people see color for the first time... only moreso. Feeling wind for the first time, and sand, and water.

The last section with Ouloo was the perfect goodbye to the series. I saw it as Chambers making a conscious choice to say goodbye to something she lovingly invested in, to make room for new stories and opportunities to grow. A beautiful metaphor. (hide spoiler)]

[Charlie]

@Melissa so glad you enjoyed it. Im going to really miss this series, I'm so sad it's ending. I think there's room for so much more, I'd love to explore more places and species and just see how they interact with each other. I want Becky Chambers to write these books forever.

[Rob]

Finished a few weeks ago and stopping by - definitely could read/immerse in this universe as long as she wanted to write in it.

I just gave the first book to my daughter. Eager to see what she thinks of it :)

[Charlie]

@Rob me too, it's a shame she's finished, I hope she writes more in this world in the future.

[Rob]

I haven't read the novella, so I can at least go back and read that.

[Charlie]

ooh me too actually, I've had it on my kindle for ages.

[Rob]

I'm open to a buddy read some time for that after I finish the new Abercrombie

[Charlie]

absolutely!

[Rob]

I have done time to start this anytime. I am between larger book buddy reads at the moment

[Mel]

Rob, thanks for reminding me of the novella. I need to pick that one up as well. :)

[Rob]

No problem. I have some time in the next week or two if anyone wants to buddy-read it. Reading Beyond Redemption right now and while it is wicked fun, a Becky Chambers would seem the perfect change of pace after that :)

[Mel]

Oops, I may have already read it on a whim. It's more of a short story than a novella, part of the Infinite Stars: Dark Frontiers anthology. (The first review there helpfully points out that it's available of Google books)

I'd be happy to chat about it though. I dunno if we need a separate thread for a short story. Less organized, but more convenient. Here is fine by me at least.