STEM writers. They´re great, but have created a kind of monoculture where other cultures and especially the feminine perspective are completely underrepresented, just as in real life.

Review: This fourth novel concludes the author's Wayfarer series, and it isn't to be expected that Chambers will return to this universe. As is usual for this author, the story is not about explosions and action scenes, but about the character studies and developments. This results in a very colorful and interesting story but one that isn’t "loud". Either one likes that sort of thing or one doesn’t. I happen to appreciate both, depending on the execution. Ouloo - Ouloo is the owner of the one stop five hop, a sort of resort for travellers to take a rest on their way to where they are going next, whilst waiting for their turn in the wormhole gate crew. Ouloo is mother to Tupo and is very passionate about making her guests feel welcome and accepted. Most of the scenes included in the narrative seemed to try hard to be cute or sweet or heartwarming but I found them unbearably cheesy. And on the topic of cheese, that whole discussion about how weird cheese is was so necessary, the same goes for that discussion on shoes (they are like clothes for feet, ahah, so funny). Given that they have all interacted with or have knowledge of other species it seemed weird that they would go on about cheese and shoes as if these are flabbergasting concepts. Already now, it´s predictable that many will choose a digital avatar with splendid deep, self learning algorithms, instead of nothing or bad bleedable alternatives, even without the body. A faithful, motivating, loving, and unreal partner instead of harsh relationship reality or d**** and b******. That all is of course just relevant for women who think about others and emotions, men's´ decisions are quite predestined. I mean, ahem, of course, we would choose real partners instead of immediately changeable, never aging, perfect cyborgs, clones, and VR simulations. Sorry, nature made us that way, it´s not our fault, it´s even important for human survival. What a cheap excuse.

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Now, the horrified reaction of all those aliens to the mere concept of cheese almost got this book an extra star. Almost. She published a novella, To Be Taught, if Fortunate, in August 2019, with a story that was not connected to the Wayfarers books. I also liked the setting in which the topics where explored. I mean, what do you do if you can’t just walk away? If you can’t just call emergency services in case of an actual emergency? When you’re stranded and shut in? The message I got from this fourth and final book is one of agency. Which is true for the whole series, come to think of it. (Re)claiming one’s power, whether it be on one’s body, one’s mind, one’s story. Deciding for yourself, making your own choices in a way that, in the end, benefits everyone.

My favourite character in the book is the charming and tragic Dr Chef (yes, he is the ship’s doctor and chef), one of the last of an alien species called Grum, which resemble a kind of six-limbed otter and gradually change biological sex over their lifetime. Similarly, it seemed weird to me that all of the characters' thoughts and felt in similar way (even if Aeluons express themselves through the colors in their cheeks). Why do they all feel the same type of emotions? That they all spoke as if they were therapists made them blur together in spite of their alleged differences. I recommend this book to every single person in this entire galaxy and to whatever else is out there and still unknown. I wouldn´t call this space opera anymore, because this implies and relates to the cheap soap opera name giver, it´s more of a high social sci-fi series, something screaming for an own genre name, cyberlove, futurefu... eel, alien affairs, etc. The author seems to be trying to emulate the Joss Whedon and associates style of breezy television writing (Firefly, Buffy, Shield etc) which also depicts groups of friends having adventures but what imitators forget is that Whedon created conflict between his characters, he threw massive obstacles in their path, he made them hate each other sometimes, he *scarred* them, he often killed them and so the lessons that they learnt about acceptance and loyalty and diversity and courage etc genuinely resonated with the viewer because they were hard won. This by contrast is tepid, innocuous, and faintly patronising, perfect for a 21st century audience that wants to feel cozy and be spoon fed all the answers.

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Do you think that’s gonna stop me from imagining what one would be like? Hell no. Wayfarers would be a fresh fit for streamers in this age of endless adaptation. Here’s why. Humanity With a Capital H Chambers was born in 1985 in Southern California and grew up in Torrance. Chambers' family included several people with an interest in various NASA space exploration efforts. Her parents are an astrobiology educator and a satellite engineer. [2] She became fascinated with space and its exploration at an early age. During her youth, after she first encountered a person who believed that such programs were unwise and that their funding would be better applied to solving Earth's problems, she began studying in detail humans’ efforts to explore the cosmos, concluding that these efforts were commendable, although the present methods of funding could be improved. This deep analysis provided much inspiration for her writing. [3] So. On a paragraph-by-paragraph level, it's very good. Just not very... gripping. Well, a good deal of Vance's work isn't particularly gripping, either. Overall, I'm rating this one at 3.5 stars, and rounding down because its narrative thrust is so weak. YMMV, and others liked it more, or less. If you've liked previous Chambers books, give it a try. Almost certainly your library will have a copy.

Rosemary is the new comer to the Wayfarer ship and family. But she soon finds out what it means to have a real family, to find love, to fight for each others survival. BSFA Winners". Locus. 18 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022 . Retrieved 17 July 2022. Tupo was still so soft, so babylike in temperament, but had finally crossed the threshold from small and cute to big and dumb."

At the "Five-Hop One-Stop", spacers can get fuel, transit permits and assorted supplies. But when something happens (what exactly is quite unimportant), three such spacers (all different species) are suddenly stranded with the alien running the place and her offspring. Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in a new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has to start over, in a world where her kind are illegal. She's never felt so alone. But she's not alone, not really. Pepper, one of the engineers who risked life and limb to reinstall Lovelace, is determined to help her adjust to her new world. Because Pepper knows a thing or two about starting over. It is also feel-good and cute and comforting, I genuinely like reading it, and many of us really need feel-good books nowadays. It reminds me to be a kind person.