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Universe of Xuya
The Red Scholar's Wake
Xích Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. Xích Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates' enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between Xích Si and herself.
Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si's help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si's technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.
But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together...
An exciting space opera and a beautiful romance, from an exceptional SF author.
Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si's help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si's technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.
But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together...
An exciting space opera and a beautiful romance, from an exceptional SF author.
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 24, 2022
About the author
Aliette de Bodard
250 books2,112 followersAliette de Bodard lives and works in Paris. She has won three Nebula Awards, an Ignyte Award, a Locus Award, a British Fantasy Award and four British Science Fiction Association Awards, and was a double Hugo finalist for 2019 (Best Series and Best Novella).
Her most recent book is Fireheart Tiger (Tor.com), a sapphic romantic fantasy inspired by pre colonial Vietnam, where a diplomat princess must decide the fate of her country, and her own. She also wrote Seven of Infinities (Subterranean Press), a space opera where a sentient spaceship and an upright scholar join forces to investigate a murder, and find themselves falling for each other. Other books include Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders and its standalone sequel Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances, (JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.), fantasy books of manners and murders set in an alternate 19th Century Vietnamese court. She lives in Paris.
Her most recent book is Fireheart Tiger (Tor.com), a sapphic romantic fantasy inspired by pre colonial Vietnam, where a diplomat princess must decide the fate of her country, and her own. She also wrote Seven of Infinities (Subterranean Press), a space opera where a sentient spaceship and an upright scholar join forces to investigate a murder, and find themselves falling for each other. Other books include Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders and its standalone sequel Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances, (JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc.), fantasy books of manners and murders set in an alternate 19th Century Vietnamese court. She lives in Paris.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 561 reviews
October 14, 2022
2 stars
DNF @ 70%
They let me, a clout-less fool, read the sapphic space pirates book!! And it turned out to be basic af. I'd heard a lot about this on twitter, so I was very excited when Netgalley approved my request for an ARC. My main issue with this book is that it lacks substance. The characters and the plot is flimsy and plain, there wasn't a single character that I liked, they all seemed tropey and flat. I was interested in the world building but there was barely any information provided, the villains were just cartoonishly evil. There was no subtle foreshadowing, everything was rather obvious in terms of how the plot would go. The one reason why I wanted to read this book was because of the sapphic pirates, and I was immediately let down by how insta-love the romance was. I'm sorry but I can never connect with the characters or the romance when they want to bang each other from the moment they meet. Might just be me, but it feels rather superficial.
Thank you to Gollancz and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
DNF @ 70%
They let me, a clout-less fool, read the sapphic space pirates book!! And it turned out to be basic af. I'd heard a lot about this on twitter, so I was very excited when Netgalley approved my request for an ARC. My main issue with this book is that it lacks substance. The characters and the plot is flimsy and plain, there wasn't a single character that I liked, they all seemed tropey and flat. I was interested in the world building but there was barely any information provided, the villains were just cartoonishly evil. There was no subtle foreshadowing, everything was rather obvious in terms of how the plot would go. The one reason why I wanted to read this book was because of the sapphic pirates, and I was immediately let down by how insta-love the romance was. I'm sorry but I can never connect with the characters or the romance when they want to bang each other from the moment they meet. Might just be me, but it feels rather superficial.
Thank you to Gollancz and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
October 20, 2022
Thanks to the author for Netgalley access to a review copy. This drops November 24th.
I tentatively asked for an ARC because Katee Robert gave a blurb, and De Bodard's plot blurbs always sound good. But then I get reading, and... something has been lacking in the writing in the first several of this author's works I've read. Everything kind of comes across stilted and doesn't flow, from dialogue to minimal descriptions and I find I have trouble even picturing a scene.
In this one, there's pacing issues and weird dialogue, like in the opening scene where we're thrown into action confusedly, only to grind to a halt as a conversation that could've been brief seemed to drag on. I found myself extremely bored for most of the book.
A lot of people took issue with the sentient ship concept, but as someone who watched Andromeda growing up, I immediately latched on to the familiarity of an anthro ship avatar. How it behaved was another matter entirely.
I'm fairly familiar with Asian honorifics after years consuming media like this, and wasn't startled when Rice Fish (whose name perhaps should've been left untranslated, this just sounds awkward) would say little sister/li'l sis and the like to Xích Si, although outright calling her new wife "child" was quite patronizing and squicky. Even "little one" or something might've been better.
I wish I had better things to say but this one wasn't for me.
I tentatively asked for an ARC because Katee Robert gave a blurb, and De Bodard's plot blurbs always sound good. But then I get reading, and... something has been lacking in the writing in the first several of this author's works I've read. Everything kind of comes across stilted and doesn't flow, from dialogue to minimal descriptions and I find I have trouble even picturing a scene.
In this one, there's pacing issues and weird dialogue, like in the opening scene where we're thrown into action confusedly, only to grind to a halt as a conversation that could've been brief seemed to drag on. I found myself extremely bored for most of the book.
A lot of people took issue with the sentient ship concept, but as someone who watched Andromeda growing up, I immediately latched on to the familiarity of an anthro ship avatar. How it behaved was another matter entirely.
I'm fairly familiar with Asian honorifics after years consuming media like this, and wasn't startled when Rice Fish (whose name perhaps should've been left untranslated, this just sounds awkward) would say little sister/li'l sis and the like to Xích Si, although outright calling her new wife "child" was quite patronizing and squicky. Even "little one" or something might've been better.
I wish I had better things to say but this one wasn't for me.
November 5, 2022
I've previously read and very much enjoyed this author's speculative fiction at the novella length; this was my first full novel from her. While I did still enjoy the world-building, premise, and plot, I found the characters underdeveloped. That didn't bother me as much in a novella, where I expect to not have a full journey with characters, but for a novel, it kept me from loving this as much.
Still if you are looking for a high premise SF mystery with a big old dollop of romance (also: space pirates!), I think this was quite entertaining
Still if you are looking for a high premise SF mystery with a big old dollop of romance (also: space pirates!), I think this was quite entertaining
May 10, 2022
one-star George, will you ever stop hitting? get a life, dude
November 25, 2022
2 stars. That cover is gorgeous and is the best thing about this book unfortunately. I didn’t care for any of the characters, the writing was stilted, and it was incredibly boring. The pacing is terrible and makes the story drag on forever with not much of anything happening. I’ve read something else by this author and thought it was just okay so I’ve come to the conclusion that they are not for me.
March 22, 2024
Rep: Vietnamese cast, sapphic protagonists, f/f relationship, queer side characters & queer normative world
CW:
I really wanted to like this book. However, the more I think about it, the more issues I have.
I liked Rice Fish and Xích Si as characters. Rice Fish is a sentient spaceship and the recent widow of the titular Red Scholar, meaning she had become the de facto leader of the Red Banner, a collective of pirates which forms a part of a wider pirate society. Her position is a precarious one, and she’s convinced that her late wife’s death was the doing of the leader of another one of the pirate banners. She’s idealistic, and often conflates her idea of how pirate society should run with how it actually runs, and this is a big weakness of hers when it comes to the politics of it all, but she cares deeply about the people she’s suddenly become solely responsible for and never stops trying her best. I loved the descriptions of her humanoid avatar, which she usually manifests when she wants to have a conversation with somebody. The concept of someone’s hair gradually turning into nebulae and stars is so cool!
Xích Si is the sole survivor of a pirate attack. The harsh rules of her home means than unless she is explicitly ransomed back she’ll be accused of cooperating with the pirates and executed for it, and as a scavenger she’s nowhere near important enough to be ransomed. She can’t even risk contacting her young daughter because her daughter will be assumed to be involved with piracy and executed along with her, regardless of the fact that she’s six years old. Xích Si contrasts Rice Fish and provides her with a much needed reality check, that the norms of pirate society mean that most people are understandably terrified of them, and that when everybody they touch is forced to join, often in such a way that they’ll never be free, there isn’t anything fair about that.
I liked their eventual relationship! I did not like how it started. Their marriage of convenience didn’t make any sense. Rice Fish wanted to marry Xích Si because of her technological prowess, but Rice Fish at that point had hundreds if not thousands of banner people who were supposedly loyal to her and her late wife Huân, including some she considered to be personal friends, and I find it hard to believe that none of them were as skilled as the random prisoner they had in the brig after a random raid. I don’t see why Rice Fish couldn’t trust anyone else to look into her late wife’s death. Surely somebody already a part of the Red Banner would’ve been more willing to help her than someone who’d just had most people she knew brutally killed by the Red Banner? And then, despite both agreeing that their marriage would be purely a business transaction, they both immediately started acting as if they were in love with the other but no it could never be requited they simply could not let themselves feel this way. They’d known each other for about a day. The late Red Scholar, Huân, who Rice Fish had genuinely been in love with, had been dead for less than a week at this point. Xích Si had every reason to still be afraid of Rice Fish. I enjoy mutual pining as much as anyone else with taste, but the jump from ideologically opposed strangers to mutual pining happened way too quickly in my opinion. The in-between stage when they’re in the process of falling for each other is just as important for me, and that was missing here.
Both Rice Fish and Xích Si are parents, and I enjoyed reading about both of these relationships. Rice Fish’s relationship with her late wife’s son had been strained since many years before the story’s start, and the conversations they have throughout this book are some of the strongest scenes. Things are broken between them, perhaps irreparably, but they still love each other despite it all. In contrast, Xích Si has a very good relationship with her six year old and they love each other deeply. Although I did find the six year old acting kinda like a relationship therapist for Xích Si and Rice Fish at times to be a bit odd. She’s six. And she also only just met Rice Fish, so what does she know?
This book is part of a wider universe, which I didn’t know until I was already about 20% through and went searching for more information because I was so lost. Having read over the author’s website I’m now a lot clearer on the historical worldbuilding. It’s just that those weren’t the questions I had. Almost every single visual element is said to be in ‘overlay’ and there’s never any explanation as to what that actually means. And how does a sentient ship have parents and siblings who they are related to and who they grew up with when they’re AI ships? Are some of them not AI? Were they born/made as something other than an AI, and then had their minds uploaded? I realise that these questions and more are most likely answered in other books and novellas that are part of the Xuya universe. As a newcomer, it felt a little inaccessible.
Some things are just untranslatable. Throughout the whole book, the honorifics that the characters would be using for each other in Vietnamese are written out in English, which mostly works okay, except when it leads to the married couple calling each other ‘big sis’ and ‘lil sis’ all the time and even while they’re actively having sex. In my opinion, there would’ve been zero problem with the honorifics being written out in Vietnamese. They don’t work in English.
All of this was totalling up to making the book Fine. Not really objectionable, just not to my personal taste. But then we got onto the aphobia issue.
The world in this book is very queer. Nobody who’s mentioned to have a partner is heterosexual. I don’t recall there being any openly trans characters, but they wouldn’t feel out of place in the world. Also throughout the narration there were mentions of people who don’t experience romantic or sexual attraction existing, that these people were valid, and that Rice Fish and Xích Si just happened to not be in that category. I would’ve been happy with this. Delighted, even. As an arospec ace person who does enjoy reading romance with allo characters, the bare minimum I ask for is for sex and romance to not be treated like a universal necessity, and this was an excellent example of that. I was ready to point to this as an example of how to do it right. Unfortunately the final chapters of the book had to go and ruin it.
If the only openly asexual character in your novel is the antagonist who’s a bureaucrat who’s super gung ho about wiping out the leads and everyone like them purely due to her ideological opposition to them, then that feels uncomfortably close to the online ‘discourse’ from the last decade or so accusing asexual people of being inherently homophobic. Was this the author’s intention? I doubt it! I really doubt it! But we see how queer pirate society is, and we don’t get that same view into non-pirate society, and as an ace person it’s ringing alarm bells for me that the only ace character just happened to be an antagonist and especially this kind of antagonist.
This isn’t the biggest problem, however. The biggest problem with aspec characters is Huân, Rice Fish’s late wife.
The issue is that Huân was aromantic, and Rice Fish fell in love with her. Huân of course rejected her advances because she wasn’t interested in her like that. This, on its own, is fine. This happens. Sometimes people fall for someone with an incompatible orientation, and it sucks, but you get over it and move on. But that’s not what happened here! Instead of Huân telling Rice Fish that she wasn’t interested in romance, or that she just wasn’t attracted to Rice Fish, she told her that romance itself is always a recipe for disaster and that for a partnership to survive there always has to be no romance at all between the participants or it’s guaranteed to ruin everything. Rice Fish believed her, internalised this, and this belief legitimately traumatises her. It informs her approach to romantic relationships throughout the whole book, and the emotional climax of the book is her realisation that Huân had lied to her and that strong partnerships can contain romance, actually. Quick question. What the fuck. Huân is the only textually aromantic person in the whole book, and her aromanticism directly leads to the trauma of one of the lead characters. There was no need for this. Huân could’ve just not been romantically interested in Rice Fish specifically and the plot would’ve played out literally exactly the same. There was no need to specify that Huân wasn’t interested in romance in general. There are so few aromantic characters out there, and I cannot stress enough how much I do not appreciate that this is one of them. I’m even more disappointed that this isn’t even the first time I’ve read a queer book where the main character falls for an aromantic person and has an awful experience because of it due to that aromantic character choosing the course of action that would hurt the main character the most rather than handle the situation with an iota of sense. It feels deliberate. It feels targeted. It’s not acceptable.
Yes, real aromantic people can make bad decisions like this. Real aromantic people, just like everybody else, can be messy and can fuck up. But, crucially, Huân is NOT a real aromantic person and so doesn’t have agency of her own outside of the author. She was written that way. One day, when there’s a plethora of aromantic characters in fiction, a depiction like this won’t be a problem because there’ll be plenty of other characters whose aromanticism doesn’t directly lead to trauma for one of the story’s leads. We’re not at that point yet.
Again, was this what the author intended? I genuinely don’t think so. I think that these were just poorly thought out throwaway lines, with the intention of adding more aspec characters to the world without giving much thought to the implications of only having aspec characters in these roles. Sadly the result is a book that ends with a jolt of aphobia that sours the entire reading experience. I wouldn’t advise people to never read anything by this author, but I would advise caution around this one, especially for aspec readers.
The cover is gorgeous, though.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for providing me with an e-arc in return for an honest review.
[reaction immediately upon finishing the book]
full review to come but i would advise aspec people to be very wary. the only aromantic character in this book is the person responsible for traumatising one of the leads through lying about how healthy relationships work instead of just saying she wasn't romantically interested in her from the start. like, the realisation that that's what happened, that the aromantic person traumatised her directly because of her aromanticism, is the emotional climax of the book. there was no need for that character to be aromantic at all, she could've just not been interested in her specifically, but no she had to not be interested in romance in general, because of course that's how it would go. also the only asexual character is an antagonist because we've just gotta know that the bureaucrat who wants to rid the world of people like the leads is ace and i'm so tired. and don't you dare tell me i'm being oversensitive. i've seen people with other queer identities get a lot angrier (and rightfully so don't get me wrong) over a lot less
CW:
I really wanted to like this book. However, the more I think about it, the more issues I have.
I liked Rice Fish and Xích Si as characters. Rice Fish is a sentient spaceship and the recent widow of the titular Red Scholar, meaning she had become the de facto leader of the Red Banner, a collective of pirates which forms a part of a wider pirate society. Her position is a precarious one, and she’s convinced that her late wife’s death was the doing of the leader of another one of the pirate banners. She’s idealistic, and often conflates her idea of how pirate society should run with how it actually runs, and this is a big weakness of hers when it comes to the politics of it all, but she cares deeply about the people she’s suddenly become solely responsible for and never stops trying her best. I loved the descriptions of her humanoid avatar, which she usually manifests when she wants to have a conversation with somebody. The concept of someone’s hair gradually turning into nebulae and stars is so cool!
Xích Si is the sole survivor of a pirate attack. The harsh rules of her home means than unless she is explicitly ransomed back she’ll be accused of cooperating with the pirates and executed for it, and as a scavenger she’s nowhere near important enough to be ransomed. She can’t even risk contacting her young daughter because her daughter will be assumed to be involved with piracy and executed along with her, regardless of the fact that she’s six years old. Xích Si contrasts Rice Fish and provides her with a much needed reality check, that the norms of pirate society mean that most people are understandably terrified of them, and that when everybody they touch is forced to join, often in such a way that they’ll never be free, there isn’t anything fair about that.
I liked their eventual relationship! I did not like how it started. Their marriage of convenience didn’t make any sense. Rice Fish wanted to marry Xích Si because of her technological prowess, but Rice Fish at that point had hundreds if not thousands of banner people who were supposedly loyal to her and her late wife Huân, including some she considered to be personal friends, and I find it hard to believe that none of them were as skilled as the random prisoner they had in the brig after a random raid. I don’t see why Rice Fish couldn’t trust anyone else to look into her late wife’s death. Surely somebody already a part of the Red Banner would’ve been more willing to help her than someone who’d just had most people she knew brutally killed by the Red Banner? And then, despite both agreeing that their marriage would be purely a business transaction, they both immediately started acting as if they were in love with the other but no it could never be requited they simply could not let themselves feel this way. They’d known each other for about a day. The late Red Scholar, Huân, who Rice Fish had genuinely been in love with, had been dead for less than a week at this point. Xích Si had every reason to still be afraid of Rice Fish. I enjoy mutual pining as much as anyone else with taste, but the jump from ideologically opposed strangers to mutual pining happened way too quickly in my opinion. The in-between stage when they’re in the process of falling for each other is just as important for me, and that was missing here.
Both Rice Fish and Xích Si are parents, and I enjoyed reading about both of these relationships. Rice Fish’s relationship with her late wife’s son had been strained since many years before the story’s start, and the conversations they have throughout this book are some of the strongest scenes. Things are broken between them, perhaps irreparably, but they still love each other despite it all. In contrast, Xích Si has a very good relationship with her six year old and they love each other deeply. Although I did find the six year old acting kinda like a relationship therapist for Xích Si and Rice Fish at times to be a bit odd. She’s six. And she also only just met Rice Fish, so what does she know?
This book is part of a wider universe, which I didn’t know until I was already about 20% through and went searching for more information because I was so lost. Having read over the author’s website I’m now a lot clearer on the historical worldbuilding. It’s just that those weren’t the questions I had. Almost every single visual element is said to be in ‘overlay’ and there’s never any explanation as to what that actually means. And how does a sentient ship have parents and siblings who they are related to and who they grew up with when they’re AI ships? Are some of them not AI? Were they born/made as something other than an AI, and then had their minds uploaded? I realise that these questions and more are most likely answered in other books and novellas that are part of the Xuya universe. As a newcomer, it felt a little inaccessible.
Some things are just untranslatable. Throughout the whole book, the honorifics that the characters would be using for each other in Vietnamese are written out in English, which mostly works okay, except when it leads to the married couple calling each other ‘big sis’ and ‘lil sis’ all the time and even while they’re actively having sex. In my opinion, there would’ve been zero problem with the honorifics being written out in Vietnamese. They don’t work in English.
All of this was totalling up to making the book Fine. Not really objectionable, just not to my personal taste. But then we got onto the aphobia issue.
The world in this book is very queer. Nobody who’s mentioned to have a partner is heterosexual. I don’t recall there being any openly trans characters, but they wouldn’t feel out of place in the world. Also throughout the narration there were mentions of people who don’t experience romantic or sexual attraction existing, that these people were valid, and that Rice Fish and Xích Si just happened to not be in that category. I would’ve been happy with this. Delighted, even. As an arospec ace person who does enjoy reading romance with allo characters, the bare minimum I ask for is for sex and romance to not be treated like a universal necessity, and this was an excellent example of that. I was ready to point to this as an example of how to do it right. Unfortunately the final chapters of the book had to go and ruin it.
If the only openly asexual character in your novel is the antagonist who’s a bureaucrat who’s super gung ho about wiping out the leads and everyone like them purely due to her ideological opposition to them, then that feels uncomfortably close to the online ‘discourse’ from the last decade or so accusing asexual people of being inherently homophobic. Was this the author’s intention? I doubt it! I really doubt it! But we see how queer pirate society is, and we don’t get that same view into non-pirate society, and as an ace person it’s ringing alarm bells for me that the only ace character just happened to be an antagonist and especially this kind of antagonist.
This isn’t the biggest problem, however. The biggest problem with aspec characters is Huân, Rice Fish’s late wife.
The issue is that Huân was aromantic, and Rice Fish fell in love with her. Huân of course rejected her advances because she wasn’t interested in her like that. This, on its own, is fine. This happens. Sometimes people fall for someone with an incompatible orientation, and it sucks, but you get over it and move on. But that’s not what happened here! Instead of Huân telling Rice Fish that she wasn’t interested in romance, or that she just wasn’t attracted to Rice Fish, she told her that romance itself is always a recipe for disaster and that for a partnership to survive there always has to be no romance at all between the participants or it’s guaranteed to ruin everything. Rice Fish believed her, internalised this, and this belief legitimately traumatises her. It informs her approach to romantic relationships throughout the whole book, and the emotional climax of the book is her realisation that Huân had lied to her and that strong partnerships can contain romance, actually. Quick question. What the fuck. Huân is the only textually aromantic person in the whole book, and her aromanticism directly leads to the trauma of one of the lead characters. There was no need for this. Huân could’ve just not been romantically interested in Rice Fish specifically and the plot would’ve played out literally exactly the same. There was no need to specify that Huân wasn’t interested in romance in general. There are so few aromantic characters out there, and I cannot stress enough how much I do not appreciate that this is one of them. I’m even more disappointed that this isn’t even the first time I’ve read a queer book where the main character falls for an aromantic person and has an awful experience because of it due to that aromantic character choosing the course of action that would hurt the main character the most rather than handle the situation with an iota of sense. It feels deliberate. It feels targeted. It’s not acceptable.
Yes, real aromantic people can make bad decisions like this. Real aromantic people, just like everybody else, can be messy and can fuck up. But, crucially, Huân is NOT a real aromantic person and so doesn’t have agency of her own outside of the author. She was written that way. One day, when there’s a plethora of aromantic characters in fiction, a depiction like this won’t be a problem because there’ll be plenty of other characters whose aromanticism doesn’t directly lead to trauma for one of the story’s leads. We’re not at that point yet.
Again, was this what the author intended? I genuinely don’t think so. I think that these were just poorly thought out throwaway lines, with the intention of adding more aspec characters to the world without giving much thought to the implications of only having aspec characters in these roles. Sadly the result is a book that ends with a jolt of aphobia that sours the entire reading experience. I wouldn’t advise people to never read anything by this author, but I would advise caution around this one, especially for aspec readers.
The cover is gorgeous, though.
Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for providing me with an e-arc in return for an honest review.
[reaction immediately upon finishing the book]
full review to come but i would advise aspec people to be very wary. the only aromantic character in this book is the person responsible for traumatising one of the leads through lying about how healthy relationships work instead of just saying she wasn't romantically interested in her from the start. like, the realisation that that's what happened, that the aromantic person traumatised her directly because of her aromanticism, is the emotional climax of the book. there was no need for that character to be aromantic at all, she could've just not been interested in her specifically, but no she had to not be interested in romance in general, because of course that's how it would go. also the only asexual character is an antagonist because we've just gotta know that the bureaucrat who wants to rid the world of people like the leads is ace and i'm so tired. and don't you dare tell me i'm being oversensitive. i've seen people with other queer identities get a lot angrier (and rightfully so don't get me wrong) over a lot less
April 20, 2022
Ohhhh I loved this book! I was lucky enough to read a very early copy, and this is the blurb I sent off at the end of it (still buzzing with how much I'd been blown away):
"Thrillingly exciting and achingly romantic, The Red Scholar's Wake is rich with political intrigue and piratical adventure. It took my breath away!"
No word a lie! But to give a little more info - this is a fantastically suspenseful space opera full of piracy and romance and characters I truly adored. If you like any of those elements, you should absolutely preorder it!
"Thrillingly exciting and achingly romantic, The Red Scholar's Wake is rich with political intrigue and piratical adventure. It took my breath away!"
No word a lie! But to give a little more info - this is a fantastically suspenseful space opera full of piracy and romance and characters I truly adored. If you like any of those elements, you should absolutely preorder it!
October 21, 2022
A sapphic space opera with a big dollop of longing and unreciprocated feelings which are in fact reciprocated as should be in any decent romance.
Bodard has the knack of description, long hair that turns into nebulas, cabins filled with art and stars. I'd love her characters and plots to gather more depth. Some things definitely deserve more showing rather than telling.
An ARC gently provided by publisher/author via Netgalley
Bodard has the knack of description, long hair that turns into nebulas, cabins filled with art and stars. I'd love her characters and plots to gather more depth. Some things definitely deserve more showing rather than telling.
An ARC gently provided by publisher/author via Netgalley
November 23, 2022
I've been really excited for this book for a couple of months now and I'm glad I got the chance to read it, because it's a fun read, with romance, pirates, politics and even some emotional moments too.
I do wish it had more action, the bigger focus was on the politics and romance, and the action was mostly at the start and at the end.
The characters were likable, I don't have any faves though. Xích Si seemed like she'd be my fav, but she acted immature throughout the book and didn't quite seem like a parent.
The romance was a little odd, considering one of them is a ship, but you know what? It worked. I'd like more spaceship romances with sentient ships now, please.
I also like that it's a standalone (for now?) and on the shorter side. It ended at 91% on my Kindle so it was a bit shorter than I thought it would be, but it's fine. Things were wrapped up nicely, but if we got more books or short stories about the characters I wouldn't complain.
Of course, I have to mention the world building which was one of the best parts of the book for me. I'd like to explore this world some more.
Finally, the one thing that bugged me is the ace/aro rep which was...I don't know how to say it. It wasn't bad per se, but one ace character was the villain, and another that seemed to be aro wasn't painted in a good light either. Do I think this was on purpose? I hope not. Because if it was...
Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what other ace/aro people make of this, I'm pretty sure one of my ace friends loved this book so it could just be down to personal rep preference.
*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*
I do wish it had more action, the bigger focus was on the politics and romance, and the action was mostly at the start and at the end.
The characters were likable, I don't have any faves though. Xích Si seemed like she'd be my fav, but she acted immature throughout the book and didn't quite seem like a parent.
The romance was a little odd, considering one of them is a ship, but you know what? It worked. I'd like more spaceship romances with sentient ships now, please.
I also like that it's a standalone (for now?) and on the shorter side. It ended at 91% on my Kindle so it was a bit shorter than I thought it would be, but it's fine. Things were wrapped up nicely, but if we got more books or short stories about the characters I wouldn't complain.
Of course, I have to mention the world building which was one of the best parts of the book for me. I'd like to explore this world some more.
Finally, the one thing that bugged me is the ace/aro rep which was...I don't know how to say it. It wasn't bad per se, but one ace character was the villain, and another that seemed to be aro wasn't painted in a good light either. Do I think this was on purpose? I hope not. Because if it was...
Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing what other ace/aro people make of this, I'm pretty sure one of my ace friends loved this book so it could just be down to personal rep preference.
*Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review*
Shelved as 'dnf'
April 8, 2023DNF 26%
I thought about hate reading this so I could write a full rant review but it’s not worth the reading slump.
Somehow this book managed to screw up my favorite trope of all time. How the author managed to write an arranged marriage with now tension I don’t know. This book is filled with tropey moment after tropey moment. Important conversations happen to quickly and are way too easy for them to have any actual weight. The characters are almost fully in love 25 pages in and I refuse to read the bullshit excuses that they use to delay their relationship.
The set up for this book makes no sense and based on other reviews it’s never explained. Everything in this world is vague overlays and bots with no explanation. I thought the mindship AI projection concept was really cool but I need a story that is willing to actually explore such an interesting element and The Red Scholars Wake certainly won’t.
I don’t recommend this one… unless you want to buy my illumicrate copy that I’m not stuck with.
I thought about hate reading this so I could write a full rant review but it’s not worth the reading slump.
Somehow this book managed to screw up my favorite trope of all time. How the author managed to write an arranged marriage with now tension I don’t know. This book is filled with tropey moment after tropey moment. Important conversations happen to quickly and are way too easy for them to have any actual weight. The characters are almost fully in love 25 pages in and I refuse to read the bullshit excuses that they use to delay their relationship.
The set up for this book makes no sense and based on other reviews it’s never explained. Everything in this world is vague overlays and bots with no explanation. I thought the mindship AI projection concept was really cool but I need a story that is willing to actually explore such an interesting element and The Red Scholars Wake certainly won’t.
I don’t recommend this one… unless you want to buy my illumicrate copy that I’m not stuck with.
October 30, 2022
3/5
I really wanted to love this, it sounded incredible, but unfortunately it missed the mark for me.
Thank you Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Let's start with the positives: the world was amazing. It's so vibrant and alive, it's fascinating and such a unique sci-fi universe. I would have absolutely loved it if we were able to explore it more.
It's also sapphic galore! So when I heard the words 'sapphic space opera' I couldn't help but want to read it, but it was quite disappointing. What's so annoying about not liking this book is that I can see all of its potential.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't connect with the characters at all. By the end of the book, I could not have cared less what happened to them (and that is never a good sign). Again, we start off with such a great premise but it's just let down by quite a plain story and boring characters. (I'm sorry for being harsh, but I didn't enjoy this book very much.)
The romance, too, (which was a huge selling point for me) felt disjointed and very instant. It was a little bit all over the place and not in a fun way. I definitely thought, especially in the circumstances of this story, that the romance would be slow-paced and intricately handled, but we're shoved into it head-first out of nowhere. I felt this way about a lot of the parts of this story; they felt random and too fast.
We never seem to make much progress in the book and I think it could've been helped if the book was a little longer and we were allowed more time to sit with each scene and properly explore it. It constantly felt like we were taking one step forward and two steps back. I honestly don't think much really changed from beginning to end and it was all just a little stale.
I'm also not sure the politics of the world and the way in which it was relayed to us throughout the story was very effective. It wasn't fully fleshed out enough and we weren't seeing a lot of it firsthand, but only being told about it afterwards. (It's hard to phrase this in a way without spoilers, but it was an incredibly unsatisfying way of reading about the world politics.)
I'm upset I didn't like this as I truly did want to, but I guess some things just aren't meant to be. However it is quite a short book and we all have wildly different tastes and opinions, so if it sounds like the kind of thing you'd love, don't let me put you off too much. This just sadly wasn't the book for me.
I really wanted to love this, it sounded incredible, but unfortunately it missed the mark for me.
Thank you Netgalley and Orion Publishing Group for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Let's start with the positives: the world was amazing. It's so vibrant and alive, it's fascinating and such a unique sci-fi universe. I would have absolutely loved it if we were able to explore it more.
It's also sapphic galore! So when I heard the words 'sapphic space opera' I couldn't help but want to read it, but it was quite disappointing. What's so annoying about not liking this book is that I can see all of its potential.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't connect with the characters at all. By the end of the book, I could not have cared less what happened to them (and that is never a good sign). Again, we start off with such a great premise but it's just let down by quite a plain story and boring characters. (I'm sorry for being harsh, but I didn't enjoy this book very much.)
The romance, too, (which was a huge selling point for me) felt disjointed and very instant. It was a little bit all over the place and not in a fun way. I definitely thought, especially in the circumstances of this story, that the romance would be slow-paced and intricately handled, but we're shoved into it head-first out of nowhere. I felt this way about a lot of the parts of this story; they felt random and too fast.
We never seem to make much progress in the book and I think it could've been helped if the book was a little longer and we were allowed more time to sit with each scene and properly explore it. It constantly felt like we were taking one step forward and two steps back. I honestly don't think much really changed from beginning to end and it was all just a little stale.
I'm also not sure the politics of the world and the way in which it was relayed to us throughout the story was very effective. It wasn't fully fleshed out enough and we weren't seeing a lot of it firsthand, but only being told about it afterwards. (It's hard to phrase this in a way without spoilers, but it was an incredibly unsatisfying way of reading about the world politics.)
I'm upset I didn't like this as I truly did want to, but I guess some things just aren't meant to be. However it is quite a short book and we all have wildly different tastes and opinions, so if it sounds like the kind of thing you'd love, don't let me put you off too much. This just sadly wasn't the book for me.
April 14, 2024
read my review on reads rainbow
Rep: Vietnamese cast, sapphic mcs
Rep: Vietnamese cast, sapphic mcs
April 7, 2023
This wasn't bad, but it could have been so much better. I think I just really don't gel with this author. I read a short story from her that one year I voted for the Hugos and it turned me off so hard from her stuff. She seemed like the kind of author who was more interested in being artsy and impressive than in telling a good story. Those kinds of authors and I usually butt heads. So when this book was chosen for December's Illumicrate, I almost skipped my first box (I try to give all the authors a go, otherwise what's the point of a subscription box). But strong reviews persuaded me to give her stuff one more chance. And like I said, I didn't hate it. It just left me wanting.
The premise here is that in some far future timeline, potentially in another galaxy or universe, who knows (maybe not even the author!), A.I. has advanced enough to become truly sapient, and A.I.s (in this instance A.I. ships) are considered real people and members of families, and can even marry and have children. Our main characters are Xích Si (a scavenger captured by pirates) and Rice Fish (a sentient ship, the widow of the Red Scholar, leader of the Red Banner pirates). Rice Fish offers to marry Xích Si for protection in exchange for her help proving who killed her wife (because she's good at technology? I would argue it's more important that she's an outsider, but this is never mentioned). The fate of the pirate consortium seems to be at stake. There's lots of weird pirate politics and Xích Si is very conflicted about liking Rice Fish and feeling safe, between knowing these people she's getting to know regularly perform violence and steal at best, kill at worst, innocent people to maintain their own safety and wealth.
This book needed to be at least two hundred pages longer. Everything, from the worldbuilding to the character relationships, needed more development and explanation. The best way I can describe this author's style is that it's a painting in word form. We get the surface level version of everything, the visual, and then you as the reader seem to be responsible for extrapolating the rest, just as if you were looking at a piece of art. How does the technology work? Do they have FTL? What is the overlay (seriously, could you have even tried to explain this, author?) We get no wider context for the universe this takes place in, which I guess is fine, but I like that context. I'm not usually satisfied by sci-fi that holds off the big picture.
The real killer was the relationships, though, and in particular the romance between the two main characters. This book takes place over a month, and after basically a week, the two are in love with each other after like, what, four interactions?? And barely speaking to one another. At least that we see. We do not see them fall in love, and I barely got an inkling of why they were attracted to each other, even by the end. Because of that, this read perilously close to instalove. The sci-fi pirate plot was definitely the strongest element in the book, but even that could have been expanded. We don't see any of the stuff I wanted to see, including important moments where characters change their minds or make decisions. Again, it's assumed.
And lastly, there are some cultural considerations to be made in any sci-fi or fantasy book because other cultures are foreign, even made up ones, and especially here, with a culture that seems to be based on Vietnamese culture. Still, there is only so much leeway you can be expected to give. This book was written in English for an English-speaking audience, so when characters go from calling each other "Big Sis" and "Little Sis" one second to fucking each other the next, I'm gonna get uncomfortable. The least this author could have done is written those terms in Vietnamese so I'm not getting weird incest vibes.
So yeah, this author is not for me, but at least I know that definitively now! It's a shame, though, because some of the ideas she was working with were really interesting. The way she used them in her story, though, just made me frustrated, so I will be moving on!
The premise here is that in some far future timeline, potentially in another galaxy or universe, who knows (maybe not even the author!), A.I. has advanced enough to become truly sapient, and A.I.s (in this instance A.I. ships) are considered real people and members of families, and can even marry and have children. Our main characters are Xích Si (a scavenger captured by pirates) and Rice Fish (a sentient ship, the widow of the Red Scholar, leader of the Red Banner pirates). Rice Fish offers to marry Xích Si for protection in exchange for her help proving who killed her wife (because she's good at technology? I would argue it's more important that she's an outsider, but this is never mentioned). The fate of the pirate consortium seems to be at stake. There's lots of weird pirate politics and Xích Si is very conflicted about liking Rice Fish and feeling safe, between knowing these people she's getting to know regularly perform violence and steal at best, kill at worst, innocent people to maintain their own safety and wealth.
This book needed to be at least two hundred pages longer. Everything, from the worldbuilding to the character relationships, needed more development and explanation. The best way I can describe this author's style is that it's a painting in word form. We get the surface level version of everything, the visual, and then you as the reader seem to be responsible for extrapolating the rest, just as if you were looking at a piece of art. How does the technology work? Do they have FTL? What is the overlay (seriously, could you have even tried to explain this, author?) We get no wider context for the universe this takes place in, which I guess is fine, but I like that context. I'm not usually satisfied by sci-fi that holds off the big picture.
The real killer was the relationships, though, and in particular the romance between the two main characters. This book takes place over a month, and after basically a week, the two are in love with each other after like, what, four interactions?? And barely speaking to one another. At least that we see. We do not see them fall in love, and I barely got an inkling of why they were attracted to each other, even by the end. Because of that, this read perilously close to instalove. The sci-fi pirate plot was definitely the strongest element in the book, but even that could have been expanded. We don't see any of the stuff I wanted to see, including important moments where characters change their minds or make decisions. Again, it's assumed.
And lastly, there are some cultural considerations to be made in any sci-fi or fantasy book because other cultures are foreign, even made up ones, and especially here, with a culture that seems to be based on Vietnamese culture. Still, there is only so much leeway you can be expected to give. This book was written in English for an English-speaking audience, so when characters go from calling each other "Big Sis" and "Little Sis" one second to fucking each other the next, I'm gonna get uncomfortable. The least this author could have done is written those terms in Vietnamese so I'm not getting weird incest vibes.
So yeah, this author is not for me, but at least I know that definitively now! It's a shame, though, because some of the ideas she was working with were really interesting. The way she used them in her story, though, just made me frustrated, so I will be moving on!
November 8, 2022
I honestly can't believe I fell in love with a spaceship. This sapphic space opera is soft and full of love. I'm absolutely blown away by the descriptions in this story that not only help you remember we're in the depths of space but also make you feel like this story is infinite. The constant draw backs to space, nebulas, galaxies, and stars give this book such a giant and beautiful scope.
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Bookish Brews | Ko-Fi | Twitter | Pinterest | Tumblr | Facebook
October 28, 2022
Thank you to the author for providing an ARC through NetGalley
I'll start with what I really liked about this book:
- The character descriptions are vivid and imaginative.
- The bots are both cute and useful, I like the image of them helping in various different ways.
- There is a bit of a Treasure Planet feel to this, and that's one of my favorite movies from childhood so I really appreciate that.
- The Vietnamese-inspired motifs are beautiful and added great imagery to the book.
What I didn't like:
- The romance is almost an insta-love and while I do like a good marriage of convenience story, this felt underdeveloped. I just wish we got to see more of the character development leading to a romance instead of an instant attraction both physically and romantically. Because of this, their romance was not believable or something I really felt any emotional attachment to.
- The dialogue and timing of some scenes felt choppy.
- The character motivations did not make a lot of sense to me.
- The worldbuilding is just... not good? The premise of this story is so cool, and the idea of having different banners and a pirate city is so cool, but sadly there was almost no pirating in this book? Those elements were really not used at all in the story, they felt almost like background settings for the political schemes going on between Rice Fish, the council, and the An O empire. And even then, those political schemes left a lot to be desired.
-And finally, the use of "big sis" and "lil sis" is something I just could not get into. I know they're meant to be Vietnamese honorifics, and I'm sure it would not sound this awkward if the book was written in Vietnamese, but in English, these just don't work. It's really awkward and cringy to hear the MARRIED characters call each other "child" and "big sis/lil sis". I wish they had chosen different words to convey the honorifics or even kept them in Vietnamese.
I wanted to like this book more than I did, unfortunately it just did not meet my expectations and I likely won't be continuing this series.
I'll start with what I really liked about this book:
- The character descriptions are vivid and imaginative.
- The bots are both cute and useful, I like the image of them helping in various different ways.
- There is a bit of a Treasure Planet feel to this, and that's one of my favorite movies from childhood so I really appreciate that.
- The Vietnamese-inspired motifs are beautiful and added great imagery to the book.
What I didn't like:
- The romance is almost an insta-love and while I do like a good marriage of convenience story, this felt underdeveloped. I just wish we got to see more of the character development leading to a romance instead of an instant attraction both physically and romantically. Because of this, their romance was not believable or something I really felt any emotional attachment to.
- The dialogue and timing of some scenes felt choppy.
- The character motivations did not make a lot of sense to me.
- The worldbuilding is just... not good? The premise of this story is so cool, and the idea of having different banners and a pirate city is so cool, but sadly there was almost no pirating in this book? Those elements were really not used at all in the story, they felt almost like background settings for the political schemes going on between Rice Fish, the council, and the An O empire. And even then, those political schemes left a lot to be desired.
-And finally, the use of "big sis" and "lil sis" is something I just could not get into. I know they're meant to be Vietnamese honorifics, and I'm sure it would not sound this awkward if the book was written in Vietnamese, but in English, these just don't work. It's really awkward and cringy to hear the MARRIED characters call each other "child" and "big sis/lil sis". I wish they had chosen different words to convey the honorifics or even kept them in Vietnamese.
I wanted to like this book more than I did, unfortunately it just did not meet my expectations and I likely won't be continuing this series.
Want to read
November 2, 2022SAPPHIC SPACE PIRATES FOR ILLUMICRATE?! I am here for it.
November 16, 2023
Thanks to the publisher for the ARC of this book.
This was the first Xuya book I read. The worldbuilding is excellent, easily the best part (I got more books set in the universe halfway through!) but I was left more than a little confused about the mindships. It was a lot better on the reread, with more context. The romance is slow and subtle and sweet, an exploration of the complicated power dynamics on one side and longing for intimacy on the other. I liked it a lot. But I would probably recommend On a Red Station, Drifting as a better intro to the universe.
Enjoyment: 4/5
Execution: 4/5
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
This was the first Xuya book I read. The worldbuilding is excellent, easily the best part (I got more books set in the universe halfway through!) but I was left more than a little confused about the mindships. It was a lot better on the reread, with more context. The romance is slow and subtle and sweet, an exploration of the complicated power dynamics on one side and longing for intimacy on the other. I liked it a lot. But I would probably recommend On a Red Station, Drifting as a better intro to the universe.
Enjoyment: 4/5
Execution: 4/5
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
November 20, 2022
Many thanks to the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for my copy of the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I wanted, with all my heart, to enjoy this book. To possibly even love it. But sadly, it was not meant to be. Though Red Scholar's Wake (RSW) has all of the ingredients to make me swoon (LGBT pirates in space—I mean, that's an insta-win if ever I saw one!), the end result was... kind of a mess.
Let's begin with the positives:
- Lesbian. Pirates. In. Space. Aka a very unique, intriguing, exciting premise. Almost everything I love in a story is included in RSW.
- The Vietnamese rep.
- Rice Fish, the sentient spaceship. I can't say "wow" enough to really convey how *cool* I find a character like her. I've never read anything like it before but I like it, I think it's fresh and done well here. I know the sentient ship thing icked a lot of people but I'm honestly here for it.
- The setup for the politics. Factions of pirates ruled under banners; a rival crew under the command of Rice Fish's own son. *Nice*.
- The way Rice Fish is described. Her hair; her clothes; her flawless blending between avatar and ship. Yes yes YES. Perfectly done.
And now unfortunately, onto the negatives:
The relationship between our main character Xích Si and Rice Fish is an instalove and is - I'm sorry - dreadfully written. Xích Si is captured and torn from her daily life after her vessel is boarded by pirates who want her for her bot-making skills. She is terrified of the crew, and of Rice Fish, the ship she is held in. She agrees to a marriage to Rice Fish in order to guarantee her own safety, but in doing so she loses her old life, which includes her six-year-old daughter back home.
...and Xích Si's like. A lot less distressed by all this than she really should be, because Rice Fish is hot and she Feels Things when they kiss to seal the marriage. She Feels Things for the terrifying pirate who has just ended her life as she knew it on the basis of "yeah we need your skills but we won't tell you how we knew you possessed said skills lol". And, well, I'm a mother too, and if some hot pirate tried to take me from my child, I would absolutely NOT leap straight to pining for them and thinking about how our marriage can be nothing but one of convenience and how oh-so tragic and sad that is. I would end that pirate, looks be damned. Xích Si lost all credability and any respect I had for her with that attitude.
Another major, glaring problem with this book is the writing. The dialogue is especially clunky and awkward; it reads like a 2010 fan-translated Japanese dating sim script. The decision to translate Vietnamese honorifics/terms of address was also not a good idea given the context here; having Xích Si and Rice Fish call each other "big/li'l sis" when they're *married* does not work in English because the connotations are so different. They do not convey in English what they convey in Vietnamese, and the vast majority of the readers picking up this book will have no idea how east Asian languages work, so will take those terms of address in their literal English meaning. Similarly, Rice Fish's name would have probably been better left untranslated too, with a note somewhere as to what it means.
The world building is shallow, the politics not nearly developed enough, and the characters all running around behaving like silly teenagers, not adult mothers and phenomenal pirates working themselves to the bone to ensure their survival. The book is very short for a story set in what really should have been an intriguing universe, and it would have benefitted from more space to really get into the world building and lore.
I don't enjoy leaving negative reviews at all, but i feel let down by RSW. It has such a promising premise, yet it was handled so poorly.
I wanted, with all my heart, to enjoy this book. To possibly even love it. But sadly, it was not meant to be. Though Red Scholar's Wake (RSW) has all of the ingredients to make me swoon (LGBT pirates in space—I mean, that's an insta-win if ever I saw one!), the end result was... kind of a mess.
Let's begin with the positives:
- Lesbian. Pirates. In. Space. Aka a very unique, intriguing, exciting premise. Almost everything I love in a story is included in RSW.
- The Vietnamese rep.
- Rice Fish, the sentient spaceship. I can't say "wow" enough to really convey how *cool* I find a character like her. I've never read anything like it before but I like it, I think it's fresh and done well here. I know the sentient ship thing icked a lot of people but I'm honestly here for it.
- The setup for the politics. Factions of pirates ruled under banners; a rival crew under the command of Rice Fish's own son. *Nice*.
- The way Rice Fish is described. Her hair; her clothes; her flawless blending between avatar and ship. Yes yes YES. Perfectly done.
And now unfortunately, onto the negatives:
The relationship between our main character Xích Si and Rice Fish is an instalove and is - I'm sorry - dreadfully written. Xích Si is captured and torn from her daily life after her vessel is boarded by pirates who want her for her bot-making skills. She is terrified of the crew, and of Rice Fish, the ship she is held in. She agrees to a marriage to Rice Fish in order to guarantee her own safety, but in doing so she loses her old life, which includes her six-year-old daughter back home.
...and Xích Si's like. A lot less distressed by all this than she really should be, because Rice Fish is hot and she Feels Things when they kiss to seal the marriage. She Feels Things for the terrifying pirate who has just ended her life as she knew it on the basis of "yeah we need your skills but we won't tell you how we knew you possessed said skills lol". And, well, I'm a mother too, and if some hot pirate tried to take me from my child, I would absolutely NOT leap straight to pining for them and thinking about how our marriage can be nothing but one of convenience and how oh-so tragic and sad that is. I would end that pirate, looks be damned. Xích Si lost all credability and any respect I had for her with that attitude.
Another major, glaring problem with this book is the writing. The dialogue is especially clunky and awkward; it reads like a 2010 fan-translated Japanese dating sim script. The decision to translate Vietnamese honorifics/terms of address was also not a good idea given the context here; having Xích Si and Rice Fish call each other "big/li'l sis" when they're *married* does not work in English because the connotations are so different. They do not convey in English what they convey in Vietnamese, and the vast majority of the readers picking up this book will have no idea how east Asian languages work, so will take those terms of address in their literal English meaning. Similarly, Rice Fish's name would have probably been better left untranslated too, with a note somewhere as to what it means.
The world building is shallow, the politics not nearly developed enough, and the characters all running around behaving like silly teenagers, not adult mothers and phenomenal pirates working themselves to the bone to ensure their survival. The book is very short for a story set in what really should have been an intriguing universe, and it would have benefitted from more space to really get into the world building and lore.
I don't enjoy leaving negative reviews at all, but i feel let down by RSW. It has such a promising premise, yet it was handled so poorly.
November 15, 2022
I say this pretty much every time I read Aliette de Bodard’s work: the prose is gorgeous, evoking situations of such emotional heft and scenes full of colour and deep danger.
The Red Scholar is a pirate and her consort “Rice Fish” is a mind ship. Shortly before this story’s open, the. Red Scholar was killed during a confrontation between the pirates and the navy of a bordering empire.
After a small ship is captured by one of Rice Fish’s bannerpeople, Xich Si, the ship’s only survivor, is brought to Rice Fish, who makes her an unexpected business proposition: investigate how the Red Scholar was ambushed and murdered. And, cement their business arrangement, and Xich Si’s safety, through marriage, which will grant access to Rice Fish’s bannerpeople.
What begins as a very difficult, terrifying and emotionally wrenching situation for Xich Si (she has a young daughter whom she can no longer see, even if she were returned home by Rice Fish) becomes something very different eventually. She and Rice Fish begin a romantic relationship that was just so lovely, while Xich Si applies her engineering and analytical know how to solving Red Scholar’s murder.
And of course there are obstacles to the happiness of both women. There is a deeply personal threat to Xich Si, as well as conspiracies within the pirate Citadel and an empire bordering pirate space. And Rice Fish is unable to see how some of her ideas about how the pirate society works actually are causing her to lose her influence and power amongst the pirates.
The start was slow, but once Xich Si seemed to move a little past her fear of Rice Fish, and her banner people, the action began picking up and I was eager to get to the story’s resolution. I loved all the tension de Bodard created as Rice Fish is alone and trying to save her life and command, and how the two women began finally trusting each other by story’s end.
And the descriptions! I loved them! Rice Fish’s hair, in which nebulae can be seen, as well as her way of moving, all contributed to the atmosphere to this lovely book. I so want more story about Rice Fish and Xich Si!
Thank you to Netgalley and to Independent Publisher’s Group for this ARC in exchange for my review.
The Red Scholar is a pirate and her consort “Rice Fish” is a mind ship. Shortly before this story’s open, the. Red Scholar was killed during a confrontation between the pirates and the navy of a bordering empire.
After a small ship is captured by one of Rice Fish’s bannerpeople, Xich Si, the ship’s only survivor, is brought to Rice Fish, who makes her an unexpected business proposition: investigate how the Red Scholar was ambushed and murdered. And, cement their business arrangement, and Xich Si’s safety, through marriage, which will grant access to Rice Fish’s bannerpeople.
What begins as a very difficult, terrifying and emotionally wrenching situation for Xich Si (she has a young daughter whom she can no longer see, even if she were returned home by Rice Fish) becomes something very different eventually. She and Rice Fish begin a romantic relationship that was just so lovely, while Xich Si applies her engineering and analytical know how to solving Red Scholar’s murder.
And of course there are obstacles to the happiness of both women. There is a deeply personal threat to Xich Si, as well as conspiracies within the pirate Citadel and an empire bordering pirate space. And Rice Fish is unable to see how some of her ideas about how the pirate society works actually are causing her to lose her influence and power amongst the pirates.
The start was slow, but once Xich Si seemed to move a little past her fear of Rice Fish, and her banner people, the action began picking up and I was eager to get to the story’s resolution. I loved all the tension de Bodard created as Rice Fish is alone and trying to save her life and command, and how the two women began finally trusting each other by story’s end.
And the descriptions! I loved them! Rice Fish’s hair, in which nebulae can be seen, as well as her way of moving, all contributed to the atmosphere to this lovely book. I so want more story about Rice Fish and Xich Si!
Thank you to Netgalley and to Independent Publisher’s Group for this ARC in exchange for my review.
April 4, 2023
Es war sehr verwirrend, World Building gibt es im Prinzip keines und die Liebesgeschichte ging viel zu schnell. Zuerst mögen sie sich nicht und plötzlich ist es Liebe? Naja. Dass eine Hauptperson ein Schiff ist fand ich ganz cool, war mal was anderes, aber das drumherum hat nicht gepasst.
November 21, 2023
DNF at 50 pages
November 10, 2022
Aliette de Bodard has long cemented herself as an auto-buy author on my shelves, and her latest book, The Red Scholar’s Wake, is no exception. Lesbian space pirates, political scheming, and mother-daughter bonds, this book kept me gripped from the start.
I’ve read one other book set in de Bodard’s Xuya universe, The Tea Master and the Detective, and it’s a world I’ve been long meaning to return to. The way de Bodard describes the tech holodisplays for interior decor and character fashion, mixing practical beauty with the ethereal unknown of space and fantasy, is so compelling and unique (really makes me want to draw damnit). Also! Xuya features shipsminds as characters! I absolutely love these kinds of multi-presence characters, who devote a portion of processes to human one-on-one behavior but simultaneously describe the background activities of operating as effectively a computer keeping an entire ship running. The idea is so neat and their execution in Xuya, with their somewhat human origins, are just so cool.
Of course, Red Scholar’s Wake features a shipmind as part of the main couple in Rice Fish. Space Pirate, shipmind, recent widow, and now unexpecting head of the Red Banner pirate fleet. On the other side we have Xich Si, engineer, scavenger, and sudden pirate prisoner. While the two certainly don’t meet on the best of terms, their slow-burn get-together, reading as Xich Si gains her confidence back with Rice Fish providing support, was delightful to read. And while there’s bound to be communication issues along the way, I really enjoyed how de Bodard writes the warrior/scholar dichotomy between these two.
Red Scholar has two intertwined plots. One with Rice Fish battling out her ascension to head of the Red Banner fleet after the sudden death (murder) of her wife and captain, the late Red Scholar. Naturally with a power vacuum comes infighting and scheming, and with the increased attention of the Empire on the pirates, growing disagreements on the future of the Banners and how the late Red Scholar was leading them. On the other hand, there’s Xich Si who’s (understandably) freaking out because holy shit she’s been captured by pirates, forcibly indentured, and will probably never see her young daughter ever again.
Despite the relatively action-y sounding plots, especially on Rice Fish’s side, Red Scholar’s Wake is a surprisingly character-driven novel. Xich Si spends a lot of her time meeting with various pirate factions that now make up her new life and of course the ‘court’ politics plays a huge role. I loved that it’s through these moments, we really get to see Xich Si grow as a character, and even begin to confront Rice Fish with her moral disagreements. If I had one complaint, it would be that the plotlines do seem very distant, but I promise that at the every end, everything comes together and it’s absolutely glorious.
Overall, I rate this book a 4.5/5. de Bodard has written a stunning romance science fiction novel and an excellent edition to the Xuya, although no familiarity is needed to enjoy this book. Lesbian space pirates, a warrior/scholar pairing, and some breathtaking tech-y fashion descriptions.
__
4.5/5
What a great book, strong characters, fascinating worldbuilding that I wish we got to see just a little more of (I really ought to read the rest of the Xuya books) and such cool descriptions of outfit merged with robots and projections
I’ve read one other book set in de Bodard’s Xuya universe, The Tea Master and the Detective, and it’s a world I’ve been long meaning to return to. The way de Bodard describes the tech holodisplays for interior decor and character fashion, mixing practical beauty with the ethereal unknown of space and fantasy, is so compelling and unique (really makes me want to draw damnit). Also! Xuya features shipsminds as characters! I absolutely love these kinds of multi-presence characters, who devote a portion of processes to human one-on-one behavior but simultaneously describe the background activities of operating as effectively a computer keeping an entire ship running. The idea is so neat and their execution in Xuya, with their somewhat human origins, are just so cool.
Of course, Red Scholar’s Wake features a shipmind as part of the main couple in Rice Fish. Space Pirate, shipmind, recent widow, and now unexpecting head of the Red Banner pirate fleet. On the other side we have Xich Si, engineer, scavenger, and sudden pirate prisoner. While the two certainly don’t meet on the best of terms, their slow-burn get-together, reading as Xich Si gains her confidence back with Rice Fish providing support, was delightful to read. And while there’s bound to be communication issues along the way, I really enjoyed how de Bodard writes the warrior/scholar dichotomy between these two.
Red Scholar has two intertwined plots. One with Rice Fish battling out her ascension to head of the Red Banner fleet after the sudden death (murder) of her wife and captain, the late Red Scholar. Naturally with a power vacuum comes infighting and scheming, and with the increased attention of the Empire on the pirates, growing disagreements on the future of the Banners and how the late Red Scholar was leading them. On the other hand, there’s Xich Si who’s (understandably) freaking out because holy shit she’s been captured by pirates, forcibly indentured, and will probably never see her young daughter ever again.
Despite the relatively action-y sounding plots, especially on Rice Fish’s side, Red Scholar’s Wake is a surprisingly character-driven novel. Xich Si spends a lot of her time meeting with various pirate factions that now make up her new life and of course the ‘court’ politics plays a huge role. I loved that it’s through these moments, we really get to see Xich Si grow as a character, and even begin to confront Rice Fish with her moral disagreements. If I had one complaint, it would be that the plotlines do seem very distant, but I promise that at the every end, everything comes together and it’s absolutely glorious.
Overall, I rate this book a 4.5/5. de Bodard has written a stunning romance science fiction novel and an excellent edition to the Xuya, although no familiarity is needed to enjoy this book. Lesbian space pirates, a warrior/scholar pairing, and some breathtaking tech-y fashion descriptions.
__
4.5/5
What a great book, strong characters, fascinating worldbuilding that I wish we got to see just a little more of (I really ought to read the rest of the Xuya books) and such cool descriptions of outfit merged with robots and projections
February 5, 2023
Space pirates, galactic empires, a marriage of convenience, sentient ships, avatars and Vietnamese-inspired culture.
I liked the two main characters, but never really connected with them emotionally or warmed up to the writing style. The story was less exciting than I had hoped and really lacked some pirate action, all things considered. Kinda mellow, with a developing relationship that lacks explanation. I could have done with backstory and intro into the Xuya Universe. The concept of the mindship is an interesting one, but I was lacking context or a touch more hard SF. As a romance this didn‘t convince me either.
I could have easily given up on this book in the first half. The second half had more action and I enjoyed it more. Not enough world building and depth. For example, who are the Ashling? It is never explained. How do the bots look and work? Why are there mind ships, how are they created? Other ship types are mentioned and I have read enough hard SF to figure out what those ships are, but it‘s never even hinted at. How and why are there so many avatars and how do they interact on a physical level? How do people project them? Where does all the tea and food come from? Why are there passengers onboard of Rice Fish? I have so many unanswered questions.
And if this is romance, it lacks chemistry between the main characters. And I don‘t get the timeline. The characters behave as if longer time passes, but the story telling doesn‘t give any indication of that. There are scenes that hint at connections made over time between characters, but you never actually experience those developments. So how can I care?
This was a buddy read and a Netgalley, which compelled me to continue reading, but I did not feel an urge to do so. Which is a shame, because I like the plot idea. But the execution felt so… lacking? Not a satisfying read. Pretty frustrating, actually.
Would I read further short stories or novellas by the author? Yes, probably. Full-length novels? Not so much. Talking of that, there is a follow-up to this book, A Fire Born of Exile. The ebook contains what looks like the first chapter. I skimmed, but will not get it. Different characters to Red Scholar.
About the author: https://www.aliettedebodard.com/biogr...
There are quite a few free short stories on her website, if you are interested: https://www.aliettedebodard.com/short...
The book belongs to the Hugo-award nominated Universe of Xuya:
https://www.aliettedebodard.com/bibli...
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
I liked the two main characters, but never really connected with them emotionally or warmed up to the writing style. The story was less exciting than I had hoped and really lacked some pirate action, all things considered. Kinda mellow, with a developing relationship that lacks explanation. I could have done with backstory and intro into the Xuya Universe. The concept of the mindship is an interesting one, but I was lacking context or a touch more hard SF. As a romance this didn‘t convince me either.
I could have easily given up on this book in the first half. The second half had more action and I enjoyed it more. Not enough world building and depth. For example, who are the Ashling? It is never explained. How do the bots look and work? Why are there mind ships, how are they created? Other ship types are mentioned and I have read enough hard SF to figure out what those ships are, but it‘s never even hinted at. How and why are there so many avatars and how do they interact on a physical level? How do people project them? Where does all the tea and food come from? Why are there passengers onboard of Rice Fish? I have so many unanswered questions.
And if this is romance, it lacks chemistry between the main characters. And I don‘t get the timeline. The characters behave as if longer time passes, but the story telling doesn‘t give any indication of that. There are scenes that hint at connections made over time between characters, but you never actually experience those developments. So how can I care?
This was a buddy read and a Netgalley, which compelled me to continue reading, but I did not feel an urge to do so. Which is a shame, because I like the plot idea. But the execution felt so… lacking? Not a satisfying read. Pretty frustrating, actually.
Would I read further short stories or novellas by the author? Yes, probably. Full-length novels? Not so much. Talking of that, there is a follow-up to this book, A Fire Born of Exile. The ebook contains what looks like the first chapter. I skimmed, but will not get it. Different characters to Red Scholar.
About the author: https://www.aliettedebodard.com/biogr...
There are quite a few free short stories on her website, if you are interested: https://www.aliettedebodard.com/short...
The book belongs to the Hugo-award nominated Universe of Xuya:
https://www.aliettedebodard.com/bibli...
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
May 2, 2023
I just don't care. I don't care about this world, I don't care about the main characters, I don't care that I don't know what overlays are or how ships are alive. I just. Don't. Care.
So I DNF this at 43%
So I DNF this at 43%
January 29, 2023
I was immediately drawn in by this, feeling so intrigued right away. The main characters' dynamic felt so nuanced and interesting from the start, and I found the writing to be really engaging. I felt especially touched by Xích Si's storyline with her 6 year old daughter, even though I usually don't love to read about parenthood. I do have to admit I found myself zoning out a little bit in certain parts, especially the more political parts, which is why this is not quite a 5 star read for me, but I was always pulled back in again, and I did really love this.
June 11, 2023
2.5 stars. The only thing I have to say is MEH.
June 17, 2023
If you enjoyed any of the author books in the Xuya Universe you will really enjoy this as well. I liked the different side of the society (pirates) and their world. I really enjoyed seeing the characters and how they were together. I also liked the challenges to their society and world views.
April 7, 2023
Xích Si wurde von Piraten der „Red Banner“ Flotte gefangen genommen. Sie glaubt, sterben zu müssen, doch da bietet ihr Rice Fish, das empfindungsfähige Schiff der Piratenflotte, einen Deal an: Sie wird Xích Si beschützen, dafür soll diese herausfinden, wer die vorherige Anführerin der Piraten verraten und getötet hat. Dafür müssen die beiden jedoch heiraten. Doch obwohl Xích Si sich einredet, dass dies nur eine geschäftliche Beziehung ist, kann sie die Gefühle, die Rice Fish in ihr auslöst nicht leugnen.
„The Red Scholar’s Wake“ ist ein Buch, das ich eigentlich lieben wollte! Die Geschichte beinhaltet so viele Elemente und Tropes, die ich sehr mag, weshalb ich mir sicher war, dass dieses Buch es einfach bei mir haben würde. Leider war ich von der Umsetzung einfach nur enttäuscht. Und auch wenn ich das Buch durch die vielen Elemente, die ich einfach liebe, nicht schlecht fand, hatte ich mir doch so viel mehr erhofft.
Mein größter Kritikpunkt ist, dass die einzigartigen Elemente des Worldbuildings nicht ausreichend beschrieben wurden. Die Geschichte spielt im Weltall, in einem Universum, in dem Vietnam und China die größten Mächte sind. Diese kulturelle Prägung hat mir sehr gefallen, aber gerade die futuristischen Elemente wurden einfach nicht ausreichend erläutert. Dies fing für mich bei den Bots an, welche scheinbar verschiedene Formen und Verwendungszwecke hatten und zu denen die Nutzer*innen oft auch eine emotionale Bindung aufbauten. Dennoch wusste ich bis zum Schluss nicht, wie ich mir diese Bots vorstellen sollte. Ebenfalls gab es überall Overlays und für mich wurde nicht deutlich, wie diese funktionieren sollten. So blieb die Welt irgendwie sehr blass für mich.
Dieses Problem bezog sich auch auf die politischen Dimensionen der Welt. Es gab zwei Großreiche, die gegeneinander kämpften und die Piraten waren eine Art dritte Partei. Es gab auch immer mal wieder Andeutungen, wie diese Reichen funktionierten und welche Werte sie vertraten, aber für die Relevanz, die sie in der Geschichte hatten, fehlten mir hier doch einige Informationen.
Ich denke, dieses Problem kann damit erklärt werden, dass „The Red Scholar’s Wake“ zwar nicht Teil einer Reihe, sehr wohl aber Teil eines Universums voller Geschichten dieser Art ist. Diese sind zwar alle unabhängig voneinander lesbar, aber ich kann mir vorstellen, dass in diesem Buch entsprechende Elemente nicht erneut beschrieben wurden, weil Lesende der anderen Bücher bereits wissen, was sie erwarten können.
Die Charaktere fand ich persönlich sehr interessant. Besonders Rice Fish, die eine Art künstliche Intelligenz war, hat mir generell gut gefallen. Was ich dagegen nicht mochte, war die Beziehung der beiden Protagonistinnen zueinander. Erwartet hatte ich eine sich nach und nach entwickelnde Beziehung. Tatsächlich hatten die beiden jedoch bereits nach wenigen Seiten Gefühle füreinander, woraufhin sich über hundert Seiten lang nichts mehr entwickelte, nur damit die beiden mit einem großen Sprung den nächsten Schritt in ihrer Beziehung taten.
Größtenteils positiv hervorheben möchte ich allerdings die Diversität in diesem Buch. Es gibt eine große Vielzahl an queeren Charakteren und die meisten wurden gut beschrieben. Nur was die beiden Charaktere anging, die im aroace Spektrum waren, hätte ich mir hier eine weniger problematische Darstellung gewünscht. Während der eine Charakter dieses Spektrums ein beinahe cartoonhafter Bösewicht war, sorgte der andere Charakter für eine traumatische Erfahrung bei einer der Protagonistinnen und dies wurde in Bezug dazu gesetzt, dass dieser Charakter aromantisch war. Für die Geschichte hätte dies wirklich nicht sein müssen.
Fazit:
Trotz einiger sehr positiver Elemente, wie etwa viel Queerness und zwei tollen Protagonistinnen, schaffte es „The Red Scholar’s Wake“ nicht, mich zu überzeugen. Die Welt blieb für mich bis zuletzt eher blass und die Beziehung der Protagonistinnen war nicht überzeugend geschrieben.
„The Red Scholar’s Wake“ ist ein Buch, das ich eigentlich lieben wollte! Die Geschichte beinhaltet so viele Elemente und Tropes, die ich sehr mag, weshalb ich mir sicher war, dass dieses Buch es einfach bei mir haben würde. Leider war ich von der Umsetzung einfach nur enttäuscht. Und auch wenn ich das Buch durch die vielen Elemente, die ich einfach liebe, nicht schlecht fand, hatte ich mir doch so viel mehr erhofft.
Mein größter Kritikpunkt ist, dass die einzigartigen Elemente des Worldbuildings nicht ausreichend beschrieben wurden. Die Geschichte spielt im Weltall, in einem Universum, in dem Vietnam und China die größten Mächte sind. Diese kulturelle Prägung hat mir sehr gefallen, aber gerade die futuristischen Elemente wurden einfach nicht ausreichend erläutert. Dies fing für mich bei den Bots an, welche scheinbar verschiedene Formen und Verwendungszwecke hatten und zu denen die Nutzer*innen oft auch eine emotionale Bindung aufbauten. Dennoch wusste ich bis zum Schluss nicht, wie ich mir diese Bots vorstellen sollte. Ebenfalls gab es überall Overlays und für mich wurde nicht deutlich, wie diese funktionieren sollten. So blieb die Welt irgendwie sehr blass für mich.
Dieses Problem bezog sich auch auf die politischen Dimensionen der Welt. Es gab zwei Großreiche, die gegeneinander kämpften und die Piraten waren eine Art dritte Partei. Es gab auch immer mal wieder Andeutungen, wie diese Reichen funktionierten und welche Werte sie vertraten, aber für die Relevanz, die sie in der Geschichte hatten, fehlten mir hier doch einige Informationen.
Ich denke, dieses Problem kann damit erklärt werden, dass „The Red Scholar’s Wake“ zwar nicht Teil einer Reihe, sehr wohl aber Teil eines Universums voller Geschichten dieser Art ist. Diese sind zwar alle unabhängig voneinander lesbar, aber ich kann mir vorstellen, dass in diesem Buch entsprechende Elemente nicht erneut beschrieben wurden, weil Lesende der anderen Bücher bereits wissen, was sie erwarten können.
Die Charaktere fand ich persönlich sehr interessant. Besonders Rice Fish, die eine Art künstliche Intelligenz war, hat mir generell gut gefallen. Was ich dagegen nicht mochte, war die Beziehung der beiden Protagonistinnen zueinander. Erwartet hatte ich eine sich nach und nach entwickelnde Beziehung. Tatsächlich hatten die beiden jedoch bereits nach wenigen Seiten Gefühle füreinander, woraufhin sich über hundert Seiten lang nichts mehr entwickelte, nur damit die beiden mit einem großen Sprung den nächsten Schritt in ihrer Beziehung taten.
Größtenteils positiv hervorheben möchte ich allerdings die Diversität in diesem Buch. Es gibt eine große Vielzahl an queeren Charakteren und die meisten wurden gut beschrieben. Nur was die beiden Charaktere anging, die im aroace Spektrum waren, hätte ich mir hier eine weniger problematische Darstellung gewünscht. Während der eine Charakter dieses Spektrums ein beinahe cartoonhafter Bösewicht war, sorgte der andere Charakter für eine traumatische Erfahrung bei einer der Protagonistinnen und dies wurde in Bezug dazu gesetzt, dass dieser Charakter aromantisch war. Für die Geschichte hätte dies wirklich nicht sein müssen.
Fazit:
Trotz einiger sehr positiver Elemente, wie etwa viel Queerness und zwei tollen Protagonistinnen, schaffte es „The Red Scholar’s Wake“ nicht, mich zu überzeugen. Die Welt blieb für mich bis zuletzt eher blass und die Beziehung der Protagonistinnen war nicht überzeugend geschrieben.
May 4, 2023
This book is as deep as a puddle and thats being generous.
The characters all feel very two dimensional. We don’t get enough of time for any of them to feel like a real person and even less time to make me understand their actions and feelings.
The romance is dubious as well. our mc being kidnapped and li basically using her as a rebound made for an uncomfortable start and unbelievable romance. The insta attraction/love made it even worse. We get a kiss very early on and a confession one month in. ( and don’t get me started on how she felt the kiss tingle her womb )
The writing is very flat and it reads more like a non-native speaker attempt at a fanfiction. Many of the dialogues are messy, the descriptions of places are muddy and too vauge and its weirdly jumpy. It also repeated sentences like “outnumbered, outgunned” multiple times and it annoyed me personally.
I dislikes how many characters got described. I think more detailed and less repetitive ones would have worked so much better. They keep dragging attention to everyone wearing topknots and peoples long hair and by the 3rd time a character is decribes by a physical trait i kind of want a reason for it.
The only thing I did like was the world building on a very conceptual level. I love the idea of mindships, bots and overlays. I adore it all looking like Vietnamese building and clothes. But in the end that wasn’t enough to make a bad book good. ( but it did give it an extra star from me )
I will not give this author an extra chance and i will not recommend this book to anyone.
The characters all feel very two dimensional. We don’t get enough of time for any of them to feel like a real person and even less time to make me understand their actions and feelings.
The romance is dubious as well. our mc being kidnapped and li basically using her as a rebound made for an uncomfortable start and unbelievable romance. The insta attraction/love made it even worse. We get a kiss very early on and a confession one month in. ( and don’t get me started on how she felt the kiss tingle her womb )
The writing is very flat and it reads more like a non-native speaker attempt at a fanfiction. Many of the dialogues are messy, the descriptions of places are muddy and too vauge and its weirdly jumpy. It also repeated sentences like “outnumbered, outgunned” multiple times and it annoyed me personally.
I dislikes how many characters got described. I think more detailed and less repetitive ones would have worked so much better. They keep dragging attention to everyone wearing topknots and peoples long hair and by the 3rd time a character is decribes by a physical trait i kind of want a reason for it.
The only thing I did like was the world building on a very conceptual level. I love the idea of mindships, bots and overlays. I adore it all looking like Vietnamese building and clothes. But in the end that wasn’t enough to make a bad book good. ( but it did give it an extra star from me )
I will not give this author an extra chance and i will not recommend this book to anyone.
November 11, 2023
Yes, I absolutely love this book. It's everything I'd expect from an Aliette de Bodard tale, and then so much more. The two principal character, Xich Si and Rice Fish, work remarkably well together, and the flow of the narrative is, as far as I'm concerned, damned near perfect. In fact, the only problem I have with The Red Scholar's Wake is that it isn't longer. I want more, dammit!
If you're looking for a heavily character-driven SF sapphic romance, then this is definitely the book for you. For me, it definitely deserves all five of those stars I've given it.
If you're looking for a heavily character-driven SF sapphic romance, then this is definitely the book for you. For me, it definitely deserves all five of those stars I've given it.
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