The Ship That Returned

Brainship #1.4

by Anne McCaffrey

Novella, originally published in Far Horizons: All New Tales from the Greatest Worlds of Science Fiction edited by Robert Silverberg. Also published as "The Ship Who Returned" in Federations edited by John Joseph Adams.

Genres: Science Fiction, Ebooks

49 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Anne Inez McCaffrey was an American writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction (Best Novella, Weyr Search, 1968) and the first to win a Nebula Award (Best Novella, Dragonrider, 1969). Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.
In 2005 the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America named McCaffrey its 22nd Grand Master, an annual award to living writers of fantasy and science fiction. She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame on 17 June 2006. She also received the Robert A. Heinlein Award for her work in 2007.

Reviews

[Tony Hisgett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s been a long time since I read the ”Brainship” books, nearly fifty years, but one of the things I remembered was being disappointed with the way the author didn’t make more use of the characters.
Helva is the Ship Who Sang who appears in book one and at the time I first read this book, this was the end of her involvement in the series.

This was a really interesting short story, not just because the actual story was good, but it helped to ‘round off’ Helva and Niall’s story.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the last story in the Helva arc and details the end of Niall Haloran. I previously read this short story in the collection Federation but didn't realize and read it again, because it's listed twice on Goodreads. It's a short sweet story about Helva and Niall (as a hologram after death) having one last adventure. Niall is as irrelevant as ever and a genius at getting under Helva's skin. Helva is taught that she's not the smartest thing in the universe by a bunch of religious farmers on a backwards planet. The discussion surrounding the "body" that Niall wanted Helva to use was disturbing. I'm not sure if this was because she didn't have the desire to have sex with Niall or because she was against the prosthetic. Since the ship is a sort of prosthetic itself, I'm leaning towards the former as an explanation. I guess Niall couldn't deal with the fact that Helva didn't like him in that way.

[annapi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad little short, but a lot of it was just the repetition of Helva's grief over the death of Niall manifested in her unwillingness to give up the holo program that kept him "alive" while onboard. It also stretched out Helva's unwillingness to listen to the aliens that became a bit tedious after awhile, since you already know how it's going to turn out. Honestly, what I wanted more of was at the end, I wish she would have gone into the selection process for Helva's next brawn.

Good for 3 stars if you're looking for run-of-the-mill Helva adventures.

[Frank Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually this little story is quite wonderful, if you can ignore Niall's proud chauvinisms. The scenario captured me for multiple reasons. The point in time and Helva's way of dealing with that is relatable and the situation that she finds herself in had enough intrigue to drive the story all the way through.

Excellent.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like this series.

[Althea Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really, more like 2.5. The brain-ship Helva (of 'The Ship Who Sang' series) is experiencing grief after the death of her elderly partner, but finds herself a mission and some coping strategies to help her deal with it. McCaffrey's very old-fashioned ideas regarding interpersonal relationships are very much on display here, but, as with most of her work, the writing style is breezily entertaining.

[Stephanie Bolen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cried, so sad and awesome.