Book of the Night is a late night group discussion at Åcon of a book that we think is worth talking about and has not been noticed as much as it possibly should have been.
This year, we are embarking on Dreamships, by Melissa Scott.
For those who have not participated before: Book of the Night is a beloved Åcon tradition, where we dive into the archives and read a book that is worth rediscovering. We then gather late one Åcon evening, and talk about it!
Melissa Scott: Dreamships – introduced by Sari Polvinen.
Melissa Scott is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She has a PhD in comparative history, and published her first novel before she even defended her dissertation. Scott is a prolific author, who in addition to her original work has written lots of media tie-in novels, mainly in Star Trek and Stargate universes, and even a writing guide about how to create a science fiction novel.
She won the John W Campbell award (now Astounding award) for best new writer in 1986 with her debut novel The Game Beyond, a science fiction novel about interstellar empire and court intrigue. She is also a multiple Lambda award winner and nominee. In the early part of her career most of her work was science fiction, later she has collaborated with other authors creating fantasy and historical fantasy works.
Dreamships was published in 1992, and was a Lambda award nominee in the SF category. It is an early story on AI, and AI rights. Its protagonist, Reverdy Jian from planet Persephone is a pilot hired by Medelia Mistexi to fly a ship to find her missing brother. He designs constructs (computer programs), and the ship Jian pilots has an advanced construct onboard which Jian begins to suspect might be sentient. As the status and rights of potential AI’s is under debate on Persephone Jian’s discovery brings trouble and hard decisions.
Where to find it?
You can hunt for a paper copy or find Dreamships as an ebook on Kobo, Amazon, or Apple Books. It is also available as an audio version on Audible and Apple Books.
And if you enjoy Dreamships, there is a sequel set in the same universe called Dreaming Steel. Not to mention all the other books Melissa Scott has written!
Åcon 13 