Ashby and Sissix. Sissix chose the Wayfarer crew as her feather family originally because of Ashby, whom she considers the best friend she ever had, and she's certainly the crewmember that he's closest to. Corbin tossed his scrib over Ashby’s desk. The thin, rectangular pad sailed through the mist-like pixel screen and clattered down in front of Ashby. Ashby gestured to the pixels, instructing them to disperse. The news headlines hovering in the air dissolved into coloured wisps. The pixels slunk down like swarms of tiny insects into the projector boxes on either side of the desk. Ashby looked at the scrib, and raised his eyebrows at Corbin. Some of the Toremi (such a Toum, a POV character shown near the end) hate the other GC species, mainly because they don't follow the same beliefs as the Toremi — namely that everyone must think the exact same way, with dissenters getting torn apart. No Biochemical Barriers: Almost always explicitly true, with an in-fiction article even dedicated to various official theories about why all known sentient species can share air and sustenance with each other. There are some species-based allergic reactions, though. The Akarak are an exception, having evolved in a methane atmosphere.

Like Brother and Sister: The relationship between several members of the crew, who are not romantically involved (except for Rosemary and Sissix, two women): Dying Race: The Grum. There are only about three hundred of them left in the whole galaxy, none of them female. Given how they reduced themselves to this state by fighting a terrible war among themselves, these few survivors have collectively decided that the fact they can have no more children is ultimately for the best, and let their species quietly go extinct. Polyamory: Favoured by the Aandrisks. Aeluons also take an arrangement similar to this while breeding, with a female or shon-female spending the two or three periods of her fertile life living with a group of parent-trained Aeluons, and having sex with the group's males and shon-males multiple times in a day to maximise her chance of bearing a child. The professional parents will then raise the child, and the mother can return to her career. Aeluons cannot afford to lose any opportunity to bear children, as most Aeluons will only "shimmer" (ie, grow an egg) once or twice in their lives.

Sissix – An Aandrisk, and pilot of the Wayfarer. When she isn't flying the ship, she seems to spend the rest of her time arguing with Corbin.

Gender-Equal Ensemble: As close to it as an odd-numbered crew can get; the Wayfarer crew has five male members (Ashby, Jenks, Dr. Chef, Ohan, and Corbin) and, once Rosemary joins, four female members (Rosemary herself, Kizzy, Sissix, and Lovey). The male and female supporting characters are about equal in number as well. This is averted, though, by the end of the book; the original Lovey dies and her Lovelace reboot leaves the ship and is replaced with a male AI named Tycho, leaving the count at six men and three women.Genetic engineering and the eugenics that follow is a recurring subject with a variety of laws intersecting it across species, with the most universal laws being allowing prenatal gene therapy in the case of extreme disability and banning cloning. You may change or cancel your subscription or trial at any time online. Simply log into Settings & Account and select "Cancel" on the right-hand side.

Immediate Sequel: This book begins with Lovelace and Pepper leaving the Wayfarer and traveling to Port Coriol. Small Town Boredom: Kip feels as though nothing happens on the Asteria. To relieve his boredom, he partakes in some teenage rebellious activity (sneaking into a tryst club, smoking redreed, etc.) in the hopes it'll spruce up his life. His character arc is about him learning that he might not actually want the kind of adventure he craves, and that home has its own advantages. Lovelace, a.k.a. "Lovey", has as much personality as any other member of the crew, and she and Jenks are even in love with each other. When the crew is forced to perform a hard reset on her, which wipes her memory banks clean and resets her to factory default, essentially "killing" her original personality, they deeply mourn her loss. Well-Intentioned Extremist: Corbin forcibly cures Ohan of the Whisperer virus despite Ohan previously having made it clear that they do not want this. Corbin does it to save Ohan's life so the crew won't have to suffer the loss of another member soon after losing Lovey, and he steadfastly believes that he did the right thing. Ashby is furious with Corbin at first, but begins to forgive him by the end when Ashby sees that Ohan already has.

Rosemary seems to develop this relationship with Jenks. He's the first person whom Rosemary tells the truth about her father. Smoking Is Cool: Several characters smoke "redreed" and its only negative effect is that it's described as mildly irritating to some aliens. Hey!’ Ashby sat up straight. ‘Not okay. I don’t want to hear that word come out of your mouth again.’ As far as racial insults went, lizard was hardly the worst, but it was bad enough. Green-Skinned Space Babe: Aeluons (such as Pei, Ashby's girlfriend) as a whole are mentioned as being found extremely attractive by a variety of species (excluding the Toremi and perhaps the Harmagians as well). They're described as hairless, having silver scaly skin, large eyes, small mouths and being very graceful.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime. Tunneling wormholes through space to a distant planet is definitely lucrative and will keep them comfortable for years. But risking her life wasn’t part of the plan. In the far reaches of deep space, the tiny Wayfarer crew will confront a host of unexpected mishaps and thrilling adventures that force them to depend on each other. To survive, Rosemary’s got to learn how to rely on this assortment of oddballs—an experience that teaches her about love and trust, and that having a family isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the universe. Ashby and Pei have to deal with their relationship this way, because they both know that Pei would end up in serious trouble if anyone found out due to Interspecies Romance being taboo amoung Aeluons. After the failed punch, Pei decides that she doesn't care who finds out anymore. Lonely Funeral: The only ones present at Sawyer's funeral who don't legally have to be there are Tamsin, who's there to support Isabel, and Kip, who provided the tipoff that allowed the authorities to find the body. As Eyas is used to family at the funerals and the sense that someone is loved and will be missed, she's very distressed by it. The other morticians join in to make it less lonely. All you can do, Rosemary – all any of us can do – is work to be something positive instead. That is a choice that every sapient must make every day of their life. The universe is what we make of it. It’s up to you to decide what part you will play.”

Tycho, the new AI who replaces the reset Lovelace after she leaves. Ashby notices that he sounds a bit nervous around his new crew because he knows what happened to Lovey and that he can't replace her but still wants to please them, but his few appearances show him to be perfectly nice, and he's stated to get along well with Jenks. The Quelin GC Council member who keeps pushing Ashby about whether one of his crew said something unintentionally triggering around the sharp-eared and hot-tempered Toremi, which is in fact exactly what happened, though only the Toremi know this.