Although sometimes a challenging read, Navigational Entanglements rewards the reader's persistence.

A deadly Tangler has escaped the Hollows. Four misfits, one from each clan, are brought together to deal with the situation. And then their leader, an imperial envoy, is murdered, leaving the four to both solve the murder and deal with the Tangler.

Each misfit is a very complicated, fully realized character, navigating a complex political situation. This is not a clean story of heroes vs villains, and it's more interesting because of it.

Perfect stories for those who like their space opera complicated and queer.

A tender, unexpected romance between two intense and honorable young warriors lightens this layered sci-fi. Full of political shenanigans and manipulation, the complexity of the story kept me reading and the personalities developed richly.

This was an interesting read! I really dug the martial-arts-in-space elements, the combo of the energy-based Shadows that the navigators use with the hard sf elements of space travel and alien jellyfish and portals between dimensions of space is really fun. There's a little bit of mystery, some inter-clan political drama, and that lovely high of strangers coming together, coming to care about each other, and uniting for a greater cause.

The characters were all individually very charming to me! Frank and determined Nhi, sharp Hạc Cúc, prickly Lành, and science-minded Bảo Duy each had their own foibles and appealing features, I had a really clear sense of each of them, and I enjoyed the interplay between them all most of the time. I had a little trouble with the romantic storyline between Nhi and Hạc Cúc unfortunately; maybe I'm too aro for it, but their attraction and the strength of their feelings seemed to come out of nowhere. I almost wish this had been a longer book, and they'd had time to really build that relationship from the antagonistic beginning to the tender ending with a more believable progression along the way! But they do get to have some lovely bonding scenes, trying to navigate Hạc Cúc's self-loathing and Nhi's struggles with touch and light and other overwhelming sensitivities (I have the sense that Nhi is autistic, and her POV was lovely to see in a romance in spite of my issues with how that romance developed).

Overall, this was a fun read; the threat of the tangler felt real, and the thrill of defying power to do the right thing hit solidly right at the end.

edit: Raised from 3 stars to 4 stars after consideration. I loved the characters and setting enough that I'd really be more a 3.5/3.75 and would round up.

This novella had some serious strengths. I’ve never read de Bodard’s work, but I can tell from this novella that she has a serious talent for character building and worldbuilding.

I loved all four of the Navigator characters; each brought different strengths to their mission to stop the alien Tangler, but each also had weaknesses and character traits that added depth and interest. Båo Duy’s hyperfixation on Tanglers balanced well against Lành’s past trauma with them, for example. Việt Nhi, who the author has confirmed as autistic, offers an excellent portrayal of neurodiversity.

I also loved the worldbuilding that was provided, though I wish there had been more, which I’ll talk more about in a bit.

Unfortunately, I felt the novella suffered from a couple of weaknesses. First, Nhi and Hạc Cúc get much more focus than the other two Navigators – and a lot of that focus is romance. I wanted more focus on Duy’s experiments and Lành’s past and connection to the Tanglers. Lành in particular was the character I wanted to know more about, and I was disappointed in that regard.

I also found the pacing was off for me. The novella tries to balance mystery, sci-fi, and romance, but it does so unevenly. I was super invested in the murder mystery but it wasn’t really investigated much or as important to the plot as I thought t would be. I also thought there was too much romance and not enough sci-fi, for example. The universe, Shadows, Clans, and even two other Navigators were all aspects I wanted to know more about, but those are not explored as much as the internal emotions of Nhi and Cúc. Likewise,

I think others may be more okay with the balance of romance and sci-fi here, and I think if the premise sounds interesting to you, you should give it a read. I still really dug the characters and what worldbuilding was present, and I think it’s worth a read.

I'd read de Bodard's previous book and really enjoyed it, so I was glad to check this one out! It had the fun worldbuilding and great character work I have come to expect from this author.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Tor for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Why is it so short?

Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard is a science fiction novel that combines martial arts and space travel. Jockeying navigator clans guide spaceships through the Hollows: an area of space populated by the mysterious but deadly creatures known as Tanglers. When a Tangler escapes the Hollows for the first time in living memory, each clan must send a representative to help capture it—but the mission may be doomed and the hearts of two clan juniors may be in danger too. Việt Nhi is not good with people. Or politics. Which is a problem when the Rooster clan sends her on the mission against her will, forcing her to work with an ill-matched group of squabbling teammates from rival clans, including one who she can’t avoid, and maybe doesn’t want to. Hạc Cúc of the Snake clan has always been better at poisoning and stabbing than at making friends, but she’s drawn to Nhi’s perceptiveness and obliviousness to social conventions—including the ones that really should make Nhi think twice about spending time with her. But when their imperial envoy and nominal leader is poisoned, this crew of expendable apprentices will have to learn to work together—fast—before the invisible Tangler can wreak havoc on a civilian city and destroy the fragile reputation of the clans. Along the way, Nhi and Hạc Cúc will have to learn the hardest lesson of all: to see past their own misconceptions and learn to trust their growing feelings for each other.

The huge downside of this book was that it was too small. Which did not let it have enough breathing room to fully be digested or comprehended. Hence, I didn't understand most of it. I just wish it was a bit longer.

Nhi didn’t like Ly Châu. She was overbearing and controlling, and she enjoyed bossing Nhi and her friends around far too much. The four juniors might have quarreled about many things, but they all agreed Ly Châu was a terrible person, and they couldn’t wait for the mission to be over so they could be rid of Ly Châu. It was, therefore, both terribly appropriate and terribly unfortunate when they found that Ly Châu lying on the bed, dead.

Viet Nhi is a junior in the Rooster Clan, an unusual junior who doesn’t quite fit the Rooster image of loud, brash, and confident. Instead, she is easily overstimulated by the riot of colors her clan prefers, the noise and heightened emotions, and prefers to neither touch nor be touched. She is, in her own way, almost brilliant, and is among those favored enough by Elder Lieu to be chosen to dance attendance upon the member of Dog Clan, Ly Châu, as she hunts down a rogue tangler that has made it into the real world.

Tanglers are … well, imagine giant squid monsters who live in the depths of the void beyond the stars. Tentacles, stingers, endless appetite, and then make them much, much larger. In order to travel from planet to planet, humans enter the Hollow, the world of the tanglers, and with the aid of the Navigation Clans, hope that their navigator’s Shadow is strong enough to protect them from the monsters. In the Hollows there isn’t much to eat; in the real world, there are planets for the tanglers to devour, planets that hold billions of innocent lives. Of course Nhi has to go. Unfortunately, she won’t be alone. Representing the other three Navigational Clans are Bao Duy of the Rat, Lành of Ox, and Hac Cúc from Snake. All of them are young, untested, and odd in their own ways. Nhi with her secrets, Hac Cúc with her temper, Bao Duy with her curiosity, and Lành, the sole survivor of a ship taken by tanglers. These four are all that stands between a planet and devastation. They barely agree on anything, they have no idea what they’re doing, and if Lành and Hac Cúc don’t kill each other, the tangler will be more than happy to eat them.

This story draws heavily from Vietnamese elements, which adds a wonderful and unique flavor to Nhi’s world. It also has four characters who have unique views on the world and have, I believe, neurodivergant traits. Nhi is easily overwhelmed by too much color, noise and touch; she has to run and cloak herself in her Shadow, which she uses as a weighted blanket, to give herself comfort and stability. She collects secrets, constantly nibbling and worrying at things until facts fall into order, and with her blunt way of speaking, often gives unintentional offense, which causes her to retreat even more, and feel more isolated.

Hac Cúc needs control; she finds orders and rules easier to understand than random events and has put all of her trust into her teacher, so much so that his admission of humanity and mortal frailty almost upsets her entire world view. Hac Cúc is prone to lashing out, to push others away when she feels the world spiral out of control. Hac Cúc’s passion, commitment, quick mind, and decisiveness are part of what draws Nhi’s interest. There’s physical attraction, yes, but also the attraction of a kindred spirit, of someone else who — on seeing a problem — looks to correct it, to control the chaos; someone who understands Nhi’s cries for help when she is surrounded by too much. For Hac Cúc, Nhi allows her to be human, to be flawed, and to be a hero, something she really hasn’t ever felt, especially compared to her teacher.

Bao Duy doesn’t understand social cues, and isn’t necessarily interested in them. The world, though, how it works and why. What is a tangler and how to control it, how to kill it, that’s worth knowing. How ships work, how the Hollows work, how magic works, her curiosity it endless. It’s led to deaths, to pain, and to a tangler getting loose in the world, but Bao Duy is certain she can figure it out if she only had the time. Not that anyone seems inclined to give her anything, at the moment, other than a reprimand, which causes her to isolate more and more.

Lành survived what should have been unsurvivable. It left her mind and her Shadow — the expression or her self and her magic — unstable, different. She’s sensitive to it, and lashes out when people, like Hac Cúc, mock her or poke at her, which only makes them more certain she’s tainted, corrupt, and unsafe. Lành has to face that terror of being entangled again when facing the tangler, to face her deepest fears when all she wants to do is run and keep running.

They are four young women who shouldn’t be there, with no one to protect them or guide them, who have never worked together, and who certainly don’t see eye-to-eye in anything. They are all that stands between an entire planet and death. And even they are pretty certain the tangler is going to win.

The author has an effortless style, and the book was so easy to read. I could have kept going for a few hundred more pages, easily. (And if there are sequels to this book, I’ll be more than happy to grab them.) The world building gives just enough to support the story without bogging things down with exposition, and the tanglers are effectively written to be quite horrifying. The characters are so very well drawn and so very human, and I really enjoyed how each one was given their moment both to fall … and then to rise again. The climax gave each of them a moment to shine, to show what they were capable of, and to show how well they work together. Just beautiful.

This is a ride of a book and I loved every second of it. Please read this story if you’re interested in science fiction with a dash of fantasy, if you’re interested in politics and magic powers, monsters and heroic last stands, and very human love between two people who deserve every happy ending.

[Note from Jay: Please excuse the lack of proper accents on some of these names, as they didn’t carry over correctly through WordPress to publish online.]

Navigational Entanglements is undeniably unique, as I’ve read a fair amount of space operas but none in which navigators guide ships using power generated from their own life force. On the page, however, I found this premise underwhelming. It seems ambitious and well-integrated into the worldbuilding, but the novella length serves as a hindrance rather than a boon. Glimpses of clan hierarchies and distinct characteristics were not enough to dispel their murkiness. I especially wanted to learn more about the non-navigators of this world and their connections with the clans, beliefs about the Tanglers, attitudes toward their lack of Shadows, and more.

The novella delivers more satisfyingly regarding the ragtag crew of junior navigators sent to deal with the problem. I liked the snippets of their individual pasts, as I found the clans easier to associate with individuals rather than their greater entities, and I liked that their merits were weighted equally with their misdeeds. With neurodivergent Việt Nhi as the primary third-person narrator, the language is sharp and impassioned. Trust, danger, and self-determination are frequently called into question, making the plot an array of morally ambiguous choices and interpersonal challenges.

Aliette de Bodard writes far future adventures where ancient Chinese culture predominates. The navigator guilds move ships through the Hollows from star to star and they keep the ships safe from the monstrous Tanglers. When one of the monsters escapes into real space, To capture it, guild navigators from different clans,Việt Nhi, Hạc Cúc, Lành, and Bẩo Duy, are brought together to work under an imperial Envoy. Then the Envoy is poisoned and the four strangers have to work together to capture the beast. Then someone lets it out and heads toward a major civilization center. This tale of Navigational Entanglements (hard from Tordotcom) is a gem of a work and easily one of the better tales from an award winning author.

Aliette de Bodard is writing some of the most out-there SF these days, AND she adds in a little romance. In Navigational Entanglements, "The Clans," groups of space navigators who hold a near-monopoly on traveling through "The Hollows," have somehow let a creature back into our space. They've chosen four of their least-qualified juniors to deal with it, and the four succeed, against all odds. But why are the odds stacked against them?

There are plenty of politics plus a nice sapphic romance in this one. Expect De Bodard's trademark Sino-Vietnamese influenced far-future, but with some new twists: she doesn't set this in the Xuya Universe this time, so even one of her experienced readers will have some new world building to contend with. This means that this is a great place to start if you've been wanting to try out one of her books!

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novella.

Ahoy there me mateys! This is a novella set in a new world outside of the Xuya universe and has xianxia-style marital arts.  There are five Clans - Rat, Snake, Rooster, Dog, and Ox.  The clans are responsible for navigating ships through the Hollows, another dimension with deadly monsters called Tanglers.  Problems arise when a Tangler escapes on the Clan side of the barrier.  It is invisible to non-Clan members.  A junior member from each of the clans is sent to find and trap it before it can kill.

The four junior members are all misfits of their various clans.  Việt Nhi is a member of the Rooster clan.  She doesn't like people or politics.  She has many characteristics of autism (though it is never specified). She finds herself inadvertently in charge of the juniors because the others all hate each other.  Hạc Cúc is an assassin of the Snake clan.  She is cruel and a rule-abiding perfectionist.  Lành, the Ox, is the only survivor of a Tangler crash.  She is abrasive, fearful, and a bit odd.  Bảo Duy is a Rat scientist whose curiosity can be dangerous for herself and others.  Nobody likes the Dog envoy of the Empire that is technically in charge, until she is murdered that is.

I really enjoyed this novella.  I was rooting for Nhi.  Sadly, the murder mystery doesn't play a very large role in the novella.  What does is the budding romantic relationship between Việt Nhi and Hạc Cúc.  I would have preferred no relationship and a lot more world building.  The use of the xianxia Shadow magic was cool and I wish we had more of that too.  The political machinations were light.  More insight into the Clans daily lives and rules would have been nice.

The novella is short at 176 pages.  I felt that the story was a nice introduction to the world.  I wouldn't mind another story about where the four juniors end up.  I wouldn't mind more books set in this world in general.  Many who read these may be unsatisfied with the small glimpses of everything.  I do think this could have been fleshed out into a novel.  But as a fan of the writer, I will read whatever else we get of the Clans or Việt Nhi.  Arrr!

This was a really solid novella. I enjoyed the world-building and I thought that was a really well done aspect of the story. I liked the characters, but I definitely think that if we had more time than just the length of a novella, I would have been able to connect with them a lot more. I appreciated that the story starts immediately with little fluff, it made the story fast-paced and I was really interested in seeing where the mystery was going to go.
Overall I enjoyed this, just as I've enjoyed other stuff by this author, and I am looking forward to more from them in the future!

It’s a good novella and I enjoyed reading it but it wasn’t the best things I’ve read by this author. The world, where I’ve previously found the world building excellent, seemed a little light. I didn’t really click with any of the characters. When I read The Tea Master and The Detective getting drawn in by the characters made me want to read more by this author. It’s fine though still even if it didn’t wow me like some of the author’s other books and I intend to keep reading the author.

I like Aliette de Bodard’s ideas, but her stories often feel too dense for me to get into, and that was the case here. It was very dense and I didn’t really grasp what was going on.

Aliette de Bodard’s Navigational Entanglements is a riveting sci-fi mystery that explores political obligation and found family. Bodard wastes no time drawing the reader in with an introduction to one of the protagonists and the conflict. Their ability to craft compelling characters, no matter what kind, never fails to wow me, and Navigational Entanglements is no exception! I found myself quickly invested in the group of characters, from their troubles and eventual relationships with each other. Most sci-fi I’ve read tends to focus on the plot, so reading a more character-focused work was a fun excursion. I was also drawn in by the political intrigue and worldbuilding. My only critique of the novella is its density. While the worldbuilding was intriguing, there were times when information was presented in paragraphs that overwhelmed the moment, consequently breaking the flow of the scene. However, the concepts and imaginative elements were still easy to handle. Overall–Navigational Entanglements an exciting space opera with much to offer its readers, best explored with a cup of tea.

A short and sweet space opera with great action, worldbuilding, and mystery. Space opera and sapphic fans will love this one though I personally was hoping for more out of the xianxia style that was promised.

3.5 rounded up

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed the overall story and the characters were interesting. Each one stood out and any of them were a waste of space. The main reason this novella wasn't a 4 star is because the pacing seemed to drag on quite a bit and very slow at times.

Another thing that I liked from this novella was the queer and neurodivergent rep and that these things were normalized in this world.

Thanks to the publisher for inviting me to read this early!

This was super intricate for a novella and I thought it was done in a really cool way—unfortunately I think my brain is a little burnt out on this kind of sci-fi/fantasy so a lot of it did go over my head and I’d probably revisit it later and try to absorb more! It’s short enough though and what I did manage to take in was a lot of fun!

This was a wild and quick ride. I love what we learn in the short period of time of the book about the magic system with the shadows and with the wider world at large. A lot is told in a small amount of space but this keeps the story entertaining throughout. The four main characters, each representing a different clan that uses their shadows to safely transport people across space and protect them from Tanglers that live the unreality that they travel through, are all so unique distinguished and come into this team up with a lot of different preconceptions about each other and the world. I love how this evolves during the book. I would definitely love to see more from this world.

Navigational Entanglements was creative, unique, and at times, a bit confusing. Look, I won't pretend that I fully understood the world; I did not. It seems incredibly ambitious and well thought out, just perhaps not enough pages for the reader to fully grasp it? Which is unfortunate, but also... you do get the gist. So while I was a bit bummed that I wasn't going to understand the complexities, it also didn't really dampen the reading experience too much. Because really, I enjoyed the characters, and they seemed to be more the point, if you will.

We're told most of the story through a third person perspective of Việt Nhi. Nhi is pretty salty that she has to go on this mission that, she feels, does not exactly pull to her strengths. She's got to not only interact with and rely on other people, but people who are not from her clan. But go she must, and the story really jumps into gear when we see the lengths that Nhi and the others will have to go to. Lots of morally ambiguous choices to be made, danger, and figuring out who, if anyone, she can trust all become part of Nhi's adventure. Basically, it is worth it for Nhi's story, even though I think that more pages may have helped this one, it was still a satisfying story.

Bottom Line: Ambitious world building with some great characters made this novella a win, though I think it could have been an even bigger hit as a full length novel.