Customer Reviews

The Ship Who Sang

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This short story collection marks the genesis of the concept of 'brainships' in McCaffrey's Central Worlds universe: infants born so damaged that they cannot survive without life support, but whose minds are sharp and alert. Given a matchless education at Central Lab Schools, they don't strap on prosthetics - some become space stations or city managers. Those with a head for starflight mathematics, like Helva, may become brainships - the 'brain' half of a brain/brawn team, a human mind installed in a spaceship.

See also "Honeymoon" in McCaffrey's _Get Off the Unicorn_ for the tale of one of Helva's missions to Beta Corvi that didn't make it into this book.

"The Ship Who Sang" - Helva is unusual in that she developed her particular hobby while quite young: moving from a passion for Shakespeare, to grand opera, to overcome the technical difficulties in learning to sing. But there's a reason shellpeople don't consider themselves handicapped in any way...

"The Ship Who Mourned" - Helva has just endured the funeral of her beloved brawn partner; only to be expected, given the difference in their lifespans, but that doesn't help the sharp edge of her grief. MedServ's usual lack of sensitivity has sent her straight back out to carry physiotherapist Theoda to treat the survivors of a plague that left the few surviving victims paralyzed. And Helva sees more mourning than her own...

"The Ship Who Killed" - MedServ has assigned Helva a 3-year mission and a new brawn (temporary, but for the duration of the mission) with an unusual twist. Nekkar's entire population has been left sterile by a radiation flare from their star, and Helva and Kira now have Assignment Stork: delivering thousands of embryos to Nekkar from worlds all over known space. Something about the mission seems to be troubling Helva's new brawn, whose service record has some interesting gaps...

"Dramatic Mission" - The Beta Corviki have a great knowledge of physics, and can give humanity the ability to build starships with a far greater range - but they want something unusual in exchange after sampling the archives of the survey ship that made first contact. Helva is to carry a company of Shakespearean actors to Beta Corvi, to perform _Romeo and Juliet_. Will the company manage to satisfy their alien audience, given the personal strife between the stars of the show? (This mission marks Helva's first face-to-face meeting with her supervisor Parollan, incidentally.)

"The Ship Who Dissembled" - Helva is fed up with her current brawn, and is finally frustrated enough to face not only the financial penalties for breaking up the partnership, but the inevitable I-told-you-so from her supervisor, the abrasive Niall Parollan. But just as Helva is about to initiate formal proceedings over an open communication channel, hijackers strike, who know the vulnerabilities of a shellperson all too well.

"The Partnered Ship" - In only ten years of service, Helva has paid off the huge debt of her early medical care and ship construction, and can now be a free agent. Central Worlds, particularly her supervisor Niall Parollan, are crafting an offer to tempt her to stay, while Broley (a fellow shellperson, though a city manager) wheels and deals to line up job offers. Who (if anybody) will get their just desserts?

I read The Ship Who Sang when it first came out in the late 60s, and have read it a frightening number of times since. As a teenager I was entirely captivated by the wonderfully real Helva, one of the most genuine characters I had ever come across in SF at that time. She got mad, she exulted, she loved, she mourned, while all around her cardboard SF characters were moving in their puppet dance. There are scenes in this book that have stuck in my imagination for 30 years, powerful images of a world sprung from the mind of the author - but I never associate this work with the writer. It is too vibrant in its own right to need any other references. Anne McCaffrey has created, in The Ship Who Sang, an enduring classic of Science Fiction. This is a work with a brilliantly realised idea of a particular future, combined with enough passion to ensure that the characters will outlive all of us. Brava, Ms McCaffrey, and thank you.

It never occured to me to write, or even read a 'customer review' of Anne McCaffrey. I've enjoyed her since I was eighteen years old. Simply, She is one of two SF/Fantasy authors I buy in hardback. I'm enjoying reading the thoughts of people just discovering her, and also the controversy!

That said, THE SHIP WHO SANG is marvelous on many levels. Ms. McCaffrey has said that what she does best are love stories and Helva is as heroic yet soft-hearted as anyone could wish. As a silly little escape from the realities of the working world, this book succeeds. As a homage to her father, she overwhelms.

In a purely sci/fi vein, McCaffrey took the concept of cyborgs to a great extreme at a time when artificial heart valves and kidney transplants were in their infancy. The first functional pace maker didn't debut until 1960. The first of the Helva stories that make up this book came out in 1961. THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN didn't appear until twelve years later, when Helva and her peers (shell people) were already the elite of space exploration, single-handed managers of major metropolis's and coordinators of space mining platforms. STAR TREK didn't boldly go here until 1966! While it's not Jules Verne, this ain't too shabby!

I see the Helva stories as perfect to spark high school discussions. McCaffrey's unified galaxy, Central Worlds presaged our current move to a global economy by forty years. Her social consciousness emphasizes the need for the arts in a civilized society and serious issues like euthanasia, drug use and civic responsibility are all major themes. The entire concept of social protestors evolving into 'Dylanists' should set the stage for historical discussions of the Viet Nam Era and extrapolating Shakespearean universality into alien societies should do the same. Her use of language has also greatly improved my vocabulary! (I won't even start on the military's way of honoring its members with parades and such and hypocritical senators who fight for NEA cuts. Attending a Memorial Day parade should be enough to convince ANY of them!)

I greatly enjoy the way the author took short stories and incorporated them into one book. I like her characters, their intelligence, their strength, their firmness of conviction, especially her women. Yes there are stereotypes, yes there's implied sex but the only 'graphic' passage has to do with overcoming one's baser instincts, a positive in my opinion. I also greatly admire the way McCaffrey's works overlap. Helva turns up briefly in the Crystal Singer series, where other brain ships play a major role, which I think is great fun. Look at this book from any view point, and it should turn out to be enjoyable. I give 4 stars, because, written as it was in the 60's it's slang seems dated now!

The best place to start discovering brain/brawn stories and always a good re-read. Helva's quirks, determination and compassion make her a great protagonist. An enduring classic and the base on which the growing number of brain/brawn stories have been built.

Helva is one of many born with physical birth defects which trap a briliant mind in a useless body. Science has a solution, hook the brain to something beyond the limited body. Hence the creation of "Brain" ships, stations and cities. Combined with a mobile "brawn" partner, these "brains" have abilities far beyond what a "normal" human could achieve. Called "shell-people" because their physical forms are encased, they experience the fear and prejudice of others' ignorance, as well as the full range of their very human emotions. Their special abilities when "hooked into" a space ship or station control don't diminish their very human traits. Helva's adventures, along with the other B&B teams, give everyone something to enjoy and discover.

When I read this book I was surprised to see it had first been published in the 1960s. The idea of a ship controlled by a human brain is so 21st century I was amazed that Anne McCraffey had come up with the idea so early on in the 20th century! The story centers around Helva, born with terrible physical defects, her brain is transplanted into a metal shell until she is old enough to be put inside a Space Craft where she will merge with the technology and become part of the ship. Her relationship with her pilots and passengers is poignantly portrayed, whilst her ability to sing is nurtured by those she comes to love and trust. Helva is not just a dispossessed brain implanted into a space ship, she is totally human, she loves, she grieves, she gets angry. She is all woman but she is also part of a machine that has work to do among the many planets littered across the universe. Helva becomes aware that machines with brains also can go rouge, as humans do, but even though she looses a pilot she loves, she remains true to her designation and learns to adapt to every situation thrust upon her by the humans she works with and for. The title refers to Helva's ability to sing, something she does out of love for her first pilot, and it is her singing that teaches her more about her human/machine soul, than anything she has learnt through study or experience. This is a quirky, curious novel about a human/ship hybrid, and is well worth reading, just for the wonderful ideas it comes up with. For example Helva is paid a salary to maintain herself, as well as being allowed to choose her companions (pilots. The plot itself is fragmented in that it is not continuous, rather many little stories are being told as Helva takes on various missions and meets an assortment of people both good and bad. An interesting idea that works and reads well. Well worth buying.

This is the first, and the best, of Anne McCaffrey's Brainship stories. A young woman, Helva was born with terrible physical problems that were incompatible with any kind of independent life. New technology allowed her to be encased in a titanium shell that formed the core of a spaceship, with her brain wired up to the ship, allowing her to use her formidable intellect to act as the craft's central `computer'. She has become the first of the `Brainships' and can now have a freedom and independence of sorts, the freedom to travel between the stars accompanied by the pilot who will be her `Brawn'. Helva proves to have a love of music and an incredible voice to go with it; her constant singing leads to her fame as `The Ship Who Sang'.
It's hard to believe this book was written so long ago, it has certainly stood the test of time and is as enjoyable now as it has ever been. McCaffrey has introduced the idea of cyborg technology in a way that makes you question the morality of combining man and machine and to think about issues such as euthanasia. She never loses sight of the humanity of this young `hybrid' however, and Helva's development and growth as a person makes for moving reading. Granted this isn't a heavyweight of literature, don't expect lengthy prose or hard science, and occasionally the book lapses into more of a romance than a sci-fi story, but that aside, this is still a really good read. Keep an open mind and give it a chance, you won't be disappointed.

I am a huge Anne McCaffrey fan. I have been putting off reading this book though. I shouldn't have. It was wonderful. I did not realize the book was written in the early 60's. I expected it to be dated in some of its technology. It was not. Anne McCaffrey was way ahead of her time. A light easy read that pulls you into the story of Helva and compels you seek out the following books. A great introduction to Anne McCaffrey that leaves a reader wanting more.

I am a second generation McCaffrey fan, raising the third generation. My 15-year old daughter and I both thouroughly enjoyed "The Ship Who Sang". I just looked over some of the other reviews, and feel that perhaps those folks that compared this novel to a Harlequin should stick to reading cheesy romances. The characters in this book truly come to life, and the only disappointment for me, was when I was finished, because there was no more book left! Who cares if the word "undulate" was used three times! Helva is a character that really makes you want to read more ...

Unfortunately, intellectual snobs will use this lovely book to go off on tangents about words like "undulate" etc. etc. Ms. McCaffrey has done an outstanding job of making Helva one of the most lovable HUMAN people ever created. Her interactions with her fellow human beings either uncovers their true worth (as in the case of Niall Parollan), or shows the baser side of humanity. Somehow characters who get to know Helva forget that she is "a deformed dwarf in a titanium column, with only a functional brain". They tend to treat her like the wonderful exciting, sexy woman she was meant to be. It is not hard to believe that a man would have unfulfilled sexual notions about a woman like Helva. And just one comment to all the teachers who have a tendency towards censorship -- this book wasn't written with children in mind. It is for adults. The snobby sounding reviews from some teachers and university elitists makes them sound like self proclaimed superior intellectuals (and it makes a few of them sound sexually repressed). Give us a break and stick to reviewing Plato.

Anne McCaffrey is good at creating new worlds or new concepts; her "Crystal Singer" series was my favorite, a whole world created around crystal miners who use voice to tune their cutting instruments to mine delicate and temperamental crystal.

In "The Ship Who Sang", music is also a factor, but it takes a backseat role to the concept of the brain/brawn ships. Helva is a crippled human who has a completely excellent brain trapped in a handicapped body. She is offered training to become a "Shell" person; one whose brain will be encased in a metal shell and imbedded in some kind of equipment needed intelligent direction. In Helva's case, she becomes a spaceship, her shell set in the middle of an entire ship partnered with a "brawn" or a physically able human.

The book is a collection of short stories featuring adventures for Helva with and without a brawn partner. The stories are only linked in time--Helva can work off the cost of her training and become a Free Ship (in time, in a lot of time.) Meanwhile, she is sent on a variety of missions. The one story I appreciated the most was "The Ship Who Dissembled" which has a most exciting hijacking; Helva is taken over by a crew of criminals who exploit her most tender weakness to get her to comply with their orders. But Helva is no idiot, despite being at somewhat of a disadvantage. This story is worth the entire book, in my opinion.

McCaffrey goes on to create more novels with the brain ship motif. This is a good one to read first to get the idea of the concept. And it's an absolute classic in the world of science fiction.