The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

By Becky Chambers,

Book cover of The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Book description

FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR AND HUGO AWARD WINNER FOR BEST SERIES. Winner of The Kitschie Red Tentacle for Best Novel.

The stunning finale to the award-winning Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, author of the beloved The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.

When a freak technological failure…

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Why read it?

3 authors picked The Galaxy, and the Ground Within as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Fourth in the Wayfarers series but able to stand on its own, Becky Chambers has created a space opera novel that is light on plot yet so beautifully character-driven that I didn’t care.

After a freak disaster, five strangers — three visitors and two residents from four different species — are stranded together on a “stopover” planet, and what follows are character interactions that are so engaging that I hated to say goodbye when the book ended.

For the record, all of the Wayfarers novels touched me this way. Each of them felt so real, with their own strengths and…

This book - the third in the Wayfarers series - took my breath away with its creativity,

It looks at what life is like thousands of years in the future for the only surviving human colony, living off-planet in a multi-species multiverse.

It made me cry and laugh and, above all, think. With such a light and natural touch, this book explores death, climate change, gender diversity, migration, and the role of ritual and tradition. All in ways that prompt us to be kinder, more loving, more open in our lives.

If you’re not a fan of science fiction…

Not a mystery, but one of the finest science fiction novels about a subject not often encountered in SF:  kindness.

A group of travelers arrive at a way station, each on their way elsewhere, when a catastrophe strands them. None of them are human, they are all aliens, and they default to helping each other, and by the end friendships are forged.

Chambers is amazing at exploring the heart of cooperation and recognition. Their are tensions born of mutual ignorance, but the default here is to figure the problems out and build. Refreshing. 

The Circus Infinite

By Khan Wong,

Book cover of The Circus Infinite

Khan Wong Author Of The Circus Infinite

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Creative expression has been one of my most cherished values since childhood. I've always had a creative hobby of some kind since I was a kid. Not sure how that happened – my parents were tolerant of my interests at best. I made my day job career in the arts, fostering the creativity of community members and supporting the work of artists. Art (in the general sense of all forms of creative expression) is, to me, a defining characteristic of humanity, it makes life worth living, and the way it’s devalued under Capitalism both saddens and inspires me as a creator myself. I’m a writer of speculative fiction and I write about creative people.

Khan's book list on how art is more than art

What is my book about?

Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the best place for a mixed-species fugitive to blend in: the pleasure moon where everyone just wants to be lost in the party. It doesn’t take long for him to catch the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort-casino where he lands a circus job, and when the boss gets wind of the bounty on Jes’ head, he makes an offer: do anything and everything asked of him or face vivisection.

With no other options, Jes fulfills the requests: espionage, torture, demolition. But when the boss sets the circus up to take the fall for his about-to-get-busted narcotics operation, Jes and his friends decide to bring the mobster down. And if Jes can also avoid going back to being the prize subject of a scientist who can’t wait to dissect him? Even better.

The Circus Infinite

By Khan Wong,

What is this book about?

Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the best place for a mixed-species fugitive to blend in: the pleasure moon where everyone just wants to be lost in the party. It doesn't take long for him to catch the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort-casino where he lands a circus job, and when the boss gets wind of the bounty on Jes' head, he makes an offer: do anything and everything asked of him or face vivisection.

With no other options, Jes fulfills the requests: espionage, torture, demolition. But…


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