I love a book that lingers so much I have to reread it within a couple of hours. I came away from this story feeling like I had just been dragged through a lucid dream or more like, tumbling headfirst into someone else's lucid dream where everything makes sense in a wonderfully warped way. It has a very cosmic, midnighty-blue with purple haze and shock white light kind of feeling. If you need a break from your heavier novels and you are partial to some mind-bending sci-fi, chemistry, and detective mysteries, this is right up that alley.

Too many things to like, so let's start with the only thing that could have been...more rounded:

1. Long Chau is obviously a reimagining of a Sherlockian character. Her abstract thinking and her detached nature bare all the hallmark characteristics of the world's beloved consulting detective. Yet, she seems very two dimensional and even with revelations within the book, I don't see her as more than a Sherlock standin - however, this reimagining works so well with the reluctant Dr Watson in the form of "The Shadow's Child"

Now, on to the stuff stood out:

A) At it's core, it is a story about grief, untreated post traumatic stress and the overcoming of fear whether at a snails pace or forced by the threat of imminent chaos - or death.

B) The names in this book are EPIC! Picture meeting someone called "The Shadow's Child" or "Pomegranates Buried In The Sand" I know I would grab a coffee and listen to the stories of someone named "The Sorrow of Gentlemen" and play chess with "Sharpening Steel Into Needles"

C) The concept of the shipmind was interesting to envision at first. To see the whole I first imagined this echo or mind then an apparition in almost solid form and then some sort futuristic ship. This shipmind in question is fragile, riddled with fear, sensitive and traumatized. An interesting take on a sentient AI.

D) Sherlock needs a good case: In this case, the outer space mystery is intriguing and chekov's gun appears not far into the story but it's drawn out really well and comes to an excellent climax. I honestly found myself jotting down my own theories about whodunnit and it was quite enjoyable.

E) Chemistry, Human Anatomy and Psychology, it was quite refreshing to read about the monumental task of space jumping and what the human body needs to be able to mentally and physically come out on the other side in one piece.

I read this as a standalone and it was so good, I'm adding the "Xuya Universe" to my reading list (On A Red Station, Drifting / The Citadel of Weeping Pearls)