I read this on the heels of Citadel of Weeping Pearls, and found this story to be more up my alley. Citadel had gotten me curious about the Xuya universe, but this book told a story that grabbed me more strongly. It packs a lot of nuance and richness into such a short story, and it only has me more curious to see more of what Xuya has to offer.
This was exactly my speed.
Gender-bent, AI-infused, Sherlock Holmes-inspired story steeped (if you'll pardon the tea-based pun) in rich language and culture.
The first novella / short story I've read in the Xuya Universe series - I wanted so much more than a novella here. We've got some Sherlock Holmes in space stuff going on with a space ship that is a tea master and I am here for all of it. There's a huge list of short stories set in this universe and I'm tempted to check them out, but I prefer longer form works where I can get immersed in a story for a longer period of time. I wanted much more of these two characters! It reads like it is the first story and there will be more of them - I hope there are.
