A group of misfits are sent on a dangerous mission to defeat a monster in deep space, but perhaps their biggest challenge is learning to work together.

This novella has quite a different setting from Aliette de Bodard’s recent Xuya books, but it’s an equally fascinating place.

Việt Nhi is a lowly member of the Rooster clan, one of the four opposed navigator clans who help guide ships through the Hollows; another space entirely that is used as a shortcut to achieve faster-than-light travel. As with many shortcuts, there is a slight catch. The Hollows are also home to a form of life known as the Tanglers; large unknowable creatures with deadly intangible tendrils that love to feed on the travellers who cross through their realm.

The navigators are not defenceless however—they can project their life energy into a form known as their Shadow; a force that can tear open holes in the universe and protect their ships from harm. Sometimes though, Nhi just uses it to give herself a nice hug when she is feeling stressed out by life.

And Nhi is certainly stressed. Not only has one of these eldritch horrors escaped from the Hollows intent on devouring everything in its path, not only is she being sent to find and catch it, but she will have to work with delegates of the other three clans to do so, accompanied by an aloof imperial envoy intent on keeping everybody in line.

Nhi does not do well with people. They do not always make sense to her, and she finds social interactions particularly wearing. Plus, all the clans barely tolerate each other at the best of times, so this will be quite the challenge of teamwork. To complicate matters even further, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to another member of the team…

With a queer and neurodivergent main protagonist, and a band of lovably broken outcasts, this is a fun tale inspired by xianxia-style martial arts, but rooted in science fiction with an undercurrent of romance. It does a lot of world building despite the short length, and I hope we will get to see these characters again, or at least have more stories set in the same universe.

Definitely worth your time.

Thanks to Tor Publishing for the early review copy.

A tightly written novella that's sure to spike reader's interests, whether they are coming for the space opera, the romance, the queer and neurodiverse characters, or the taste of Lovecraftian horrors, readers will come away with a taste of this fantastical world that will linger long after the cover is closed. New readers of the author will feel the need to seek out her other works. Fans of the weird, you've found another writer who brings something new to the sci-fi table. The writing is sharp and the author works the plots of duplicity and political maneuvering into a study of a few characters and a budding romance. The perspective is fresh while exploring a sci-fi trope, and adds enough twists and layers that readers will become immersed.

A group of Navigators are sent on a dangerous mission to capture a creature, called a Tangler, which has escaped the Hollows, the space between gates. Usually Navigators do all they can to avoid encounters with the strange tentacled creatures, since just a touch can bring insanity, and quickly thereafter death. The team is made up of Navigators from every clan, none of whom seem suited to the mission, but it's up to Nhi to lead the team and locate the creature before it escapes into a city to wreak havoc. However difficult that sounds, it's only the tip of the iceberg, soon the whole team is faced with a difficult choice, to whom do they owe their loyalty? In which direction is the path to justice? And to complicate matters further Nhi has found herself drawn to one of her teammates, another prickly situation she's not used to dealing with, especially when that person is an assassin from another clan.

A vibrant, emotional story that packs a lot of punch into a fairly short length. All of the important beats are in the story without any filler.

In Navigational Entanglements Aliette de Bodard gives us another unique space opera. As with most of de Bodard's work this took me a couple chapters to really get a handle on what was happening. Nhi is a Navigator- someone who uses the power of Shadows to guide spaceships through a realm populated by dangerous Tanglers. When a Tangler gets loose in the physical realm she must team up with other apprentices to track it down. There are two major problems. Nhi doesn't do well with people... and this might be a mission they aren't meant to win.

Nhi is a queer, neuro-spicy main character. Combing her with three other, VERY DIFFERENT, characters makes for a lot of headbutting and arguments. Even though they're not always a very likeable bunch, you still want them to succeed. It's a really fun dynamic, especially in a novella length book where you don't have the space for a ton of character development. The Shadow magic system is based on Xianxia martial arts and lead me down a long rabbit hole (which often happens wit de Bodard's books). This book is probably not going to appeal to the average reader, but there's definitely a niche market of readers who are going to devour it and hope for a sequel.

This is another of the author's Viet space novellas, and, as always, it is brilliant. This time, junior navigators from four clans are set to capture and kill a dangerous creature from the hollows between the stars. Unfortunately, the secrets they uncover along the way are much more dangerous than the creature itself.

Wildly dense worldbuilding, complex, engrossing narratives, the sensation of being dropped into a larger story that you'll only get glimpses of, and a tale that's far too short.

This cover! I love it.

This book is heavy on worldbuilding where I don’t think it needed to be, and the writing style itself wasn’t for me. That said, the audience is going to be niche, but likely an easy four to five stars for the right readers. I stopped 14% in.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor for the ARC.

A sapphic space opera with found family, a dead monster on the loose, and politics? Sign me up. When deadly creatures known as Tanglers escape, its up to each clan to send a representative to help capture the creature. Việt Nhi has a difficult time with people, politics, and being touched, yet she is being forced to work with a group of teammates from rival clans. Hạc Cúc f the Snake clan has always been better at poisoning and stabbing people rather than making plans, yet she can't help but be drawn in by Nhi. Nhi hates the touch of others yet she finds herself craving Hạc Cúc's touch. When the mission goes a bit askew since their imperial envoy and nominal leader is poisoned.... the team will have to find the invisible Tangler before it destroys everything and both Nhi and Hạc Cúc will have to find out if they can get past their misconceptions and embrace their feelings for each other. This was a fantastic little space opera filled with romance, loyalty, found family, and action. It really captures everything in such a short span of time and it was a fun read! I would absolutely recommend it for anyone looking for a fast paced adventure!

*Thanks Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group, Tordotcom for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This is everything I want from an Aliette de Bodard book! The setting was fantastical and gripping, the characters and relationships were compelling and believable, and I really liked the autistic POV character.