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A review by mary_soon_lee
The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
4.0
"The Tea Master and the Detective" is one of the six nominees for the 2018 Nebula Award in the novella category. It's an elegant variation on Holmes and Watson set in a science fiction future, where Holmes is a woman and Watson a shipmind. I found the central character (the shipmind) both sympathetic and engaging, the Vietnamese cultural elements pleasing, and the whole story a most agreeable diversion. It didn't rivet me, but it entertained me very well. Recommended.
N.B. I have long been partial to characters who are brainships/shipminds, from my first exposure via Helva in Anne McCaffrey's "The Ship Who Sang," through to Ann Leckie's "Ancillary Justice." I was therefore very happy to discover that two of this year's Nebula novella nominees involve such characters, the other one (ART) being found in Martha Well's marvellous "Artificial Condition."
N.B. I have long been partial to characters who are brainships/shipminds, from my first exposure via Helva in Anne McCaffrey's "The Ship Who Sang," through to Ann Leckie's "Ancillary Justice." I was therefore very happy to discover that two of this year's Nebula novella nominees involve such characters, the other one (ART) being found in Martha Well's marvellous "Artificial Condition."