#The Red Scholar's Wake

[hamletofficial]

Hmm.

[haveyoureadthisscifibook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

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[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Red Scholar's Wake | Author: Aliette de Bodard | Publisher: Gollancz (2022)

[maxalotlxl]

The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard

3 Stars.

A sentient pirate ship (Rice Fish) marries one of her captives (Xích Si), who she asks for help to find proof of corruption that lead to the death of her late wife, the former Red Scholar. Sold.

I was concerned how a romance builds with a ship, won't lie, but Rice Fish, has a human looking avatar that she appears as most of the time. So it didn't feel that much out there.

Despite the way their marriage started, yano being a prisoner marrying your captor, there only issue seems to just be the disagreeance on which one of their societies are better. Well not better but which is less cruel or more corrupt.

Now my next point may just be a western problem or a language/translation thing but everyone refers to each other in family titles. Like even in the sex scenes they're referring to each other as Lil/Big Sis, it was a tad off putting for myself.

Finished April 30th.

[gollancz]

The 2023 Arthur C. Clarke Award Shortlist has been announced - and Gollancz has two titles!!!

THE RED SCHOLAR'S WAKE by Aliette de Bodard

Shortlisted for the British Science Fiction Association award for Best Novel, WINNER of the BSFA award for Best Cover, this sweeping sapphic space opera can now add another award nod to the list. It's a stunning romance between a sentient pirate spaceship and the woman she marries in order to find out who killed her first wife. TorDotCom compared the dynamics to that of classic gothic novels, Tasha Suri said it was "so romantic I may simply perish". Inspired by Vietnamese culture, and the famous Chinese pirate Ching Shih, it's the sort of book that will make you go feral with delight.

PLUTOSHINE by Lucy Kissick

Winner of the inaugural Working Class Writers' Prize, PLUTOSHINE was written while Lucy Kissick completed her PhD, looking at the composition of Martian lakes by recreating them in a lab and extrapolating how they interacted with the atmosphere. This novel takes her knowledge of planetary atmospherics and geology and blends them with a thrilling story about terraforming, colonisation, and the impacts on everyone involved.

We're so so delighted to be the publishers of two of the three women shortlisted for the 2023 prize, and that they represent the diverse voices that Gollancz is striving to champion!

[le-trash-prince]

What if we kissed to seal a business marriage but you were a really hot spaceship and I kind of liked it 😳

[gealach-in-a-misty-world]

Xích Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. Xích Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates' enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between Xích Si and herself. Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si's help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si's technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it. But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together.

"I go with my wife". Aliette de Bodard's The Red Scholar's Wake is a book about sapphic space pirates. It's hard sci-fi, with sentient ships that manifest themselves through human avatars, and Rice Fish is one of such ships; the resulting romance could take some suspension of disbelief, but it's intense in what's at stake. The book reflects over consent, and over neglect in previous relationships, in a sound manner. The relationship between the main characters is a bit instantaneous, and the way it starts isn't auspicious; things happen much too quickly, but in the end the relationship doesn't come without struggles, and I found that believable.

The books shines the most when it explores the main character's relationship with their respective children: Xích Si needs to save her daughter from indentures servitude, while Rice Fish has to face the misunderstandings that came from her first marriage. On that note, Rice Fish's first wife's perceived aromanticism is villanized in some way, but it might be a question of perspective; Rice Fish was, after all, traumatized by her first wife's choice of words - and actions - and so the narrative reflects that.

The use of Vietnames honorifics (little sis, big sis) might confuse some, but it's very clear there's no familiar relationship between the main characters (one's a ship!)

This is part of a bigger narrative universe, and it shows in the lack of explanations for many things, for example the overlays. I don't want to have my hand held (or I wouldn't read speculative fiction), but I'd like some context when it can be provided.

The Red Scholar's Wake is a solid sci-fi adventure with stunning prose.

✨ 3.5 stars

.

📚📚📚 IF YOU LOVE THIS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:

* A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, by Foz Meadows

for: arranged marriage, previous toxic relationship

[You can find more of my reviews about queer speculative fiction on my blog MISTY WORLD]

[sapphicbookoftheday]

The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard

Today's sapphic book of the day is The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard!

Summary: "Xích Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. Xích Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates' enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between Xích Si and herself.

Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si's help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si's technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.

But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together...

An exciting space opera and a beautiful romance, from an exceptional SF author."

[wearethekat]

December Book Reviews: The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard

Recommended by @myriad--starlings for having lesbian arranged political marriage in SPACE (all excellent things). Bot pilot Xich Si receives an unexpected offer when she's kidnapped by pirates: pirate AI ship Rice Fish offers to marry her in exchange for Xich Si's help in investigating the murder of Rice Fish's ex-wife. The case entangles Xich Si in a complicated web of politics over the future of the entire pirate fleet-- as well as her growing feelings for Rice Fish.

This book, alas, didn't quite click with me. The worldbuilding is very cool. There's sentient ships treated as human beings, a world made from layers of partially real holograms, and a pirate fleet balanced between two opposing empires. It's also deeply grounded in Vietnamese culture, in a way that makes it feel like it's a work in translation, similar to Shelley Parker-Chan's She Who Became The Sun. Somehow, either the writing or the characters didn't quite work for me.

Deeply cool regardless. I'll have to keep an eye on De Bodard's books in the future because there were a lot of interesting concepts here.

[whimsicaldragonette]

ARC Review: The Red Scholar's Wake by Aliette de Bodard

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Publication Date: November 24, 2022

Synopsis:

Xích Si: bot maker, data analyst, mother, scavenger. But those days are over now-her ship has just been captured by the Red Banner pirate fleet, famous for their double-dealing and cruelty. Xích Si expects to be tortured to death-only for the pirates' enigmatic leader, Rice Fish, to arrive with a different and shocking proposition: an arranged marriage between Xích Si and herself.

Rice Fish: sentient ship, leader of the infamous Red Banner pirate fleet, wife of the Red Scholar. Or at least, she was the latter before her wife died under suspicious circumstances. Now isolated and alone, Rice Fish wants Xích Si's help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xích Si means Rice Fish can offer Xích Si protection, in exchange for Xích Si's technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.

But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xích Si find themselves falling for each other. As the interstellar war against piracy intensifies and the five fleets start fighting each other, they will have to make a stand-and to decide what kind of future they have together…

An exciting space opera and a beautiful romance, from an exceptional SF author.

My Rating: ★★★★★

*My Review and Favorite Quotes below the cut.

My Review:

I love Aliette de Bodard's books, but they are probably the most intellectually challenging books I read on a regular basis. Especially the mindship books. I think on the one hand there's the Vietnamese-inspired names and foods and customs which are so different than what I'm used to (a good thing! Reading is for expanding one's horizons!) and on the other hand there's the whole human-falls-in-love-with-a-sentient-spaceship oh and also there is the physical plane and then there are overlays and avatars and bots that have physical form but can also be used a lot like coding but you can (I think) think the commands at them and have the information appear directly in your brain rather than having to rely on a pesky computer, oh and you can simultaneously have conversations out loud and other conversations virtually in your head -- and my brain refuses to make sense of it all. I don't regularly read a lot of sci-fi, so there's that. I generally spend the first third of these books trying to wrap my head around how it all works and the next two thirds slowly sinking into the story and becoming immersed in it while the details stop being so confusing and fade to the background. And falling in love with the story and characters and romance

Aliette de Bodard's writing is poetic and evocative and also understated, with a tendency to leave things unsaid for the reader to infer. This, too, takes a bit to get used to, but I really love it. I don't especially like having everything spoon-fed to me all the time, and while I read and love a lot of 'easier' fantasy and romance, I appreciate having to really engage my brain to pick up on most of what's happening. (I'm sure I don't pick up on all of it.)

Some of the descriptions, especially of Rice Fish's avatar, with her hair flowing into the floor of the ship and patterned with stars and nebulae, were so satisfying and just gorgeous. I had trouble with a mental picture of the characters (other than Rice Fish), but I think that's just me -- I rarely get a clear mental picture of characters in the books I read. I did get a clear picture of the Pirate Citadel - enough that I felt like I was there, walking beside Xích Si and experiencing it with her.

This is first and foremost a romance, one between a human who has been beaten down for years living on the edge of getting by as a scavenger, and a sentient spaceship who is also an influential leader of a pirate faction in a society she helped to build and carries deep emotional wounds left by her murdered wife, however unintentionally.

Xích Si, the scavenger, has been captured by pirates at the opening of the book and is forced to leave everything she knows - including her young daughter - behind. She understandably is scared and angry and fears the worst. Rice Fish, the mindship she is travelling on and head of the pirate faction who captured her, shocks her by proposing marriage -- a 'business arrangement only.' Together they face a rebellious son, an endangered daughter, authorities determined to erase the scourge of pirates, treachery from within, and questions of the future of the entire pirate alliance. Not to mention their own bruised and bleeding hearts.

They make mistakes, they hurt one another, and -- they learn. They learn to love, they learn to trust, they learn to hope and dream again and how to heal themselves. And the journey of how they get to that point is beautiful.

I would like to add that I have seen some criticism of ace rep in this book and I strongly disagree. I would not categorize Rice Fish's murdered wife as ace, no matter that she did not want the physical aspect of the relationship that Rice Fish did. It's not that simple. It was mentioned several times that she took her lovers outside of the marriage partnership ("Huan, for her part, had collected flings the way scholars collected books and vids", "I watched Ma collect her friends and lovers and never get the intimacy she craved") -- she just did not want such a relationship with Rice Fish. I don't know whether it was that she simply was not attracted to Rice Fish that way or whether she truly believed that any physical / romantic relationship between them would sully the partnership and what they were trying to build. But I think criticizing it for "bad ace rep" misses the point and is not fair. (Disclaimer: I am ace and I wanted to address this criticism because I have seen it more than once.)

The scenes with Xích Si's daughter, and some with Rice Fish's son, tug at the heartstrings. Alliette de Bodard knows how to use a few brushstrokes to create poignant, touching family scenes. I appreciate them more, I think, since having a child myself. It's clear that she gets what it's like, having to guide a child and be strong for them but also show yourself to be vulnerable, and eventually to let them go.

Even though this is a romance, it's very politics-heavy. The different factions within the pirate fleet, the warring empires, the scavengers and wealthier scholars and beaurocrats… There is a lot of information to unpack and a lot of things that aren't quite said out loud that are perhaps easy to miss. At first, it is very hard to grasp what is going on, which actually makes a lot of sense, as Xích Si is also unfamiliar with how the pirate fleet functions and also struggles to grasp it all. She learns and becomes more comfortable with it as the reader does, which makes it easy to identify with her.

Despite the heaviness of the themes (indentured servants are discussed quite a bit from several perspectives, as well as raiding and capturing merchants to hold for ransom, as well as emotional trauma and pain) and the dense, somewhat obscure way the text is written, and the sci-fi aspects, this also has quite a bit of adventure and mystery. I spent the last 40% or so on the edge of my seat wondering how it would all go down. I came away knowing that I absolutely loved and will recommend it, while at the same time I will need to read an easier book next just to give my brain a break.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Gollancz, and JABberwocky Literary Agency, Inc. for providing an advance copy for review.

Favorite Quotes:

She was still kneeling, but she did it like an empress.

---

Rice Fish nodded, and said nothing more — and for a time that felt like ten thousand years, they remained side by side, looking at the stars.

---

A pirate consort - no, a pirate queen in her own domain, and she was beautiful and she was terrible and so, so vulnerable in that moment. The air trembled with a distant music, a distant heartbeat.

---

Tam looked sheepish, which was a whole look on a pirate with a gun in her belt.

---

Xích Si sipped the tea - it tasted like fungi, like the greenhouses after the watering cycle, muddy and damp and unexpectedly sour.

---

...and every time she looked at him, Xích Si fought her own instincts to jump for the nearest suit - he looked like a walking habitat breach.

---

Xích Si realised that had been her, once upon a time. That she’d kept her head down and not dared to dream large, because she knew she would always get kicked in the teeth. It wasn’t the habitat that was smaller. It was that she had outgrown it.

---

“Yes. But that’s not what matters. It’s being afraid and doing it anyway. And…” She hesitated, but what else could she do other than fling herself bodily into the void. “Love means we’re always going to know how to hurt each other. We choose not to. Or to repair our hurts”

---

But it was his choice to make, and he was her son, not an extension of her. So often, being a parent was about letting go.

[rhetoricandlogic]

REVIEW: The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard

Book Reviews

September 12, 2022By Fabienne Schwizer

Aliette de Bodard’s The Red Scholar’s Wake was one of my most anticipated novels of 2022 and it did not disappoint. Inspired by the author’s Vietnamese heritage, this is the story of an arranged marriage between Xich Si, bot maker, data analyst, mother and scavenger and Rice Fish, sentient ship and space pirate leader. Part sapphic romance, part space opera, with mature characters in the prime of their lives – no twenty-year-olds finding their feet here – and all gorgeous prose. Aliette de Bodard is one of the strongest writers in SFF working today – her novella, Fireheart Tiger was just up for a Hugo last week and this is up on the same level in terms of writing and general craft.

When Rice Fish captures Xich Si’s ship, the latter expects to be tortured to death – or at the very least, an unpleasant imprisonment. So, when Rice Fish proposes a marriage alliance as the inciting incident of The Red Scholar’s Wake, Xich Si is taken aback, especially since Rice Fish, sentient ship, is famously married to the Red Scholar. Except, the Red Scholar has just died under mysterious circumstances, and this new alliance would be mutually beneficial, protecting them both and allowing Rice Fish to investigate her wife’s death. And of course, over the remainder of the story, they do, in fact, fall in love. But this isn’t a cheesy romance. This is a science fiction story that happens to have romantic elements. (Side note: with the amount of times I’m typing the words “rice” and “fish” and the context of Aliette’s Vietnamese heritage, I REALLY want some Vietnamese food now. Give me that fish sauce on rice.)

What made this truly stand out to me was Aliette’s writing. As mentioned above, Aliette’s prose is outstanding. It is descriptive and evocative without being overwrought, it is witty and full of emotion. Every character, every scene comes to life immediately and plastically, drawing the reader into this world of space pirates, family biological and found and relationships of all sorts. It is at times delicate, and at other times matter of fact and then again it will make you laugh out loud with dry wit. The characters’ maturity makes them stand out in a market saturated with coming-of-age stories across young adult and adult publishing, and it is a true breath of fresh air to read about protagonists coming into their story after a life well-lived, with attachments and history, knowing who they are and what they want. I could not recommend The Red Scholar’s Wake more.

[someonelookingpraediti]

Illumicrate Unboxing

Better Together December 2022

So, I switched back to the full box! I emailed Illumicrate after my October book, asking to switch, knowing there was normally a waiting list. I actually only waited a month before they had a slot available for the December box: "Better Together".

It was great timing, as well, because we didn't get a calendar delivered this year at work for the office (budget cuts, go figure) and this month's box has a calendar in! But disaster! It's a desk calendar, not a wall calendar! I didn't even consider the possibility.

The featured book is "The Red Scholar's Wake" by Aliette de Bodard. It sounds pretty interesting, although not quite my cup of tea. The cover is a very, very slight recolouring, I believe. The hardcase is foiled, but simply. It has blue-to-purple ombre sprayed edges, which look really cool, and absolutely gorgeous endpapers.

The first item is a jewellery case. I've now had one of these from each subscription company, and there's only so many travel jewellery cases a girl needs. This one is nice, it's inspired by "House of Earth and Blood", and it's red with gold detailing, with a very pretty design.

Next is a mug, featuring Achilles and Patroclus from "The Song of Achilles". I love a mug, and I love the book. The design is ok, but it looks a bit washed out on the mug.

Next is a chain pin, inspired by "The Jasmine Throne". I like this a lot, although not sure I'll wear it! I'll try to find an occasion for it.

The last item, the one I thought was going to be oh-so-useful, is the desk calendar. Honestly, I'm not sure it'll actually be useful to work since it's not a wall calendar, but I'll take it in anyway, just in case. The spoiler card says it's "undated", but I don't understand how, since it very clearly does have dates? It features twelve literary couples, but I only recognise one!! Pictures below - if anyone can figure out who they're meant to be, do let me know!!

[gollancz]

The Red Scholar's Wake, Aliette de Bodard (2022)

most convincing Tumblr ad I've ever received. almost made me download whatever shitass dating app that is

[gollancz]

Look at this STUNNING book. So delighted to be sharing the cover for A FIRE BORN OF EXILE by Aliette de Bodard!

It's available for pre-order now!!

If you like:

Lesbians in space

Sexy sentient ships (Who are also lesbians)

SF based on Vietnamese culture

Some light to moderate piracy (by the lesbians and their sexy sentient ships)

PINING

Lyrical and beautiful worldbuilding

Pining lesbians and their sexy sentient ships

Aliette's Xuya universe is the place to be.

The Scattered Pearls Belt is a string of habitats under tight military rule . . . where the powerful have become all too comfortable in their positions, and their corruption. But change is coming, with the arrival of Quynh: the mysterious and enigmatic Alchemist of Streams and Hills.

To Minh, daughter of the ruling prefect of the Belt, Quynh represents a chance for escape. To Hoà, a destitute engineer, Quynh has a mysterious link to her own past . . . and holds a deeper, more sensual appeal. But Quynh has her own secret history, and a plan for the ruling class of the Belt. A plan that will tear open old wounds, shake the heavens, and may well consume her.

Buy a present for future-you, get yourself this stunning book.

Buy a present for now-you, get yourself THE RED SCHOLAR'S WAKE, the book described by tumblr user @heyheyheyhaveyouheardabout as: "#the book my dad tried to discreetly ask whether I had bought#because. its.#sentient spacesjip (!!!!!!)#sapphic#m a r r i g e#OH THE MAIN CHArACTER IS SO TRAUMATISED AND HER SPACESHIP WIFE IS SO !!!!!!#SPACESHIP WIFE MARRY ME PLEASE I LOVE YOU YOUR HAIR ARE STARS YOU ARE SO BEAUTIFUL I LOVE YOU"

Incoherence as a result of space lesbian romance is not guaranteed, but we're not saying it's definitely not going to happen.