Part 4 of the series. Enjoyed this one quite a bit. ( )

This series went all over the galaxy in many ways. This one was the most touching and personal. It made me feel good. ( )

On first reading, I found this a pleasant and enjoyable experience, and sufficiently gripping that I read the whole thing at one sitting, which I don’t normally do these days.

A few strangers of different species (none of them human) meet at the interstellar equivalent of a motorway service area while travelling in different directions for different reasons; they’re kept there longer than expected, and they interact with each other. Initially they sometimes distrust, offend, or disagree with each other; but they each have their own personal problems, and they end up helping each other with these problems. It’s rather charming that they’re all basically well-meaning: there are no villains in this story.

There’s no sex, no violence, no weapons are present, no-one dies, no crimes are committed, no scientific discoveries or technological innovations or social revolutions occur. At the end of the story, the galaxy remains entirely unchanged except that the characters we meet know and like each other better than they did at the beginning.

These well-meaning characters include representatives of the Akarak and Quelin species, which were presented as hostile and dislikeable in [b:The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|25201920|The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)|Becky Chambers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438590529l/25201920._SY75_.jpg|42270825]. Presumably the message is to beware of generalizations: any large group of beings may contain some good and some bad individuals, however you define good and bad.

I’m not quite sure why I like this book so much, but by now I’ve decided that it’s my favourite of the Wayfarers series, even though not very much seems to happen in it. Well, in fact, all kinds of things happen in it, they’re just on a more intimate scale than we’re accustomed to in sf stories. There are major things happening here, but they affect individuals, not whole societies, and for a reader of sf that takes a bit of getting used to.

As in most sf stories, the aliens have brains that seem human-equivalent: they’re about as intelligent as humans, and they behave much as humans might behave if they’d grown up with non-human bodies in a non-human society. If we ever encounter real intelligent aliens from other solar systems, it seems unlikely to me that their mental functioning will be so familiar and readily understood by humans. However, genuinely alien mentalities would be hard for the author to imagine and describe, and probably hard for human readers to appreciate and enjoy.

Could you read this fourth book in isolation, without the rest of the series? Probably, yes. It would be somewhat helpful to have read the first book in the series ([b:The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|25201920|The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers, #1)|Becky Chambers|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1438590529l/25201920._SY75_.jpg|42270825]), which provides some context, but I don’t think it’s essential. The second and third books don’t contribute anything to this one, as far as I can see. ( )

This cosy sci-fi, the fourth and final instalment in the Wayfarers series, follows a group of interstellar travellers who stop at the Five-Hop One-Stop, a re-fuelling station on a transit planet. An accident delays their travel and they find themselves in the situation that all travellers dread – in transit with a group of odd strangers. This is a multi-species cast of characters – a Laru woman and her teenaged yet-to-gender-identity child, an Aeluon cargo runner on her way to meet her forbidden lover, an Akarak trader who is separated from her sister, and a Quelin exiled artist.

The culture-clash set-up enables an exploration of prejudices and stereotypes as we come to know the personal histories, hopes and fears of the characters. The novel is not plot-driven. It is a masterpiece of characterisation that is both heart-warming and heartbreaking. The social interactions between the characters highlight their startling differences, but also their striking similarities. The very essence of ‘humanity’ is examined and one cannot walk away from having read this novel without wanting to become a better person. ( )

Read if:

1. You need a hug
2. You liked [b:Legends & Lattes|61242426|Legends & Lattes (Legends & Lattes, #1)|Travis Baldree|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1654581271l/61242426._SY75_.jpg|94968745]
3. You want a change from reading non-fiction
4. You need an antidote to the daily news

I will disagree, once again, that nothing happens. Some things indeed happen. I found myself wanting to dive back into the book, read just a little more, because I didn't know exactly what would happen. That is, in fact, one of the nice things about Becky Chambers books: there will be things happening that will not include torture, gore, or mass murder. As always, it shares a lot of similarities with Star Trek: species exploration, a tidy little arc, the feeling that peace can be achieved if we just listen.

It begins with a Laru hostess, Ouloo, and her child, at an intergalactic way station. I picture them something like llamas, although Tupo is finally an adolescent.

"[The hair] hung listlessly over xyr large black eyes in a helpless manner that suggested it didn’t know why it was still growing but didn’t know what else to do."

Three other guests have arrived at her inn and gardens when they are forced to stay a bit longer than intended. Ouloo finds herself reminding her child that some of their guests' looks and habits may be a bit unusual.

"Tupo huffed, making the fur below xyr nose shiver. ‘Not weird, just different.’"

What follows is delightful. Chambers starts somewhat predictably, but then allows some sharp edges to show. This friction is what kept it unpredictable for me:

"The Akarak Gathering is formally closing our negotiation channels with the GC Parliament, and withdrawing our pending application for GC membership. If this news comes as a surprise, allow us to remind you of our history with your government. We requested a supply line from the GC, in which the resources necessary to rebuild and continue life on Akari would be delivered to us as needed. This request was refused on the basis that the Colonial Wars had put severe strain on existing resource stockpiles, and there was no surplus to be spared. Your needs were greater than ours, in effect. Instead, we were granted refugee status in what you had designated as your space."

Oh, that cuts, doesn't it? That reminds me of a few countries on Earth, actually. There's a similar moment where Tupo is showing off xyr Natural History Museum (made up of mostly rocks) to the insect-like being, Roveg, who points out,

"'But theft is a long, proud tradition for many museums, so that decision’s up to you.’"

The end is a nail-biter, followed by a solid wrap-up. There is a weakness or two; I think Chambers tried to hard to keep the small cast 'interesting' and refers to them by both name and species, so at the beginning, I was a little confused on just how many guests there were. I also had the feel that she had her character-creation cards in order without really having world-building ones--honestly, another Star Trek phenomenon. So convenient that so many lifeforms really subscribe to entirely human philosophies, aren't they? Concepts of kinship, good, dessert, sharing, fun, and relaxation are all strangely similar. It is not, in other words, anything like Peter Watt's aliens.

"Speaker was awake, but hadn’t left her bed. She had no plans to do so anytime soon. It was very, very morning."

Still, I'm entirely glad I read it and will no doubt re-read. Probably while wrapped up in a fuzzy blanket with a mug of tea to hand. ( )