The Ship Who Sang

Like both Blood Music and Man Plus, The Ship Who Sang deals with the transformation of one person’s body in a way that comes close to horror. But this novel, a fix-up of six linked stories, transforms the horror into delight. Helva is born into a world where the severely disabled are liable to be euthanised, but because her brain is fully developed she has the chance to become a shell person. Her body is further broken and crammed into a titanium shell, which she will never be able to survive outside, and her brain is then connected directly to computers. She is then placed in a spaceship, a brainship, which she controls, discovering a freedom and ability that her body would never otherwise have known. M. John Harrison includes an overt reference to The Ship Who Sang in the character of Seria Mau in his novel Light. Why it’s on the list: This is another example of the way direct interface between human and computer can open the way for a host of new posthuman possibilities.