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wassir13's review against another edition
4.0
Ship AI and consulting detective.
Good novella, ala Sherlock Holmes with a Ship Mind for a sidekick. Well written, but short. Wish it was longer, but I will keep my eye out for more from this author.
Good novella, ala Sherlock Holmes with a Ship Mind for a sidekick. Well written, but short. Wish it was longer, but I will keep my eye out for more from this author.
borrowedandbacklist's review against another edition
3.0
I loved the details of this world and de Bodard’s writing style. The mystery in the last third of this novella wasn’t as engaging for me, but I will continue to read more of the author’s work. There is delightfully so much to choose from.
kaitalytic's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
boggremlin's review against another edition
3.0
A sharp and invigorating sci fi novella that takes the Sherlock Holmes archetypes on a new voyage
larissanoordermeer's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
hank's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting world and characters but it wasn't explored enough or teased enough for me to really engage. Murderbot seemed to do one thing well which is sort of what you get with a novella. This tried to do two or three things well and really didn't have enought time for any of it. A mystery, an interesting new world and some funky characters. All showing promise but nothing too exciting.
I am quite sure I would read a full length novel based on either the world or either of the two main characters so I guess the novella did its job. I think I would recommend waiting for said full length novel if it were in the works.
I am quite sure I would read a full length novel based on either the world or either of the two main characters so I guess the novella did its job. I think I would recommend waiting for said full length novel if it were in the works.
wannabekingpin's review against another edition
5.0
all reviews in one place:
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About: Shadow’s Child is a Mindship. A shipmaiden born and raised to be put into a ship’s heartroom, where she’d eternally fuse with the ship, and the ship would become her body and she – the mind, and the heart. Revered and honored these mindships carried people through Deep space, the Unreality, be it military purposes or just passengers. Yet during the Uprising Shadow’s Child got into a trap that left her whole crew dead, floating in her cold hallways, with her unable to do anything else than drift there and wait, in hopes she’ll die, or someone will come rescue her.
Today Shadow’s Child doesn’t even want to think of Deep Spaces. In her hologram form she lives in a rented closet of a space, where she brews certain tea blends. Most her customers are travelers who need to go through Deep Space. They want to be knocked out, sleep through it, for even the toughest minds get rendered whimpering in fetal position until the voyage is over. Unreality will do that to you. But not Long Chau, the woman with the decorative name, who introduced herself as a detective writing a study on decomposition in Deep Space. She needs Shadow’s Child to not only make her a brew that’d keep her functioning in the Unreality. She also wants the shipmind to take her up there.
Mine: In less than a hundred pages my mind almost had a meltdown with the unfathomable wonders. Can you even imagine it? Because I certainly struggle to. A person of flesh and bone, becoming a ship, fully. She can FEEL footsteps in her halls. And then, her in holographic form? She could be anything, but she chooses to remain a ship. Can you imagine walking down a corridor with a giant holographic ship by your side, talking to you? And as for the detective plot line, it was so beautifully Sherlockian, I really loved it. Long Chau is a drug user, her intellect comes off as arrogance, and she’s rude, because she’s blunt. Not to mention moral flexibility and well hidden past.
It’s a mind blowing short book. I’m tempted to read other ones too, even if they’re story-wise unrelated, merely set in the same universe. This one gets 5 out of 5.
night mode reading ;
skaitom nakties rezimu
About: Shadow’s Child is a Mindship. A shipmaiden born and raised to be put into a ship’s heartroom, where she’d eternally fuse with the ship, and the ship would become her body and she – the mind, and the heart. Revered and honored these mindships carried people through Deep space, the Unreality, be it military purposes or just passengers. Yet during the Uprising Shadow’s Child got into a trap that left her whole crew dead, floating in her cold hallways, with her unable to do anything else than drift there and wait, in hopes she’ll die, or someone will come rescue her.
Today Shadow’s Child doesn’t even want to think of Deep Spaces. In her hologram form she lives in a rented closet of a space, where she brews certain tea blends. Most her customers are travelers who need to go through Deep Space. They want to be knocked out, sleep through it, for even the toughest minds get rendered whimpering in fetal position until the voyage is over. Unreality will do that to you. But not Long Chau, the woman with the decorative name, who introduced herself as a detective writing a study on decomposition in Deep Space. She needs Shadow’s Child to not only make her a brew that’d keep her functioning in the Unreality. She also wants the shipmind to take her up there.
Mine: In less than a hundred pages my mind almost had a meltdown with the unfathomable wonders. Can you even imagine it? Because I certainly struggle to. A person of flesh and bone, becoming a ship, fully. She can FEEL footsteps in her halls. And then, her in holographic form? She could be anything, but she chooses to remain a ship. Can you imagine walking down a corridor with a giant holographic ship by your side, talking to you? And as for the detective plot line, it was so beautifully Sherlockian, I really loved it. Long Chau is a drug user, her intellect comes off as arrogance, and she’s rude, because she’s blunt. Not to mention moral flexibility and well hidden past.
It’s a mind blowing short book. I’m tempted to read other ones too, even if they’re story-wise unrelated, merely set in the same universe. This one gets 5 out of 5.
bhavani's review against another edition
2.0
Rating: 2.5 stars. Given how I feel about The Citadel of Weeping Pearls, I expected to like this story a lot more than I did, which is a pity. Perhaps I'll like it more on a reread, sometime in the future.