Listen, I’m a simple person. I hear “lesbian space pirates” and I go “hell yeah.” There is a lot of good stuff in this book: it’s a compelling space opera with interesting characters, immersive worldbuilding, and beautiful writing. I was fascinated by the politics and the world, and I thought the characterization was really well done!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t as convinced by the central romance of the book; while I really enjoyed both of the love interests as characters, but a lot of the romance elements felt either rushed or underdeveloped, and in general I wanted a little more depth to the relationship. Overall enjoyed, though, and I’ll certainly look for more work from de Bodard in the future.

Thanks so much to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC!

This was the first Xuya book I read. The Vietnamese-inspired 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.

a sapphic romance between a pirate's captive and an AI ship um yes please. As always Aliette de Bodard's writing is gorgeous, the atmosphere and world she created is vivid and beautiful. I enjoyed the politics of this especially how Xích Si comes to understand and influence them. I wish there had been more time developing the relationship between Xích Si and Rice Fish, this was a relatively short novel and sometimes felt like there were scenes missing. I did really enjoy Rice Fish's back story as she deconstructed what was an important but perhaps not healthy past relationship, and Xích Si's motivations as a mother were lovely to see. Overall it was enjoyable and look forward to reading more from Ailette de Bodard.

A powerful, enchanting space romp! Delightful characters, sparkling prose, and a compelling plot that’s easy to get swept away in — a delicious combo that I consumed in one long gulp. I’m hopeful we’ll see this expand into a series.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Who doesn't love som lesbian space pirates right? There are so many amazing things happening in this book which kept me interested and wanting to continue reading. Some of the concepts where a bit hard to grasp but I enjoyed it overal!

The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

I was not a fan of Aliette de Bodard before reading this book. I had previously read The Tea Master and the Detective when it was nominated for the Hugo Award and found it did not make an impression on me. But then I heard a lot of buzz about this book, and so I figured those people might know something I don’t, so I requested an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I later saw the book on some best of lists and I was like, I really have to get to this one. So I read it.

I don’t know exactly why, but this book did NOT work for me. It was a slog from start to finish. I disliked all of the characters, except the Censor, who I believe I was supposed to dislike. This book was billed as a pirate romance novel between a woman and a mindship. I guess it was that? But in the worst possible way. The protagonist is effectively captured and forced into marriage with the mindship, in a way that if the mindship was a corporeal man would feel very rapey. The mindship is a pirate who doesn’t seem to see anything wrong with rape, theft, and murder, and is completely unsympathetic, although I don’t think she’s supposed to come off that way. The protagonist is supposed to be sympathetic- her partner is dead, her child is left alone on a planet with friends! But there is no emotional core to her abandonment of her child, and she goes out drinking and partying pretty quickly once they get to a pirate space station. She does nothing to try to reconnect to her daughter and gives up very quickly. Then, when she find out her daughter is going to be sold into slavery she decides to go get her, and the author breezes past the child sex trafficking going on so quickly that I had whiplash.

None of the characters feel real or lifelike, the sex scenes felt needlessly graphic and also out of character, and the spouses calling each other things like “little sis” came off as creepy instead of affectionate. I regret the time I spent reading this book.

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.

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'm always excited to see more LGBTQ+ speculative fiction, particularly books featuring sapphic relationships, so I was very excited for this premise. Sapphic pirates in space is a great premise. I think it's important to know that this book focuses more heavily on the romance piece of the book than the "space opera" description might suggest. This isn't a bad thing, just worth knowing.

While I enjoyed this book, I think the characters were a bit underdeveloped, and I would have liked to see a bit more worldbuilding.

DNF - I don't know what it is about this book, because I have really enjoyed Aliette do Bodard's writing in the past, but I'm just really struggling to get into it. I have restarted it 3 times and it just isn't sticking. Perhaps I'll come back to it in the future, but for now, I'm going to have to put this one down.

This book is vibrant, imaginative and wildly creative. Lesbian space pirates FTW. There are a lot of really spectacular things in this book, but i did find it a little hard to grasp some of the concepts. Overall, a good read

Prior to reading this book I would highly recommend going to the author’s website for more background on the Xuya Universe, because there’s not much world building in the book. A simplified version is that the universe is based on traditional (i.e. pre-colonial) Vietnamese culture. So the book reads a lot like historical fiction, with Vietnamese characters…in space. It’s an interesting mix. I think it’s more historical sci-fi heavy, with a romance subplot, which I really enjoyed. I have to say that the one sex scene is hands down the weirdest one I’ve ever read (and I read monster and alien smut, so…). Barring that, it’s a really rich atmosphere and well done.

Thank you to NetGalley for this advance reader copy. All opinions are my own.

This book is absolutely incredible. I loved the interweaving of Vietnamese culture, and that it felt so different from a Western sci-fi. I've read a few of the authors novels set in this universe, and I will read a hundred more. More Asian sci-fi please!! Even though there are pirates and spaceships and it sounds very action-y from the synopsis, this is really a character driven novel all about love in different forms. And that's what we all want isn't it? Anyway I hope more people read this and love it too.

The last thing Xich Si exuded when she was captured by a group of pirates was for their infamous leader the mindship, Rice Fish to offer to marry her as a solution to both of their problems. Xich Si finds this new world full of turmoil and a relationship more complex than she expected.

I loved what this story had to say about motherhood and the complex relationships parents and their adult children can have. I also loved all the space piracy. It's a great read, and I want to read more of the Xuya Universe now.

This is the latest entry from de Bodard’s Xuya Universe. For those who are not familiar with it, Xuya is set in the far future where humanity is dominated by two empires, one of Chinese inspiration, the other Vietnamese (de Bodard herself is French-Vietnamese). The assorted novellas and short stories of Xuya do not form a continuous narrative; it’s similar to Discworld in this regard.

There are two things in particular a reader should be aware of before diving into Xuya. One is the concept of “mindships.” These are starships with a sentient core; they are treated as people, with the same rights as any human. They usually have human-appearing avatars made up of some combination of holograms and nanobots, which let them interact freely on the human scale, but they are starships nevertheless. The other thing to know is that these books are very Vietnamese. De Bodard makes no real effort to adjust the story or the way she tells it for Western audiences; she wants to tell a Vietnamese story, and that’s exactly what she does. The main area where this made me stumble a bit was in how characters address each other. They refer to each other as “elder aunt,” “younger aunt,” “big sis,” and “little sis” depending on relative standing and the closeness of the relationship. A child might refer to their mother as “elder aunt” in a formal business meeting, for one example. (And, on one occasion, an adult is referred to as “child” in a deliberate power move.) For two married characters to refer to each other as “big sis” and “little sis” took a little mental adjustment.

The premise of this story is that the scavenger/salvager Xích Si has been captured and enslaved (“indentured”) by pirates. In her home empire, it’s assumed that anyone indentured by pirates will have committed acts of piracy themselves, which carries a death sentence, so she knows she cannot go home. This means abandoning her young daughter, but she takes comfort that she left her daughter in the care of trusted friends.

The story begins when Xích Si is approached by the mindship Rice Fish with an offer of marriage. This would be a transactional marriage of mutual benefit. Rice Fish is recently widowed; she had been married to the Red Scholar, leader of the Red Banner of pirates, who was killed in an ambush by Imperial forces. Rice Fish suspects foul play, and would gain Xích Si’s impressive technical skills in her investigation. Xích Si would gain protection; no pirate would harm the wife of the Red Consort. She agrees.

The story with the intrigues behind the Red Scholar’s death wasn’t that interesting to me. Lots of interplay between assorted pirate factions, lots of subtle social maneuvering. It was perfectly good, but nothing particularly exciting.

Where the book shown was in two areas. First was the relationship between Xích Si and Rice Fish. Unsurprisingly, the two catch feelings for each other. Unsurprisingly (because otherwise the book would be dull) there are reasons that keep them from immediately embarking on a real relationship. Frustratingly *bad* reasons that made me want to lock the two of them in a room together until they figured things out. (I haven’t quite worked out how I would manage this when the one literally lives and has her bedroom inside the other). It’s got a serious romance plot line, in other words, and it was wonderful.

The other area where this book shines is that it seriously addresses the human cost of piracy. Piracy is very romanticized; very few books (SF/F or otherwise) really get into the human cost of piracy. Things like livelihoods and lives lost are glossed over; captured people being sold into slavery is certainly not something that happens in *Red Seas Under Red Skies*. This book tackles it head-on, and does so very well.

Overall, I enjoyed this book a lot. I expected to, because I’ve been a de Bodard fan for years, but it really worked for me. I don’t necessarily expect it would work for everyone, and I don’t think it’s really the best intro to de Bodard’s style (try *In the Vanishers’ Palace* or *The House of Shattered Wings* if you’ve never read her before). But I really enjoyed this.

I've loved Aliette de Bodard's Xuya Universe series for a while now so I was super excited when she announced she was writing a romantic sapphic space opera set in it! I was just excited for a new Xuya book but Y'all! She wrote a book about lesbian space pirates that features a romance between a scavenger bot engineer and a sentient space ship who also happens to be the leader of a band of space pirates.

Y'all. I need Aliette de Bodard to write more space opera romances! The romance in this was a slow burn filled with a lot of will they or won't they and so much sexual tension. I may have squealed when Rice Fish and Xích Si started to get together. Aside from the romance, this book was full of political intrigue, found family, family drama, grief, and lots of queerness. It was also about learning to be brave and how to dream bigger than your circumstances have dictated while finding your place in the universe. It was soft, romantic and I wanted more of this world when I finished.

My only complaint is I needed more space battles to go along with the political intrigue. I loved the Vietnamese-inspired world building and how beautiful and imaginative de Bodard's writing is. I will say that the world might be a bit confusing at the first if you go into this without having ever read any of this author's other work. One thing I have adored about this world is the sentient space ships and how they are portrayed. I love that they have avatars and bots and can interact with the world! They have feelings and hopes and dreams and I just love them so much!

I was so excited to see the announcement at the end of the book that there is going to be a sequel/companion novel for this book and its going to be another romance set in the Xuya Universe! I hope it comes out this next year because my hands are itching to get a hold of it!

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this title, in exchange for this honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. Aliette de Bodard manages to outshine plenty of other books in this genre in terms of characters and worldbuilding, in much fewer pages. Whilst this is an incredibly impressive feat, it is also my only issue with it. The book felt a bit too short and I would have loved for this to use just a few more pages to unfold for certain plot points to really hit their marks, as some scenes parts felt too fast paced for my tastes and could have done well with some slower pacing for a chance to breathe and absorb everything that happens.

This review will be up on my Instagram, @kratist0, sometime between now and early next year.

Ahoy there mateys! Lesbian space pirates is what I was told.  And I love this author's Universe of Xuya.  This one did not work for me.  I knew it was going to be more romance based but it featured both insta-lust and an arranged marriage that made no sense.  So the tone of the book fell flat from the beginning.  However, I kept hoping that the plot or characters would win me over.  Not enough pirates and way too much angst.  All that angst could have been resolved with a single conversation.  Ended up jumping ship at 26%.  Wish there was more pirates.  Arrr!

I've read quite abit of de Bodard's works over the years, but I think I can safely say that this is my favourite so far!

It follows Xích Si, a botmaker that has been taken hostage by space pirates. This is obviously a bad situation, so when Rice Fish, the leader of one of the pirate fleets, offers her a way out through marrying her, Xích has little choice but to accept her proposition.
What follows is a story that focuses both on political intrigue and drama, but that is also focused on the two main characters.
I especially enjoyed the themes of motherhood and wanting different kinds of love from the people in your life - I do kind of wish this had gone more in depth, as everything felt abit surface level to me, but in the end I enjoyed myself.
I struggled with getting a sense of the time here though - it all felt very rushed, but then I had the impression a few months had gone by. I think this is why I failed to connect to all of the characters in the story, and the romance felt too quick to me. I do tend to prefer slow burns though so this might just be a taste thing.
Either way, a fun book! Highly recommend

Glorious! Magnificent! A Fantastic Adventure to behold! Definitely a space adventure I didn't quite realized I wanted before but finally have now.