The Tea Master and the Detective

The Shadow's Child, the brain of a mindship, is shellshocked and brewing teas for safer space travel when a consulting detective shows up at her door...

This was a Netgalley find and one of the few Netgalley finds that didn't immediately feel like a homnework assignment from a hated teacher.

Set in an asteroid belt with a Vietnamese-influenced culture, The Tea Master and the Detective has its roots loosely planted in A Study In Scarlet. Long Chau hires The Shadow's Child to brew her tea and take her into the deep spaces to find a corpse in order to study its composition. (Sidebar - From what I gather, the deep spaces are like hyperspace, a medium to speed up space travel. Special teas are needed to keep travelers sane during their journeys.) The body isn't quiet what they expect and the mystery unfolds.

While the story shows its Sherlockian roots in places, that in no way diminishes the enjoyment. I really liked the asteroid belt settings, the deep spaces, hell, the worldbuilding in general. The worldbuilding is seamlessly done. I had a pretty good idea of the history of the world, the technology, and the culture, all without being beaten over the head with info dumps.

Recasting Watson as a ship's organic mind with a traumatic past was a novel approach and in keeping with the rest of the setting. I can honestly say The Shadow's Child is the most well-rounded ship's computer I've ever read about. You don't see the Enterprise's computer having dinner with the computers of other ships! Honestly, Long Chau's deductions and attitude are Sherlockian but she has a lot more depth than I originally thought. I loved the interplay between Long Chau and The Shadow's Child right away. Before I was even finished, I was dreaming of future stories featuring the pair.

Over the years, I've read a lot of detective stories based in other genres and most leave me yearning for gumshoes beating down doors or mannerly locked room mysteries. This one was the opposite of that. Five out of five stars.

THE TEA MASTER AND THE DETECTIVE is a strangely compelling tale. Though I don't read much science fiction and a non-romance at that, I found myself turning the pages as I tried to solve the mystery of Long Chau together with The Shadow's Child.

A short intro for new readers like me: The Shadow's Child is a shipmind, a sentient being inhabiting a ship. Shipminds usually worked in the militia, but due to a tragic past, The Shadow's Child decided to leave, thus she's now having problems taking in work to support her rent. She makes blends for customers. Blends are a mixture of compounds that humans take in to calm their minds and help them when they go into deep space, for example. Well, that's the blend that's used here, so I'm not sure if there are other types of blends.

In any case, this customer--Long Chau--came in, wanting a blend to take for when she goes into deep space to retrieve a corpse for her studies. Long Chau irritated The Shadow's Child--Long Chau was arrogant and mysterious and The Shadow's Child felt unease around her, coupled with her terror of going back into deep space, where her tragic past occurred. When the corpse they retrieved appeared to be questionable, The Shadow's Child felt even more disturbed as she was dragged into the case.

I have to say that when I first started the story, I was a bit confused. I hadn't expected one of the main characters to be a shipmind, and that the entire story would be from her POV. But I think the author made the right call, as it was fascinating to see things from the shipmind's perspective and we get to even see that there's a shipmind community!

But I'm glad I stuck with it, because the worldbuilding is incredible. I feel like what is shown here is a mere drop in what the author has revealed to us about her world, and I can't wait to learn more. I love the Vietnamese culture against which this story is set, and also the Sherlock Holmes-inspired Long Chau and Watson a grumpy decommissioned war mindship.

The mystery is compelling, although I don't understand why Tuyet would be sent by her community into the same situation as Hai Anh. Maybe I missed something in the reading, so don't let this deter you. I certainly didn't!

While this story is certainly an original, I feel it's too short! We're given a glimpse into The Shadow's Child and Long Chau, and then the story is done. There's so much more about them that I want to know about, and I want the next book now. Please, let it be a full-length novel. :)

Update: Upon perusing the author's website, it's noted that this is a novella in The Universe of Xuya series, the 3rd book actually. Going to glom on the other two books! But let it be noted that I want more Long Chau and The Shadow's Child. Rating: 4.5 stars

Mary Robinette Kowal described it best when she said: "The Tea Master is an astonishing Holmesian mystery, in which Holmes is a woman and Watson is a spaceship. It is everything I wanted it to be. Tea, space, and mysteries within mysteries."

Aliette de Bodard's writing is always stellar and her Xuya Universe is fascinating. There's always a new aspect of it to be examined, new genres to be crossed over, and great new characters to discover. I heartily recommend this.

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
The Tea Master and the Detective (Xuya Universe)
by Aliette de Bodard (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review
Jan 23, 2018 · edit

it was amazing

MINI- MASTERPIECE! This is my first encounter with the fiction of Aliette de Bodard and was amazed that in 98 pages she was able to seamlessly blend the genres of alternate history SF with resolution of two mysteries. It is no surprise she is a multi award winning author.
The setting is the Scattered Pearls belt where obviously the dominant culture is Eastern with their scholars and scientists able to attain the stars with all of the accoutrements of advance technology to accomplish their dominance. Enter the two main unusual protagonists: the sentient Mindship, The Shadow's Child and the abrasive scholar-detective Long Chau. Both have "fallen from grace" from previous transgressions - and naturally effect their subsequent actions.
The Shadow's Child is not actually an AI, since "she" was conceived in a human's womb and has
an extremely large array of emotions. Feeling disgraced from her past military events in Deep Space ,
she is now resigned to an occasional passenger transport along with the provision of the mystical "tea" brew of drugs that will allow the human mind to tolerate the hazards of Deep Space travel.
The abrasive Long Chau hires the avatar of The Shadow's Child to take her into Deep Space to recover "any" corpse which would allow her to complete her scholarly study on the deterioration effects of Deep Space on the human body. Recovering of the corpse leads to a resolution of two mysteries and formation of a complex partnership between the two.
With an amazing economy of lyrical and poetic prose de Bodard spins an emotionally complicated tale that demands the reader to seek out more of her fiction.
Thanks to Netgalley and Subterranean Press for providing an electronic uncorrected proof of the marvelous short novel in exchange for an honest review. # @SubPress

I loved this story - the ship mind perspective and the Sherlock Holmes vibes... it all comes together in an excellent and intriguing way. I very much hope there are follow ups, but either way it was a joy to read.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

"Wow" seems to be a fairly standard reaction for me when it comes to Aliette de Bodard. She has a way of painting with prose that is evocative without being flowery, and nowhere is that more evident than in her Universe of Xuya books. Each is a novella, but the plotting is tight and the characters beautifully drawn.

This latest installment has elements of Sherlock Holmes (with the traditional mystery elements that entails) deftly blended with space opera elements and an expanded understanding of the Xuya Universe. We meet a former military shipmind (yes, a sentient spaceship is a main character and it is amazing). The Shadow's Child is suffering from shellshock, barely making ends meet financially, when her path crosses with a consulting detective on a mission. The interaction between these two very different yet strangely similar female characters is a delight, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment with them. I'm only sad this gem of a novella wasn't longer.

Here we go with another novella. You might ask me why I keep reading them when they’re not my favorite format, but the truth is that they’re so popular right now and so many authors are exploring such interesting ideas with them that I can’t help myself.

Much like last week’s Prime Meridian, this week’s book fit pretty well into the novella format. The Tea Master and the Detective, unbeknownst to me prior to doing some research for this review, is set in a world that author Aliette de Bodard has worked in before. As such, it feels pretty well-established and despite scant time spent on the world development in the novella, the author has enough confidence in the setting that the reader just goes along with it.

This is a short mystery story set in space. Multiple reviewers have called it Holmesian and I suppose the label fits. Our detective, Long Chau, has a prickly demeanor and a drug addiction. She also appears to be both determined and brilliant in equal measure.

Our reluctant assistant is the AI of a ship who is suffering from PTSD after the traumatic death of her crew and her resultant stranding in deep space.

Well, AI isn’t quite the right description. The Shadow’s Child refers to having been born, raised, and having a family, so it appears that she had an organic body before being transferred into a ship. I most definitely want to read the other Xuya books to learn more about the ship intelligences in this universe.

Anyway, The Shadow’s Child is the titular “tea master.” Having been discharged from military service, she now brew “serenity.” This tea-like narcotic is customized for each user, and helps them cope with the stresses that deep space puts on the human mind. The brief descriptions of it suggest a process that is somewhere between science and alchemical magic.

With the focus on tea and ship-born intelligence, this book put me in mind of the Imperial Radch trilogy. Readers of that series will find some similarities here, but enough differences that it feels like its own unique story that touches on some of the same ideas.

Unfortunately, because this is a novella-length story, the mystery is not very involved. I think I would have preferred to see a novel-length mystery that Long Chau and The Shadow’s Child really had to sink their teeth into, with false leads and dead ends.

Still, I enjoyed this overall and am glad that NetGalley gave me the chance to read and review it.

Pros: Diverse protagonists, cool setting, TEA!

Cons: Could have been longer. But perhaps a bigger con is that currently, I can only find this book available to be pre-ordered as a $40 hardback physical book, with no digital edition available. Granted, that’s a signed limited edition of 1000 copies… But $40 for a novella means this is probably only going to end up in the hands of die-hard fans of de Bodard’s previous Xuya books.

Conclusion: Readers may be better served by checking out some of the author’s other work first and waiting to see if a more affordable version becomes available down the road.

The Teamaster and the Detective is an amazing read that will satisfy your cravings for science fiction and Holmesian mystery in a go. In the world of Bodard’s imagining, living mindships enable travel through deep spaces, both in actual and virtual form. The teas they brew enable individuals to survive such travel with their serenity and sanity intact. Most mindships belong to illustrious families, but The Shadow’s Child is alone, surviving by selling individualized brews to travelers. The Shadow’s Child is more than sentient, it is a self aware individual with hopes, fears and a burgeoning curiosity. It becomes the Dr Watson to a Long Chau’s Holmes. Bodard’s conception is at once a clear homage to Conan Doyle and a unique creation in its own right. My only complaint is that I finished The Tea Master and the Detective so quickly. I wanted more.

I'm eager to see where Aliette de Bodard takes Long Chau and The Shadow’s Child. While a complete story, The Tea Master and the Detective is a debut that will leave readers hungry for more.

5 / 5

I received a copy of The Tea Master and the Detective from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

The Tea Master and the Detective is a speculative fiction novella that reimagines Sherlock Holmes and John Watson as a female (possibly Vietnamese?) consulting detective and a female “mindship,” respectively. The story is set in a future world heavily influenced by Asian culture (and remarkably well-developed given the brevity of the text), in which humans live in the farthest reaches of space and have created human-spaceship hybrids to handle the difficulties of traveling in deep space. It is fascinating, both as science fiction and as a mystery, though in both cases it is lacking in some ways. Missing on the sci-fi side, among other things, are the reasons behind, and details of, the creation of “mindships.” Despite these issues, though, the book is enjoyable and thought-provoking. I will certainly be looking to read more de Bodard in the future!

The Tea Master & The Detective by Aliette de Bodard- This is a cat & mouse game between a damaged ship-mind retired from service and eking out a living as a brew-master of exotic teas that help people endure the strange unsettling effects of Deep Space or as she calls it Deep Spaces, and a stranger, who wishes to retrieve a corpse from these deep spaces, much to the reluctance of the ship-mind. As they begin their journey we gradually learn more about their recent lives and how their pasts have marked them. The stranger is a detective of sorts, searching for something mysterious and crucial to her survival. Aliette de Bodard has created a very personal and interesting universe to tell her story. The prose is both lyrical and poetic, and vividly unique. Never disappointing, I look forward to everything she writes. It's always first rate and more.

I was sold when I read a description of this as a "Holmesian mystery, in which Holmes is a woman and Watson is a spaceship". I have not read any of the other stories set in the Xuya Universe so it was a bit confusing in the beginning trying to understand what was going on. Once I did though I really loved the world it was set in. Long Chau and The Shadow's Child are two of the more interesting characters I have come across and play off each other so well. A quick read at less than 100 pages it left me wanting more adventures with these two characters. Now I need to go back and check out some of the other stories set in this Universe.

I would highly recommend this to any fan of the science fiction genre who also likes mystery novels. What this book does it does well, and that is being a tribute to both Sherlock Holmes and the modern resurgence of feminist sci-fi. Allow me to explain.
This story is told from the perspective of The Shadow's Child, the organic brain of a spaceship capable of traveling through an alternate dimension. The Shadow's Child also likes making tea. The story starts when our Sherlock Holmes, who goes in the story by the pseudonym Long Chau, asks the spaceship to brew a cup of very special tea. From this point a tale of intrigue and murder unfolds, inside the cold vastness that is the unreality of the alternate dimension.
What I particularly liked was how the author played the Sherlock Holmes mythos straight. Long Chau was neither British nor a man, but in most other ways she followed Sherlock Holmes' personality and habits true. Where Holmes was a drug addict, so to was Long Chau. Where Holmes has a seedy reputation in world, so too does Long Chau. The plot of this novel itself reminds me of the first Sherlock Holmes mystery, 'A Study in Scarlet,' which I read just a few months ago.
The Watson of this novel is The Shadow's Child, a traumatized human brain inside a metallic shell who dreads going into the alternate dimension, which is a setting for a large portion of this book's plot. This character was quite wonderful, not least because she reminded me of Breq from the book 'Ancillary Justice,' for both are ships with a very human perspective.
But as always I like to include some constructive criticism in my reviews. I enjoyed this novella quite thoroughly, and perhaps that was my problem: I wanted more out of this amazing setting than a novella can give. It felt like we were just skimming the surface of a greater story, a galaxy spanning civilization which has the cultural hallmarks of some of Earth's Asian civilizations, such as tea ceremonies, the frequent use of jade as a cultural touchstone and the importance of family. I wanted to know where the rest of Earth's civilizations were! Are they out there somewhere too, or has Vietnam conquered the galaxy?! Whatever the answer, I do intend to read on in the series to find out.

This was one of the more innovative homages to Sherlock Holmes that I've encountered. Here, Sherlock Holmes is a woman, apparently of Vietnamese descent (or at least living in a Vietnamese-inspired galactic empire called the Scattered Pearls Belt), and Dr. Watson is a spaceship who brews mind-altering teas.

I enjoyed this novella, and intend to read more in the Xuya Universe. The world building was fascinating and I loved the Vietnamese influence.

This novella shouldn’t work... but somehow it does!

<I>The Tea Master and the Detective</I> is a wonderfully strange reimagining of Sherlock Holmes — if Watson was a sentient, traumatized spaceship and Holmes was dependent on regular body chemistry modifications to achieve the ultimate mental razor’s edge.

(Also notable, now that I think about it: Not only are Long Chau and <I>The Shadow’s Child</I> gender-flipped versions of Holmes and Watson, but I think that <I>everyone</I> with a speaking role in this novella is implied to be female. I didn’t even notice this while reading the first time, but that’s pretty amazing!)

While the plot in the last third rushed along rather too quickly for my taste, I loved the whole journey there: the little snippets of universe worldbuilding scattered throughout, the easy interaction between the characters, and especially the very end, with its budding friendship and a promise of more to come. I do hope we see these pair again, and hopefully in a longer format.

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[Disclaimer: This eARC was provided free by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

The Tea Master And The Detective by Aliette de Bodard a great shorter story. Has a feel of a futuristic sci-fi with Sherlock Holmes and Watson as they were starting out. I enjoyed it and hope to see more like it.

I’m always on the lookout for a good gender-swapped version of Sherlock Holmes, and Aliette de Bodard has achieved that and more with The Tea Master and the Detective. Despite its short length—it’s a novella—De Bodard crafted a compelling book with a fantastic story set in the Xuya Universe with characters that were as mysterious as they were smart. It also had a unique take on space travel that felt fresh and innovative.

I adored this book. It was the perfect combination of science fiction and mystery, with a Sherlock Holmes and Watson-esque relationship between the two main characters, The Shadow’s Child (a mindship) and Long Chau. That’s one thing I love about De Bodard’s writing—she always manages to create such vivid characters. The Shadow’s Child was by far one of my favorite aspects about the book. It was a mindship discharged from the military after a traumatic injury. The character could have gone either way, good or bad. However, the backstory, personality, and how De Bodard portrayed the lingering fears linked to the aforementioned trauma, made for a well-rounded character. The same could be said about Long Chau; although, I much preferred when the two were interacting/investigating.

The Scattered Pearls Belt was an interesting place with excellent world building. There were a number of little details about the society that made it an interesting setting for a mystery to take place. I particularly enjoyed the author’s take on space travel. Specifically, I liked the idea of using something as ordinary and everyday as tea to nullify the effects of traveling into “deep spaces.” And the process behind making these teas—the trial and errors while brewing—were quite fascinating to read about.

So, The Tea Master and the Detective was pretty awesome. I loved everything about it, and I recommend it for readers who have read works by De Bodard before or are looking for a good place to start.

Disclaimer: This copy of the book was provided by Subterranean Press via Netgalley for this review.

There's a lot to love about "The Tea Master and the Detective," not least its central conceit: That crimes still happen in spacefaring societies, and that brilliant, obtuse, and even downright difficult detectives will still be around to recast the Sherlock narrative in delightfully unique, genderbent ways. True to Sherlock retellings, our Watson is our entry point into the story, and this is no passive sidekick waiting around for the detective to unveil a convoluted revelation--The Shadow's Child goes into the universe and does everything possible to do right by herself and others, despite past traumas and present doubts in the trustworthiness of her companions along the way.

At its strongest moments, de Bodard's compact little novella reminds me of Ann Leckie's "Ancillary Justice," where a ship-based artificial intelligence struggles to come to terms with her place in a strange future textured with jade and porcelain, as well as Alastair Reynold's "The Prefect" (and its sequel, "Elysium Fire") with its post-surplus habitat alliance, the Glitter Band, and the bureaucracies in place to protect it. "The Tea Master and the Detective" hints at a similarly expansive universe without being bogged down in the details, and I'm tantalized by the idea of what may be revealed in future installments.

That said, there are unevennesses to this novella which others have already commented upon, at length. The pacing seems to be the primary sticking point, with a desultory first half, set in digitally opulent environs (if only cramped space station compartments in reality) and obsessed with faded glamour and jewel-like bots which regulate human emotions and functions with needles and quite a few elegantly described drops of blood. (No one seems to be willing to comment upon the hazards so many little droplets might pose to a cramped space station's ducts and wiring.) The book takes a brief and jarring leap forward into a climax which doesn't quite feel earned before returning to the drawing-room reflections so typical of a Conan Doyle hat-tip.

At ninety-six pages, de Bodard had room to develop a momentum which worked; that she didn't is unfortunate, but I have high hopes that there will be sequels to follow, with more space crimes to solve and more of this sophisticated universe to unfold.

An excellent space opera adventure that highlights the strength of Aliette de Bodard's world building skills.

This novella is set in an existing story universe, but you don’t have to be familiar with anything previous in order to enjoy the story. I living ship is trying to make a living after a horrible incident during the war. They have been discharged and they are avoiding going into deep space. Barely making the rent on their docking they are hired by a private detective that wants to do some research. The research develops into something more and as the story goes along you find out more about the ship and the detective. A good story and I know I will read more in this universe.

Very interesting worldbuilding. Reminiscent of the Ancillary Justice series, as it is about a shipmind/AI. Readers who enjoy that series will take to this one quick. The mystery was solved a little too quickly and out of nowhere. I would have liked a little more detective type work so the resolution felt a bit more earned, but overall a diverting read.

This novella is my first foray into the work of Aliette de Bodard, who I've followed a while on social media because of her love of pen and ink writing and drawing. This was a delightful entrée into her work.

The Tea Master and the Detective is the story of the traumatized brain of a mindship, The Sparrow's Child, and Long Chau, an Asian woman with a shadowy past, and their investigation into the death of a young Vietnamese woman. As the story evolves, it becomes evident that female duo and their investigation of a murder is a clever take on Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. Long Chau is investigating the effects of deep spaces on corpses. The Sparrow's Child, recovering from a devastating deep space event that killed or severely injured her crew, spends her days as a tea master, brewing specialized blends of teas. Each of her blends is tailor-made for an individual. It is in her capacity as tea master that she meets Long Chau, who like Holmes, has... issues with substance use. Over the course of the novella, they each learn to truly see and trust one another, as they investigate the death of a young shipworker.

De Bodard's beautiful writing style was a delight to read. I know she has written quite a few works set in the Xuya Universe. I would love to see more of these two characters, who were intriguing.