Customer Reviews (18)

This series is addictive
Reading this started me on a long and totally enjoyable journey.I've read six of these and #7 is in my TBR pile.

Next installment of epic story
As is to be expected, a well written book that completes the first triad of the Foreigner epic. It is a finish to the opening and the start of the next triad in the seriese.

Cherryh has never written a bad book
This is the third -- but far from last -- volume in the author's explication of the "Foreigner" universe. The human colony on the usland of Mospheira, isolated by the treaty that ended the War of the Landing, and the government of the atevi (under the aiji) on the western part of the mainland, have been getting along, more or less, for a couple of centuries, through the interface provided by the padhi, the official translater and "explainer" for each side to the other. At the moment, that's Bren Cameron, a very ernest diplomat who worries that he tends more to sympathize with and trust in the atevi he knows than with his own government back on the island. But then the ship that had dropped the humans on the atevi world in the first place returned -- and seemed as willing to deal with the atevi as with the Mosphei humans. The ship drops two more padhiin, one to each side on the planet, and much of the book concerns Bren's attempts to teach and indoctrinate a young man who not only has no experience of dealing with nonhumans, he even fears the open horizons of a planet, never having experienced any environment except the ship. On top of that, conservative, anti-atevi elements on Mosphei are trying thard to start another war, Bren's mother and brother are being harrased by the government, and the aiji has his own fish to fry. Cherryh posits a species that has no concepts of love, friendship, or trust in the human sense of those words, substituting instead "manchi," for which all lifeforms on the planet are biologically and psychologically hardwired, from lizards and riding animals to the atevi themselves. That's what governs relationships and loyalties, and even Bren, with all his experience, often has difficulty tracing its influence. Keep in mind that the second and third volumes aren't really "sequels." This series is actually a single, very long novel, divided into volumes mostly for marketing purposes; i.e., don't even think of trying to begin anywhere but at the beginning. But if you enjoy highly detailed and convoluted social, psychological, political science fiction, as opposed to shoot-'em'ups (although there's some of that, too), these books are challenging but also very, very enjoyable.

inheritor, foreigner series
Like one other reader, I had read CJ Cherryh's foreigner series and then later read Ursula K. Leguin's Left Hand of Darkness (actually I am currently reading it).They are interesting books to compare, because they both deal with a human agent trying to relate to an alien culture in which people think so differently that it is hard to follow their meaning, and dangerous misunderstandings can result.
I like Ursula K Leguin's book better.CJ Cherryh's character, Bren Cameron seems to be afraid to be a person.A lot of her characters, for example, her main character in the Faded Sun Trilogy, give up their own souls in order to survive in an alien culture.Also, Tully in the Chanur books.All her characters are always walking on eggshells to avoid offending.
The envoy in Left Hand of Darkness has his own life and agenda, and you begin to think as you read that he is wrong in his assessment of Estraven, but you can respect him.I don't have a lot of respect for Bren Cameron.He is a pain in the neck.
The aspect of CJ Cherryh's Foreigner Series that does fascinate me is the idea of humans getting so far away from Earth that they don't know where Earth is and having the opportunity to start a whole new culture not dependent on Earth.I don't buy the lack of curiosity the Mospheiran's seem to feel for their origins.But the concept is interesting.

one world where HUMANS are the alien threat
An accelerated pace and 3 months have passed since the end of "Invader".

Jase has settled in, the emissary from the orbiting space ship "Phoenix" which, like the bird of legend, returned from the unknown & unexplored reaches of deep space.

For a little history:
Cherryh sets her world with imposing aliens(Atevi) who are united by a single ruler, the aijii, under whom lords & council govern. Humans, lost on a space colonization mission, have settled on the Atevi world and exist in an uneasy truce, co-operating & trading only through one diplomat; Bren Cameron.

As the only contact between two species, Cameron is constantly protected by an extraordinary security force but his family is not so fortunate.
In a turbulent political climate on the human governed island, Camerons' family is endangered by radical factions & Yolanda Mercheson, the ships emissary has been threatened.

Against this background he must somehow train (Jase)the new Atevi ship-human diplomat in the tangled Ragi tongue, which has no word for trust, or love or even like. Yes, human and Atevi are biologically different, and a man alone in an alien culture must constantly rethink his most basic suppositions.

Jase & Cameron have made little headway after the initial friendliness of their contact & arrangements, but luckily Cameron's Atevi security have become his family.

Against the backdrop of the stars, and one alien homeplanet where HUMANS are the alien threat, the `space opera' plays out.

Well written, fast paced & enjoyable, an increasingly involving series. .

Kotoriojadis@yahoo.com
... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Excellent people-story - but not the book you should start with
Cherryh has developed a number of fictional universes over the years -- and done it exceptionally well -- but the favorite of many of her readers, and the one where she has spent the most time, is the Union/Alliance future, where the major players are the scattered space stations built around far stars, first by Earth and then by Earth's rebellious colonies, plus the mostly independent merchanters, the long-haul freight-carrying ships that hold everything together. This universe includes both broad-scope epics (like _Cyteen_) and more narrowly focused "small" stories like this one, which is set a couple of decades after the war that changed everything (but didn't solve much). Marie Hawkins, now Cargo Chief of "Sprite," had a traumatic sleepover experience at Mariner Station twenty years ago at the hands of Austin Bowe of "Corinthian"; she calls it rape and she's been planning her revenge ever since. The outcome of that encounter, however, was a son, Tom Bowe-Hawkins, whose life has been warped by his mother's obsession. He swings between almost hating her and trying desperately to win her approval. But Marie isn't a maternal sort of woman and it's a long road to travel. "Sprite" and "Corinthian" bump into each other accidentally (but not really) at Mariner and Tom, trying (against his better judgment) to help Marie, goes poking into warehouses where he ought not to be. One thing inevitably leads to another and tom finds himself semi-kidnapped and incarcerated in the brig "Corinthian," outbound and likely never to see his own ship again. And he discovers a younger half-brother he didn't know he had. But, of course, not everything is as it seems on the surface. Cherryh spend a lot of time on the minutiae of ship-handling, freighter economics, cargo-stowing, and similar topics that add greatly to the verisimilitude but might not be to the taste of her more action-demanding readers. I enjoy that sort of thing, though -- it makes her fictional universe a real place -- and so I enjoyed this installment in her opus. I don't think I'd start out with this book, though, if I weren't already familiar with events in this future; the casual references to earlier people, places, and events will go right over your head.

CJ Cherryh does it again
CJ Cherryh's novels set in space are always worth the read (the Chanur novels and Kesirith ones being my favorites).Most of them fit in a timeline, she told me, following human expansion into space.This one is set just after the merchanters wars, and it focus's on some interfamily issues between two separate merchanter ships.As usual, the characters have depth, and you really enter into their lives (which is another reason she does aliens so well).You identify with the characters and want things to work out, and join in their fears, which are real and legitimate.I recommend any CJ Cherryh novel, with the aforementioned series at the top and the Morgayne series at the lower end, but this particular one falls in the upper mid range.As with all her novels, unless an editor gets ahold of them and splits it willy nilly into 2, (a pet peeve of hers) each novel stands fully on its own feet, alone, though part of a ongoing saga line.You can jump into the middle and get a satisfactory read without wondering what the heck happened before.Caroline is one of my favorite authors bar none.

Cherryh's Last Best Merchanter Novel
This novel was the last really great merchanter novel C. J. Cherryh has written.

Melodramatic bilge
After picking this up in a 2nd hand bookstore I soon realised I'd read it before, but the few pages I flicked through here and there seemed engaging enough without sending too much detail of the book flooding back into my mind. Moreover I was aware that I'd listed over half a dozen of her books on my shelves/website without reviewing any, and the ratings varied fairly significantly.

What did I like about her that saw me bother to seek out so many books? What turned me off so much after a while?

Well, after reading Tripoint again I'm more aware of what I dislike about her writing, but scratching a bit for the positives. I remember that I did enjoy The Chronicles of Morgaine, and there are some similarities: both books feature powerful, driven women with virtually none of the traditional softer attributes - these having been cauterised by previous trauma - and the narrative follows men under their shadow, tortured souls coming to terms with years of being outcasts and scapegoats within their own families. The settings that they inhabit are capably sketched, and the psuedo-science consistent enough within the standard suspension of disbelief parameters. But if Morgaine is worth another look, that had better be where the similarities end.

A major flaw is the classic of characters being described as superlatively intelligent, honest, resourceful, perceptive etc. but not actually saying or doing anything to live up to their billing. Marie, an unparalleled stock market wizard who's supposed to have centred her whole life and considerable skills on taking revenge on her rapist, has not in over twenty years even found out where he runs his shipping business (public information) or what he buys and sells - let alone targeted him in the market. She's actually done nothing at all, and the novel opens with her ship (which she essentially captains because she makes all the financial decisions that dictate what it carries and where it goes) just happening to arrive at the same port as her nemesis - total coincidence. Why did she totally ignore him until then? Even if you granted that what with hyperspace travel and consequent differing temporal lines their chances of meeting were this small (this still doesn't explain why, with motive and ability, she left it to chance), surely she's been carefully planning for that day and will cooly bring her master-plan into action. No - instead she just runs blindly about the station causing nothing but harm to her cause. This might be plausible if painted as an emotional post-traumatic overreaction, but we're never meant to question her self-possession and skill! These contradictions are constant, such as a line that has her in communication with her brother (nominal captain of the ship) on an open channel giving a short answer, with the narrator's observation saying that she was always so circumspect in speech because it drove him crazy and never gave him any ammunition. This after every second scene involving the two of them is a screaming public argument, with Marie bringing up all manner of personal grievances without provocation. Intelligent? Controlled? Focussed?

This goes even further with the main character, Thomas Bowe-Hawkins, the unwanted offspring of Bowe's rape of Marie Hawkins. We're regularly told of his intelligence and honesty, which is somehow suddenly manifest to everyone he meets - despite him consistently doing stupid things and lying to most everyone he meets. There's also a big dose of that Enid Blyton child adventure thing where the child walks into a school or a holiday camp or whatever and suddenly they're the focus of everyone: people who've had other friends for some reason now confide instead in the hero; workers who've been doing fine for years inexplicably are now totally dependant on the newcomer. This might be permissible as some of the innocent Adrian Mole type delusional self-centredness of kids, but Tripoint is supposed to be adult fiction. It's simply absurd that a junior officer from another ship - ignominiously abducted to keep him quiet when he bumbled on some semi-legal activity - within days is the closest confidant of Capella, the most crucial member of the entire staff, and the life partner of another senior crew-member (the latter, apparently an impeccable reader of character - just totally devotes herself to him after a few minutes, where nothing in the dialogue begins to warrant even perhaps a crush). Not to mention having everyone else tying themselves in knots.

Cherryh, much as Donaldson in his utterly awful Gap novels, wants to make every conversation and every relationship cataclysmic. The obvious weakness of doing this, particularly when the book revolves essentially around a single character, is that if one relationship is so central, how can another just blithely displace it (and another, and another)? We have a few chapters painting a picture (and outright stating) that Tom is entirely defined by his mother and her programmed hatred of Bowe, but within hours of him being placed on Bowe's ship she and her vendetta are utterly forgotten. She pops in for a couple of pages at the end where, I kid you not, the conversation runs:
"So? Marie said. "You staying with [Bowe]?"
"Yes," he said. "--Met a girl, Marie."
"A girl." Marie snorted. "You damn fool."
"Yeah. I know. But you'd like her, Marie."
..."You stay out of trouble," Marie said. Keep yourself honest, hear?"
"You take care of yourself," he said. "Mama. You take care."
That's it. The supposedly overwhelming relationship and driving purpose of Tom's life is just brushed aside. Alternatively literally in about five minutes Tom finds a deeper respect, trust and committed relationship with `Tink', a `tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold', than he's had with anyone he's lived with in the last twenty-three years. Again, just because we're told so, not because Cherryh actually writes some powerful and convincing dialogue.

Instead we get reams of melodramatic bilge. It feels like we're living with a particularly emotional teen at their most paranoid, where every day (every minute) is the `best' or the `worst', and every day, or hour, is it's own crisis. I can imagine Tom... (screen goes wobbly...)
He stumbled over to the nearest chair in the galley, muscles aching, screaming for just a moment's relief, but an inner voice drove him on - `Just another metre, now, yes, dammit, now I'll sit down, and I'm damned if I'm gonna get up again.' A shapely redhead sidled over towards him, her eyes at once casual, but also deeply penetrating, cool, intelligent, compassionate, wilful, and clearly aware of the complexities of early 13th century lute manufacture.
"Would you like tea or coffee?" she threw at him, her breast rising and falling with barely suppressed emotion.
Dammit, just what was he supposed to do with that?! Tea - typical. Even when he was coming home bloodied from yet another damn ambush from his cousins, Marie would sit there, sipping her tea. He loved tea, but if he ever so much as touched it she'd be onto him, "Just like your father - he used to drink tea. Are you happy now?" This was obviously some sort of test, but he was damn sure he wasn't going to run down any mazes for their fun.
"Go to hell, I hate tea," he lied. But part of him hated himself for doing it. Why must he torture himself this way? I mean, he could have just taken the coffee instead, but it was too late for that now. Too ... damn ... late, for coffee. His throat was parched, it had been minutes since he'd had his last coffee, but the game had to be played out.
"Tom," the stranger replied, "I love you. I love your honesty, and I want you to move in with me now."
Could he trust her? Could he afford not to...

(OK, parody over) I wonder if she was being paid by the `damn' - it's one of her only techniques to try to create intensity and make us think these characters are to be taken seriously (no, it doesn't work, not at this level of repetition).

So, yeah, the more I think about it the lower my assessment of the book goes. Tortured indecision can be rough going at the best of times, yet it seems to be the core of much of her work. In this particular example it's not only hard work for the reader, it's patently absurd.

probably one of Cherryh's best stand-alone SF novels
As far as freebooting space opera goes, C.J. Cherryh's many Alliance-Union novels (many of which are not part of a specific series and can stand alone) are one of the high refinements of the art today._Tripoint_ is in the top tier of that elite grouping.

Cherryh's character development abilities are really showcased here:a young man stuck on a ship captained by hostile step-family, a fascinating navigator present under tantalizingly suspicious circumstances, a diverse and interesting crew.Beyond it all is the sense of the void--the feeling of an impersonal universe that will kill you if the airlock seals give way, and not experience regret for you--that helps you imagine the experience of being in space.As ever with Cherryh, predicting the ending is difficult to impossible.

Really high-quality SF, and will appeal to fans of same. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Not bad, but falls down a bit from the first four volumes . . .
This is the last installment in the Chanur saga, but, unlike the first four volumes, which are actually just a single long novel, this one is a separate story of the "next generation" and theoretically can be read by itself -- although you won't pick up on a lot of the references and themes if you do that. Hilfy Chanur, niece of the captain, Pyanfar Chanur, was the youngest and most inexperienced crew member of "The Pride of Chanur." During the course of that story, however, she went from utter novice to experienced spacer and from sometimes giddy "teenager" to rather cold-blooded young adult. The present story is set a few years later, following Hilfy's failed marriage (in Hani terms), a falling out with her aunt, and her assignment as captain of the trader "Chanur's Legacy." She's generally competent but she lacks Pyanfar's vast experience, and she knows it. Likewise, her crew is nothing like as thoroughly intermeshed as "The Pride"'s crew, but they're all trying hard. The plot, which is somewhat confusing, involves a contract from the stsho to deliver a ceremonial art object to another star system -- the fee involved is so large, it could put Hilfy's ship in the black all by itself -- but the intended recipient has fled, and the "Legacy" must follow or default on the contract. A second plotline revolves around Hallan Meras, a young man who longs to be a spacer, which is completely against Hani tradition and culture -- but a state of affairs which Pyanfar herself has already begun to change. But the ship he had signed onto has dumped him, leading Hilfy and her crew to rescue him against their better judgment. Cherryh uses the situation to explore in great detail the very different psychology of the Hani in matters of sexual politics, matters that were much less explicit in the earlier books of the series. She also gives us a more detailed look at what makes the stsho tick. And the Bad Guy this time is a Mahendo-sat, a species that generally supplied the Good Guys in the earlier volumes. It all makes for a pretty good yarn, though all the strings aren't tied up very well at the end; the story just sort of stops. I wonder if Cherryh had intended a sequel and just never got around to it?

A deeper look at the Compact powers-that-be
This review is for those that have already read the previous 4 books.If you have not, I highly recommend The Pride of Chanur - it is complete in itself, so if you only like it you can be finished and satisfied, but if you LOVE it there is much more to come.

Hilfy is now on her own, with a "hand-me-down" ship and experienced crew - all new characters, including a marooned hani male.Her style is quite different from Pyanfar's, and provides further insight into Haniness as well as a Hani translator's view of other alien minds.We also get an in-depth look at the manipulating stsho - and a very fascinating and charming look it is.There are alternate views of the mahendosat, and the kif are developing in an interesting direction.We even gain some glimpses into the methane breathers' inner workings.

Highly recommended as a broadening view of Compact Space's intricate workings, and as a rollicking good time as well!

One of a very few.
The books under the title of 'Chanur' have all been great books.I have read the whole set 3 times now.It would be nice to actually see them made into a movie.Impossible, considering the level of detail, but definately a good idea.The level of psychology in these books is high, at the expense of detail in the realm of environment.If your willing to explore this aspect of scifi, read them.To bad Cherryh ended the series.

Grandiose yet personal
The 5th and most recent of CJ Cherryh's Chanur Saga, Chanur's Legacy is very much in the vein of Cherryh's previous work. Captain Hilfy Chanur of the Chanur's Legacy is just trying to make a living in the shadow of her aunt, effective ruler of Compact space. When the administrator of Meetpoint Station offers her one million credits for transport of a simple cargo, the offer seems almost too good to be true. Needless to say, it is, and Hilfy and her crew, along with a few passengers, are sent on a harrowing mission throughout Compact space.

Cherryh is in true form here. Each alien race is uniquely developed, none having those "humans in makeup" or "different just to be different" qualities that often plagues SF in general, and space opera in particular. Moreover, each of the characters is quite well developed, and truth be told, I found the subplot regarding Legacy's male passenger as compelling, or more so, than the main plot.

For better or worse, saying the book is typical CJ Cherryh carries some other connotations: physical description is about nil; the main characters may spend 70 pages in a port and the most we'll ever hear about it its name. Also the plot is extremely, I might say excessively, complicated, and can get difficult to follow if you read quickly.

Still, danger, intrigue, romace, conspiracy: all are present and work together to create a marvelous story I could barely put down (even after it was finished). If you enjoy space opera, the Chanur Saga, or and of CJ Cherryh's work, this one's for you.

Excellent End to the Chanur Series
As of this writing, this book is the 5th in, and the end of, the Chanur series.It's excellently written and, surprising for a Cherryh book, actually ENJOYABLE to read.Usually, Cherryh's books are so gut-wrenchingly engrossing that you have nothing left with which to enjoy it.This book appeals somewhat more to the intellect than to the intestines.The tension is there, but it's far more subdued than in her other works.One of the interesting tension-makers is how Hilfy Chanur treats the male Hani she gets stuck with.From our Human point of view, it's really tough to understand.However, over time, you come to understand it from a Hani (i.e. lion) perspective.An excellent book and a suitable end/extension to the Chanur saga. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Faerie emerging from the Shadows
First...
dear lovers of the Sidhe (Faerie Folk),
... it is only fair to reveal that years ago when this book wasn't even available in the U.S.A. we wrote to the author and she very kindly gifted us an autographed copy, so we were already inclined to love it, particularly because we already loved her book(s) The Dreaming Tree. C. J. Cherryh is one of the few modern writers who has a genuine understanding of the Sidhe, who in this work are equivalent essentially to Virtues, Powers, or Dominions in angelic hierarchy. It is a good novel and clever and it ends, at least for these elves, in a very satisfying way. We just wish she'd write more in this genre.
kyela,
the silver elves

A sadly neglected gem
Caith mac Sliabhin has been cursed by the Sidhe.He wanders the world an outcast, with his companion Dubhain, a pooka who appears sometimes as a dark-haired youth, sometimes as a black horse.In a valley where things are somehow terribly wrong, they meet a beautiful young couple who need their help...a couple who may not be what they seem.

Though set in a Celtic fantasy world reminiscent of The Dreamstone and The Tree of Swords and Jewels,this book is more like Cherryh's "human among the aliens" SF, such as Hunter of Worlds or Foreigner.The aliens, in this case, are the Sidhe.These aren't J.R.R. Tolkien's elves.They are like forces of nature, unmoved by, perhaps even unable to comprehend, the things that are important to mortals.Yet one gets the feeling that they are fond of Caith, in their inhuman way.Poor Caith.

Cherryh has a knack for hard-edged fantasy, and it's on fine display here.As in Rusalka, magic works in this universe according to rules and limitations that make it seem almost like science.The characters also have more of an edge than you commonly find in fantasy.Cherryh's characters are always interestingly flawed, but Caith and Dubhain are especially so.Caith has had an exceedingly rough life, and has good reason for carrying the chip on his shoulder he does.He's basically a decent guy, but his hot temper and stubbornness often get him into trouble.As for Dubhain...well, he's a dark Sidhe, a pooka whose job it is to take horse form,lure men onto his back, then drown them.Talk about having a dark side!Nevertheless, he has a sort of elemental innocence that makes it easy to forgive his mischief.

What Pat Nussman called "the magic circle" - a situation where a pair of characters are forced to rely on only each other for trust and friendship - is quite literal here.Caith has been damned by Faery, more because of the family he was born to than anything he did to deserve it.He avoids human company for fear of bringing his misfortune on others.Dubhain is similarly damned for the crime of doing a good deed.In a moment of weakness, he rescued Caith rather than drown him, and for this failure,he was bound to Caith by geas.They are each other's punishment...but also friends, as much as human and Sidhe can be.Dubhain is wicked and feckless and not entirely trustworthy, but humans need companionship, and he's all Caith has - the only being it's safe for him to be with.Dubhain is a loyal friend, as much as a dark Sidhe can be, but he's not human, and doesn't live by human rules.He can't give gifts without strings attached; every kindness must be balanced by a cruelty, however small.It's just his nature, and Caith understands this, even as he curses it.They are devoted to each other, but neither will ever admit it.They taunt and tease each other incessantly, using sarcastic terms of endearment more suitable for lovers than friends.

This book is a sequel to "The Brothers," a story from Cherryh's 1986 anthology, Visible Light.(The story can also be read in the omnibus The Collected Short Fiction of C.J. Cherryh.)However, the book stands alone.The key points from "The Brothers" are covered in Faery In Shadow, in flashback.(The events of Faery In Shadow occur five years after "The Brothers.")

Faery In Shadow is one of my favorite books of all time.If the Sequel Fay appeared and gave me one wish, this is the book I'd want a sequel to.Alas, barring such magical intervention, it's not likely.Faery In Shadow didn't get much notice when it was originally published.Cherryh says that her publisher thought it was too dark and depressing.Many reviews and readers have said the same.Part of the reason for this is that these days, people just expect fantasies to be fluffy. And part of it is that, like many Cherryh books, the ending of this one wasn't really meant to be "The End" but "To Be Continued."Itbecomes quite different when viewed in that light.

Celtic Mythology Wonder
This is a great story based in the ancient UK . Celtic honor, and horror. The secret problem with the book is that it is the second part of a story that is available in Ms Cherryh's collected short stories. If you have enjoyed her ancient Russia stories and The Dreamstone stories, you will enjoy this rare gem.

One to Read again and again
I'm a picky reader.I've about read my copy of this issue to death, and probably will come back for more.Caith is very believable and Dubhain is everything a pooka should be.What a pity it's out of print (hint hint youpublishers out there).Want more! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (54)

Good read!
Many of the other reviews do a good job of explaining the plot and pacing of Foreigner. One of the things I like best about this book and the serios is the author credits her readers with intelligence. In Foreigner, she drops you right into the action and lets you be confused right along with Bren... only you can re-read the novel again. Bren has to keep the world from erupting into war. This is a good book and the first in one of the best sci-fi series in print. Enjoy.

The beginning of a great series
This is the first book in the series and can be heavy reading for a bit as the author establishes the basics - characters and locations.This a totally addictive series and I am avidly awaiting my pre-ordered copy of no. 10 in March.Thinking of rereading the first 9 just to make sure of total enjoyment of no. 10.

If you like sci-fi you will love this series.If you don't love sci-fi much, but like a great story, you probably will love it too. Racism, alien relations, cultural assumptions - so many issues are addressed in a great story that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat and reading late into the night.

Thought-provoking
'Foreigner' is a slow-paced but compelling read, and ultimately worth while. The atevi society, with its fundamental and irreconcilable differences from humanity, has the promise of being extremely interesting, though Cherryh only touches the surface of it in this volume. The characters were very well drawn, even the enigmatic atevi; Bren Cameron, the protagonist, was a nicely non-typical coward and ditherer.

I was not thrilled by Ms Cherryh's writing style, though I may grow used to it as I read more of her. She seems to have little rhetorical resourcefulness, besides excessive use of the words 'and' and 'then' (if you've read her, I'm sure you know what I mean).

In the end, though, I'm glad I picked 'Foreigner' up. It's certainly good enough to draw me into reading more of Cherryh's work.

Science fiction for the thinking reader, not the video game addict
Cherryh is often compared to Ursula Le Guin, and with good reason; by the time I'd gotten a couple of chapters into this first volume of a lengthy epic, I was thinking of the similarities of its set-up to The Left Hand of Darkness. Mostly, it's because the protagonist is a lone, isolated human diplomat surrounded by aliens whose very near-human appearance makes it easy to forget just how deeply alien their psychology is. Five hundred years ago, a human colony ship came out of hyperdrive impossibly far from where it should be, so far the ship was completely lost. After many years, its crew and party of settlers make it to a system where there is a habitable planet -- which is already taken by an almost industrial-level species called the atevi. They build a space station and some of the settlers (or their descendants) land on the planet, trying not to mess up anything. But they can't help thinking in human terms, and after a century or two of technological uplift by the humans, the atevi attack, driving them back to the island where they had originally landed. The eventual peace treaty establishes the office of paidhi, a human interpreter who will live among the atevi and facilitate communications. Another couple of centuries pass and Bren Cameron is the current paidhi, at the court of the regional ruler. He tries hard not to make mistakes or assumptions in gradually passing on human technical knowledge -- the price of the treaty -- but his carefully constructed complacency is shattered when he's packed off to a distant mountain fortress. Not until late in the story does he find out the reasons for this inexplicable treatment, and then he knows humans on his world have as much to fear as its original inhabitants. The author does an extraordinary job of allowing the atevi to explain themselves through their actions instead of simply telling the reader what's going through their minds, as she did in both the Chanur and Kes'rith cycles. There are now nine volumes in this new cycle, and they're all lined up on my reading shelf. Beautiful stuff.

Talking to the Tiger
There is an old saying, that if tigers could talk, we still wouldn't be able to communicate with them.Our minds and experiences are so different that, even if we used the same set of words, we could still not understand each other.In "Foreigner," Cherryh brings us face to face with the tiger.Plot aside, the book is about how difficult it would be to understand the psychology of an alien race.And at that task, it succeeds admirably.

The premise of the story is intriguing.A human colony ship goes horribly off course during a hyperspace jump.Stranded in unknown space, they are forced to orbit and eventually land on a planet inhabited by a tall, dark-skinned humanoid race, the atevi.The humans, though technologically superior, are vastly outnumbered.The only way to survive the distrustful atevi is to strike a deal that trades technology - slowly, over generations - for peace.Humans are relegated to a single island, all but one:the "paidhi," the interpreter, who lives among the atevi and acts as the liaison between the races.Two centuries later, an assassination attempt on the current paidhi, Bren Cameron, sets in motion a chain of events that could destroy the delicate balance between the natives and their unwelcome guests.

At least half the book consists of Bren's inner monologue.Bren thinks a lot:about the byzantine politics of the atevi; about the effects of technology on their culture; about his struggle against using human concepts to analyze atevi actions.At first, the endless thinking annoyed me - I wanted more action and less analysis.At the story progressed, though, I saw that the analysis is the point.Bren is trying to figure out how to talk to the tiger.He struggles to explain such human concepts as "liking" and "trust," while grappling with atevi ideas about hierarchical loyalty and betrayal.And when he gets caught up in a life or death power struggle, the fundamental differences are laid bare.It made me think, too.

Although I appreciate the psychological depth of the book, I'm hoping - call me shallow - that the next one has less thinking and more action.I thought it dragged at times.Still, Cherryh has created a world rich with possibilities.I can't wait to start the next book in the series.Four and a half stars.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

D'oh!
This came out just after I finally tracked down a used copy of 40,000 in Gehenna. Both stories in here are very good, though they are not linked in any strong way. One can say that the occurrences within are both due to the strains between the Union and Earth, but other than that the stories have very different settings (one a newly colonized planet with it's own alien life, the other deep space and space stations) and stories. 40,000 deals with the breakdown of the colony and emergence of a new culture while the other may be considered close to classic space opera. Both are great Alliance stories.

I hate it when the publisher re-releases a book with a new cover!
Cherryh, has great character developement, they grow and expand as you traverse with them through time. However, her writing style seems to always have weak climaxes almost undiscernible from the falling action.

This series is well connected yet separate from other novels connected to the universe she has created.

She falls way behind Orson Scott Card in all of the above elements. If you like her you will really like Card!

Great Books Individually, Very Poor Match
Both of these books on their own easily deserve five stars a piece.My rating is merely for an omnibus that simply should not be.The only other "Alliance Space" book that comes close to the Merchanter's Luck grittiness, is Rimrunners; Tripoint and Finity's End being considerably softer.The only way Forty Thousand in Gehenna has anything to do with Alliance at all, is the cursory hand-off from Union to Alliance and the resulting remediation.Forty Thousand in Gehenna is intirely about Union culture and themes, even through those cursory events.Perhaps, Serpent's Reach would be a better pair.Again, both are great books, but the originals are not hard to find.Save your money and buy the originals.Save this omnibus for the next decade, when the choice won't be as easy.

Half and half.
The first story, Merchanter's Luck, I liked a lot. A down and out spacer hooks up with one of the "Rich kid" girls he's only dreamed of before. Then, before you know it, he an she both are up to their ears in trouble- but, in the end, everybody's cool, and they have an exciting, if unknown, future together.
The second book, Forty Thousand in Gehenna, I had a problem with from the start. You see, I had already read Cyteen, and I knew there would be no reinforcements coming. No medical aid, No help at all, from any quarter. That kind of cruelty does not play well on any stage. Credit must be given to C.J. Cherryh for coming up with an uplifting ending, however. But, overall, I did not enjoy this book with the relish of some of her other creations.

Humans and Aliens
Alliance Space (2008) is an SF omnibus edition of the Alliance-Union Universe series, including Merchanter's Luck and Forty Thousand in Ghenna.These stories are set after the Company Wars when both sides are trying to keep the peace, but are still suspicious of each other.

Merchanter's Luck (1982) has the Alliance and Union trying to restore the old trade routes between their spaces.Rumors have associated Pell Station with the new routes.

Sandor Kreja is a minor merchanter within Union space operating under false papers and a false name.His ship -- lately called the Lucy -- is really Le Cygne, an almost forgotten vessel.He docks Lucy on Viking Station and goes looking for crew to replace the man rejoining his ship at the port.He takes a few credits to buy drinks and talks to a couple of potential crewmen.Then he encounters Allison Reilly, a tall dark-haired silver-clad woman from the Dublin Again.

Sandor loses track of his conversation and just stares at the Allison.Then she stares back briefly and walks out of the bar.Sandor pays his bill and follows her out.She isn't anywhere in sight, so he checks the adjacent bars and finds her again.They eventually go to a sleepover and slake their lust.

The next morning, Allison has to return to her ship.Sandor learns that her ship is heading to Pell Station in Alliance space and vows to meet her there.Despite being alone on a three jump route, the Lucy arrives only a couple of hours after the Dublin Again.

In this story, Sandor has his visage spread throughout Pell station.He has somehow become a popular hero.But someone makes a complaint about his past activities and the dockmaster calls him in for questioning.After discussing his reasons for coming to the station, Sandor applies for papers allowing him to trade within Alliance space.

Allison gets her ship council to agree to a deal with Sandor.They will loan him half a million for cargo and another hundred thousand for other expenses in return for a share of the profits.In return, Sandor will accept four crewpersons from the Dublin Again to help operate the Lucy.Naturally, Allison will be his second in command.

Sandor also has a talk with Captain Mallory -- commander of the AS Norway -- about the arrangement.She provides a briefing of the situation and replaces his intended cargo with military goods.Sandor is barely functional with Mallory, a former Mazianni captain.He keeps thinking of the Mazianni boarding party that had killed most of his family.

Forty Thousand in Gehenna (1983) has the Union settling colonies around Alliance space.These colonies were not intended to succeed as such, but only to keep the Alliance too busy to think about aggression.One of these colonies was on Gehenna II.

Three Union ships -- Venture, Capable, Swift -- carried 42,363 colonists to the Gehenna system from Cyteen Station.Of those colonists, 452 were citizens and 41911 were noncitizen clones.

Jin 458-9998 is an azi, a lab-born clone trained via memory induction tapes.His contract was bought by the government for the Gehenna colony.All his hair is removed and he is feeling erased.But he is told that he is doing well and is given some special tapes to make him feel better.

Pia 86-687 is also azi.She is chosen as Jin's mate.They are given special tapes to teach them how to produce born-man children.

All the colonists are offloaded onto Gehenna II and the ships leave.Additional personnel, equipment and supplies are scheduled to arrive in three years.These backup resources never arrive.

In this story, the native animals called "ariels" infiltrate the camp, going everywhere.Ruffles becomes a permanent resident in the main dome.She sits on her stack of boxes and watches the colonists.

Other native animals called "calibans" stay on the other side of the river at first, but eventually cross over and build their mounds on the nearside banks.These larger gray reptileian-like warm-bloodied animals continually build involved structures of mud and rock.

The exobiologists believe that neither the ariels nor calibans are sapient.Their behavior is too strange and repetitive to suggest intelligence.Then the brown calibans appear.

These works represent the two major themes in the author's stories.The first tells of the interplay between humans from different cultures.The second depicts the relationships between humans and aliens.These themes are still being explored in the Gene Wars and Foreigner series.Enjoy!

Highly recommended for Cherryh fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of space adventures and planetary colonization.

-Arthur W. Jordin ... Read more

Product Description
One of the most renowned figures in science fiction, C. J. Cherryh has been enthralling audiences for nearly thirty years with rich and complex novels. Now at the peak of her career, this three-time Hugo Award Winner launches her most ambitious work in decades, Hammerfall, part of a far-ranging series, The Gene Wars, set in an entirely new universe scarred by the most vicious of future weaponry, nanotechnology. In this brilliant novel -- possibly Cherryh's masterwork -- the fate of billions has come down to a confrontation between two profoundly alien cultures on a single desert planet.

Customer Reviews (41)

liked both books together
I didn't like this the 1st time but with the 2nd book it was way better.

Weak
Somewhat disorienting and flat worldbuilding, wrapped in a decent and intriguingly twisty plot. The weakness of the setting was a major issue for me, though, partly because of where I thought the book would be entering onto, particularly because of some pivotal background stuff that isn't very well situated. For instance we have the future human barbarians on an alien planet ruled by a technological immortal, with how that got established not being really explained. We also have other humans making contact with the world in an even more shadowy way, along with aliens that want to depopulate the planet but show a kind of strangely hesitant timeline in doing such. Given Cherryh's usual dexterity in crafting complex, plausible future, this made the book rather underwhelming.

The book does have strong elements, however. While I wasn't overly fond of the protagonist or main supporting cast--largely because, linked to the above, they seemed rather stock--but the things they do in the course of the novel are interesting. The protagonist sets off to destroy the immortal dictator Ila andliberate his people, but soon feels compelled to be her direct servant to work against a larger doom threatened against the planet. Given this isn't stock epic fantasy they don't succeed, and indeed it's shown that the threat (aliens sling rocks on the planet, everyone dies--the titular Hammerfall) was never something that could be opposed. Rather the characters work to understand the danger and then preserve what little they can against the impending apocalypse. It makes for a fairly well laid out structure, and some strong creepy moments of high technology intruding on the lives of people with no context to understand it. In this vein appears both the planetary bombardment and a point where a nanotech-backed personality seizes control of an indigenous human. While there's drama here and much that works precisely because of the juxtaposition of elements, the core of the invented future is a rather weak element in the book. Cherryh has certainly done a lot better.

Better than: Matter by Iain M. Banks
Worse than: Incandesence by Greg Egan

I couldn't finish it
This is my first novel from Cherryh, and after trudging 2/3 of the way through Hammerfall, it will probably be my last. Boring, slow, flat characters, dumb dialogue, descriptions of boring stuff that doesn't matter, giant holes in a lame plot, etc....
I paid $2.50 in the discount section at Waldenbooks and still feel like it was a bad deal. Borrow before buying.

Hammerfall
I always by a Cherryh book title without even looking at the blurb -- the personalities, situations, and universes she creates are real and gripping. It's always hard to put down a book until finished.

Twice as good at half the length.
I couldn't believe it. They crossed the same desert 3 times and the author didn't even skip forward over the odd week or two. It was like reading about the solution of a "Towers of Hanoi" puzzle. The author put a lot of imagination and creativity into this story but needs a good editor.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

A grand read overall
Elizabeth "Bet" Yeager finds herself a refugee, stuck aboard a space station that is gradually being wound down for decommissioning. After 20 years as a marine aboard the military vessel Africa, the space-born Yeager refuses to eke out a living by taking station work. She shows up at the registry every day, even after she's reduced to eating nothing and sleeping in a public restroom, because she insists on waiting for a berth aboard a ship. Any ship - including the one that finally has work for her. A "spook" ship, the Loki. Which no crew member leaves except by dying.

Bet knows how to get along just about anywhere, as long as she's in space. She starts making friends aboard the Loki, and the last thing in the universe she wants them to know about her is that she got separated from Africa by the chances of war - because most of Loki's crew members have the best of reasons to hate the military in general and ships like Africa in particular. A former merchanter like NG Ramey, one of Bet's new "mates" in Engineering, probably has more reason than most. So finding herself drawn to Ramey, the Loki's pariah, distresses Bet on more than one level. Yet no man she's ever known has made her feel the way he does...and besides, she understands about being an outsider. So she takes on the lost cause that is NG Ramey, and with him his worst enemy: the Loki's XO.

Bet Yeager could just as easily be a pirate on an ancient Terran ship, and I think it highly likely that such ships formed the model for Cherryh's Loki crew. The future universe depicted here has Humans operating just as we always have on Earth, and while that is frightening it also makes for top-notch adventure and plenty of dramatic tension. My one dissatisfaction with the story is its abrupt ending. I normally enjoy being left with enough loose ends hanging to make me use my imagination; but this time I closed the book feeling that I didn't have enough information to do that. Still, a grand read overall! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.

--Reviewed by Nina M. Osier, author of 2005 science fiction EPPIE winner "Regs"

One of my favorites...
Something that I love is a good space opera where the characters are strong and the action is good; and Rimrunners is one of these.Ahhh, I love it, Ms. Cherryh expands her Alliance Space Universe by telling us the story of a former Company Fleet Marine (Elizabeth Yeager) who's trying to get back to the Fleet.However Bet is at the armpit of Alliance Space, Thule station, and she's looking for anyway off station that will take her closer to The Company Fleet.What makes for a strong story is that Ms. Cherryh takes a slightly different approach from other writers with this story by having Bet Yeager being homeless (she's living on the docks of Thule, in the bathrooms we're told) and describes Bet's situation and feelings almost like you're traveling with her.Merging Bet's "situation" with an opportunity to escape Thule on an Alliance ship (Loki, she's "more than she seems") makes for an interesting set of situations for Bet who has to confront her past with her present.

Rating wise this one's a very solid 4.5-5 star book for me.I love the action and the set-up.The characters are nicely done with Ms. Cherryh breathing so much life into Bet Yeager, NG, and the other characters.When you find tertiary character (Mr. Finch, , or even Wolf) who add their print to a book, you have to love it.Merging this with the strength of Ms. Cherryh'sAlliance Space Universe make this a space opera that I love to come back and read again and again.Five stars for me or anyone who enjoys CJ Cherry's stories.

An all-time favorite
Whew! This science fiction novel keeps you running. Its very, very involving - sucks you right in and keeps you hoping for that happy ending that is anything but assured. Cherryh is great with detail, not too much, not too little, and very clear about what she's imagining - the beveling of the ships mounting, for instance - who would have thought of it? And the very big possibility of death by falling, how did she think of that? The best part is the characterization. The heroine is a heroine indeed - loyalty, smarts and faith in herself amidst the tough calls - the best possible combination of a person who you would like as your friend. That's the theme of this book, friendship, even with all the cool techno stuff, such as mechanized armored suits. This book is truly one of my all time favorite reads in science fiction. The others are Silverberg's "Man in the Maze," Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land," Yarbro's "False Dawn," Lee's "Silver Metal Lover" and most everything that Stephenson has written. Jeesh, I could go on - Philip K. Dick, Robert Anton Wilson, ah --- how could I forget Tim Powers ----

Cherryh's best, for my money
Forty years ago, I knew the science fiction genre whole -- which is to say I had read all the major authors and knew their family relationships and where they fit in.Since then, the field has evidently expanded and gone in so many different directions that I will never be more than a tourist.

The universe of C.J. Cherryh, though, is one I know -- it's Heinlein's universe (as she tacitly acknowledges in this book by making the denouement turn on powered fighting suits straight out of Starship Troopers).She brings to this book a gift even exceeding Heinlein's for imagining the details of life in in a space station or a hyperspace ship, and making them real to the reader, without ever coming out and explaining anything.She also creates an unforgettable character and situation in Bet Yeager, the professional fighting woman stranded among her enemies.

Moreover, the tension inherent in Yeager's predicament disguises Cherryh's besetting weakness -- the inability to keep a story moving throughout its length, instead of saving all the action for a manic burst in the last 20 pages.I have to confess to having started more Cherryh novels than I have finished, but his one kept me engrossed to the end.

(It is interesting to contrast Cherryh with other woman SF authors such as Ursula LeGuin, who come at the future from a distinctively female point of view.Cherryh is perfectly happy with the Boys Club, as long as the girls can have an equal place in it.

Good Book, but you have to release your prejudices
Other reviewers have given adequate synopses of the story, so no need to go there.I ultmately decided that Cherryh wrote Bet Yeager as if she were a pirate of old, and gave her the kinds of conflicts and issues a pirate the 1700s might have had (there were female pirates, you know). What were those people like? Well, they were usually uneducated, estranged from family, no roots except their ships and the people on them. They worked hard, physical labor, expected and meted out corporal punishiment to enforce behvarioal codes of the ship. They drank constantly and were indiscriminate about sexual favors. They could be offhandedly cruel to each other and downright malevolent and deadly to "outsiders". They were dismissive of "landlubbers" or here, the stationers, and lived by their wits and natural law: survival of the fittest, don't trust anyone until you know the lay of the land, respect must be earned and loyaltyfirst to one's friends, then to one's shipmates, and then one's ship. This is very much Bet Yeager's world.

The biggest surprise I found was how judmental I felt about Bet's use of her sexuality for survival. I would have hoped that a thousand years from now, we would have moved beyond the need to exchange sex for a food and a place to live, and to no longer live in fear of rape. When a shipmate called her a whore I was shocked- they'd still have that word then? So, I worked very hard to suspend judgment and put myself into her world. And that is when I came up with the supposition above which would explain her behavior. I also felt some class prejudice bec she so obviously has little "breeding" or refinement or concern for her reputation as a woman. Again, I was surprised to find I was so bourgoise! So I redoubled my efforts to accept the charactar as she is.

This book was also difficult to get into because of the style in which Bet Yeager speaks and thinks: incomplete sentences throughout the book. I had to do a lot of guessing and ruminating on what the charactar meant. As I started to look at her in the mold of an old-timey pirate,ala Jack Sparrow and friends, I was able to figure out some of the slang such as "'decks" meaning above deck and below decks: officers vs crew.

Ultimately, I had to look at the context of the situation and extrapolate from that what the charactars meant or was trying to say.Having to go to such legnths took a lot of my enjoyment away from the story, since I wasn't always sure exactly what was happening. Even until the last sentence which was kind of cryptic. I think I understand where everyone was left at the end, but again, I'm not certain.

So, I did like the book, and in the process discovered some things about myself. I am proud though that I soldiered on and was able to accept Bet how the author made her and to have compassion for her many fears. At the last,I admired her courage which made it possible for her to take a chance at finding a new family, a place to belong and people to love and to love her. Then I could see the femininity in the charactar. ... Read more

Product Description
Swordmaster Shoka bids farewell to court intrigue after the death of the old Emperor. Taizu, who is determined to become a swordwoman, seeks out Shoka and begs his help to exact revenge upon the evil tyrant Lord Ghita. Soon, Shoka and Taizu become the stuff of legends. A fantasy epic by the author of the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning novels Cyteen and Downbelow Station. Reissue. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Good for the first half of the book... then dull and predictable
C.J. Cherryh has the unfortunate ability of being able to capture my interest in the first half of her books, and then utterly destroying it in the second. This isn't the first book of hers which I've started with high hopes, only to be dissapointed later on.

The first half of the book is indeed pretty good. An exiled swordsman is persuaded to train a woman, so that she can deliver vengence to her enemies. The interaction between the two (very stubborn) characters is well-written and enjoyable.

There is a point during the story (though I don't want to give away spoilers) in which a certain event occured which left me very dissapointed due to its unbelievability. I felt that the author should have spent more time on the scene, made it longer, for such an event had been building up throughout much of the story so-far, and it was not given the attention I had anticipated. The scene felt disheartening after I had spent so much of the story anticipating, and I felt somewhat uneasy that the rest of the plot would be resolved with equal dissapointment.

And truly, it was an overal dissapointment. After the first half of the book is done with, the pacing settles down to a predictable journey to the enemies gates, rallying of ally forces and the eventual confrontation with the enemy. The story thus far had been about a woman's drive for vengence and her determination to fulfil her desire, but later it just becomes a (very poor) war story, as the characters travel towards their target amassing troops and fighting enemy forces.

There's little more character development. Perhaps I was just bored and missed an entire chapter somehow, but it seems at one point the Taizu receives an injury but you only learn about it AFTER it has happened.

The journey to the enemy's gates is confusing (and therefore boring). I had little idea of setting, distance or anything of the sort (and I'm not going to keep referring to a map in order to let the author get away with poor world building) and there were too many names. Far, far too many characters whom I had to keep track of and none of them for which I particularly developed any liking. In fact, though I'd come to rather care for the characters during the first half of the book, by the end, the only character I still cared for was the horse.

I was tempted to give this book two stars, but I gave it three due to the good first half, and because the second half is not so terrible as to be utterly unreadable (though in truth, I'd have liked to have given up but my conscience wouldn't allow me to quit after having invested so much time already. I don't know why I bothered though).

The Swordsman's Apprentice
The Paladin (1989) is a standalone historical Fantasy novel.It is set in an Asiatic empire similar to ancient China.The old Emperor had died and the new Emperor was enthroned.But the regent selected by the Old Emperor for his son was executed and the new Empress took poison.

Lord Saukendar fled the Empire with assassins at his back.He built a cabin just outside the border.After a while, the new regnant -- Lord Githa -- finally quit sending assassins.

In this novel, Lord Saukendar had inherited Yiungei province, but all was forfeited with his escape.Shoka has lived for nine years on a mountain near the village of Mon.People have come to ask for training or assistance, but he has sent them all away.

Taizu is a sixteen year old peasant girl from Hua province.Her whole family was killed by mercenaries hired by Lord Gitu.

In this story, Taizu comes to Mon village disguised as a peasant boy with a very large basket on his back.The villagers warn the visitor that Lord Suakendar doesn't take any students.But she goes up the mountain anyway.

Shoka is watering Jiro -- his bright red horse -- when he first notices the stranger.He is not armed, so he goes back to the cabin to get his weapons.Soon he concludes that the visitor is probably alone.

At first, Shoka thinks that the visitor is a boy, but soon learns that she is a girl.When he asks what she wants, Taizu replies that she wants weapons training so that she can kill Lord Gitu.

Naturally, Shoka refuses her request.He is not a weapons instructor.Besides,she would be better off in a nunnery.

Taizu refuses to enter the cabin.She walks off and finds a place to camp in the woods.The next day, she shoots an arrow near Shoka as he tends Jiro in the stable.

Taizu leads Shoka in a merry chase through the woods.He tracks her down and almost catches her before tripping over a low rope.Finally, he agrees to train her, at least until she has had enough.

Taizu agrees to become his housekeeper.Yet she refuses to sleep with him.The nights are very long after her arrival.

Shoka starts her off running up the mountain and back again.Of course, he assumes that she is going only part way and then resting before returning to the cabin.When he tells her his opinion, she informs him that she has been going all the way to the top.

Shoka sets the girl running down and back up the pasture.He rides Jiro after her and blocks her path.Despite everything, Taizu avoids the horse and finally completes the course.Her turns of speed strongly suggests that she has been telling the truth about running up the mountain.

This tale has Shoka training the girl for a year.He keeps trying to dissuade her from facing Lord Gitu with a sword.She does almost all he tells her, except giving up her quest.Eventually, Shoka modifies his training to better suit her limitations.

Shoka has settled down on this mountain, but Taizu presents him with a challenge.Although she is rapidly learning sword techniques, he is having problems teaching her cynicism.When Taizu leaves to find Lord Gitu, Shoka and Jiro go with her.But he knows that the coming of Lord Saukendar will stir up much more than she expects.

This work is hard to classify.Amazon seems to have placed it in the Fantasy genre, but it does not include any magic other than mention of demons and dragons.Yet the empire does not match any known ancient polity.Maybe this is a modern myth.

This story is very typical of the author.It is written mostly from Shoka's viewpoint.And it presents not only dialogue, but also Shoka's thoughts.Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Cherryh fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of armed combat, less advanced cultures, and very clever but stubborn women.

-Arthur W. Jordin

disapointment
Now I don't want to mislead, some of you will love this book. I bought it on the strength of an "extra good" review. A lot of reviewers loved the book. If you are looking for a long drawn out romance with a lot of C.J. Cherryh trying to come up with how an older man might think when falling in love with a younger woman (let me save you the quandry...so far as Ms. Cherryh goes men apparently never think with any part of our bodies higher than our mis-section. He even contemplates "forcing" this woman he "cares for", for her own good naturally.)

The reviews talked about cjatacter development, mostly I spent the book being annoyed. I finished it and it right to my "trade pile. The one thing I can't do here is say who will like it and who won't, wish I could. For me, I was looking forward to getting it based on the reviews I'd read only to be disappointed in it.

My suggestion? Read the other reviews and consider before ordering.

A realistic hero
Spoiler-free version:

This story features an interesting take of some fantasy formulas.Saukendar (from whose POV the story is told) is an aging hero called once again to action and Taizu is a young girl who wants to avenge the destruction of her family.

But these are real people, not cutouts.Saukendar is not comfortable with his status as a legend.He has become cynical over the years and says that fighting evil is ultimately useless.He wants to stay on his mountain and calls Taizu a fool.He complains about the old wound in his knee.Taizu is truly a foolish kid.She has several disappointments when she meets the real Saukendar.She espouses very naive ideas about justice.She never ceases to be affected by the violence she experienced.At first her revenge is all that holds her together.She finds release in violence and spends most of the book with a buried fear of men.

The downside is that the story falls apart near the end.The pace of the story becomes hectic and world-changing events happen overnight.Many very important plot points are glossed over.Some events that I anticipated did not occur (I think?)...while some did occur in ways that didn't feel as genuine as the rest of the novel.

Possible spoiler version:

This story's male hero is a grumpy, middle-aged cynic.Saukendar is venerated by the masses and hates it.After being falsely accused of treason, having a bounty put on his head, and being banished, Saukendar discovered that his political allies and status as a local legend were worth nothing.

As Saukendar sees it, he's living on a mountain alone because he has to.He ran for his life and has to stay there to keep it.Though he is disgusted by the current government, he has no desire to fight it--Saukendar considers the idea foolish and says that even if you kill one evil man, there are a dozen others to take his place.

The stories told about Saukendar are different -- the stories say that he took a vow of isolation and lives as a sort of wise monk on the mountain.That's why Taizu, the female heroine, comes to the mountain.She wants Saukendar to teach her so that she can avenge her family.Taizu says that she will do what she is sure Saukendar would do if he were not on the mountain: fight for justice.

Saukendar eventually gives in, thinking that with time he can convince Taizu to stay on the mountain with him and not seek a suicidal revenge.Taizu's intrusion into Saukendar's life starts to wake him up.Although initially Saukendar only sees her as a conveniently available woman, he eventually starts to care for Taizu.

There are elements of Taizu's character that are very formulaic for women in fantasy, ie: "I got raped so now I'm going to become a hero and fight the evil people who raped me and killed my family."But the treatment of Taizu veers somewhat from that norm.Taizu doesn't ever really admit to being raped.There are clues that her character was interested in warlike pursuits even prior to her family's destruction.And Taizu's initial determination to get revenge and her responses to Saukendar's sexual interest show that she was deeply, realistically affected by the violence in her life.At first, Taizu's single-minded goal seems to be the only thing holding her together.

Although Saukendar never does convince Taizu that revenge is futile and eventually decides to go with her in order to protect her.And Taizu's plans are overtaken by Saukendar's legend.

I only give this book 4 stars because the last quarter is very murky.It should be 3, because things got *really* glossed over at the end, but other elements are so strong I just can't go that low.

From a mistress of Sci-Fi and fantasy - a historical romance

The author's prolific output includes a large number of hard science fiction tales, a few magic or fantasy novels, and a few with high-tech artifacts in low tech societies where technology comes over as magic.

To the best of my knowledge "The Paladin" is her only novel which has no science fiction or fantasy elements: it is also very possibly C. J. Cherryh's best book.

"The Paladin" is set in a pre-industrial society, the location of which is not precisely identified but where the names sound oriental and the description sounds reminiscent of medieval China or Japan.

On a remote mountain just outside the borders of a troubled empire, a former Master Swordsman hides away on a hill, calling himself Shoka and tending his garden. Once he was Master Saukendar who served the previous Emperor, but the present monarch and Regent betrayed him, and he had to flee; legend has it that he killed twenty of the Imperial Guard in self defence on his way to the border.

For many years Shoka has retreated from the world, but then a youth with a scarred face comes to see him, begging the master swordsman for teaching in how to use a sword, with the intention of employing that knowledge to seek vengeance.

Shoka is about to send the suppliant packing when something catches his eye ...

This book is dominated by strong, believable, and very memorable characters: the interaction between them is a major part of the story.

In spite of the fact that it's a different genre, if you enjoyed the "Morgaine" quartet, you will love "The Paladin." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

You Know a Book is Filler When...
This is going to be an odd review, because, well, I haven't read the book (!).Nevertheless, I have something relevant I'd like to share about it.

I read the first four books of the Foreigner series with pleasure, admiring the rich complexity of the world while sometimes grumbling about the glacial pace of events.When I went to buy the fifth book (Defender), though, I accidentally picked up the sixth book (Explorer) instead.Here's the kicker:I couldn't even tell!I read the entire sixth book without even realizing I'd skipped the fifth one.The story seemed to pick up where the fourth one ended, and I didn't notice any important gaps in plot or character.Granted, it had been a while since I'd read the fourth book, but still...

So, my conclusion about Defender is this:if you can skip the entire book without even noticing the difference in the story line, then there must not be much important that happens in it.I'm not going to go back and read it, because it is clearly not crucial to the story.Happily, that is not true about the next book, Explorer.

A pause-for-breath volume in the series (patience, people . . .)
This is the middle volume of the second trilogy -- roughly forty percent of the way through the projected twelve volumes, and events keep piling up on top of events. Bren Cameron, the human paidhi who now dreams in the atevi language, is called back down by the aiji from the space station, where the starship PHOENIX is being refitted and fueled, to attend a sort of memorial service for the ruler's late father -- late because Tabini almost certainly had him assassinated. Which isn't an untoward turn of events in atevi society. Bren wonders why he's there, though. And almost the moment he returns to the station, Senior Captain Ramirez, not in good health since the abortive rebellion of a few years before, has a final collapse and dies -- just after imparting a deep secret to Jason Graham, very junior captain (and also a junior-level paidhi by training in an earlier volume), to the effective that the second station out at Reunion wasn't completely destroyed by the unknown alien menace but was, in fact, still being held by survivors of the presumed attack. Now, suddenly, the PHOENIX is going to break station and go and rescue them. And Ilisidi, the aiji's extremely formidable grandmother will accompany them -- and so will the aiji's young son and heir. And so, he discovers, will Bren Cameron. Yes, it all sounds almost baroquely complex, and it kind of is, but it's also a deeply involving, extremely well thought out saga of interspecies relationships and misunderstandings and the continual efforts of a diplomat/translator to keep things running as smoothly as possible. This volume, being a sort of "bridge" volume in the plot, is a bit shorter than the others -- but it's really all one enormously long novel anyway. In fact, this may be Cherryh's magnum opus.

Review of Foreigner Series
I consider Cherryh to be the premier science fiction writer I have read and enjoyed, since starting as a sub-teenager, back in the 1950s.The entire Foreigner series, to date, as there appear to be some more on the way, is absolutely outstanding.When I read the last book in the sequence, I went an ordered the entier set to date.And have enjoyed each and every one as well as the first and latest!If you have not read them, start at the beginning and be prepared to buy, read and retain each and every one.I am posting this verbatum on the other two requested Foreigner series books I have been given the opportunity for which to review!

Addictive series
This writer gets you addicted.Had to buy the whole series.Impossible to read just one!

3-star book in a 5-star series
This is definitely a "bridge" book and doesn't have a lot of story on its own.Yes, it has the "crisis" that us Foreigner series readers have some to expect but it is much more muted in this book and not that satisfying.

With the lack of a strong story on its own, the central "difficulty in communicating with an alien race" theme begins to grate a little after 5 books.

It seems kind of extreme to say it of a 464 page book, but I think it could almost have been edited down to be the first chapter of the next book in the series.When I see this kind of thing, I always wonder if the publisher is applying pressure to squeeze out that last dollar.

Explorer, the next book in the series, is out now in hardback and my expectations are very high that Ms. Cherryh gets the series back to the level of quality we have come to expect. ... Read more

Product Description
Now, two of C.J. Cherryh's long-unavailable early classics are together in one omnibus edition. Brothers of Earth and Hunter of Worlds chronicle the survival of solitary humans among hostile, predatory aliens on the fringes of human-explored space-and represent Cherryh's early best. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

An essential addition for the serious collector of CJ Cherryh's work
this book is a collected edition of two fo Cherryh's earlier works.Some of the elements that appear in her later series are evident here, and although these are not her best they aer reasonably good stories and should be a part of the collection of any serious fan.

Humans Among Aliens
At the Edge of Space (2003) is an omnibus edition including Brothers of Earth and Hunter of Worlds.These two early SF novels are in the Hanun Rebellion subseries of the Alliance-Union universe and take place at the periphery of human space.

In Brothers of Earth (1976), Kurt Morgan was a crewman on the Endymion, an Alliance ship, which had followed a Hanen ship away from the destruction of Aeolus.Both ships are now dispersed atoms, with Kurt the only survivor.His life capsule brought him down on an alien planet.

The nemet find him sleeping on the seashore by a large bonfire.They think that he is signaling for help, but he is merely careless of any possible natives.Since he is on Tamurlin land, Kurt might have met death at the hand of fellow humans;three centuries ago, the planet was ruled by the Hanen, but then the nemet rose up and drove the invaders into the wilderness.

Now Kurt is bound for the nemet port of Nephane.On the way, he begins to know Kta, the ship captain;they discuss many things and learn to get along with each other.All is well until they enter the port and it finally becomes clear to both human and nemet that the ruler of Nephane is Kurt's enemy.

Kurt goes over the side and tries to drown himself, but Kta and his crew save the human and talk him into staying alive.He is taken to Djan-methi, the Hanen ruler of Nephane.She knows who he is from his ID disk and he quickly learns that she is alone in Nephane.Aeolus had finally sent another party to the planet and she is the only survivor;in fact, she herself had killed a few of the other Hanen.

Djan has a Sufaki lover and seems to favor the conquered natives;she takes Kurt as a temporary lover and then releases him to Kta and the House of Elas.Kurt becomes house-friend of Elas, meets Mim (a clani of the house), and later marries her.He tries to ignore various provocations by the Sufaki who follow T'Tefur, Djan's former lover, but later he is kidnapped and beaten and then Mim is taken and abused.When he goes to Djan after escaping, she refuses to believe his story.

In Hunter of Worlds (1977), the iduve raised the kallian and the amaut from primitive societies to the metrosi (spacefaring civilization).For the past five hundred years, however, the iduve have wandered far from Kej, their home star, only to return to local space within the past seven years.

While the iduve were away, the amaut drifted elsewhere and humans moved into metrosi space.When the amaut returned, they drove the humans off their former worlds and evacuated a mere portion to human space.Some few humans remained, but were reduced to almost mindless slaves under the amaut.

The Orithain craft Ashanome has come to Kartos Station looking for two persons, a human indentured slave on the amaut ship Konut and a kallian.Noi kame -- shipbred kallians -- take Daniel Fitzhugh off the Konut.Other noi kame search the station files and select Aiela Lyailleue, a young ship commander, as the kallian choice.Both have chiabres implanted within their brains to allow them to exchange thoughts.Aiela is awakened first to adjust to the thoughts of the shipbred Isande, a servant of the Orithain. After two days of practice, Isande is sedated and Daniel is awakened to begin exchanging thoughts with Aiela.Now all three are asuthe, interconnected through Aiela's brain.

Chimele, Orithain of the people of Ashanome, is searching for Tejef, the rejected son of her father and an outcast from her nasul.Under the ruling of the Orithanhe, the only authority higher than the Orithaini, Tejef was given a Kej year and three days to run.Then Ashanome was given twice that interval to find him and do whatever they wished with him.

Daniel was originally taken by the amaut from human space.The iduve had learned about such excursions and sought a knowledgeable informant.From Daniel's statements, they deduced the presence of Tejef and then extorted from the Orithain of the Chaganokh, a minor iduve nasul, the name of the planet where Tejef left their ship.

Standing off Priamos, Ashanome sends Daniel down to infiltrate the human mercenaries working for Tejef.Landing some of their own troops on the planet, they apply pressure on Tejef's operation.Then Daniel comes across a ten year old human refugee and abandons his assumed role to rescue her.

These novels are very characteristic of many later works by this author.The storylines are much like the Chanur stories:a lone human is stranded among aliens with strange customs and has to learn new ways.The ultimate story with this theme is probably Cuckoo's Egg, where the human is brought into the alien environment as an infant.

Highly recommended for Cherryh fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of personal experiences within exotic cultures.

-Arthur W. Jordin

C.J. Cherryh's First two Novels.
C.J. Cherryh's first two written novels are bound together in one omnibus edition here.
For a long time these two stories were among my least favorite stories from my favorite writer. Recently I read them together in this edition, and thoroughly enjoyed them.
The Brothers of Earth story, is a pretty straightforward moral lesson on the futility of war.
The Hunter of Worlds Story is one I just hadn't gotten until this last read. If you love Ms. Cherryh's culture building stories, here is the key to this story. We are told that the Iduve are above us on the evolutionary ladder like we are above amoebas. But what did they evolve from??? When you read this story, Imagine what a super evolved shark culture would be like.
Great, Great writing.

Two Very Early Cherryh Stories in One
The two stories in this volume are totally independent of each other.In the forward, Cherryh tries to paper over this by saying in the vast reaches of human space, totally different things can be happening at the same time.In reality, these stories just have nothing to do with each other.Outside of being some of Cherryh's very earliest work, they have no business being in the same book.HOWEVER, from the point-of-view of price and of getting these books back in print, I think the publisher had a good idea in doing this.Each of the stories is interesting and about equally well done.If you haven't read these books, then this volume is a good way to get them both.Here are my individual ratings:

"Brothers of Earth" is Cherryh's first novel. It's an interesting book, but bears no resemblence to her later books. It's a fairly well written book that explores some interesting concepts. Unfortunately, the book doesn't really go anywhere. Specifically, the main character isn't pushing towards some kind of solution. He's essentially along for the ride. The end result is that things just happen and then the book ends. It's not a very satisfactory ending at all. If you're a die-hard Cherryh fan, I'd say you should read this book just because it's her first. It's not bad, but it's also not that good.

You can tell "Hunter of Worlds" is a very early C.J. Cherryh novel. The text is nowhere near as riveting as her later works. You can see where her later style comes from in this work, but it's really not fully present here. In general, it's an ok story. But, you never really buy into it fully. It's like you pick up in the middle of something and then put it away after something happens. You get an inkling of what the various races are like, how they behave, and what they're capable of, but it never really meshes into a consistent whole. You know that the races are different, but you really don't feel it in your bones about WHY they're different. I'm glad I read the book, but it's merely a shadow of Cherryh's later works.

One for two deal
C. J. Cherryh's early science fiction novels are being reissued by DAW in omnibus editions. Some of the them--The Morgaine Saga and The Faded Sun--are extraordinary bargains, because the books included are classics. At the Edge of Space is also a good deal, because Hunter of Worlds, arguably Cherryh's best novel, is worth the price of the volume. Unfortunately it is bound with what may be her first novel, the amateurish Brothers of Earth.

Hunter of Worlds gives you the trademark elements of Cherryh's best work: two cultures with a balanced if unequal relationship are intruded upon by a hairy, vulgar thing called a "human." (He's not even empathic!) We see the action from the non-human perspective. The operatic grandness of the iduve--clannish space predators like wolf packs--contrasts with the delicate slave race (their name escapes me) mediating between human and iduve. Cultural clashes drive the action, and planets are the pawns of political intrigue.

Here is the best possible introduction to Cherryh. If you enjoy the politics of Hunter of Worlds, you will love the Richardsonian volumes of the Foreigner series. If you enjoy the richly imagined cultures and languages, and the conflicts that follow from them, you will enjoy the Chanur series and the Faded Sun books, in which multiple races collide over their culturally determined values. If, like me, you fall in love immediately with the extraordinary Chimele, then read the Morgaine Saga. ... Read more

Product Description
The Award-Winning Trilogy...now in one complete volume!

Sword-and-sorcery meets hard sci-fi in C.J. Cherryh's epic story of a woman's mission across time and space to preserve the integrity of the universe.

"Cherryh is the best writer of this sort of adventure tale since C.L. Moore and Leigh Bracket....Any reader who is willing to become lost in an alternate reality will find much to enjoy."--The Washington Post

"Never since the Lord of the Rings have I been so caught up in any tale...enchanting."--Andrew Norton

Includes the novels Gates of Ivrel (Cherryh's first published book and winner of the John W. Campbell Award), Well of Shiuan, and Fires of Azeroth ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Dislikable characters, too many commas and colons!
I am really surprised at all the positive reviews. How misleading. I wanted to like this book. I'd never read CJ Cherryh before, but had heard nothing but positive about her. This book was really hard to like. I liked the character of Vanye, except that he would do anything, drop anyone to serve his horrible mistress, Morgaine. He took his oath of service to her way too literally. Morgaine has no redeeming qualities. Period. And she knows it and doesn't care. Her motivations, thoughts, and emotions are never revealed, but she's so dislikable that you don't care what her story is.
In addition to the awful characters, the writing style is really hard to follow. The syntax is hard to decipher and I had to read several sentences over and over, just to decide who exactly had performed what action. And oh the commas and colons: all over the freakin place! If the syntax had been decent English, she wouldn't have needed the commas and colons! I hope this review forewarns future readers.

This Heroine has been driven mad by her quest
If you have not read this trilogy, get hold of a copy. Cherryh is never an easy read, but she's always worth the effort.

The story is Tolkenian in Grandeur, although the reader realizes early on that the heroine has been driven mad by her quest. We join her towards the end of her seemingly endless saga, when she is not only no longer in her original body, but realizes that success for her objective will leave her and any traveling with her jettisoned into the void. She is the last survivor of a large group of volunteers who dedicated their lives to undertake a massive and ultimately fatal task - the group was charged with shutting down a series of interlinked world gates created by an advanced race with Nazi cum feudal overlord traits who invaded world after world and destroyed cultures and civilizations wholesale.

Morgaine has not only become a legend and apocryphal bogeyman to entire cultures, she has become her quest, and to her the end now justifies the means.Morgaine begins to recover herself somewhat by her direct dealings with a tribal warrior who becomes bonded to her and her quest, because he is from a culture rich in personal bonds and strongly held ethics. It does not help that she grows to respect him greatly (this is NOT a romance) and within herself mourns that his bond to her will result in his extinguishment once she gains completion of her quest.

This authors universe could be read either as Science Fiction or as High Fantasy, and is the reason I convinced myself that I loved Speculative Fiction, not necessarily SF or Fantasy.

Study of Heroism
The Morgaine Saga is a study of heroism -- both characters are heroes, with each highlighting different aspects of what heroism means -- and demands of those who take on the role. In a time when heroes and heroism have been deconstructed and therefore devalued, it's good to read stories like this. Don't hesitate -- dive right in!

Soild Fantasty Disappointed in Female Lead
The reason I wanted this series at all was because I'd been told I'd love because it has a strong female character and her male servant.

Vanye is the male warrior whose outcast status among his own people and his innate and trained sense of honor bind him to serve this alien looking woman called Morgaine.All three books are about Vayne, almost everything is told from his viewpoint with a few expectations into the minds of secondary characters.

Morgaine is never a real character in this book, we never see inside her mind or heart other than what Vayne supposes or attempts to gather.This leaves her more an object and part of the scenery than a powerful female character.Thus I was deeply disappointed given what I was told repeatedly about the series.

That said, the book itself is solid fantasy material with a strong sense of moral development in the main male character that you rarely saw in the 1970s when these first came out.For that alone I give them three out of five stars.Had I been told this was the story of one man's struggle I would have given it four out of five stars because I did find his journey a bit repetitive at times and some information about him and Morgaine rather slow in coming if at all.

Morgaine & Vanye, two great SF/fantasy characters
The Morgaine series (of which this is books 1-3; "Exile's Gate" is the 4th and last so far) is scarcely without its flaws.Cherryh's prose alternates between elegant and clunky.The plots have their repetitive side--ever read the Morgaine book where Vanye and Morgaine get separated?

Yet the imaginative nature of the setting and the protagonists' intriguing personalities more than make up for those flaws.The idea of time/space Gates is one that's been explored by many writers.Cherryh not only comes up with the idea of a team's being sent through Gate after Gate to shut them all down ... but she doesn't even write *that* story, skipping instead to the team's last survivor, and how the man she takes into her service becomes her ally and friend.

I re-read these books every couple of years to revisit Morgaine and Vanye, and to enjoy the time spent with them.In a genre where setting so often eclipses plot and plot so often eclipses everything else, these novels put the characters first, and do so with great success ... Read more

Product Description

From C.J. Cherryh, one of science fiction′s greatest writers and a 3-time Hugo Award "Best Novel" winner, comes the exciting and long-awaited follow-up to Hammerfall, the second novel of the Gene Wars, now in mass market.

Customer Reviews (15)

Improvement
Sequel to Hammerfall, and much more satisfying on about every level. Foremost is the better situating of the setting, with thirty pages of enclopediac detail explainingn the worldbuilding of the series, and putting the happengs of the first novel in a much more reasonable and better understood light. It's a book that manages to redeem the earlier flawed work extensively, both through providing more context as well as moving the story on to a more interesting place,. Besides the invented future that we're shown here being interesting in its own right--although it is--it fuels a good layout for the intrigue of the novel. In the bureaucratic-heavy setting there's a complex interplay of station governor against Outsider world interest against central Earth control against unknown alien presence against immortal survivors from the first book. It's a dance of factions in a highly complex and enjoyable manner, particularly in the extent to which different groups have overlaping interests and different timescales. The scenario benefits from taking the issue of "The Gene Wars" in a more extensive treatment than it usually gets in science fiction. Rather than show the initial struggle between self-modifying and the group opposed to genetic change the story explores some of the long term consequences of after the latter faction has won, and the way they have to continually work to keep political stability and social coherence going. There's a sophisticated examination of the interplay of police, radicals and strategic competition, as well as the momentum carried by bureaucracies harmful and beneficial. As well, Cherryh continues to be one of the few speculative fiction authors that delivers a believable and thought out pattern of economics.

Some flaws occur. The beginning third of the novel lacks real urgency--a common issue with Cherryh's novels--and there are a couple character arcs that feel excessive to the existing story. The bratty Freethinking-affiliated daughter for instance--her escapades later force a rather powerful character moment for her father, but as an actual story it runs on too much and doesn't benefit from receiving a point of view. It's also disapointing that the aliens remain basically ciphers here. The history of their interactions gives a fair bit more credibility, but the actual nature of the species, their goals, intentions, interest, politics remain a blank slate. It's disapointing to not have them fleshed out to any great extent, to the degree that characters in-universe wonder without being able to answer what they're after. Disapointing both because I know Cherryh could deliver a fascinating picture here, and because the current form leaves the underlying situation of human intrigue fueled by fairly arbitrary alien behavior.

Overall a well plotted and at times quite intense science fiction piece. The ending third, in particular, frames some of the most effective writing I've seen from Cherryh. It also makes good use of engaging the narrative with a complex future that's very different from both the Foreigner setting and Alliance-Union.

Better than: The Warriors' Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold
Worse than: Destroyer of World by C. J. Cherryh

Poor followup to Hammerfall
Covers too many people and almost all on the station overhead. The planet's given short shrift and one main character supposedly an immortal has totally disappeared. Meanwhile, she's back to writing too much, spending too much time with trivial or overworked through processes of the characters.

The concepts aren't bad, but they only take up a much shorter amount of text than has been used. If less space had been taken up on Concord and the trivial details and more on the politics and environmental changes on the planet I think it would have been much more balanced and interesting.

An Overambitious Yet Worthwhile Story
Forge of Heaven is in some ways vintage Cherryh. You can expect psychological complexity in a world of which you feel you're just beginning to scratch the surface. This is Cherryh's great virtue as a writer; she develops her personalities and her worlds with an equally deft brush. Although the interests of the main characters often diverge or even compel the various protagonists to use deception against one another, we see the complicated reasons why trust is limited, even between well meaning characters. The book is set in the world where Marak Trin Tain's world is continuing to undergo great changes as the result of a conflict between a human faction called the Movement and an alien race called the Ondat. Most of the action occurs on Concord Station, a place with great diplomatic significance. On this station the diverse interests of human factions and the alien ondat meet. Their interaction may ultimately decide the fate of Marak's world and everyone who dwells on it, not to mention the continuing peace in the universe.

For those of you who haven't read much Cherryh before reading this book, a few things to remember: Cherryh's writing is fast-paced from a psychological perspective, with running thought processes fleshed out in a way that can come across as confusing to the reader. Still, the stream of thought consciousness comes across as authentic, as if you're really in the heads of the various characters, thereby making them that much more 3-dimensional.

Another thing that readers may have trouble with is that Cherryh chooses to show the story from quite a few different perspectives, (and more than Cherryh herself is accustomed to). Whereas in the Foreigner series we see almost everything from the Paidhi Bren Cameron's point of view, in this story we have the point of view of Marak, a teenage girl (Cathy), a Governor (Setha), the Project Leader (Brazis), and the Project Tap (Procyon). In other words the story forces us to follow 5 different first person narratives, which sometimes strains the flow of the plot and the reader's ability to understand everything that's happening.

Nonetheless this book is overall a rewarding read with good pacing, and a suitable climax towards the end. My only overall complaint is that Cherryh tries to bite off a little more than she can chew in this book. Some of the antagonists' motives and tactics throughout the book are left unexplained and underdeveloped to a great extent. Between the Earth/Inner Worlds faction, the Apex faction, the Ila, the ondat, and all of the other groups running around, she might have been better off giving us a more detailed view from one or two main characters/factions. By the end of this book I felt like I was only grasping the tip of the iceberg on what clearly is just a glimpse into a many-layered world.

Forge of Heaven
In "Forge of Heaven", Cherryh does her usual, excellent job of bringing an entire new universe to life --- always, always an author whose books simply cannot be put down until finished.

RocknRollDavesays:
I love this book! I hope there's another sequel in the works. After "Hammerfall"( another AWESOME book), this book can stand on is own merits- I only hope that there's another sequel due out soon! ... Read more

Product Description
"Finity's End" is the oldest Merchanter ship in the universe. In an era of spies, pirate traders, and uneasy alliances, the Company Wears are now over, the hunt for the fleet is winding down, and the ship is coming home to reclaim her trade routes. Having lost an entire generation, the youngest crew members, bred and trained for war, must face their most critical battle of all--survival in a time of lasting peace.Amazon.com Review
Finity's End falls after Merchanter's Luckbut before Tripoint in thelineup of C.J. Cherryh's Merchanter novels (part of the author'saward-winning Alliance/Union universe).It resumes the story ofFletcher Neihart, an orphan and unwanted foster child who, against hiswill, joins the crew of the legendary merchanter ship Finity'sEnd. As Neihart struggles to find his place both on the ship andin the world, the ship undertakes a mission critical to the continuingpeace between the Earth, Alliance, and Union factions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Hated to finish it because I didn't want the story to end
...when JR used that voice, bodies obeyed while minds were thinking it over.

Almost two decades ago, war loomed and the vast merchant ship Finity's End answered its call. That meant leaving one member of its family/crew, Francesca Niehart, on Pell Station because the ship could not wait for her to receive medical treatment there. They'd be back in a year, her family promised Francesca. She had her son on Pell, and five years later - with the war still going on, and the ship still unable to return - Francesca committed suicide.

So Fletcher Niehart has grown up in a succession of foster homes, in a society where he simply doesn't fit, with his mother the only relative he can remember. He has no idea that his family aboard Finity's End has tried to retrieve him every time they've visited Pell Station, and that the social service authorities have refused to release him to them because the war is still going on. How can Pell possibly allow a small boy to leave the station's safety for life aboard a ship headed back into combat, the social workers and judges reason?

Fletcher makes his own life as he nears adulthood, by qualifying to work on the world Pell orbits - "Downbelow" - with that planet's gentle, intelligent natives. He's formed a bond with two of those "downers" that is the closest thing to family he has known since his mother's death, and the last thing he wants is to leave Patch and Melody when Finity's End finally prevails with the Pell Station authorities. Just a year before Fletcher will be old enough to decide his own destiny, he finds himself aboard his mother's ship; and it's not at all where he wants to be.

Life aboard Finity's End has its own customs, which Fletcher neither understands nor wants to understand. The ship's people form a closed society, one that has lived aboard for generations. With peace restored (supposedly, at least), Finity is back to trading for a living instead of fighting. The ship's nursery is empty after so many years during which its women dared not bear children, and the junior crew - its future - are sadly few in number. That makes Francesca's lost son precious to the relatives who have finally brought him home, but his presence is not all that welcome as far as some of his fellow "juniors" are concerned.

Every now and then I come across a book that I hate to finish reading, because I want to stay longer in the universe its author has created. Finity's End is one of those books. This is the first C.J. Cherryh I've read, and I put off sampling her work for so long because I honestly feared being disappointed after all the praise I'd heard. I hope that the rest of her books are at least half as good as Finity's End, because I most certainly will be seeking them out!

Another Great CJ Cherryh book
Once again Cherryh spirits you away to a universe of space stations and simple but wise aliens, with the usual smart young character who is in deep trouble.An excellent book.Enjoy.

Whine Fletcher!*throws some cheese*
I don't mind a little angst in my books, but this kid was as bad as Harry Potter in OotP.I love this universe but honestly have yet to like any of the actual stories set in it.Much of that has to go to the fact that the characters are all oversensitive and crying about something and this book takes that to a new extreme.Granted, the main character does grow up a little, but honestly!How many poor little orphan boys have dreamed of their extended families being awesome and swooping in on their super-cool spaceship to rescue him from the Pit of Pell?

A completely irritating read.

Another major sci-fi novel!
Another Alliance-Union novel, the highest quality writing, interesting characters and intricate plot. I got used to these, coming from Cherryh. I hate the brand "coming of age novel", and I won't use it, even if part of the story relates Fletcher Neihart's adolescent ways of dealing with loss, responsability, love and rejection. This story is far more than this.

After the gripping tale of the birth of the Alliance, in "Downbelow Station", and a few incursions in the battles between Fleet and Mallory, etc, it was time to tell of the peace in the merchanter universe Cherryh imagined. This is the tale of how that peace was achieved. Captain James Robert Neihart, architect of the Alliance and war hero, proves to be a peace-time hero, too. The new pacts that he convinces his fellow merchants to sign will drive Mazian's Fleet in the background (if space has a background) and will provide the stability profitable trade needs.
The hisa have a (small) role in that pact, as examples of peaceful creatures that could teach lessons to a handful of exceptional humans - those that are open and willing enough to learn the ways of peace.

Fletcher has an adaptable personality (you wouldn't say that, from the first traits he shows :)) and I for one would be really interested to glimpse him in other merchanter novels :)

A beautiful novel, style and imagination in one, a work of art! This one is for keeps!

Spellbinding!
I have never read any of Cherrhy's Merchanter Series. However thanks to Cherryh's detailed and absorbing story telling, this handicap does not deter me from enjoying Finity's End. There is no over the tops space battle or fight to the end scenes in Finity's End. Finity End is about a young man's struggle to find himself, male bonding and meanings of the words "family" and "peace". All this is told against an intelligently conceived universe where men seems to have conquer all the stars and, sadly, sharing this large universe with only one other type of living being besides himself. Finity's End is one of Cherryh's best even though the ending needs finer editing. Thank you Cherryh for such a beautifully written and compelling story. ... Read more

Product Description
The direct sequel to the Hugo Award- winning novel Cyteen, Regenesis continues the story of Ariane Emory PR, the genetic clone of one of the greatest scientists humanity has ever produced, and of her search for the murderer of her progenitor—the original Ariane Emory. Murder, politics, deception, and genetic and psychological manipulation combine against a backdrop of interstellar human societies at odds to create a mesmerizing and major work in Regenesis. Who did kill the original Ariane Emory? And can her personal replicate avoid the same fate? Those questions have remained unanswered for two decades—since the publication of Cyteen. Now in Regenesis those questions will finally be answered. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (33)

Rescued from out of the blue
I was disappointed with this long awaited sequel to the Cyteen saga. Mainly, the characters evolve only slightly, and at a glacial pace. The conclusion was also a let down. When the characters are literally saved by an unknown, and unintroduced man flying in out of the clear blue sky, you know the author was struggling with the material. This is uncharacteristic for Cherryh, who has almost always developed strong plots, with intricate and detailed situations and solutions.

This is not her best work.

NOT a stand-alone!
I read Downbelow Station and Cyteen years ago, so many years ago that all I can remember was that I rather enjoyed them. I picked up Regenesis knowing that it was called a sequel but expecting to enjoy it anyway.

I WANTED to like this book.The basic premise attracted me: In an environment of interstellar political intrigue, a Personal Replicate is aware that her original was murdered and is afraid for her own life because the murderer has never been identified.

After 60 pages of cryptic allusions that are probably intended to fill in the backstory but only succeeded on confusing and frustrating me, I gave up.

The rest of the book may have been very good, but Cherryh did such a poor job of telling me what I needed to know to understand it that I will probably never find out. If you want to make the attempt,I strongly recommend that you read or reread the two predecessors before you take on the challenge of Regenesis.

Not close to Cyteen, but not bad
Cyteen ranks, in my opinion, as one of the ten best examples of science fiction as a literary art form. This is, quite simply, not as good. 400+ pages to get to any action (though the last 250 or so make up for the tedium), far too much explication of background elements, more worrisome conversations amongst characters than I probably need to know about. However, I still have this book ringing in my head. I've always felt that Cherryh has aspirations far beyond simply writing "cool" science fiction, that she's always tried to investigate the universal aspects of humanity, and that the background, the science fiction, is merely a backdrop for this; in that respect, I want to make favorable comparisons to Hugo Works of Victor Hugo. Les Miserables, Notre-Dame de Paris, Man Who Laughs, Toilers of the Sea, Poems & more (mobi), Tolstoy War and Peace (Vintage Classics), and, especially Balzac Pere Goriot (Norton Critical Editions). With maybe a little Turgenev Fathers and Sons (Penguin Classics) thrown in there. Perhaps that's reaching a bit, but Cherryh seems to me to be a 19th century writer stuck at the end of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century. So, do this novel live up to that? Not really. It's still very good, a solid read, and perhaps the tedium is there, is justified, for the same reasons that you have to slog through 500 pages of Tolstoy, but it doesn't have the same impact as Cyteen and, therefore, doesn't feel as important. Worth reading? Definitely. One of Cherryh's best? Not at all.

Smooth and Gripping
I actually liked this better than Cyteen. Read them back-to-back, and the prose seemed a little smoother in this one. And it was easier to read about Ari2's actions now that she's older, not as creepy as when she was a little kid. I want more Union-side stories.

two decades too long
If I were to list my ten favorite books, Cyteen would be among them.Unfortunately, its sequel won't be in my top 100.That because too much time has to be spent on back story. Pages and pages of back story.Which is understandable but a shame for those of us who're familiar with Cyteen.

I confess I haven't finished it although I pre-ordered it.After receiving it, I held it back to use as a treat on a special day, like a snow day.Am I sorry!

Reviews here lead me to believe it is to be part of a trilogy.Oh, please, tell me this isn't true. ... Read more

Product Description
Morgaine must meet her greatest challenge--Gault, who is both human and alien, and also seeks control of the world and its Gate. She will meet the true Gatemaster--a mysterious lord with power as great, or greater, than her own. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

"Exile's Gate" a great follow to a great trilogy
I'm honestly not sure how much time passed between the writing of "Fires of Azimoth" and "Exile's Gate", but while it was enough for a few things to change, nothing was lost.The story returns with all the scope of the first three kicked up a notch.We get a bit of added perspective on top of the already brilliant characterization, we get to see where things suggested in the earlier books progress, and we finish with an ending slightly frustrating but totally appropriate to the series.Full marks! A great book!

Ms Cherryh -- Please Write Another!
This is one of the books I keep going back to -- and it never disappoints. I think the reason is that love and honor are concepts that can inform our daily lives as well as those of fictional characters. Also -- it's just a great story! Ms Cherryh -- PLEASE WRITE ANOTHER! -- maybe Vanye and Morgaine arrive on Earth..........

The Best Since GATE OF IVREL.
In this fourth of the Morgaine Saga,Morgaine is starting to come down from her high horse and treat Vanye like an equal.Well, kinda.Sorta.Sometimes.When she feels like it.Other times, not so much.Either way, she is freaking him out.

She and Vanye have rescued a young man from certain death. (Guess whose idea this was.)This man has the same beliefs and superstitions Vanye used to have, which makes Vanye homesick.He also regards Vanye as a witch, the way Vanye used to regard Morgaine.The catch is, Vanye isn't 100% sure the kid is wrong.So this too is freaking him out.(And it's only Chapter Two.)

Cherryh really puts Vanye through the wringer in this one.When I first read this book on my lunch break, many years ago, I actually nearly fainted at my desk at one point.I had to stop reading and breathe for a bit.And really, I'm not the fainting type.

If you have read the earlier books, nothing will hold you back from this last one. If you haven't, then go read GATE OF IVREL, the first and the best of the series.This is only the second best, as a story, because it cannot stand alone the way the first one can.Also, the parts that aren't told from Vanye's POV are FAR less compelling than those that are.

But Vanye himself is as human and compelling as ever, and the way he deals with the continual culture shocks, identity crises, threats of eternal damnation, and hideously no-win moral dilemmas continues to enthrall as the character matures, hardens, and despairs, yet against all odds is still found to be clinging by his fingertips to his faith and decency.Morgaine, likewise, is not chopped liver.Boy, does she know how to turn the tables.

I give this four-and-a-half stars on it's own merits, and five as a sequel.If you liked the earlier ones, it won't disappoint.

A Great Book
I have to say this is one of the best books I have ever read. I read this book before I had ever even heard of the other three books. I was so impressed by how well written it was that I went out and bought the other three the day after I finished it. C.J. Cherryh did a superb job on this book. Very few other stories have drawn me in so completly. Just a great book all around.

Exil's Gate
The novel Exil's Gate by C.J. Cherryh is about an epic journey of Morgine, who is on her way to close the gate of Morond. Many fierce battles take place while she finds and fights her way there. But on her way she meets other characters like Ichandren, Chie ep Kantary, and vayne. Their characters help Morgine to suceed in closing the gate. I rated this novel 5 stars due to its action adventure theme and that its a book that you cant put down. But I would really reccomend this to anyone who wants an adventure. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Great Premise; LOUSY book
I TRIED and eventually did get through this awful book. The characters took forever to develop; the writing was overly formulaic; leaden and completely derivative. The writing could barely keep my attention as I plodded through the text. It qualifies as one of the worst, if not THE worst, book I ever read. The one star is only because the premise was excellent and could have gone so many places, but just failed to get off the ground. Someone told me that female fantasy authors use their initials to disguise their gender, since many people sterotype female authors at being no good at fantasy. Well, I had no idea what the author's sex was until two minutes before writing this review, and the book still sucked - no excuses. Save your money.

Damnation's Never Been So Appealing....
This book was my introduction to the shared Hell books. I found it very, very intriguing. I'll confess myself a huge CJ Cherryh fan, so I bought the book on the virtue of her name and, believe me, it was worth it! Just another day in Hell, huh?
What book could be more fascinating than one about a Hell in which Julius Caesar, Kleopatra, Mark Antony, Machiavelli, Napoleon, Ramses and Hatshepsut can interact freely in the midst of high-tech warfare and seething political intrigues? And then Brutus shows up...somehow lacking a few vital memories of his life, mainly a bloody March 15th...
Politics and war, history and sci-fi, this book has all of it. I enjoyed it thoroughly. And CJ Cherryh is the only author I can think that makes this stuff believable.I think Hatshepsut is my favorite character. Now there's one lady only CJ Cherryh and her excellent writing can do justice to. I intend to acquire the rest of the series and if you're into sci-fi and up on your history(and your Latin!), then I suggest you give it a try. You won't regret it!

Brutus in the Eye of Hell's Storm
Excellent Sc-Fi/Fantasy reading in a setting that allows for unexpected characters and story twists.I really felt that the series was rolling along with great momentum with this volume of the Heroes in Hell Series(aka "the Damned Saga").Julius Caesar's Legion's and household(Kleopatra, Dante, Machiavelli to name a few) try to survive while Brutusis trying to work out his place in Caesar's household (and heart).Itseems every power structure in Hell (Roman, Egyptian, Infernal...) istrying to use Brutus against Caesar.Withplenty of intrigue, and combat,the book is a very fun read. ... Read more