In the Shadow of the Ship is the latest Xuya novella (a short one, it's almost novelette sized) by Aliette de Bodard. Like her other Xuya novellas, this is a stand alone tale in her distant future universe settled by Vietnamese and occasionally Chinese peoples, featuring humans living along mindships (human minds in ships), an Empire that may or may not be failing (here just surviving after a major war) and tales shaped by Vietnamese culture. It's a fascinating universe, and in this case, de Bodard tells a tale of a woman who escaped from the mindship that was her childhood hope before it ate her up (literally) and comes back upon the death of her grandmother and has to weigh the past, the future, her obligations, and more.


Plot Summary:
Khuyên never wanted to return to The Nightjar, Thirsting for Water, the mindship where she grew up. She had fled from there as a child, away from the demanding mother, and away most of all from the broken mindship that seemed to disappear the other children that were her friends. And she has forged a life for herself as a magistrate in the service of the Dragon Throne trying to help people after the war that devastated the Empire.

But duty required Khuyên to return upon her grandmother's death. Now, with the help of a mysterious woman who gives the name Thảo, Khuyên will need to deal with the horrors of her past...to ensure that there is a future.

Quick Thoughts: In the Shadow of the Ship is a short novella, but it packs a very cohesive story into its small pages. The story's heart is its protagonist Khuyên , a woman who is strongly conflicted about her place in the world: she ran away from the horrors of the Nightjar, but always feels guilty about the cousin and friend she left behind on the Nightjar and of course her mother's stern disapproval. She's conditioned to value filial piety, but her mother's emotional abuse misuses that to make her even more miserable...something that has in ways prevented her from moving forward even on the outside of the ship, where she helps an Empire that is struggling after war and hasn't picked up really anything of a personal life.

And so we have a story about Khuyên having to figure out a way to move forward, not just to be escaping from the horrors of the past but to find a way to look to the future - both for herself and for everyone around her. And this the case with personal traumas, like with Khuyên under her mother's emotional abuse, or with more global traumas, like the devastation and the participation in war, as seen from the Nightjar and secondary major character Thảo. It's an effective story, although I do think that the romantic angle between Khuyên and whom Thảo turns out to be is a little less effective than usual in de Bodard's works because of how abrupt it is and how much it depends upon physical attraction. But the story is still worth your time.

Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for the ARC.

I read one other novella set in the Xuya universe, so I knew about what to expect setting-wise. Even if this is the first one you read, it's pretty easy to get the gist of the worldbuilding. The one I read before was a Sherlock‐esque mystery, which was fun. This one incorporates more horror elements, and I am all for it. Genuinely creepy and well-paced, and really cool to see what can all be done within this shared universe.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6947607355

https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/bebfe836-1c1b-4659-8e04-637f73287e86

Check out this review of In the Shadow of the Ship (Xuya Universe) on Fable. https://fable.co/review/30ac570f-3a01-4774-99ba-cdc9623f2e9d/share

The Universe of Xuya isn’t so much a series as it is a sprawl of alternate history that extends from the early 15th century – the point where the butterfly flapped its wings differently from the history we know – all the way out to an undetermined point VERY far in the future.

It’s a vast, sprawling canvas of a universe that hinges on a single year in history (1411) where two events turned left instead of right. An internal political struggle at the Imperial court of Ming-dynasty China sent the Empire looking outward instead of in (as it did in our history) and a fleet of Imperial ships that planned to head east along the coast was struck by typhoons and found itself drifting north, across the Bering Strait to Alaska, resulting in an earlier “discovery” of North America, from Asia instead of from Europe.

And with those two almighty flaps of the butterfly’s wings, history goes down the other leg of the trousers of time (to thoroughly mix my metaphors) and results in the universe of this series, where China and eventually an independent Việt empire become the dominant influences in the world instead of the West – not that, by the time of this particular entry in the sprawl, the West hasn’t established its own hegemonies in the greater galaxy.

The past is another country, they do things differently there. And if they did things differently than what we know, the future would be an even more different country that it will be on history’s current trajectory.

But the thing about the Xuya Universe is that even though the author has a broad outline of what brought it about and some stories set in the historical past that illustrate some of the points, most of it is set in the future. The galaxy is big, the history and future history is potentially very long indeed, and there’s plenty of scope for pretty much anything to happen pretty much anywhere.

Which leads back to the Universe of Xuya being more of a sprawl than the way we usually think of ‘series’. Each story set in the Xuya Universe is intended to be standalone, and while it might link thematically with other stories, that doesn’t mean it will feature any of the same characters as previous or future entries. There’s obviously a publication order for the series, but the internal chronology is ever changing, and considerably more fluid than is usually the case.

I fell into this series, somewhere in the middle, with The Tea Master and the Detective, because it’s a Sherlock Holmes pastiche and that was an entry point that worked for me – as it usually does. (Also, Tea Master is one of the longer works in the series so it has time and space to get a new reader stuck into the world that’s already been built.) I’ve read around Xuya, but not thoroughly – at least not yet – ever since. Although I’ve just had the light dawn that several of the short stories that were in various SFF magazines are also available as podcasts and that’s an avenue to be explored.

I know I haven’t talked about this particular entry in the series yet, and that’s a bit by design as I have mixed feelings about whether this story is a good place to start. I found it fascinating but I don’t think it’s a good entry point. The author has an excellent precis of the history of Xuya, with a list of stories that give both a loose chronology and some suggestions of stories that might make good places to start on her website – so if you’re looking for an entry point or have visited Xuya and are wondering how it all fits together, take a look.

The story of In the Shadow of the Ship is deceptively small and at first seems simple. It’s the story of a young woman who left a conservative and restrictive home because she didn’t fit in. The life that was mapped out for her, even before her birth, was one she had no interest in or desire to follow. That it seemed like she never had a chance to earn her mother’s love or acceptance made it that much easier to leave the world of her birth behind.

She’s been successful, if lonely, in the intervening years. But when she learns of the death of her grandmother, duty and respect call her home. But home is not a planet, or even a station. Home is a decaying mindship, a refugee from the galactic war that destroyed so much and left so many refugees, ship-bound and planet-dwellers alike. A war that her home, her ship, her family, was on the losing side of.

A home that wants her back – even if her mother still does not.

As an adult, Khuyên has knowingly kept the secret of her family’s status from the empire she serves, even though she knows they are war criminals and that she is guilty by association – and silence. She can’t make herself turn them in, and she can’t bear losing her job and her purpose in the universe she’s made her own.

At the same time, as an adult, when she returns for the funeral, she is able to see that the ship is manipulating her and everyone around her, and that the terrible things she was told to ignore when she was a child are no longer ignorable – or honorable. And that they are wrong.

And that there is no second escape. This time, the only way out is through – no matter the cost.

Escape Rating A-: I enjoyed In the Shadow of the Ship, although it is a very shadowed story indeed and probably needs to be read with the lights on. There’s an underlying creepiness that is totally justified but isn’t revealed until past the halfway point.

Although there’s also a lovely sapphic romance that redeems that darkness – it just takes a while to get there.

That two of the characters of this story were mindships felt like the one, solid link to the Xuya Universe, at least so far as I’ve read into it. A reader who has come at this series from different angles might find more linkages, but it was fine as it was.

The story that it did remind me of, however, was the author’s “The Mausoleum’s Children”, one of this year’s Hugo nominees for Best Short Story. (BTW the award was won by “Better Living Through Algorithms” by Naomi Kritzer, which I read and loved.)

In my review of “The Mausoleum’s Children”, I said that the themes were a bit too big for the package, that it would have worked better in a longer format. Those themes; survivor’s guilt, living with trauma, returning to the place that broke you in the hopes of saving others, and more, received that longer treatment here In the Shadow of the Ship, which made me like both stories just that much better.

Amazon review, pending system approval
Youtube Review to come
Blog post goes live Oct 22

TL;DR: Another fantastic entry into this series and a creepy on to boot!
Source: NetGalley, thank you to the publisher!

Plot: Khuyên returns home and everything is very much the same but also NOT the same. So good.
Characters: These definitely added to the creep factor. I loved how they played into the story.
Setting: This mindship was low key terrifying. The setting was unsettling and I loved that.
Science Fiction/Horror: This is a great low SF, no in depth explanation but there were some horror notes and scenes that were very insidious and well done.

Thoughts:

This one is such a winner. The Xuya universe is one I’ve returned to over the years and it’s been a while since I’ve picked one up. In The Shadow of the Ship is a new one for me and I am so happy to have gotten to it, especially at this time of the year. Khuyên returns home to her family’s ship to find it much like she left it but also far worse and something sinister seems to be going on.

This hits the perfect vibe for it’s length. It’s insidious and creepy. You feel uncomfortable from the beginning and that only gets worse. We’re talking missing children, a very tense family situation, and a ship whose mind may be going or worse. Khuyên comes for a funeral but it becomes so much more as she grapples with the expectations of her family and how she’s chosen her own life, perhaps at the cost of others.

I could gush at length about these books and I think this is a great, very short, example of them. I’m excited to keep picking these up and really recommend it for fans of shorter Sci-fi or sentient ships. These really hit those spots perfectly.

5 out 5 Static Blind Spots

The rundown: Child disappearances drove Khuyên away from her home on mindship The Nightjar, Thirsting for Water when she was sixteen. Now, 4 years later, familial duty has steered her back following her grandmother’s death. Haunted by her past, and the sudden disappearance of her cousin, Khuyên must finally face her family, her fears…and Nightjar.

Am I glad I read it? I am a fan of de Bodard’s Xuya Universe (though I admittedly have only read a fraction of all she’s written in it), and I was delightfully surprised that this novella deviated from the others I’ve read in this world with its blurring of the sci-fi and horror genres. Khuyên’s fear at what she will face aboard Nightjar is gripping and chilling and dread-inducing, and I ate it up. Familiar themes in de Bodard’s work (honor; duty, particularly familial piety; complicated family dynamics as a result of all that; complicity & what we’re willing to do to survive) thus feel fresh with this new lens. (Perfect for scary season!)

While this story is a standalone, I also think de Bodard assumes some knowledge of the Xuya Universe. She doesn’t allow the story to get bogged down in world building explanations - a strength of its short novella length - but that means new-to-the-world readers may have difficulty orienting themselves.

In under 100 pages, de Bodard accomplishes a lot and does it well. Minus a few metaphorical points because the romance elements are consistently my least favorite part of de Bodard’s books, including the Xuya Romances.

Thank you to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for the advance copy! IN THE SHADOW OF THE SHIP is out now!

Rating: 👍🏼👍🏼 (really liked)

Khuyen escaped Nightjar, the sentient ship her family calls home, as a teenager, fleeing in the face of all the disappearing children. She has done well for herself becoming a magistrate, but now she has come back to Nightjar for her grandmother's funeral. The reason she once fleed is now the impetus for keeping her aboard the ship when her cousin Anh goes missing. What is truly happening to the children that are being sacrificed to the ship in exchange for safe harbor? Will Khuyen be able to solve this and find her cousin in time to save her?

I loved how much history and culture there was in this story. Based in a universe where the worlds have been rendered uninhabitable and a war has decimated populations, this story is rich in plot, mystery and tradition. This book is fast-paced and carries so much story into one small novel.

Because this is such a short book, if you do not like books that jump right into the story with very little backstory upfront, you may not like this one. A lot of information comes at you fast, which I find brilliant and loved, but can be overwhelming to some. I would also stress that you should read about any triggers, because there is some gore and we are dealing with a story that is based on missing children.

Overall, I really enjoyed In the Shadow of the Ship. I find Aliette de Bodard's writing to be superb and a wonderful representation of sci-fi. I will continue being an ambassador for Aliette's works, including this one.

Khuyen left her home on the heartship Nightjar to join a fractured Empire as a magistrate. She is forced to return home after the death of her grandmother to reckon with the darkness of her past as well as the complicated feelings she has for her family.

I will say that I was not aware that this novella was part of an expanded universe prior to reading. However, you definitely don't need to read the other books in the universe in order to enjoy this one.

I absolutely loved In the Shadow of the Ship. This novella manages to do more with 96 pages than many books do with six times that page number. Our main character was relatable and the romance she develops with Thao was super cute. I felt completely immersed in not only the claustrophobic atmosphere of Nightjar but also the surrounding failing Empire. The tech was super cool and, for the most part, well explained. And boy do the themes hit home. If you have a complicated relationship with your mother, this may or may not be the novella for you.

I really like this universe so I will definitely be reading more stories from it.

Reviews going live on Goodreads, Storygraph, Fable and Tiktok on 9/30.

Aliette De Bodard has a new novella set in her world of mind ships. Khuyên has been helping the crisis after a major war, when she learns that her grandmother is dying on the mind ship Nightjar where she grew up. Unfortunately, In the Shadow of the Ship (hard from Subterranean Press) kids are being kidnapped and the ship is falling apart. This is a fun edition to an award winning series.

Ahoy there me mateys! I love the Xuya universe and was excited to read this short (96 pg) novella.  Khuyên grew up on the Nightjar, a sentient ship.  She left at 16 because she was scared of becoming a Tribute to the ship.  Those children are never seen again.  The people on board believe this is a fair trade because outside of the ship is war, destruction, and chaos.  Khuyên never wanted to return but when she hears about her Grandmother's funeral, she returns to pay her respects.  Her cousin, Anh, asks for help and Khuyên must make a choice between her wishes and those of her family on the ship.

This may be short but it was the perfect length for this story.  Khuyên is a sympathetic character.  It is very clear why she makes the choices she does. Reading about her friends and family members going missing was so sad.  The mindship Nightjar is creepy.  The basics of mindships are covered in this novella.  Nightjar is slowly falling apart and those onboard are happy to follow the ship's rules for the appearance of safety and not having to deal with the war torn world outside.  Khuyên meets a new person, Thảo, on the ship.  Thảo is the only person who seems to care about what Nightjar is doing and wants to help Khuyên.  I really enjoyed Thảo's character even though I guessed her "mystery" answer immediately.

Having read other Xuya books before, I was clear early on what the ship was doing with the Tributes.  However, I still ended up being uncomfortable reading about Nightjar's viewpoints.  That ship is crazy.  I thought the outcome of the novella was excellent and really enjoyed the read.  I highly recommend this installment in the series though if you are new to the world, I would not start here.  Arrr!

4.5 rounded up

This was a fun blend of sci-fi horror set in de Bodard's Xuya Universe, a series of interconnected novellas and short stories set in a Vietnamese/Chinese/Confucian inspired future with sentient ships. I don't think you need to have read anything in that universe before picking up In the Shadow of the Ship but the universe itself is fascinating so I recommend picking up more their works. See the author's website for more details.

This novella is under 100 pages so I don't want to say much but I loved seeing Khuyên return home and face some of the disappearances of her childhood. Aliette de Bodard builds a lot of tension in a few pages both in regards to the mystery of the missing children and with Khuyên's tense (and toxic?) relationship with her family.

I felt very ambivalent about some of the Xuya novellas I read earlier this year so I was worried that maybe this series wasn't for me but I really enjoyed this!

Thank you Netgalley and Subterranean Press for this arc.

Well that was a gothic and weird. Creepy horror would also work as a descriptor. Yet the novella worked better for me than most of the longer books in the Xuya Universe series have. The shorter length tightens down on the over description in those longer books, the endless repetition that slows the action to a crawl at times.

As with most Xuya books, it’s plugged into the Universe but not as a sequel and there is also not much background given. Clues and information are slowly dispensed in a world drawn from SE Asian cultures now in space. Deference to Elders is expected and families are tightly knit. Behind everything lurks a terrible war that has destroyed worlds and left only tatters and desperation.

The events of this story are resolved but the greater world is still a mess. The beginning feels slow but then the story accelerates across the second half. I feel that the (very slight) Sapphic element is not needed. But Khuyen accomplishes some self-discovery and learns that her happiness is also important – something that her family has never given her. B-

This was a super interesting novella and my first foray into this universe, which may not have been the right choice. I was super engaged by the writing style so I will be jumping into de Bodard's other work for sure!

Khuyen is a magistrate in an interstellar empire recovering from a devastating war. Her grandmother recently passed, so she returns to her childhood home on a "mind ship" for the funeral. She left several years ago to escape the terrible reality underpinning life on the Nightjar. Now that she's returned, even for a short while, she's forced to confront her own complicity in her upbringing.

This feels like true SF to me in the way it juxtaposes a "big ideas" concept with a smaller "real people" plot. I loved Khuyen's difficulty reconciling the stories she was told as a child and her sense of duty toward her family and her home with the truth that she fled, but still refuses to face head on. For SF fans: this novella feels like it's in conversation with Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" in a really human way. (It's what I wanted out of Jemisin's "The Ones Who Stay and Fight" but didn't get.) Plus there's a great narrative plot pushing In the Shadow of the Ship along that's absent from both of those short stories.

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

"In the Shadow of the Ship" is the latest story in Aliette de Bodard's Xuya universe. As with all the stories in the Xuya universe, one of the central characters is a mind ship, in this case the The Nightjar, Thirsting For Water. Our human protagonist, Khuyên, ran away from Nightjar when she was sixteen to join the civil service as a magistrate, trying to right the wrongs of the vast war that has been taking place. Khuyên left Nightjar because of unspeakable things that she couldn't explain. She left behind her friends, family, and the ship. Now she is coming back to Nightjar for her grandmother's funeral, and she must face all those she has abandoned as well as what Nightjar has been doing all these years.

Nightjar has been badly damaged, and has been doing what it deems necessary to keep itself alive and functioning. It has been demanding children as Tribute, and those children disappear. The Tributes have been continuing all the years that Khuyên has been gone. Now Khuyên's cousin Ahn has been sent as Tribute, and Khuyên is on a mission to rescue her. She is aided by a mysterious woman who seems to have some connection to Nightjar and to whom Khuyên feels a strange attraction to. Together they make a perilous journey deep into Nightjar as they
attempt a rescue while discovering things about each other and Nightjar itself.

"In the Shadow of the Ship" is a novella that packs a lot of story into its shorter length. While the reason for Khuyên's trip to Nightjar is to attend to her grandmother's funeral, that event is just the way de Bodard is once again telling a story of family and betrayal, and the expectations that the elder generation has for its children. Any parent can relate to the disappointment they experience when their child(ren) don't follow a path that the parent thinks is logical and best for the child(ren) and the family. de Bodard raises those familiar expectations a notch here, as Khuyên's mother is continually laying on the guilt, letting Khuyên know that she has not only betrayed and let down her family, but let down Nightjar as well. Indeed, Khuyên's attempt to locate Ahn can be seen as a way of trying to make amends for her abandoning her family. The theme of family runs even deeper, as we discover the secret of the mysterious woman - named Sunflower - and her relationship to Nightjar. Eventually Khuyên must come to grips with who she was and who she is and what she wants to do going forward.

I've always enjoyed de Bodard's Xuya universe stories, and this one is no exception. It is complex and thought provoking, with characters that are well drawn out and interesting and a story that is both emotional and horrific. I'd recommend it to fans of de Bodard and the Xuya universe, as well as folks just looking for a great read. It may not be the best jumping in point for the Xuya stories, but I think it stands well enough on its own that the reader won't be lost.

Genre: science fiction

Perhaps my favorite from the Xuya Universe to date. Khuyên has returned home to the mindship Nightjar for her grandmother's funeral. She ran away from Nightjar four years ago, and senses something wrong when she returns. Dreams lead her down a path of discovery behind Nightjar and a mysterious woman she meets on board.

In the world of avatars for sentient ships, things can get rather complex to explain. On the one hand, de Bodard's longer books can provide more worldbuilding and explanation of how they work. On the other hand, the shorter stories, like this novella, feel less bogged down by that detail and allow the universe to just exist. Like other books in the Xuya Universe, this is a standalone that explores the idea of love, family, and honor and duty.

There's no reason you couldn't start with this one. With Aliette de Bodard's writing, the more of her you read, the deeper appreciation and understanding you can have of each story.

I am a huge sucker for Ms. DeBodard's work, but add in familial trauma and what a ship is willing to do to ensure it keeps going, and a family that throws its children on the bonfire so the elders can thrive, and a mysterious hot older lady who's trying to help you on your haunted ass grandmother ship, and you have what is absolute catnip for me. This comes out at the end of September; pick it up for an excellent treat.

I took a chance on this book for its outlandish sounding plot revolving a sentient ship. I was not disappointed. I also felt that this novella leaned more into horror and I love sci-fi horror. So it was a pleasant surprise. I was also very happy with the author's ability to write about familial relationships and trauma in a way that didn't come across like a soap opera. It was mature and very realistic. Add this to your reading list!

4.5 stars rounded up

This was creepy! A blend of sci-fi and horror, In the Shadow of the Ship is a novella set in a world where ships have organic, sentient minds. Khuyen is returning to Nightjar, the ship she grew up on, for her grandmothers funeral.

It's the first time she has been back since fleeing as a teenager and she must reckon with the truth of her past and her complicated relationship with her family. As long as she can remember, children were required by the ship as Tribute and then thy would disappear. But what is the ship doing with them? And why are strange things happening? I really enjoyed this novella and would recommend it if you like de Bodard's writing. I received a copy of this book for review via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who sent me a free arc in exchange for my review. This was my first introduction to this author’s work, and from other reviewers it seems this is set in a novella series that follow various characters in the same universe. While this may not have been the best place for me to start in this world, I enjoyed the story and was able to follow the concepts and plot. The writing was beautiful, yet straightforward. I think this would be a great entry for someone looking to get into sci-fi. I’m looking forward to checking out this author’s full novels in the future!

I find it hard not to love Aliette de Bodard's work, especially anything from her Xuya Universe. IN THE SHADOW OF THE SHIP is such a perfect addition to this universe, and de Bodard, as usual, manages to pack in so much characterization into such a small space. Khuyên is a compelling character, and even brief interactions with her family members and colleagues in the lead-up to her grandmother's funeral leave me begging for more. I want to see more of Khuyên's life!

This novella is probably not the best introduction to the Xuya Universe if you're a reader who likes to have a good handle on what's going on: it's probably a little jarring to come across the concept of a mindship without a little more of an introduction. But if you've already dipped a toe into this universe and want more, IN THE SHADOW OF THE SHIP will make you head right to your favorite bookshop to order the rest of the books in the universe (or right to the library to flesh out your hold list!)