Niko used to be a soldier, in thrall to something called Holy Hive Mind; which is only referred to peripherally.  She was able to use a loophole in regulations to leave its service and take with her several of her comrades.  They all went to the farthest outpost in the Known Universe and set up a….restaurant.  You see, the loophole is that Niko is an artist and must be allowed to follow her art of cooking.  She does know cooking, however, the real artist is one of her compatriots, Dabry; but so long as the Hive Mind doesn’t figure it out, they are all free.

Their new restaurant is barely surviving and they are counting on a visit by a food critic to give them the caveat they need to attract more customers.  At the same time, the restaurant is visited by a very rich man who is known for his racing.  He came to the station in his fastest ship; a bioship named You Sexy Thing.  He bribes them to allow him to sit near the critic.  As the two are making their introductions, the station is hit with massive explosions. The restaurant’s employees immediately start making their way to safety, bringing both the food critic and the racer with them.  Just before the explosions, Niko received a mysterious crate…with an unconscious human in it.  They end up taking it with them in their flight.

Unfortunately, the racer is fatally injured but Niko manages to wrest the ship’s passcode from him; “I believe in miracles.”  She and her remaining friends, food critic and crate with mysterious unconscious person managed to make it to the ship and use the passcode.  The ship allows them all to enter and they leave the exploding space station.  However, once they are clear the ship informs them that it will be taking them to the nearest authority to be arrested for stealing the ship.  Apparently, the code wasn’t given willingly.

A bioship is a sort-of sentient ship that is organically grown.  The ship has been owned by several beings in its lifetime but nothing in its experience has prepared it for this motley crew.  It does its best to accommodate them with comfort and food but when faced with the bland but nutritious offering, the crew insists on preparing their own food.  That’s what they do, after all.

The ship is fascinated with this new knowledge of taste and presentation and cooperates fully; delighted at the opportunity to learn new skills.  But that isn’t the only thing the ship learns from them; it starts to learn about emotions such as friendship, sadness, regret and loyalty.  But even with its newfound affection for the crew and the understanding that they never intended theft, it cannot change its programming; they are all going to jail.  Until the food critic decides otherwise.  Apparently, she has some kind of device that allows her to override the ship’s programming and they go from the frying pan into the fire: she’s taking them to the hideout of space pirates.

This is the very last place Niko wants to go; she has a history with one of the pirate leaders who managed to kidnap her lover.  Niko has been planning for a very long time to go back and rescue the lover, Petalia; starting with her escape from the Hive Mind.  As it turns out, the food critic was never the real food critic but intended to seduce the racer and steal the ship.  They decide to wake the sleeping crate person; believing the young human woman should have the chance to know her fate.  Funny story, that…she is one of the Empress’ heirs and was sent to Niko specifically; but neither she nor Niko have any idea why.  Along with the ship, she, Atlanta, learns things she had never before been exposed to; such as friendship, sadness and loyalty.  She starts to wonder just what the Empress expects of her.

Their sojourn with the pirates is pretty horrible but most of them do manage to escape; with the help of Thing.  Once they are away, the first priority for Niko is to return the princess to the Empress.  That doesn’t go particularly well.  The Empress informs them both that the princess isn’t really an heir but a clone of her; having sent out several clones in a test of some kind, of which they all failed.  The Empress makes it clear that she has no further use for Atlanta.  Niko asks if the Empress has any objection to her taking Atlanta on as one of her crew.  With no objection, a forlorn Atlanta is consoled by the idea that she doesn’t have to leave her new friends. 

Niko’s next stop is to return the ship to the owner; who always has a clone standing by for those unfortunate times he gets blown up.  Making contact, Niko confirms a meeting time and place.  Thing is struggling with the idea of going back to its previous existence and losing what it has determined are its friends.  Meeting with Takraven, the owner, Niko proves by way of recordings exactly what his previous clone had done.  Convinced they never intended theft, he invites them to all sit with him and regale him with their adventures.  Even Thing joins in, sharing parts of the story.  But none of them could have predicted the effect it has on Takraven who makes Niko an unbelievable offer; possibly the only offer that would allow them all to stay together.  Niko might even have another opportunity to rescue Petalia from the pirates.

This was actually a pretty light read, very enjoyable; but not much in the way of a complex plot. There are a few unresolved issues (watch for my review of the sequel “Devil’s Gun”) such as Niko’s missing lover, the bit about the clones being tested was very vague, and what will happen when Takraven wants his ship back.

My biggest criticism was in how the characters were presented.  Since the book is titled for the ship, and much of the story involved the ship’s evolution, the ship character should have been presented earlier and differently.  This reader felt a bit confused at the beginning, trying to figure out who the main character should be.  The first POV should have been an introduction to Thing and then to the rest of the characters.  The characters were interesting but a bit shallow; even Niko wasn’t that fleshed-out.  It would have helped had we been given more information about what each of them contributed when they were soldiers. The character with the most potential is a strange little creature who apparently sees potential futures and he’s determined to stay with Niko as she navigates the Spiral of Destiny; regardless of Niko’s lack of belief.  I think we understood Thing better than any other character.  So I remain interested and will go on to the sequel right away.  ~~ Catherine Book

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