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A review by perilous1
The Ship Who Searched by Anne McCaffrey
5.0
Note: While this book actually stands alone just fine, I appreciated having some of the previous worldbuilding info from The Ship Who Sang for this to build upon.
A precocious young girl named Tia suffers the terrible degradation of her body after unwitting exposure to an alien virus. And though she's officially much too old for the potential freedom offered by the Brainship program, a few well-placed people are taken enough with her situation, charm, and intellect, that an exception is eventually made. She takes to the program, and her eventual ship, as well as anyone could have hoped. But her goals are higher than merely paying off her debts to the program and buying her freedom. And with the help of a carefully selected brawn, she has a chance of gaining all she wants out of her new lease on life.
Much like the first book in the series, a chunk of the book is made up of our MC brainship going on various missions/assignments, where she learns more about her own capacities and those of her Brawn. But because she has had the experience of both having and remembering a tangible body AND being the master controlling mind behind an entire spaceship, hers is a different perspective. She, unlike the rest of those in the program, knows what she's missing. And that lack of a body becomes a point of longing and limitation when she realizes the depths of her feelings for her chosen Brawn.
This story was truly brilliant. Mindfully well-paced, emotionally engaging, and rich with interesting characters one doesn't mind investing in. Currently the best in the Brainship series, in my opinion (and likely to remain so.) All thanks to the exceedingly agreeable collaboration of Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey. Lackey seems to add a bit more heart and humor to McCaffrey's vision. I wish I could find more books co-authored in this way, but from what I can tell, this was sadly the only one they did together.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND KNOW OF ANY OTHER MCCAFFREY/LACKEY COLLABORATIONS, PLEASE SHARE IN THE COMMENTS. I WANT TO BE WRONG!!!
A precocious young girl named Tia suffers the terrible degradation of her body after unwitting exposure to an alien virus. And though she's officially much too old for the potential freedom offered by the Brainship program, a few well-placed people are taken enough with her situation, charm, and intellect, that an exception is eventually made. She takes to the program, and her eventual ship, as well as anyone could have hoped. But her goals are higher than merely paying off her debts to the program and buying her freedom. And with the help of a carefully selected brawn, she has a chance of gaining all she wants out of her new lease on life.
Much like the first book in the series, a chunk of the book is made up of our MC brainship going on various missions/assignments, where she learns more about her own capacities and those of her Brawn. But because she has had the experience of both having and remembering a tangible body AND being the master controlling mind behind an entire spaceship, hers is a different perspective. She, unlike the rest of those in the program, knows what she's missing. And that lack of a body becomes a point of longing and limitation when she realizes the depths of her feelings for her chosen Brawn.
This story was truly brilliant. Mindfully well-paced, emotionally engaging, and rich with interesting characters one doesn't mind investing in. Currently the best in the Brainship series, in my opinion (and likely to remain so.) All thanks to the exceedingly agreeable collaboration of Anne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey. Lackey seems to add a bit more heart and humor to McCaffrey's vision. I wish I could find more books co-authored in this way, but from what I can tell, this was sadly the only one they did together.
IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND KNOW OF ANY OTHER MCCAFFREY/LACKEY COLLABORATIONS, PLEASE SHARE IN THE COMMENTS. I WANT TO BE WRONG!!!