A standalone novel set within her expansive Xuya universe, Aliette de Bodard’s sapphic space opera The Red Scholar’s Wake is a gripping, moving tale of pirates, sentient ships, murky political waters and complex, often painful relationships. When scavenger and talented bot-controller Xich Si is captured by cruel pirates of the Red Banner, rather than an agonising death she receives an unexpected proposition – a marriage proposal, in fact. The leader of the Red Banner has been killed, and her widow – the mindship Rice Fish – is offering Xich Si a lifeline: enter into a partnership together, help find who killed the Red Scholar, and Rice Fish will protect and provide for Xich Si. Seeing no option but to accept, she finds herself entangled in a lethal piratical power struggle, and quickly comes to question what her new partnership really entails.
Although billed as a space opera, this is definitely not your typical hard-SF fare, with a refreshing lack of emphasis on the technological whys of the setting and an overt romance plot that provides a fundamental, central element of the narrative. It’s clear from very early on that despite the strange circumstances of their partnership, and the fact that one is a human while the other is a sentient spaceship, there’s the potential for something more than just a business arrangement between Xich Si and Rice Fish. There are just a few minor problems to be overcome first – a deeply uneven power dynamic between the two of them (at least to begin with), Rice Fish’s complicated emotions in the wake of her first wife’s death, and Xich Si’s fear of and disgust at the brutal pirate life she’s been forced to take part in.
Because pirate life is brutal, but its rules and structures and freedoms contrast starkly with Xich Si’s previous life as a scavenger, in which she was powerless in the face of rampant inequality, corruption, greed and abuse of power. This cognitive dissonance – finally being safe, and maybe even happy, but surrounded by pain and brutality that she struggles to come to terms with – provides a powerful internal conflict for Xich Si. With all that running through her thoughts, navigating her complex relationship with Rice Fish proves believably, achingly difficult – and for both of them in equal measure. There’s a gulf between them filled with violence, fear, grief and vulnerability, and a fragile happiness that’s susceptible to damage from cutting words in a way that’s painfully relatable.
It is still very much a science fiction novel, with all manner of intriguing mindships, avatars, bots and beautiful augmented reality to learn about and revel in, but the way it blends an unconventional romance with the political manoeuvrings of the pirate banners lends this a striking tone of its own. Add to that the fascinating elements of her own Vietnamese heritage that de Bodard draws upon in her world building, from couture and cuisine (including a lot of tea) to names (of both characters and places) and the complex vocabulary required to manoeuvre through social relationships and hierarchies, and you’ve got a novel that’s richly textured and full of wonder. It rewards a degree of patience as there’s very little in the way of up-front explanation, but the pay-off is an intriguing, compelling character study that’s gentle on the face of things and deeply powerful beneath the surface.
Many thanks to Gollancz and Aliette de Bodard for sending me a review copy of The Red Scholar’s Wake in exchange for my honest opinions.
See also: my review of Aliette de Bodard’s Immersion, a short story set in the same Xuya universe.
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