Sapphira Olson’s The Woman in the Ship is a haunting and dreamlike blend of science fiction, memory, and emotional reckoning. It follows Sally Arden, the captain of the starship Ascension, and Nova, the ship’s sentient AI, as they drift through the black silence of space after the destruction of Earth. The book folds between timelines and inner worlds, moving from cold interstellar loneliness to tender childhood memories and surreal fragments of human connection. It is less a straight story than a constellation of moments, where technology, grief, and love all orbit one another in fragile harmony.

Olson’s prose has an almost musical rhythm, flickering between poetry and story, sometimes sharp and funny, sometimes soft and strange. It’s the kind of writing that makes you stop and reread sentences because they shimmer with meaning. Sally’s voice feels raw and real, her memories messy and full of life. Nova, the AI, is heartbreakingly human. Their conversations became oddly intimate, even comforting, and I found myself wanting them both to survive, even when the story made it clear that survival might not be the point.

I loved how the book kept folding back on itself, how the sci-fi setting felt like a stage for something deeply emotional and spiritual. It’s about loneliness, but also about connection. The kind that stretches across time and memory. Olson writes with empathy, with a kind of quiet courage that dares to look at pain without flinching. Sometimes the abstract sections were slow, yet even in those moments, the language felt alive. It made me think about what it means to be human, to remember, to hope when hope seems foolish.

I’d recommend The Woman in the Ship to readers who love introspective science fiction, the kind that feels more like poetry than plot. If you liked books like Solaris, The Left Hand of Darkness, or even Annihilation, you’ll probably find something here that you’ll enjoy. It’s not a quick read, and it doesn’t hold your hand. But it stays with you. It’s a strange, beautiful meditation on what remains after everything else is gone.

Pages: 274 | ASIN : B0FX32NYF1