hardcover, 176 pages
Published Oct. 31, 2020 by Subterranean, Subterranean Press.
Vân is a scholar from a poor background, eking out a living in the orbitals of the Scattered Pearls Belt as a tutor to a rich family, while hiding the illegal artificial mem-implant she manufactured as a student. Sunless Woods is a mindship - and not just any mindship, but a notorious thief and a master of disguise. She's come to the Belt to retire, but is drawn to Vân's resolute integrity. When a mysterious corpse is found in the quarters of Vân's student, Vân and Sunless Woods find themselves following a trail of greed and murder that will lead them from teahouses and ascetic havens to the wreck of a mindship - and to the devastating secrets they've kept from each other.
I've enjoyed Aliette de Bodard's short stories for years but hadn't gotten to read any of her longer works before now. This novella wraps a romance in fascinating scifi ideas and a carefully crafted world. It's a bit languid, but thoroughly enjoyable.
