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kittsuki's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dantastic's review against another edition
5.0
The Shadow's Child, the brain of a mindship, is shellshocked and brewing teas for safer space travel when a consulting detective shows up at her door...
This was a Netgalley find and one of the few Netgalley finds that didn't immediately feel like a homnework assignment from a hated teacher.
Set in an asteroid belt with a Vietnamese-influenced culture, The Tea Master and the Detective has its roots loosely planted in A Study In Scarlet. Long Chau hires The Shadow's Child to brew her tea and take her into the deep spaces to find a corpse in order to study its composition. (Sidebar - From what I gather, the deep spaces are like hyperspace, a medium to speed up space travel. Special teas are needed to keep travelers sane during their journeys.) The body isn't quite what they expect and the mystery unfolds.
While the story shows its Sherlockian roots in places, that in no way diminishes the enjoyment. I really liked the asteroid belt settings, the deep spaces, hell, the worldbuilding in general. The worldbuilding is seamlessly done. I had a pretty good idea of the history of the world, the technology, and the culture, all without being beaten over the head with info dumps.
Recasting Watson as a ship's organic mind with a traumatic past was a novel approach and in keeping with the rest of the setting. I can honestly say The Shadow's Child is the most well-rounded ship's computer I've ever read about. You don't see the Enterprise's computer having dinner with the computers of other ships! Honestly, Long Chau's deductions and attitude are Sherlockian but she has a lot more depth than I originally thought. I loved the interplay between Long Chau and The Shadow's Child right away. Before I was even finished, I was dreaming of future stories featuring the pair.
Over the years, I've read a lot of detective stories based in other genres and most leave me yearning for gumshoes beating down doors or mannerly locked room mysteries. This one was the opposite of that. Five out of five stars.
This was a Netgalley find and one of the few Netgalley finds that didn't immediately feel like a homnework assignment from a hated teacher.
Set in an asteroid belt with a Vietnamese-influenced culture, The Tea Master and the Detective has its roots loosely planted in A Study In Scarlet. Long Chau hires The Shadow's Child to brew her tea and take her into the deep spaces to find a corpse in order to study its composition. (Sidebar - From what I gather, the deep spaces are like hyperspace, a medium to speed up space travel. Special teas are needed to keep travelers sane during their journeys.) The body isn't quite what they expect and the mystery unfolds.
While the story shows its Sherlockian roots in places, that in no way diminishes the enjoyment. I really liked the asteroid belt settings, the deep spaces, hell, the worldbuilding in general. The worldbuilding is seamlessly done. I had a pretty good idea of the history of the world, the technology, and the culture, all without being beaten over the head with info dumps.
Recasting Watson as a ship's organic mind with a traumatic past was a novel approach and in keeping with the rest of the setting. I can honestly say The Shadow's Child is the most well-rounded ship's computer I've ever read about. You don't see the Enterprise's computer having dinner with the computers of other ships! Honestly, Long Chau's deductions and attitude are Sherlockian but she has a lot more depth than I originally thought. I loved the interplay between Long Chau and The Shadow's Child right away. Before I was even finished, I was dreaming of future stories featuring the pair.
Over the years, I've read a lot of detective stories based in other genres and most leave me yearning for gumshoes beating down doors or mannerly locked room mysteries. This one was the opposite of that. Five out of five stars.
amaldae's review
3.25
Three stars feels stingy considering I've now read this twice and, if anything, enjoyed it more on the second read-through. I really enjoyed this sympathetic iteration of Holmes and would read more of her, with or without the shipmind I originally returned here for. I just also think that, structurally, this doesn't quite hang together and jumps quickly from place to place without quite exploring its settings and themes - or its own potential - to their fullest extent. 3,5 and yes, would re-read again.
needleclicker's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
tzurky's review against another edition
3.0
I’m sorry to say this book is all style and too little substance. The atmosphere and the world-building are exactly on point. In fact I knew I would love the world when I picked it up. And I did.
Unfortunately, the characters and plotting rather detracted from that. Now the plot is awful with respect to pacing and uninteresting with respect to outcome, so not really redeemable in my view. But the characters could have made up for that. The POV character is very interesting and her struggles and pains are compelling and well-done, coming in at just the right moments and in the right amounts. So yay for that.
But her counterpart is less of a success. The elements of a great character are there but they don’t quite fit. They don’t really resonate on an emotional level. And, similarly, the relationship between the two characters is almost exactly what you want it to be, but not quite.
This makes me really sad because I really wanted the author to get exactly what she was going for since we seem to share aesthetic sensibilities and it would have been amazing. But unfortunately she doesn’t quite pull it off. There’s something wooden about the characters and their interactions seem telegraphed.
Still this was the perfect thing to read while sick with a cold. I’ve always been a little off in my thinking when I have a cold so I love to sink into dreamy atmospheric books. Horror does it nicely as well. Everything seems just a little less unlikely when I’m in that state.
Unfortunately, the characters and plotting rather detracted from that. Now the plot is awful with respect to pacing and uninteresting with respect to outcome, so not really redeemable in my view. But the characters could have made up for that. The POV character is very interesting and her struggles and pains are compelling and well-done, coming in at just the right moments and in the right amounts. So yay for that.
But her counterpart is less of a success. The elements of a great character are there but they don’t quite fit. They don’t really resonate on an emotional level. And, similarly, the relationship between the two characters is almost exactly what you want it to be, but not quite.
This makes me really sad because I really wanted the author to get exactly what she was going for since we seem to share aesthetic sensibilities and it would have been amazing. But unfortunately she doesn’t quite pull it off. There’s something wooden about the characters and their interactions seem telegraphed.
Still this was the perfect thing to read while sick with a cold. I’ve always been a little off in my thinking when I have a cold so I love to sink into dreamy atmospheric books. Horror does it nicely as well. Everything seems just a little less unlikely when I’m in that state.
caitcoy's review against another edition
4.0
"Long Chau was an expanding star, burning loud and bright, mesmerising in her relentlessness, and ultimately one that would swallow you whole."
The Tea Master and the Detective is a novella set in Aliette De Bodard's Xuya universe, an alternate timeline in which Asia became a dominant superpower and space is controlled by galaxy-wide empires heavily influenced by Chinese and Vietnamese history and culture. In the Scattered Pearls belt, a collection of exiles and powerful families are served by powerful mindships which are capable of conveying humans through depths of space which would be impossible for them on their own. One such mindship, The Shadow's Child is still traumatized from a previous disastrous trip in deep space and makes a living brewing teas which allow humans to tolerate the pressures of space. When The Shadow's Child is hired by an abrasive and relentless investigator named Long Chau to look into the death of a corpse found in space, The Shadow's Child will be forced to face her fears and the dangerous mystery of Long Chau's past if she wants to get back to her normal, sedate life.
I was completely unfamiliar with de Bodard's other stories set in the Xuya universe, or actually any of her work. I will admit that I mostly picked up The Tea Master and the Detective because of its Nebula nomination (and also being a sucker for stories described as similar to Sherlock and Watson). I've previously really liked the idea of other kinds of mindships and was immediately intrigued by the blending of Chinese and Vietnamese elements and the often confrontational way that The Shadow's Child and Long Chau interacted. The Shadow's Child is a very reluctant Watson and I liked that even with this being my first introduction to the Xuya universe, there was enough to keep me compelled to turn the next page. I'm hoping to read many more stories, even if we don't get to return to The Shadow's Child and Long Chau.
The Tea Master and the Detective is a novella set in Aliette De Bodard's Xuya universe, an alternate timeline in which Asia became a dominant superpower and space is controlled by galaxy-wide empires heavily influenced by Chinese and Vietnamese history and culture. In the Scattered Pearls belt, a collection of exiles and powerful families are served by powerful mindships which are capable of conveying humans through depths of space which would be impossible for them on their own. One such mindship, The Shadow's Child is still traumatized from a previous disastrous trip in deep space and makes a living brewing teas which allow humans to tolerate the pressures of space. When The Shadow's Child is hired by an abrasive and relentless investigator named Long Chau to look into the death of a corpse found in space, The Shadow's Child will be forced to face her fears and the dangerous mystery of Long Chau's past if she wants to get back to her normal, sedate life.
I was completely unfamiliar with de Bodard's other stories set in the Xuya universe, or actually any of her work. I will admit that I mostly picked up The Tea Master and the Detective because of its Nebula nomination (and also being a sucker for stories described as similar to Sherlock and Watson). I've previously really liked the idea of other kinds of mindships and was immediately intrigued by the blending of Chinese and Vietnamese elements and the often confrontational way that The Shadow's Child and Long Chau interacted. The Shadow's Child is a very reluctant Watson and I liked that even with this being my first introduction to the Xuya universe, there was enough to keep me compelled to turn the next page. I'm hoping to read many more stories, even if we don't get to return to The Shadow's Child and Long Chau.
tacochelle's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Essentially a Sherlock Holmes story set in an Asian-inspired future, right down to the drug addiction. Entertaining, but without the space setting it doesn't do anything new as a mystery.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Addiction, Death, and Murder
Minor: Trafficking and War
martha_me's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
3.25