On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard

While others find comfort in that, and also in the AI who watches over everyone, others find it very confining. Also, kin is expected to help each other, no matter what. For example, children shouldn’t criticize their parents, not matter what the parents have done. This is a complex world where familial relationships are honored above anything else. One of the “people” in the implants comes from Quyen’s family and now it’s her job to retrieve them. Also, Quyen’s kinsman (by marriage) has sold (or otherwise lost) his memory implants. However, the station is run by an AI, Honored Ancestress, and it is failing. Linh, in turn, know that this is a slight and resents Quyen. (In this universe, gender has no bearing of if a person is a lesser or greater partner – only if they’ve passed the examinations.) Quyen resents Linh’s intrusion and her station in life, so she gives Linh the chore of teaching young women. However, war has taken many of the greater partners away and now Quyen has found herself in a position which she hardly could dream of. In her arranged marriage, she’s the lesser partner who isn’t as educated as her greater partner. However, she feels that she’s only a minor official because she didn’t pass her examinations. The Mistress of Prosper Station is Quyen. Linh is also full of regret, especially when she hears what happened at the planet after she left. They constantly interfere in her thoughts and she must be respectful of them. She has six ancestor’s voices in her mem-implants. She’s used to being a in control and having power now she must be humble and beg for shelter. She’s come of Prosper Station where she has kin. When war came to that planet, Linh’s assistant managed to convince her to flee. Linh was the magistrate of the 23rd planet. It’s about politics and two strong women clashing because they resent their place in society and each other. Dai Viet Empire is at war and it shows in lack of resources and because many of the citizens are away, at war.

On a Red Station, Drifting by Aliette de Bodard