Book 63 - Anne McCaffrey "The Ship Who Sang"

[jazzy_dave]

Anne McCaffrey "The Ship Who Sang" (Corgi)





This was such typical Anne McCaffrey, that it made me smile. The ship who sang is about a BB ship, or a brain-brawn ship. Helva is severely misformed when she's born. Therefore, her growth is inhibited and placed in a so-called shell, sort of a machine that she can control with her mind. Eventually, her brain is connected to a spaceship. She carries out missions together with her human partner, the brawn.
The setup of this book is slightly strange: it consists of 6 chapters that feel like short stories, although they are not self-reliant enough to actually be short stories. Each story is mostly about Helva's relationship with her brawn (when she has one) or other people aboard, against the background of strange and fantastical worlds.
I rather like McCaffrey's writing style, and although the stories are not brilliant, they are entertaining. Perhaps most importantly, Helva is a dear.

Comments

[grondfic]

McCaffrey's worlds are always a little bit ... I dunno .... regimented? paternalistic? She tells a lively tale though. There's a short story somewhere in a later collection that 'completes' Helva's plot-arc (in a totally predictable way, if I may offer a spoiler-less opinion).