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| Cover art by Victor Mosquera |
'The Last Voyage of Skidbladnir' by Karin Tidbeck is a story told through Saga, the ship's janitor. Saga's job is to fix and repair the spaceship Skidbladnir, a living cruise ship that is similar to a hermit crab, in that it uses a high rise building as its shell, with it's tendrils embedded throughout the building and travels between points through interdimensional hyperspace. But after a few recent repairs, Saga and the ship's engineer, Novak, discover that Skidbladnir is sick and outgrowing its current 'shell'. The ship's steward also realises this, but would rather sell the creature for money on a deposit on a new ship, which could result in Skidbladnir being slaughtered for meat. Saga and Novak decide to mutiny and set it free instead.
The interludes of an old 'Babylon 5' like show called 'Andromeda Station' that Saga finds on videotapes in her cabin left behind by the last occupant, about an outsider coming to terms with living and working on a space station populated by aliens, are interspersed throughout the story. It matches up to the mood and goings on in the plot of the story and works very well in parallel.
It's a quick and enjoyable read that's sort of a coming of age story from an author I've not read before. Something that's a bit different but also familiar at the same time. Worth a read.
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