The novel “The Red Scholar’s Wake” by Aliette de Bodard was published for the first time in 2022. It’s part of the series set in the Xuya universe.

When Xích Si is captured by the Red Banner Pirates, she expects to be killed, probably not quickly. Instead, Rice Fish, the sentient ship that leads the pirates, proposes a marriage of interest between them.

Rice Fish lost her wife, who was the Red Scholar, the leader of the Red Banner, in circumstances she finds suspicious and believes there’s a mole in her fleet passing information to their rivals. Xích Si is very skilled at scavenging robot parts to reassemble and program, so her technical skills could be the key to shedding light on the situation.