A review by hsumanityreads
The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey

adventurous emotional funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is my first Anne McCaffery book, and an excellent example of why I love some old school sci-fi. Helva is a ship, but she has the brain of a human. She pairs with a “brawn” who pilots with her and is the “face” of their missions. She’s trained and conditioned to enjoy what she does and not need anything else out of life - but she also teaches herself to sing, and learns Shakespeare with a troupe of actors. She is a gentle soul, highly intelligent (because they made her so), and fully sentient and sensitive to the whims of mere mortals.

I just loved the way Anne infused humor into every situation, and had believable relationships between the characters. It’s hard to believe this was written so long ago (1969) in some ways, because the writing is very, well, readable?? It’s just so easy, whereas much sci-fi can drag you down into a pit of worldbuilding and scientific terms that either aren’t well known or don’t exist yet.

Highly recommend picking this up for a jaunt through space with Helva!