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essinink's review against another edition
3.0
The late Anne McCaffrey was a giant in the field, one of those authors that everyone's heard of, even if they haven't read her books. Somehow, though, I've managed to completely bypass her work until now.
The Brainship books were brought to my attention a little while ago by way of random internet reference. You know the kind. Someone makes a throwaway post about a book they read in childhood, someone else commiserates, and they're off. I wish I could remember who it was.
The Ship Who Sang is the story of Helva (XH-834), a woman locked into a cyborg shell in infancy to become the 'Brain' of a starship. Like all brainships, Helva chooses a mobile human partner to act as her 'Brawn' to undergo missions across the Central Worlds.
It's a neat story, though it feels as retro as the cover looks. Helva is a well-rounded character, and her search for a permanent partner is a touching, if somewhat uneven, read.
Before being published in 1969, the first five chapters of The Ship Who Sang were originally published as independent novelettes (and one novella). They underwent some minor edits and the addition of a 6th, new chapter to make the book. The writing steadily improves as the book goes on, but the final product doesn't feel cohesive to me; there's just too much skip between "chapters" for events to settle.
On a less likeable note, certain aspects of the world have not aged well, especially the story's treatment of disability, and its related eugenicist themes.
The fundamental problem shows up in the first two paragraphs, where Helva's parents are given the option between euthanizing their disabled daughter, and effectively selling her to the government for use as a cyborg 'brain.' The modifications that the infant Helva undergoes are expensive, and she is bound to Service until such time as she pays off her debt. The only persons in the book who seem to have a problem with this concept quickly come to the conclusion that the shell-people (as those like Helva are called) are better-off as they are than attempting to navigate the abled world.
(In fairness, McCaffrey might have been trying to be subversive when she wrote the first bit in 1961, but the out-of-sight/out-of-mind approach is more appalling than anything now.)
Still, it was a quick and interesting throwback read. I don't think I'll read the other Brainship books, but I'm glad I took the time to read this one.
The Brainship books were brought to my attention a little while ago by way of random internet reference. You know the kind. Someone makes a throwaway post about a book they read in childhood, someone else commiserates, and they're off. I wish I could remember who it was.
The Ship Who Sang is the story of Helva (XH-834), a woman locked into a cyborg shell in infancy to become the 'Brain' of a starship. Like all brainships, Helva chooses a mobile human partner to act as her 'Brawn' to undergo missions across the Central Worlds.
It's a neat story, though it feels as retro as the cover looks. Helva is a well-rounded character, and her search for a permanent partner is a touching, if somewhat uneven, read.
Before being published in 1969, the first five chapters of The Ship Who Sang were originally published as independent novelettes (and one novella). They underwent some minor edits and the addition of a 6th, new chapter to make the book. The writing steadily improves as the book goes on, but the final product doesn't feel cohesive to me; there's just too much skip between "chapters" for events to settle.
On a less likeable note, certain aspects of the world have not aged well, especially the story's treatment of disability, and its related eugenicist themes.
The fundamental problem shows up in the first two paragraphs, where Helva's parents are given the option between euthanizing their disabled daughter, and effectively selling her to the government for use as a cyborg 'brain.' The modifications that the infant Helva undergoes are expensive, and she is bound to Service until such time as she pays off her debt. The only persons in the book who seem to have a problem with this concept quickly come to the conclusion that the shell-people (as those like Helva are called) are better-off as they are than attempting to navigate the abled world.
(In fairness, McCaffrey might have been trying to be subversive when she wrote the first bit in 1961, but the out-of-sight/out-of-mind approach is more appalling than anything now.)
Still, it was a quick and interesting throwback read. I don't think I'll read the other Brainship books, but I'm glad I took the time to read this one.
eyesofcrows's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I think it was a fun book and premise. There’s a few outdated notions but this is an old book. I enjoyed the premise of a, sort of, nonhuman narrator and the situations presented in this world. Some of it was a little weird, a bit of squick, but It’s still a decent read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
raxus's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
mokiethe_dog34's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hookineye's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
sarracenia's review against another edition
2.0
The Ship Who Sang is about a spaceship with a brain called Helva and parts of her life running intergalactic missions. These brain ships are made from deformed foetuses so they are like a human brain connected to a spaceship. In Helva's case she has a strong interest in music and the arts, and this is unusual among brain ships. The relationship between the brain ship and their human "brawn" companion was interesting, and could have been examined in more depth. I was disappointed by this novel which did not have the same flow as The Crystal Singer. Each chapter describes a separate episode and I found this quite disjointed. I considered giving up reading but as it's a short novel I pushed through and actually enjoyed the final chapters most.
kiiouex's review against another edition
3.0
I picked this one up thinking it must be precursor to Ancillary Justice, and that as long as we were in the wonderful world of sentient spaceships, we couldn't really go wrong.
It's... a little bit dated, but most of the it holds up well enough. I was expecting it to be very feminist, and maybe it was at the time, but reading it now I find all the female characters very tiresome - all of them are completely besides themselves over men. There are three women in this book who have tried to kill themselves, or are still trying to kill themselves, because their male partners died. There aren't any men in an equivalent situation, so we can't see if this is how all grief is expected to function, or just female grief. It's not great reading, at any rate. And that's before we get to Ansra, the deranged, contemptible spurned lover, or the way Parollan talks to Helva which certainly crosses a line for me though it seems to be his way of 'getting through to her' and it's not really... remarked on.
Well, those are the worse parts; the better parts are Helva when she's not being talked down to by Parollan, because sentient spaceships are still the shit, and the framework she lives in - working off the debt of her expenses - is quite cool and well done. I read somewhere else on goodreads that this book was originally short stories, which makes so much sense for the abruptness between chapters, how quickly her partners are picked up and put down, and how fast some Stuff happens, particularly the Thing Near The Start. Very strange pacing for a novel.
You know, I thought I liked this book, but writing this all out, maybe I didn't. Maybe I just like human brains piloting spaceships, and for that there's Ancillary Justice now. Maybe it's unfair to rate a 50 year old book against my modern sensibilities, especially comparing it to refined descendants. But my ratings are just how much I like things, so. Sorry.
It's... a little bit dated, but most of the it holds up well enough. I was expecting it to be very feminist, and maybe it was at the time, but reading it now I find all the female characters very tiresome - all of them are completely besides themselves over men. There are three women in this book who have tried to kill themselves, or are still trying to kill themselves, because their male partners died. There aren't any men in an equivalent situation, so we can't see if this is how all grief is expected to function, or just female grief. It's not great reading, at any rate. And that's before we get to Ansra, the deranged, contemptible spurned lover, or the way Parollan talks to Helva which certainly crosses a line for me though it seems to be his way of 'getting through to her' and it's not really... remarked on.
Well, those are the worse parts; the better parts are Helva when she's not being talked down to by Parollan, because sentient spaceships are still the shit, and the framework she lives in - working off the debt of her expenses - is quite cool and well done. I read somewhere else on goodreads that this book was originally short stories, which makes so much sense for the abruptness between chapters, how quickly her partners are picked up and put down, and how fast some Stuff happens, particularly the Thing Near The Start. Very strange pacing for a novel.
You know, I thought I liked this book, but writing this all out, maybe I didn't. Maybe I just like human brains piloting spaceships, and for that there's Ancillary Justice now. Maybe it's unfair to rate a 50 year old book against my modern sensibilities, especially comparing it to refined descendants. But my ratings are just how much I like things, so. Sorry.
shoffschwelle's review against another edition
5.0
An intriguing piece of science/ speculative fiction with surprising insights into grief, humanity, and relationships.