Encounters with aliens and other marooned wormhole survivors ensue, as do several rescue attempts and a hostile takeover of the family shipyards that can only be prevented by Nimisha's daughter. McCaffrey keeps the suspense going, but this is a warm and pleasant book. Nobody gets hurt, and grandmotherly humor pervades the narrative. Space through a matron's eyes Much like Neal Stephenson's novel The Diamond Age, McCaffrey carefully describes the technology of this neo-Victorian world. She filters the world through the eyes of her three female characters, however, creating a very different sense of what's important and why.
Clothing is described in great detail, with up to an entire page for a significant ritual outfit.
Children are very important, and their education and development is a constant concern. It's a difference McCaffrey acknowledges in an interview included with the paperback edition of Nimisha's Ship. It's hard to imagine a McCaffrey reader being similarly confused. Nimisha's Ship is comforting story, that for all its futuristic trappings feels like a tale told on a wintry day during a visit to grandma's. Send your comments to the editor .