The Ship Avenged

In this authorized sequel to McCaffrey & Stirling's "The City Who Fought," it's 10 years since the barbarian spacegoing raiders the Kolnari captured Space Station SSS-900-C and were sent scurrying with tails between legs by Simeon, the Brain that runs it, and Joat, the 11-year-old technodemon who lurked in its conduits. In gratitude, Simeon and his Brawn, Stationmaster Channa Hap, adopted Joat and saw that she received an education. Now Joat is out on her own, a dropout from Brawn school with a small ship called "WYAL" (for While You Ain't Lookin') and her very own AI, Rand, who, while not a Brain, functions almost as well as one. Unfortunately the Kolnari have neither forgotten nor forgiven their defeat, and their warlord, Belazir t'Marid, has succeeded in acquiring a virus that attacks the cognitive centers of the brain and, in effect, brings on a kind of artificial Alzheimer's Disease. To spread it, he must create a human carrier, then return that carrier to his own planet and wait for the virus to do its work. The carrier he selects is Amos bin Sierra Nueva, Prophet and leader of the religiously-oriented colony world of Bethel, which played a major role in the Kolnari defeat a decade before. So that Amos can't warn his people of his state, Belazir injects him with a paralyzing agent and advertises, through his underground contacts, for a free ship to carry his "package" home. The "WYAL"--which, unknown to Belazir, has been hired by Central Worlds master spy Bros Sperin to look into the man Belazir uses as a contact and fence--responds, and in short order the fate of Bethel, Station Simeon, and much of the civilized Galaxy hangs on Joat, Rand, Sperin, a Sondee scientist named Seg !T'sel, Joat's one crewmember Alvec, and Amos's close friend and head of security, Joseph. Anyone who liked Han Solo should be pleased to make the acquaintance of the adult Joat, who is just as shifty and morally ambiguous as the world's most famous Corellian and even better with techie toys. And the Kolnari, like the Imperials who were Solo's bugaboo, are a race of villains you love to hate--utterly evil, yet in a way comprehensible. Seg the Sondee--a romantic with James-Bondworthy dreams of the glamor of espionage, "working on an opera in his spare time" (as practically every Sondee is), and a highly skilled medic and computerman--is another great original character. Though the romantic attraction between Bros and Joat seems rather forced, the story itself is convoluted and fast-moving, with lots of military throwaway such as might be expected from Stirling. A good entry into the Brain & Brawn series.

Oh, cease your idiotic propagandized drivel, you people who have no understanding of a well-written novel. So what if S.M. Stirling can't write a convincing romance? The rest of the book is good. The plot is interesting, and the end is maybe a little sappy, but that's just becaues Stirling can't write romance. Big deal. The book is good and carries you along with it. The Kolnari are well represented, the characters are well-developed, and overall the book is well-written, except for Stirling's attempt at romance. That's no big deal, even romance writers can't write good romance. People still read those idiotic excuses for books, and those don't have any redeeming virtues.

I have read all of the 'ship' series.I do believe that this book wraps up a lot of loose ends from The City Who Fought.

You gotta read the brainship series. They are all entertaining. Stirling tones down the evil mutants and shows the potential for some reconciliation. Still some nasty folks to contend with but off set by a new alien and a likable AI. Joat could be a good focus point for some entertaining tales digressing from the brainships. Her confrontation with her personal devil is skewed enough to be reasonable. No skull sweat but recreational reading doesn't have to be demanding, read it if you read the rest, you'll be sorry if you miss it.

Twenty years old Joat Simeon-Hap is a commercial ship owner, noted for taking on strange tasks. Her latest client, Central Worlds Security, allows Joat the opportunity to enact revenge on two individuals from her past. The techno demon initially goes after the War lord of Kolnar. She needs to get even with the villain who viciously tried to destroy her home station and who has captured her adopted parent's lover. The second vengeful quest is even more personal in nature. During a card game, her uncle used her as part of his ante. When he lost, she was part of the pot that some of the playing perverts were able to claim. What Joat is unaware of is that the Kolnari have selected her as the carrier of their bio-chemical weapon that will change one-hundred trillion (much greater than the national debt) individuals from sentient beings into zombies. THE SHIP AVENGED is a very good science fiction novel that diehard fans of the Anne McCaffrey "Ship" series will enjoy. For everyone else, the novel falls short because the reader does not feel any empathy towards the lead players (strange as that seems because readers do feel an attachment to them in previous novels). Apart from the diehards, everyone else who has read the "Ship" books should pass this book in favor of returning to the earlier McCaffrey "Ship" books. However, readers unfamiliar with a "Ship" novel should try it because they will not have any preconceived expectations. Not everyone is McCaffrey and this is a good book written by a gifted writer. Harriet Klausner ------