Anne McCaffrey - The ship who sang / Partner-ship / The city who fought / ...

Book Review

I never know what to think of Anne McAffrey. She has an easy going writing style, and I like her characters and ideas, but I feel some of the stories are simply not challenging enough, and with that I mean it is almost like the author isn't challenging herself.

Still, The ship who sang is a scifi classic.

 
Brains & Brawns

McCaffrey's 'living ship' or 'brainship' or 'brains and brawns' universe is interesting and the concept has been used by many other authors (I don't think brains in a tin-can should be her exclusive property, but credit where credit is due). There are a number of books in this setting, but (unfortunately) not all of them achieve the same level...


Titles

• The ship who sang
• Partner-ship - with Margaret Ball
• The ship who searched - with Mercedes Lackey
• The city who fought - with S.M. Stirling
• The ship who won - with Jody Lynn Nye

There are actually two more titles in this series, but they were not written by Anne McCafrrey:

• The ship errant - by Jody Lynn Nye
• The ship avenged - by S.M. Stirling

The ship who sang

Starting point, and a 'classic'. As the book is more or less a short stories collection with an additional chapter, you might have run into some of these (shorter) stories in other anthologies.

Concept: the brains of (some) people who can't survive are transplanted into space ships. It sounds horrendous at a glance, but it's executed fairly well. Live as a 'brainship' might be preferable over a life of paralysis or death...

Keep in mind that the very first story dates back to 1969, so parts of it are pretty dated.

Partner-ship

Steer clear of Partner-ship by Anne McCaffrey and Margaret Ball. It doesn't add anything to the 'brainship' universe and the plot is very, very weak.


The ship who searched

I've never read this one. Hmmm, time to add it to my to read list...


The city who fought

This one is (if only a bit) better. Nevertheless, after reading several books by McCaffrey I would like to see one without rape being a major plot element.


The ship who won

Okay. Ish.


The ship errant

Sequel to The ship who won. I might have read it, but if so it didn't leave a lasting impression.


The ship avenged

Another one I should read, I guess. The description looks interesting, so this one I might have to start looking for...

The Verdict

In spite of not having read all the books in this series - and regardless if you ever will read them - you should at least read the very first one. It's simply a classic, in spite of the horrid cover of the first edition 😎

Dapper / TellTales! #3