The Ship Who Searched

The third in Anne McCaffrey's Brainship series, and co-authored by Mercedes Lackey, this novel features Hypatia Cade, a bright young child who follows her parents as they travel throughout the galaxy. Their work as archaeologists takes them to isolated outposts, requiring Hypatia to become self-reliant, as she is left to her own devices for long periods.

On one dig, an investigation into a site that may be evidence of the mysterious EsKays, Hypatia is  exposed to a virus, and becomes gravely ill.  Hospitalised, her condition steadily worsens until she becomes almost completely paralysed.  One night she breaks down, weeping and asking the universe WHY this has happened to her, grieving at the unfairness of it all, that she hasn't even had a chance to begin her life.

One of her doctors overhears her, and is also cut to the quick by the unfairness of Hypatia's situation. He himself is a paraplegic, and has some understanding of the future Hypatia faces.  Knowing that Hypatias condition will never improve, he hatches a plot to have her accepted into the brainship program.

Brainships, or 'Brains' for short, are people who have been born with severe genetic defects, rendering their bodies useless, but leaving their minds and intellects intact.  They are placed into cybernetic 'shells' and their growth is permanently stunted, to prevent the need for transfer into larger shells as their bodies grow.  After a great deal of training, they take up positions in cities, and on board space stations and spaceships.

Hypatia is the oldest child ever to be accepted into the program.  It had previously been thought that older children would not be able to cope psychologically with the transition into a shell.

Not only does Hypatia cope, she thrives, exiting her training with a determination that only assignment to a spaceship will be good enough for her.  She achieves this goal, and then faces the prospect of selecting a 'brawn' the able-bodied partners of the brains, the pair acting together to run the ship.

Due to the overwhelming cost of the training and care of brains, each 'shellperson' begins their career with massive debt.  But Hypatia has a plan, and eventually selects Alex as her brawn, a charming young man, who Hypatia feels will air her in her mission to both pay off the debt, and her desire to find the EsKay homeworld.

Hypatia and Alex become close friends, and Hypatia wonders if she is not falling in love with Alex, and untenable situation, as they can never have an intimate relationship.

One of her friends counsels her that there are many kinds of love. Filios, or brotherly love; Eros, or physical love; and Agape, or spiritual love. He tells Hypatia that there is nothing wrong with feeling love for Alex, but that she must be cautious, should her feelings turn toward Eros.

But there too, it seems that Hypatia is determined to have it all. She has earned a great deal of money, paying off her initial debt, and making many and varied investments.  In one of those, a cybernetics company, Hypatia eventually purchases a controlling interest. This company specialises in making fully functional cybernetic prosthetics, of such high quality that they can even return the ability to dance to a ballerina who has lost a leg.  Hypatia, after taking control of the company, sends them instructions through her legal proxy, that they are to embark on a special project for her.

In the meantime things between Hypatia and Alex have reached a crisis point, with Alex exposing his feelings for Hypatia.

He leaves the ship in port, and proceeds to get very, very drunk.  Upon his return to the ship he is aghast to discover all in darkness, and that Hypatias toy bear - the same one she wept bitter tears into as she lay incapacitated in the hospital - is gone.  He is sure that Hypatia has repudiated him, and that he has lost her forever.

However, upon entering is cabin, he discovers a young woman, with Hypatia's elfin looks and dark hair, cradling the missing bear in her arms. The cybernetics company has achieved the impossible, creating a remote cybernetic body that Hypatia can control as if it were her own.  It is not merely a mechanical construct, but looks and feels real in every way.

In this way Hypatia and Alex can be together, and even more, Hypatia can transcend the limitations of her own physical existence and have a normal life.  Moreover, it is a gift she can share with all the other shellpeople, should they choose to follow her example.

Publishing Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Orbit (1999)
• ISBN-10: 1857232054
• ISBN-13: 978-1857232059

Search Tags

the ship who searched

100 1   McCaffrey, Anne
245 1 4 The ship who searched|h[large print] /|cAnne McCaffrey and Mercedes Lackey.
260     Bath, Eng. :|bChivers Press,|c1996.
500     First published in 1992.
520     Accompanying her exo-archeologist parents on an EsKay dig, seven-year-old Tia becomes afflicted with a strange neural disorder that leaves her totally dependent on a mechanical life support system. In order to forge an independant life for herself, Tia becomes a shellperson and is installed in one of the celebrated brain ships.
650   0 Space ships|vFiction.
700 1   Lackey, Mercedes.
800 1   McCaffrey, Anne.|tShip series ;|v3.
910     SM
947     14 NOV 1996


Links

Wikipedia - The Ship Who Searched

Jane Eyre

Jane is ten years old, and live with her uncle and his family. Jane's parents have both died from typhus. Jane is not welcome in her uncles house, and suffers from abuse and neglect.

Eventually being sent away to school, Jane makes a few friends, but continues to struggle against unjust treatment, and the school is profoundly effected by the neglect of those in charge, causing malnourishment and disease amongst the pupils. There is another typhus outbreak, and one of Jane's friends Helen, dies of consumption (tuberculosis, or T.B.).

After the neglect is discovered, others take charge of the school and conditions improve.  Jane remains at the school for many years, first as a student and later as a teacher.

After leaving the school, Jane takes up a position as governess to the young Adele Varens. Jane meets the young girl's guardian, Edward Rochester in very dramatic circumstances, as she is taking a walk one evening, and Rochester is thrown from his horse as it slips on the icy path.

Edward and Jane spend a great deal of time together, forming a firm friendship around their mutual affection for young Adele, despite the fact that Edward is bethrothed to Blanche Ingram.

Many strange things happen at Thornfield Hall, disturbing the peace that Jane, Edward and Adele have created.

Jane briefly returns to her uncles house to care for her dying aunt, despite the way the woman had treated her as a child. After her aunt's death Jane returns to Thornfield Hall.  During her absence Edward has discovered the depth of his feelings for Jane, as she in return confronts her growing affection for Edward. Edward ends his engagement, and proposed marriage to Jane, who accepts.  One night Jane is attacked by a mad eyed woman, but Edward claims that it was merely one of his servants, in a moment of drunkeness.

One the day of the wedding it is revealed that the woman is in fact Edwards wife, whom Edward's father had manipulated into marrying as a means of getting his hands on the woman's fortune, before Edward discovered the she was incurably insane.  Having the woman contained at Thornfield Hall was his only option. Jane denies Edwards request to remain with him and leaves Thornfield.

With little money, Jane makes her way across the country, eventually finding herself on the doorstep of the Rivers family.  Initially turned away by the housekeeper, Jane collapses with exhaustion and is brought into the house by St. John Rivers.

She is nursed back to health by the Rivers family, and takes up a teaching position nearby.  It is revealed that Jane's paternal uncle, John Eyre, is also the Rivers' uncle, who has died leaving Jane his entire fortune, that Jane delights in sharing with her new found family.

St. John, planning to leave for India as a missionary, asks Jane to marry him. Although she refuses the proposal, she agrees to go with him, but before they can depart, Jane hears Edwards voice calling out to her.  

She returns to Thornfield to discover a smoking ruin.  Edwards wife has set fire to the building, before throwing herself of the roof.  Edward has been blinded, and has lost a hand.

Despite this Jane convinces him that she still loves him, and they are married. Edward does regain some vision, enough to behold the sight of their first child.


Publishing Details

• Hardcover: 624 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics Hardcover; Exclusive to Waterstones ed edition (October 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141040386
• ISBN-13: 978-0141040387
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 2 inches 

Search Tags


100    1_ |a Brontë, Charlotte, |d 1816-1855.
245    10 |a Jane Eyre / |c by Charlotte Brontë ; with wood engravings by Fritz Eichenberg.
260    __ |a New York : |b Random House, |c 1943.
300    __ |a 3 p. l., 343 p. : |b illus., plates ; |c 26 x 20 cm.
520    __ |a In early nineteenth-century England, an orphaned young woman accepts employment as a governess and soon finds herself in love with her employer who has a terrible secret.
650    _0 |a Governesses |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Fathers and daughters |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Mentally ill women |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Charity-schools |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Married people |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Country homes |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Young women |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Orphans |v Fiction.
651    _0 |a England |v Fiction.
655    _7 |a Bildungsromans. |2 gsafd
655    _7 |a Love stories. |2 gsafd


Links

Wikipedia - Jane Eyre

Postmortem

The first novel in the Kay Scarpetta series, the book begins with another victim in a series of unsolved murders.

The heroine, Dr Kay Scarpetta, is the Chief Medical Examiner for Virginia, and she is brought to the scene by an early hours phone call from a police detective.

Scant forensic evidence has meant difficulties for both the police department, and the Medical Examiners office and, with its setting in the early 1990s, the novel includes early references to DNA, and its usefulness in identifying perpetrators.

Kay also has trouble with her personal life, being nominal guardian to her ten year old niece Lucy, and being involved with a local prosecutor.

Her job is put in peril after a series of leaks to the media are traced back to the Medical Examiners office, and she discovers that her computer has been hacked.

Kay and her colleagues, along with an investigative reporter, who's sister was one of the victims, attempt to use  the media to flush the killer out.  a lead also raises the possibility that the killer is connected to the emergency call centre.

The plan works in an unintended way, with the killer breaking into Kay's home.  The police Detective, Marino, has realised this might happen and shows up in the nick of time, shooting the killer and saving Kay.

In the aftermath of the shooting, it is revealed that the killer did indeed work as a 911 dispatcher, and used his position to find and target his victims.

Publishing Details

• Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: Warner; New edition edition (April 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0751504947
• ISBN-13: 978-0751504941
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches 

Search Tags

100    1_ |a Cornwell, Patricia Daniels.
245    10 |a Postmortem / |c Patricia Daniels Cornwell.
260    __ |a New York : |b Scribner, |c c1990.
300    __ |a 293 p. ; |c 22 cm.
500    __ |a Subtitle on jacket: A mystery introducing Dr. Kay Scarpetta.
520    __ |a Dr Kay Scarpetta uses forensic medicine to try to catch the killer of five young women.
650    _0 |a Scarpetta, Kay (Fictitious character) |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Medical examiners (Law) |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Forensic pathologists |v Fiction.
650    _0 |a Women physicians |v Fiction.
651    _0 |a Richmond (Va.) |v Fiction.
655    _7 |a Mystery fiction. |2 gsafd
655    _7 |a Medical novels. |2 gsafd

 Links

 Wikipedia - Postmortem

Arrows of the Queen

The first book in the Heralds of Valdemar series, about a young girl named Talia, from a family of Holderkin.  To avoid being forced into marriage at the age of thirteen, Talia runs away, only to be confronted by a large white stallion.  Despite the fact that Talia holds a deep desire to be chosen as a Herald (a group of individuals who serve the kingdom) she is ignorant of how that choosing takes place.

So unbeknownst to Talia, the animal she has encountered is not in fact a horse, but is the Companion Rolan, who was Companion to the Queen's Own Herald. After the death of his Herald, Rolan left Haven, the capital of Valdemar, in search of the person who would become his Herald, and the new Queen's own.

Understanding Talia's ignorance, in the wake of the choosing Rolan blocks Talia's memory of the event, until such time as they can return to Haven, and others can explain what has happened to the young girl.

When they reach the capital, Talia is overjoyed that she has been chosen to be a Herald, and that she never has to return home.

During her training, Talia is tasked by the Queen, out of sheer desperation, with the taming of Princess Elspeth, also known as 'The Brat'. Unknown to anyone, the child's minder, Hulda, is an enemy agent, and she is influencing Elspeth, making sure that she will never be chosen as a Herald, and therefore never able to take the throne after her mother, for the heir to the throne MUST be a Herald.

Talia eventually discovers Hulda's secret, and informs the Queen, but Hulda receives a warning, and manages to flee before she can be caught.

Other trials beset Talia, the most trying of which is the bullying she suffers at the hands of the 'Blues' a group of young nobles who study classes at the Collegium.  Not connected to any of the three main schools, they are mostly the indolent offspring of nobles, being educated to take up positions in their family's estates, or at court.  At first the bullying is hurtful, but relatively harmless, but some of the youths are influenced by their parent, who see Talia's future position as Queen's Own Herald as a threat to their own power, and seek to rid themselves of the girl before she can influence the Queen.

For the role of the Queen's Own is that of the Queen's closest advisor, and why Rolan went in search of Talia. For Rolan is no ordinary Companion, if any could be called 'ordinary'. He is 'Grove-born', not having come from the mating of two Companions, but having appeared full-grown from the grove that stands at the centre of Companions Field.

Eventually the danger to Talia reaches critical mass, and an attempt is made on her life. She is nearly drowned in a freezing cold river, but survives by the narrowest of margins. After this the Heralds close ranks around her, preventing the possibility of a repeat.  In the stress of the incident, Talia's mindgift, that of Empathy, finally surfaces, and Talia begins to train her power, as the ability to sense the emotions of others has many advantages, not the least of which is being able to tell when they are lying. 

Talia is attempting to stretch herself, testing the boundaries of her new gift, when she is horrified to psychically witness the murder of her fellow Herald Ylsa. But she is able to use her gift to show others, namely Heralds Kris and Dirk, where Ylsa's body lies, and they are able to use their own mindgifts to retrieve both Ylsa, and the vital information that she carries.

In the aftermath, Ylsa's life-mate Keren succumbs to grief, but Talia is able, through her Empathy, to reach the grief-stricken Herald, showing her that she has much to live for, and saving her life.

Publishing Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: DAW (March 3, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0886773784
• ISBN-13: 978-0886773786
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches 

Search Tags

 arrows of the queen

100    1_ |a Lackey, Mercedes.
245    10 |a Arrows of the queen / |c Mercedes Lackey.
260    __ |a New York : |b DAW Books, Inc., |c c1987.
300    __ |a 320 p. ; |c 18 cm.
490    1_ |a The Heralds of Valdemar
490    1_ |a DAW book collectors ; |v no. 702
520    __ |a Talia, a runaway Holdgirl, is chosen to become a trainee herald in the queen’s elite guard and to care for young Princess Elspeth, heir to the throne.  Talia is made a herald at the royal court after she rescues one of the legendary Companions. When she uncovers a plot to seize the throne, Talia must use her empathic powers to save the queen. Talia, a trainee Herald, must use her untried psychic and empathic powers to protect the Queen of Valdemar and her child from a deadly conspiracy that threatens to destroy the kingdom.
650    _0 |a Valdemar (Imaginary place) |v Fiction.
650    _1 |a Fantasy.
650    _1 |a Valdemar (Imaginary place) |v Fiction.
655    _7 |a Fantasy fiction. |2 gsafd
776    08 |i Online version: |a Lackey, Mercedes. |t Arrows of the queen. |d New York : DAW Books, c1987 |w (OCoLC)568755555
776    08 |i Online version: |a Lackey, Mercedes. |t Arrows of the queen. |d New York : DAW Books, Inc., c1987 |w (OCoLC)607882939
830    _0 |a Heralds of Valdemar.


Links

Wikipedia - Arrows of the Queen

Daughter of the Empire

The first volume in a companion trilogy to Raymond E. Feist’s Riftwar Saga, and co-authored by Janny Wurtz, it tells a story from the other side of the Rift.

Mara of the Acoma is forced to leave behind the life of a novice in the priesthood of the goddess Lashima, after the deaths of her father and brother.  Many more of the family’s forces have been killed, betrayed during battle by the Minwanabi, a rival clan and long-time enemies of the Acoma.

Vulnerable both physically and politically, Mara survives an immediate assassination attempt, which takes place during the ritual of mourning, in the heart of the Acoma estate, a place where none other than the blood of the Acoma should set foot.  Reeling from grief at the loss of her family, and the desecration of the place of mourning, Mara realises that she needs to rely on the advice of her military commanders, and also that she must do things she finds repugnant in order to survive.

Mara makes allies in unexpected places, both with so-called ‘grey warriors, men who have been disgraced and outcast from the families they served, and a queen of the Cho-ja, an insectoid species, great warriors and artisans, who have the potential to aid the Acoma both financially and militarily.

Mara chooses to marry the youngest son of the Anasati lord, Buntokapi, a loutish oaf, or so everyone thinks.  But in fact he is a strong military leader. It is only as a person that he is lacking. He abuses Mara, forcing her to submit to his wishes, and he is inept as a ruling lord, far more suited to the battlefield, as the blunt instrument that he really is.

Mara contrives to protect herself and her people by manipulating both her husband, and the Lord of the Minwanabi into circumstances that lead to them both committing ritual suicide, to prevent their families facing shame and being stripped of their power.

Publishing Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (May 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 055327211X
• ISBN-13: 978-0553272116
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 6.9 inches

Search Tags

100	|a Feist, Raymond E.
245	|a Daughter of the empire / |c Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts.
250	|a 1st ed.
260	|a Garden City, N.Y. : |b Doubleday, |c 1987.
300	|a 394 p. ; |c 22 cm.
520	|a In the world of Kelewan, Mara, Ruling Lady of the Acoma, struggles for survival against her rivals. Mara trades her heart for power as she marries the son of an enemy, while plotting his death.
650	_0 |a Fantasy.
655	_7 |a Fantastic fiction. |2 gsafd
700	1_ |a Wurts, Janny.

 Links

Wikipedia - Daughter of the Empire

Sheepfarmers Daughter

 Book One of The Deed of Paksenarrion, it tells the story of Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter, also known as Paks.  Rejecting her fathers plans for her, Paks leaves home, intent on a life as a solider. Travelling across country, she makes her way to a village where she signs up with the mercenary company of Kieri Phelan.

Most of the book revolves around her training as a soldier, and the relationships that Paks forms, with her comrades, the mercenary captain Kieri Phelan, and pivotal meetings with the Paladins of Gird, fighters who have gone beyond the role of the ordinary soldier, becoming knights dedicated to the path that Gird has set out for them.

The Paladins see the potential in Paks, and also that she has a hard road to travel.  The mercenary company takes many jobs, and Paks learns to deal with her position in the company, as well as loss, when some of her new friends are killed in battle.

Publishing Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Baen; Original edition (June 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671654160
• ISBN-13: 978-0671654160
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches

Search Tags

100	|a Moon, Elizabeth.
245	|a Sheepfarmer’s daughter / |c Elizabeth Moon.
260	|a New York : |b Baen Books, |c 1988.
300	|a 506 p. : |b map ; |c 18 cm.
490	|a The Deed of Paksenarrion ; |v bk. I
520	|a In the first book in the Deed of Paksenarrion trilogy, a young women named Paksenarrion opts to leave home and join the army rather than agree to the marriage her father has arranged for her.
650	|a Fantasy fiction.
655	|a Fantasy fiction. |2 gsafd
830	|a Deed of Paksenarrion ; |v bk. I.

Links
Wikipedia - The Deed of Paksenarrion

Indemnity Only

The first novel featuring the Character V.I. Warshawski.  It revolves around a case where she is hired by a man who isn’t who he says he is, to find his son and his son’s girlfriend.  Then the son turns up dead and, the girl still missing, V.I is fired from the case. She continues to pursue it however, determined to find her.  Then she discovers that she is being set up, and the whole thing was a wild goose chase.

V.I. is a smart, savvy private investigator who keeps those who would limit her at arms length.  After all, ‘It’s tough for a man to be condescending when he doesn’t know your first name.’

She is very much in the same vein as the classic private detectives, and the book has far more in common with classic detective noir than with the modern style of psychological thriller. It’s a good old-fashioned murder mystery, and the protagonist is both engaging and enjoyable.

Publishing Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Dell (June 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440210690
• ISBN-13: 978-0440210696
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.9 x 6.9 inches

Search Tags

100  |a Paretsky, Sara.
245  |a Indemnity only : |b a novel / |c by Sara Paretsky.
260  |a New York : |b Dial Press, |c c1982.
300  |a 244 p. ; |c 22 cm.
490  |a A V.I. Warshawski mystery ; |v 1
520  |a It’s July in Chicago and all V.I. Warshawski wants is to go home and beat the heat. But she can’t. She’s got a late night meeting with a potential client, the head of Chicago’s biggest bank. The job seems simple enough: find his son’s missing girlfriend. Unfortunately, the first thing V.I. finds is the son, and he’s dead. The family identifies him, but the father isn’t the man who hired her! Just who is V.I.’s client and what kind of game is he playing? She scrambles to solve the mystery, and learns there are hotter things in Chicago than July!
650  |a Warshawski, V.I. (Fictitious character) |v Fiction.
650  |a Women private investigators |z Illinois |z Chicago |v Fiction.
651  |a Chicago (Ill.) |v Fiction.
655  |a Mystery fiction. |2 gsafd
700  |a Paretsky, Sara, |e donor.
830  |a V.I. Warshawski mystery ; |v 1.


Links

Wikipedia - Sara Paretsky