
Speaker, an Akarak, is a trader who helps other members of her species, which has a difficult history.Pei, an Aeluon, is a cargo runner on her way to meet her secret lover Ashby, the human captain of the Wayfarer from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet.The five protagonists are trapped together in the Five-Hop One-Stop for several days and end up confronting their similarities, differences, prejudices and personal challenges. A technical failure causes nearly all of the satellites in orbit around Gora to crash and all traffic is halted for several days. Gora was settled only because of its close proximity to a transit hub where several tunnels meet.

The novel takes place at the Five-Hop One-Stop, a refueling and licensing station located on the planet Gora, which had no life on it before it was settled by the various alien races who set up shop there.

It is a sequel to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, A Closed and Common Orbit and Record of a Spaceborn Few. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is a 2021 science fiction novel by Becky Chambers, published by Harper Voyager.
