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Notes on 2nd reading: As seems to be common with me and Aliette de Bodard stories, I loved it even more on the second read. I continue to be completely enamored of the characters, settings, and stories in the Xuya universe.
Original review: I have a soft spot for creative Holmes & Watson retellings, and The Tea Master and the Detective is certainly that. The Watson character being an AI (one of the spaceship Minds, who are some of my favorite Xuya characters) was a cool touch, since it meant that ...more
Original review: I have a soft spot for creative Holmes & Watson retellings, and The Tea Master and the Detective is certainly that. The Watson character being an AI (one of the spaceship Minds, who are some of my favorite Xuya characters) was a cool touch, since it meant that ...more
Ship AI (or AIs) seem to be a fad nowadays. The novel is interesting but I am not sure the title reflects the content. It started strong but apparently there's very little detective work here. Also, I felt like this might not work best as a standalone.
...more
I'm sorry to say - even though I love tea and dumplings - this novella didn't work that well for me. I found the premise and worldbuilding interesting, but for most of the time, the story seemed to lack sense of direction. It is absolutely possible that this intentional, given that the novella falls into the category of detective stories.
The character descriptions were a bit repetitive in my eyes, for me some of the dialogue and descriptions could have well been switched up for more background i ...more
The character descriptions were a bit repetitive in my eyes, for me some of the dialogue and descriptions could have well been switched up for more background i ...more
Es ist definitiv Potential für eine richtig gute Serie da und ich mochte auch diese Geschichte im Prinzip sehr gern. Aber es fehlte der letzte Funke, um mich komplett mitzureißen. Sollte es mit den beiden Figuren eine weitere Geschichte geben, werde ich diese jedoch nur zu gern lesen!
A pastiche of Sherlock Holmes and Watson in space-faring Asian-inspired empire. Vietnamese, in this case. In this world, space travel occurs via deep space, a place of unreality that ships travel through that skips through time and distances in normal space. Shipminds, human mind-equivalent of AI, can drive through it, but humans require carefully-created teas that manipulated their personality /emotions in order to help them endure the trip.
The tea master is a shipmind, The Shadow's Child, who ...more
The tea master is a shipmind, The Shadow's Child, who ...more
Full disclosure: I received a copy of this novella from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.
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 ...more
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 ...more
La historia es, en toda regla, una novela de detectives situada en un universo de ciencia ficción basado en la cultura vietnamita. Al inicio, sin haber leído otros libros de la saga, algunos conceptos pueden carecer de un contexto claro, pero la historia está hilada para no requerir altas explicaciones ni alta exposición. En este caso, The Tea Master and the Detective es una historia centrada especialmente en los personajes, haciéndola extremadamente interesante.
No es cada día que una novela, de ...more
No es cada día que una novela, de ...more
A delight to read. :-)
May 24, 2018
Becca
marked it as to-read
Aug 28, 2018
Efreak
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Nov 30, 2018
Nicol
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Mar 21, 2019
Zachary
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Nov 26, 2019
Torradin341
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Jan 09, 2020
♥Xeni♥
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May 06, 2020
Julia
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May 12, 2021
Rosie
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Jun 24, 2021
Ava
marked it as to-read
