The Woman in the Ship

With this dreamy and slow-moving science fiction romance, Olson (Android Author) embarks on a timely philosophical exploration of the nature of consciousness and artificial intelligence. The story reinvents a classic premise: the crew of the Ascension awakens from cryosleep to find that the AI controlling the spaceship, named Nova Starlight, has apparently gone mad. But, Olson asks, has she truly lost her sanity, or are the crew’s attempts to dismiss her feelings misogynistic? Nova shows the crew of six and their captain, Sally Arden, that Earth has been destroyed while they slumbered. Not sure if she can trust Nova, Sally decides to continue with their mission to paint the ashes of a billionaire across the NASA space probe Voyager 2. As they travel, Sally and Nova share simple yet delightful stories of their childhoods and grow tantalizingly close, but their budding romance is shattered once they reach Voyager, when a shocking betrayal drives them apart. Their subsequent return voyage to discover what remains of Earth is often claustrophobic and horrifying, but builds to an ultimately hopeful ending. Full of vivid dream sequences, sapphic longing, and insightful philosophizing, this genre-bending adventure offers much to chew on. (Oct.)