Aliette de Bodard

Xich 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. Xich 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 Xich 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 Xich Si's help to find out who struck against them and why. Marrying Xich Si means Rice Fish can offer Xich Si protection, in exchange for Xich Si's technical fluency: a business arrangement with nothing more to it.
But as the investigation goes on, Rice Fish and Xich 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...

The Red Scholar's Wake

envee

*gasp* sapphic sci-fi pirates?? count me in!
in the end, it was incredibly okay. could've benefited from more world building

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 don’t know why this didn’t land with me as much as I thought it would, but it didn’t.

Katy Watkins

3.5. Definitely one of the more unique books I’ve read. I really loved that it’s set in a future where Vietnamese culture has become dominant and obviously so have space pirates? Anyway, unique. I enjoyed the characters and the overall story was intriguing enough. The prose was on point. That all being said, the world building was heavily lacking. You are just kind of thrown in with not a ton of understanding of the world where these conflicts are happening which made it clunky and hard to follow at times. It was enjoyable but it had the potential to be really awesome, but missed the mark and had to dock it a bit for that.

Laura Wilson

Okay, I'm going to need you to hear me out on this one. The plot is a little peculiar but keep an open mind.

 follows Xích Si, a bot maker who is captured by the space pirate fleet of the Red Banner and finds herself aboard the sentient ship, the Rice Fish. A heavily Vietnamese-influenced,  sapphic, sci-fi, rebellious love story between a ship and human... I told you to keep an open mind.

I didn't realise when I read this, but it's part of an entire world built in a series of books written by Aliette de Bodard, but you can read 

as a standalone, if you so wish. You don't necessarily 

 context, but it will definitely help you understand the world you've been thrust into. Which, honestly, was my only criticism of this book. The first few pages I realised I had no idea what I was reading, and I was worried I'd missed something. Turns out, I had, and it was entirely my own fault. 

If someone has the audacity to tell you that there are no good sapphic books, point them to this one, because Madame de Bodard begs to fucking differ!! This book has everything I could have ever wanted, a matriarchal society, majority female characters, strong leads, character flaws, character arcs, heart-jerking problems in a somewhat tolerant society, the issues of an overbearing government, honestly the list goes on. 

This book had major props for just how "female" it was. If you've been around me for a while, you'll know that anything that is overly masculine makes me want to set the book on fire and run to the T.A.T.u 

 music video for comfort. But setting that aside, this book had actual substance for once. I don't usually pick up sci-fi books, mostly because of how male-dominated the space is and how basic other sci-fi stories can be, but 

 was anything but basic, and just so beautiful; and quite frankly, it made me love science fiction novels again. 

What I loved about it was how Xích Si and the Rice Fish had this complicated relationship where they both married for convenience but ended up falling madly in love. It was heartbreaking when they were separated, and any miscommunication took place, but led to an ultimately satisfying ending. Plus, the Vietnamese-inspired aesthetics just enriched the story and the characters. Not only did it add for a beautiful aesthetic, but it also made the book feel artsy, as though I was actually reading indie artwork, which is something a book hasn't made me feel thus far.

I'm worried about saying more for fear of spoiling it, but honestly I loved this book so much, and I truly hope you do too.

Mel James

Okay, I'm going to need you to hear me out on this one. The plot is a little peculiar but keep an open mind.

The Red Scholar's Wake follows Xích Si, a bot maker who is captured by the space pirate fleet of the Red Banner and finds herself aboard the sentient ship, the Rice Fish. A heavily Vietnamese-influenced,  sapphic, sci-fi, rebellious love story between a ship and human... I told you to keep an open mind.

I didn't realise when I read this, but it's part of an entire world built in a series of books written by Aliette de Bodard, but you can read The Red Scholar's Wake as a standalone, if you so wish. You don't necessarily need context, but it will definitely help you understand the world you've been thrust into. Which, honestly, was my only criticism of this book. The first few pages I realised I had no idea what I was reading, and I was worried I'd missed something. Turns out, I had, and it was entirely my own fault. 

If someone has the audacity to tell you that there are no good sapphic books, point them to this one, because Madame de Bodard begs to fucking differ!! This book has everything I could have ever wanted, a matriarchal society, majority female characters, strong leads, character flaws, character arcs, heart-jerking problems in a somewhat tolerant society, the issues of an overbearing government, honestly the list goes on. 

This book had major props for just how "female" it was. If you've been around me for a while, you'll know that anything that is overly masculine makes me want to set the book on fire and run to the T.A.T.u All The Things She Said music video for comfort. But setting that aside, this book had actual substance for once. I don't usually pick up sci-fi books, mostly because of how male-dominated the space is and how basic other sci-fi stories can be, but the Red Scholar's Wake was anything but basic, and just so beautiful; and quite frankly, it made me love science fiction novels again. 

What I loved about it was how Xích Si and the Rice Fish had this complicated relationship where they both married for convenience but ended up falling madly in love. It was heartbreaking when they were separated, and any miscommunication took place, but led to an ultimately satisfying ending. Plus, the Vietnamese-inspired aesthetics just enriched the story and the characters. Not only did it add for a beautiful aesthetic, but it also made the book feel artsy, as though I was actually reading indie artwork, which is something a book hasn't made me feel thus far.

I'm worried about saying more for fear of spoiling it, but honestly I loved this book so much, and I truly hope you do too.

If you go into this expecting standard sci/fi action, you'll be both dissap and confused. But, if you go in with an open mind to new themes and ideas, you'll be quite satisfied. Very interesting worldbuilding, and a nuanced view of trauma. Might upgrade to a better rating later, after a proper think.

Alex T Hughes

The premise of this book was so intriguing to me, and it’s disappointing that the premise ends up being all there is of this book.

There are interesting ideas here, which makes it all the more frustrating that everything was so underdeveloped.

The world building is flimsy; the characters are two-dimensional; the politics is rudimentary. Worst of all, for a book that’s definitely been marketed with the romance in mind, the relationship between the leads is rushed, shallow, and unsatisfying.

The arc is 330 pages long, but the book itself ends on 291 (the remaining pages are acknowledgments and promotional material for another book.) This is, therefore, a very short book - particularly for a sci-fi novel developing an entirely new setting - and this is one of the main reasons why, to me, it fails. The big ideas the author had needed more space to develop. The climactic scenes needed more description. The relationship needed more care. More, more, more. The book is defined by what it lacks more than by what it delivers.

It gives me no pleasure to leave a negative review for a highly anticipated arc (with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this in exchange for an honest review.)  However, I can truly say that this book was a disappointment. Lots of promise: poor execution.

Wonko the Sane

Welcome to a world, or a future, of spaceships, habitats and port. Of pirates and empires. Where familial ties have become something so different than what we know, and so are people.

Bureaucracy holds sway over the ports, where laws only apply to some, and most are in place to keep the scavengers low. But theres one law everyone knows.

Xich Si is a scavenger, she fits herself into the cracks of the world and dares not to hope, she only survives.

Until her ship is boarded, her bots killed with impunity. Pirates. Pirates who pillage and kill, who make their own law of blood. Slavery, indenture, or worse. Xich Si has cowered all her life, there is little difference between a cleric and a pirate. That is until the Red scholars consort flows into her room. This ship mind, Rice Fish, offers her a choice, a choice even though she doesn't really have on. A choice to take on a world of politics and blood shed. Though Rice Fish can shield her well. Rice Fish asks Xich Si to marry her, and Xich Si accepts.

This is a space of hidden motives, emotions and slow burn love that knows no bounds. Of confidence and diffidence. You get chucked into a deep rich world way beyond our current understanding. With identities spanning through the technological and the physical, slowly political banners and alliances form into cohesion.

This book really takes some getting used to, the familial terms, the avatar vs physical spaces, the citadels banners. It does seem wayy too different at the start of the book, but if you give it time it all rights itself. I really enjoyed the similarities between this book and Becky Chambers writing, and I hope there will be more books in this world soon!

Alice Hyman

Welcome to a world, or a future, of spaceships, habitats and port. Of pirates and empires. Where familial ties have become something so different than what we know, and so are people.

Bureaucracy holds sway over the ports, where laws only apply to some, and most are in place to keep the scavengers low. But theres one law everyone knows.

Piracy, and pirates, mean death.

Xich Si is a scavenger, she fits herself into the cracks of the world and dares not to hope, she only survives.

Until her ship is boarded, her bots killed with impunity. Pirates. Pirates who pillage and kill, who make their own law of blood. Slavery, indenture, or worse. Xich Si has cowered all her life, there is little difference between a cleric and a pirate. That is until the Red scholars consort flows into her room. This ship mind, Rice Fish, offers her a choice, a choice even though she doesn't really have on. A choice to take on a world of politics and blood shed. Though Rice Fish can shield her well. Rice Fish asks Xich Si to marry her, and Xich Si accepts.

This is a space of hidden motives, emotions and slow burn love that knows no bounds. Of confidence and diffidence. You get chucked into a deep rich world way beyond our current understanding. With identities spanning through the technological and the physical, slowly political banners and alliances form into cohesion.

This book really takes some getting used to, the familial terms, the avatar vs physical spaces, the citadels banners. It does seem wayy too different at the start of the book, but if you give it time it all rights itself. I really enjoyed the similarities between this book and Becky Chambers writing, and I hope there will be more books in this world soon!

The Red Scholar's Wake

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