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ruineleint's review against another edition
5.0
I just love these old-time optimistic science fiction books!
lindalou's review against another edition
5.0
I was thinking what other books reminded me of the Murderbot series by Martha Wells and it brought me back to this book that I read long ago.
capittella's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
kate_in_a_book's review against another edition
4.0
This really felt like it had an original but somehow classic set-up. In a future with commonplace space travel and human settlements on other planets, science has found a fascinating way to help children born with certain birth defects. Those who are born with a body that is useless but a brain that is high-functioning are trained to become encapsulated brains, plugged into one of the Federation of Planets’ specially designed shells, such as a space ship, fully controlling it in every way. Each “brain ship” is partnered with a “brawn” – an able-bodied pilot whose job is not really to fly to ship (though they can, if needed) but to keep the brain company and be their “mobile half” as they run jobs for the Federation across the known universe.
This book had me hooked from page one, and the way it did that is that we learn all of the above by following the brain ship Helva from her birth, through her schooling and transfer to ship 834 and on into her adulthood as a working brain ship. This is essentially an adventure story, one with plenty of heart and a great character at its centre. Helva is, in her own words, “all woman”, despite her useless body, and she has a wry sense of humour that often wrong-foots her passengers, especially those who think the voice speaking to them is that of a mere ship’s computer!
This book had me hooked from page one, and the way it did that is that we learn all of the above by following the brain ship Helva from her birth, through her schooling and transfer to ship 834 and on into her adulthood as a working brain ship. This is essentially an adventure story, one with plenty of heart and a great character at its centre. Helva is, in her own words, “all woman”, despite her useless body, and she has a wry sense of humour that often wrong-foots her passengers, especially those who think the voice speaking to them is that of a mere ship’s computer!
divadiane's review against another edition
5.0
McCaffrey's Science Fiction is so different from PERN! While I love her PERN books for a bit of escapism, books like The Ship Who Sang are really more my style. Plus both McCaffrey and I are/were classical singers, so I really love it when she puts music in the mix.
frakalot's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this enough to persist with the series. I love a good biomech theme and this had its own unique charm. I suspect that this story gave some inspiration to the final Old Man's War book. The last few chapters really had me captivated and have bumped this up from a 3 to a 4 star for me.
Helva is a great and interesting character, I enjoyed her attitude. I did think the process of learning to sing rushed by too quickly but it was a talent eventually put to good use.
Jennan didn't interest me as much but obviously impressed Helva deeply. However, Theoda struck me as more appealing almost instantly and I thought she'd have made a great brawn. The most interesting brain/brawn relationship was with Teron though, the grating clash of their personalities was entertaining.
I must admit that the theatrical scenes were a little lost on me, including the drama within the troupe. And. Although I thought the emotional connections were wonderful and pure I felt a little odd about some of the implications of the physical connections.
Helva is a great and interesting character, I enjoyed her attitude. I did think the process of learning to sing rushed by too quickly but it was a talent eventually put to good use.
Jennan didn't interest me as much but obviously impressed Helva deeply. However, Theoda struck me as more appealing almost instantly and I thought she'd have made a great brawn. The most interesting brain/brawn relationship was with Teron though, the grating clash of their personalities was entertaining.
I must admit that the theatrical scenes were a little lost on me, including the drama within the troupe. And. Although I thought the emotional connections were wonderful and pure I felt a little odd about some of the implications of the physical connections.
emptyatlas's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Beautifully written, a really satisfying ending and for such a short book the emotions and characterisation was so moving and thorough.
stormc's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sophiaforever's review against another edition
3.0
First couple stories were good. But the acting troop and everything after were pretty boring.
naynayreads's review against another edition
5.0
I'm not really a fan of Anne McCaffrey, I find her books relatively difficult to get into. But she's my mom's favorite author so we have all the books everywhere in my house. I got bored of my own books and decided to try once again to read this one. I have read the Ship who Searched and loved it, this one was good but definitely not as good as the first one I read. Though this one was an easier read then I usually find McCaffrey's books, it still wasn't as thrilling as I hoped it would be. I found that it hopped around a good amount and left out a lot of detail that could have been added. I did enjoy the ending but I felt that overall there felt like there was something missing. And I would have expected there to be way more to do with singing since it was suppose to be the ship who sang.