I hope Aliette de Bodard has written more in this universe because I wanted more. And a quick search proves that there are more tales in this universe.  Good. 

The story is pretty much self-contained. A mind-ship "The Shadow's Child"(which reminded me of the Ship stories by Anne McCaffrey, reflective not ripping off) who has suffered and now finds deep space difficult, blends psychotropic drugs for people to help with various things, including deep space.  She helps the detective Long Chau investigate a murder and finds herself having to come somewhat out of her shell (pun slightly intended).

I really enjoyed this and I'm glad the Hugo Awards gave me an opportunity to read it.

“When you’re out there, with no one and nothing to stand in your way - when you realise how small you are - you also realise that everything that ever was, that ever will be, is connected to you. That we’re all, in the end, part of the same great thing.”


In “The Tea Master and the Detective” by Aliette de Bodard



I find it extremely funny that in some reviews regarding "The Tea Master and the Detective", there are still people that blatantly produce such a snobbish abhorrence of the SF genre. Should everything in life be of such a pragmatic acumen, we would live in a "Brave New World"! Hello ALPHAs ... remember Aldous?

If you're into stuff like this, you can read the full review.

I ordered one of the limited edition hardcovers, even though it was stupid expensive for a novella, and I have no regrets. The book (the actual physical object) is lovely. The material covering the boards is a sort of sparkly antique copper and the end paper is a lovely, textured orange. Together they form a lush wrapper for a gorgeous set of pages. 

The ebook gets either the same gorgeous cover or another that is so very cool I kind of wish I had the painting. Here's the Hardcover and US ebook cover (and an alternate cover by the same artist). And the worldwide ebook cover is here, but doesn't appear on the artist's website yet.

 But enough about how pretty it is. This is also a very good read. A gender swapped Sherlock teams up with a tea-brewing spaceship Watson to solve a murder. If that sounds like a fun time, this will work for you. The prose is solid throughout and lovely in some places. I hope there are more of these. Not just more stories in the Xuya Universe setting, but more with these two characters.

This novella is being touted as being a story with a female Sherlock Holmes with a mindship (starship with bio-engineered human interface at its core) as her Watson. It's not quite that blatant, but the comparison is apt. Long Chau is an arrogant consulting detective who self medicates. The Shadow's Child is contracted to provide a service and helps her with her case.

I loved how the novella forces the reader to get dumped in headfirst, and I thought the worldbuilding was well done. This story does take place in the Xuya universe with a futuristic Vietnamese-influenced Empire but reading the other stories in that universe isn't necessary. There was also humour and banter in the exchanges between the mindship and Long Chau and the other characters.

The only downer (and what negated the need for me to dither about whether to give this five stars) is an error that I'm going to lay at the publisher's proofreaders' and editors' feet: the confusion of "to deduct" with "to deduce" when it comes to deductions.

Long Chau shook her head. “I deducted based on available information. Not the same.”
The Shadow’s Child said, stubbornly, “Tell me why.”
“See if you can deduct it,” Long Chau said, as she headed inside. Her tone made it clear she didn’t expect The Shadow’s Child to manage that.

Boo.

Otherwise it was a great quick read, and I hope we get to see more adventures with Long Chau and The Shadow's Child.

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So we have a shipmind that sells teas and concoctions to help humans acclimatize to the deep spaces (the unsettling space the ships use to travel faster than light), and I'm starting to suspect the client already "drugged to the gills" asking for something to keep her sharp in the deep spaces is the Sherlock Holmes-like character.

People interested in AI ships might want to check this out.