Wednesday Reading: Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

Oh look, it's Wednesday. And I have bronchitis and am trying to work dayjob through it. Let's see how short I can make this review.

Elizabeth Bear is a pretty prolific author with whom I have rarely clicked. I keep trying to give her another chance, to the extent that I think I actually have an unread novel by her lying around the house somewhere. The only book of hers that I recall reading and liking (although I never went back for a re-read) was Karen Memory. But Ancestral Night is showing up on people's awards short list, so I read it.

Haimey Dz the engineer, Connla the pilot, and Singer the ship/AI, plus their two cats, run a tramp space salvage operation. When they discover a crime against intelligences and a Big Mysterious Object, one after the other, their lives become immensely more complicated. I would like to add "especially Haimey's," but she's the viewpoint; maybe Connla and Singer and the cats also feel that their lives have become uniquely complicated.

( Cut before I run off at the brain and spoil something )

Nope, did not manage a short review.