Wayfaring Stranger

Solveig Robertson must prove her worth as a xenolinguist newly stationed on the research airship Wayfaring Stranger, a vessel exploring the upper-atmospheric biodiversity of the haze-shrouded world Rousseau. Solveig is keen to establish communication with the zeps, but it takes two to communicate and none of the zeps show any inclination to interact with humans. To compound matters, Solveig's interactions with her colleagues aren't proving straightforward either, and airship gondolas aren't known for their spaciousness.

Wayfaring Stranger is an inventive and imaginative SF novella by a three-time winner of the Sir Julius Vogel award.