The Ship Who Won [Hardcover]

Anne McCaffrey (Author), Jody Lynn Nye (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1994

Like Helva, the Ship Who Sang (and Nancia from PartnerShip and Tia from The Ship Who Searched), Carialle was born so physically disadvantaged that her only chance for life was as a shellperson. And like those others, Carialle decided she would strap on a spaceship. Now she is on a mission to search the galaxy for intelligent beings.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

McCaffrey continues to develop her brainship concept, with a new collaborator this time, the one who worked with her on The Death of Sleep (1990). The brainship Carialle and her brawn, Keff, find a habitable planet inhabited by an apparent mix of races and cultures and dominated by an elite of apparent magicians. Appearances are deceiving, however, and by the time the explorers have discovered the planet's secrets--not to mention other intelligent races--they find themselves in a desperate battle to save it. Knowing McCaffrey's background in space adventure and Nye's in humorous fantasy, you can tell whose influence is uppermost in certain passages, but ultimately the two blend their skills effectively to produce a brisk, well-told, often amusing tale that does not strive to do more than entertain but does so admirably. Fans of either author, or both, will have fun with this book. Roland Green

From Kirkus Reviews

A new entry in McCaffrey's Brain/Brawn series begun with The Ship Who Sang (1969) and continued by McCaffrey with various collaborators. The Brain here is Carialle, a bodiless human wired into spaceship SSS-900; the Brawn is supplied by Carialle's human partner, Keff. Explorers Carialle and Keff hope to achieve alien contact. Unfortunately, they also need to make discoveries that generate money and kudos: Cencom might not renew their contract, since a prior unpleasant experience has left Carialle psychologically vulnerable to bureaucratic shutdown. On the chilly planet Ozran they discover a population of furry humanoids ruled by irascible and arrogant ``wizards'' wielding what apparently are magic powers. The wizards take Keff captive but do not immediately learn of Carialle's existence. Keff is aided by Plennafrey, a young, beautiful, and rebellious wizard, and the more powerful Chaumel, who is at least willing to listen. Carialle, you see, has discovered that the source of the wizards' power is a projector called the core of Ozran, set up ages ago by one of two long- vanished, advanced alien races. The Core was designed to function as a weather control device, and in using it to power their magic, the wizards have doomed the planet to a slow, cold extinction. Only after Carialle reveals that the ubiquitous globe-frogs are actually the previous masters of Ozran, and that they are willing to help once the wizards cease their bickering, are the wizards persuaded to mend their ways. Bright and bubbly entertainment, though, despite the adult content, decidedly juvenile in style and tone; therefore more likely to appeal to the younger sections of McCaffrey's audience. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 330 pages
• Publisher: Baen (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671875957
• ISBN-13: 978-0671875954
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #865,588 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This particular story lacked mystery & overall excitment., July 30, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Ship Who Won (Paperback)

While the story brings you into the realm of brain/brawn books, it lacks the mystery and overall excitment that Anne's other "Ship Who Sang" books have. I was bored with the Brain and bored with the Brawn. Dialogue for both was predictable and at times drawn out. The beginning and wrap up of the story was good, but the meat of it, left me lacking in curiosity. I am a big fan of the Ship Who Sang series, so I am disappointed in this collaboration

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Science fiction with a little fantasy thrown in., October 13, 2000

By 

A. Tresca - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ship Who Won (Mass Market Paperback)

From the same universe as Nancia (Partnership), Tia (The Ship Who Searched), Simeon (The City Who Fought), and Helva (The Ship Who Sang), comes Carialle. Because she was deformed at birth, Carialle underwent surgery and is enclosed inside a shell. As a "shellperson", Carialle is placed inside a spaceship which she controls entirely with her mind. Her and her partner (a "brawn" named Keff) then blast off on a dangerous mission to find intelligent life in the universe.

She and Keff find other sentient beings on an uncharted planet, but something strange is going on. The inhabitants, who appear to be human, demonstrate awesome magical powers! Ruling over a lower caste of slaves, these people are colorful and passionate, and constantly waging magical wars with one another.

Carialle and Keff discover the secrets this world holds, and find that nothing on Orza is what it appears to be. The magicians themselves don't even know the true mysteries behind their powers. A wonderful novel, I heartily recommend it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the best in the series, but a good read, December 31, 2001

By 

Mariah - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ship Who Won (Mass Market Paperback)

I am a reader who likes to follow all the books in a series in order to get a good feel for the world the author is trying to create. I have just completed my second read-thru of the "Ship" series and I tend to think of this book as the weakest one. I found the story line exciting as it tries to unravel a few mysteries, but I didn't find myself as connected to the characters as I have in previous books. In other books in the series you have more insight into the feelings of the "brains" or the "brawns" or sometimes both. This books tends to be more of a description of events.

I was also disappointed that both this book and "The City Who Fought" seemed to leave some loose ends that Anne McCaffery didn't follow-up on herself. The sequels were authored solely by the contributing authors and require reading if you really want to finish up those stories. For instance, if you want to find out what really happened to Carialle in this book while she was drifting in space and on the brink of insanity (which was a primary point in this book) you will have to read "The Ship Errant" by Jody Lynn Nye.