Partnership is about Nancia. On her first trip, she transports several young people from high families. Unfortunately, they are all corrupt and she overhears their plans, but is persuaded that she shouldn't have, since she didn't identify herself as a brain ship. Her first brawn happens to be extremely stuck up regarding his morals, so it takes a while before the situation gets rectified...

I liked this book a little less. It was still entertaining, but I was annoyed by the moral brawn, and Nancia herself at first agrees with him. Fortunately she loosens up later on. The book followed the young criminals quite a lot, and this was ok, but I still would have preferred reading more about Nancia. I did like the descriptions of Singularities and particularly the Singularity incident that Nancia has to get out of later on in the book. ( )

Helva had been born human, but only her brain had been saved—saved to be schooled, programmed, and implanted into the sleek titanium body of an intergalactic scout ship. But first she had to choose a human partner—male or female—to share her exhilirating excapades in space!

Her life was to be rich and rewarding . . . resplendent with daring adventures and endless excitement, beyond the wildest dreams of mere mortals.

Gifted with the voice of an angel and being virtually indestructable, Helva XH-834 antipitated a sublime immortality.

Then one day she fell in love! ( )

I hadn't read the Brainship books in years so I decided it was time for a re-read and I happy to report that they stood up to the test of time. I really enjoyed the story and found myself very interested in the characters in these books. I am super glad I read them again. ( )

In McCaffrey's Brainships universe, children who are born with an immobilizing or other severe disability are raised and educated to be the 'brains' that steer Starships. They are also assigned a "Brawn" to be their companion and assist with activities that can only be done by a person with a functional body.
Nancia's first assignment as a ship is to ferry a group of very privileged, mostly evil young people to some sort of exile due to their youthful screw-ups. This is both for punishment, and to keep them from further embarrassing their very prominent families. Since Nancia doesn't let on that she is sentient, she becomes engaged in an ethical dilemma when the group enter into a dangerous and illegal pact.
In addition to fascinating (though mostly unlikable) characters, the issue of Nancia's ethics and responsibility to humanity are what make this book more than your run-of-the-mill space opera. I am so intrigued by this compelling series!! ( )

The characters in this volume are SO unlikeable, I'm not sure I'll finish. I love the premise of the series, and I'm sure I'll try some of the other books, but really. Ick. ( )