This was beautiful

Ahoy there me mateys! Aye, this novella has nuns in space. But it also has so much more. It is a fantastic character study about a group of women who have secrets and what happens when Rome and the Earth’s government try to involve them in a conspiracy.Well the first thing I have to squee about is the living ship that is a kinda slug that the nuns live in. I love me some spaceships. I love me some living spaceships where ye get to hear about the realities of what living in one is like. These shi...

An order of nuns aboard a living spaceship minister to remote human colonies in the aftermath of a devastating interstellar war.The amount of world-building and characterization crammed into this short novella is really impressive. The story itself is a good one as well, with the nuns at ground zero of what might be a whole new war while struggling with their own role in a rapidly changing universe.Recommended, and should be a feature of next year's awards lists.

Actual rating: 2.5 stars.Second read of the year, second crappy rating! Woohoo and stuff!! (view spoiler)[ (hide spoiler)]Okay, let's try to make this as short and painless as possible, shall we? This is a story about nuns in space. NUNS IN SPACE! Who travel the universe on a organic/living ship-type thingie! Can you imagine the potentially wondrous potential here?! Yeah well, imagine it is pretty much all you can do. Because the author spends the first 60% of the book trying to lull t...

I really enjoyed this novella and the concept was so cool and really loved that some ships are actually sentient being and they can breed and communicate and everything. There were some really nice character work and the world, for a book this length was really well fleshed out and super detailed. So yeah, the worldbuilding was great. The ending is fairly ambiguous with so many more stories to tell and I really hope more stories are told in this universe! 7.5/10

This one surprised me. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be my thing (let's just say "nuns in space" is not actually a buzzword for me), but it turned out to be a really good story. Solid plot, solid characters, solid writing. I immediately went to look up if there would be a sequel, or anything else Rather might have out.My two minor criticisms are 1) some dangling modifiers and uncertain pronouns that should have been caught by the editor and easily smoothed out, and 2) some of the parts seemed ve...

4.5 stars. An excellent story about -Nuns in space, travelling from colony to colony, giving medical aid, marrying people, and doing other things deemed appropriate by their Earth-based church and male leadership.-Live, biological ships wanting to procreate. -A terrifying central (Earth)-based authority. -And war crimes.A quiet story that builds tension nicely, and ends in a chilling place.

There's something incredibly campy sounding about nuns in space. But this is less meme and more character study in the most unique space faring vehicle yet (even surpassing Tchaikovsky's webship). In fact, I can wholeheartedly recommend it, with a caveat. Something like a cross between The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Memory Called Empire, this should appeal to those who can let go some of the demands of physics and biochemistry, and follow Rather's focus on the personal and ethical c...

This is another one of those books where my impression varies quite a bit from the masses.There were some good ideas, but the execution felt so clumsy that I felt nothing after having read the novella. There were too many character fates thrown together, none of them had the time or depth needed for an emotional response from me. On the contrary, I had the feeling I was told everything instead of being allowed to experience it through the writing. The same goes for the themes that somehow gave t...

An excellent novella which could be summarised as 'nuns in space' but has a great deal more than that going for it. There's exceptionally good, economical worldbuilding and terrific plotting, with every element slotting neatly into place, all of which support a moving and engaging human story that includes love, redemption, revelation and kindness. A fantastic example of the form.

They all prayed in the dark, be it to the Christian God or the Islamic one or the Hindu many-faced pantheon or the cruel, calculating, exacting god of Science.Sisters of the Vast Black tells the story of a convent of nuns, somewhat unusual in that their convent is situated in a living ship, carrying them throughout the galaxy answering calls for prayer, treatment, or blessings. Religion and science never have been the easiest of bedfellows, so it was nice to see the two handled in such a balance...

*June 2, 2020: Part of Tor.com's free monthly giveaway, HEREQuirky. I contemplated doing a Venn diagram, and then decided I'd rather read.This is an amalgamation of concepts, many of which has the potential to disenfranchise readers. While the the argument about whether Our Lady of Impossible Constellations has a soul is intriguing, it is not deeply explored. But, the present day issues of The Church (Catholic) of who can perform which rites, the role of women, and adherence versus fracturing is...

The first half or more of this novella length story consists of some excellent setting and character development. A close knit group of nuns in space, running missions of mercy and service in the name of the church to the far reaches of settled space. Their ship a living, bioengineered space faring organism. Their individual personalities become evident as they deal with assorted personal, political and theological dilemmas and conflict, including whether their ship possesses a soul and should b...

Q:She was one small part of an infinity, and there was much to be done. (c)'Our Lady of Impossible Constellations', a living ship in heat, a nun team. A government-issued plague. A serum. Some secrets and lots of ideas. Quite the specacular setting to enjoy. Q:Sister Lucia argued that the ship, being a beast and therefore not in possession of a rational soul, did not have a responsibility to follow the dictates of their order. Sister Varvara countered that convents were sacred places. The ship,

Okay, this is one of the best short SF novels I have ever read. I was completely bowled over. You know that incredible frisson from a sense of wonder, combined with on-point speculation, careful world-building, and characters who in(habit) their world completely that the best SF delivers in such a heady rush? Lina Rather has this in spades. Who is this amazing writer, and why haven’t I heard of her before!?So the Sisters of the Order of Saint Rita, aboard the spaceship Our Lady of Impossible Con...

I love reading neat little novellas like this one that revolve around such a unique concept. In Sisters of the Vast Black, that concept is “nuns in space.” I am not religious and my knowledge of the Catholic Church is limited to what I’ve learned from movies and television, so I was a bit wary picking this one up, but that ended up not mattering at all. This is definitely a book you could enjoy regardless of your beliefs.What I liked best about Sisters of the Vast Black was the worldbuilding. Ou...

Hmm. I thought I would love this, but alas, not for me.The idea was right up my alley. Nuns on an organic living ship, travelling the galaxy, helping the sick and poor. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy how the story unfolded, at all. It felt like too big a story to squish into novella form. It started off slowly, showing lots of promise, it plodded along and then the last third felt extremely rushed. Puzzlingly so. In a why-didn't-the-editor-catch-this kind of way. I'm off to read reviews and find

Interesting premise (Nuns in space! Living ships that could mate and be bred! Earth domination!) but with a dull plot and lack of depth on the most interesting aspects that made it unique.

"We should go because I would want someone to come for us. We're all just scattered, lonely specks out here, unless we try to be more. We shouldn't be brutal just because the universe is."The sisters of the Our Lady of Impossible Constellations live a life of austerity and piousness aboard their living ship—and they face decision points that threaten their internal and external way of life, bringing relief to the pockets of humanity scattered about the vast black.I don't know what it is, but thi...

Space nuns! Squishy biological spaceships! Lesbians! I enjoyed this quite a bit. The worldbuilding has a few interesting touches and the writing was very engaging (though, I have to warn, the plot includes an epidemic). It felt a little thin in the places novellas often are, but I read it in one sitting, and during a time where I struggle to finish books, that means something too.Enjoyment: 4/5Execution: 4/5More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.