Clarkesworld #88 contains, among works by Ken Liu, Cheng Jingbo, Yoo Ha Lee, and Robert Charles Wilson (and doesn't that line-up just make you want to buy it), a story by Aliette de Bodard called Ship's Brother.
What's more, all of those are accessible for you to read online (thanks!), and you can find them either via the links below, or by moving on from Aliette's story once you have read it (yes, I have to insist).
The story plays in a society which has FTL ships - which require a human, or human-born post-human at their centre; and it's the duty of a women to birth one of those after their 'normal' child. And it can be the end of the mother, at lest mentally. (any flashbacks to Sucharitkul's Inquestor series are entirely mine, I know). We witness the birth of such a shipmind, and the impact this has on her family, and especially her brother. On the one hand a classic family tale; and on the other heart-wrenchingly heavy and sad, but also full of beauty.
But enough hyping already - go and ready it. And I guess, having birth and family relations on her mind a while back would have been rather close to home for Aliette, which might explain some of the emotional impact in the story...
Links: Ship's Brother - Clarkesworld - Aliette de Bodard
