The Ship Who Won

I am a reader who likes to follow all the books in a series in order to get a good feel for the world the author is trying to create. I have just completed my second read-thru of the "Ship" series and I tend to think of this book as the weakest one. I found the story line exciting as it tries to unravel a few mysteries, but I didn't find myself as connected to the characters as I have in previous books. In other books in the series you have more insight into the feelings of the "brains" or the "brawns" or sometimes both. This books tends to be more of a description of events.I was also disappointed that both this book and "The City Who Fought" seemed to leave some loose ends that Anne McCaffery didn't follow-up on herself. The sequels were authored solely by the contributing authors and require reading if you really want to finish up those stories. For instance, if you want to find out what really happened to Carialle in this book while she was drifting in space and on the brink of insanity (which was a primary point in this book) you will have to read "The Ship Errant" by Jody Lynn Nye.

This book was good, but I was a little disapointed after reading "The Ship Who Searched". I guess it's worth more like a 4 1/2. I think I like Mercedes Lackey better, although I've never read any other books by Jody Lynne Nye. Don't pay too much attention to us critics, though.

From the same universe as Nancia (Partnership), Tia (The Ship Who Searched), Simeon (The City Who Fought), and Helva (The Ship Who Sang), comes Carialle. Because she was deformed at birth, Carialle underwent surgery and is enclosed inside a shell. As a "shellperson", Carialle is placed inside a spaceship which she controls entirely with her mind. Her and her partner (a "brawn" named Keff) then blast off on a dangerous mission to find intelligent life in the universe.She and Keff find other sentient beings on an uncharted planet, but something strange is going on. The inhabitants, who appear to be human, demonstrate awesome magical powers! Ruling over a lower caste of slaves, these people are colorful and passionate, and constantly waging magical wars with one another.Carialle and Keff discover the secrets this world holds, and find that nothing on Orza is what it appears to be. The magicians themselves don't even know the true mysteries behind their powers. A wonderful novel, I heartily recommend it.