First read this book when it was new, then reread it just now. The other LT reviews cover both the story and the story's weaknesses well enough....

I've returned to Cherryh after a massive dose of David Weber, Elizabeth Moon, and David Drake--all of whom I like immensely. But none approach C.J. Cherryh as a storyteller. This is rich stuff, with impressively well-drawn characters and a convincingly threatening environment.

Miss Cherryh's a master. ( )

This is one of the earliest novels in the chronology of the Alliance-Union novels. I'd read this before Hellburner but I don't think it matters a great deal with respect to the other novels. ( )

When a couple of hundred pages into this book I satisfied my urge to check exactly in which sequence the Company War books are written, and as I guessed this (and the sequel Hellburner) is written just before Tripoint and Finity's End. It makes sense, because the feeling is very much the same, even if the setting - miners in the asteroid belt, OUR asteroid belt - differs.

We follow five main protagonists, with interludes from two more viewpoints. As usual the characterisation is good, and the reader is presented step by step to a political and economic game affecting each of them, in some cases with and in other cases without their immediate understanding.

The mining station has a real gritty feel, a feeling of on the edge, on the border, close to danger, and most of the people we meet feel this, as a personal danger, as a situation they have to handle to survive.

Each of the five POV's have different backgrounds, different motives, and it's the dynamic between them that drives the story.

Not one of Cherryh's absolute best, but better than a boatload of other stuff out there for sale. I wanted to give it an 3.7, but that's impossible. And then I saw another book in my library that, rightfully, had gotten a 3.5, and this one IS better than that. So. 4 stars it is, because even if it took some time getting into my bloodstream when it picked up velocity it wouldn't leave; had to start Hellburner right away :-) ( )

Heavy Time is the second book I have read by CJ Cherryh (the other being the Hugo winning Downbelow Station). This is a nice little character driven space opera, set on an asteroid mining operation. The bad guys are the Corporation that runs the operation and the good guys are a group of five people thrown together by circumstances and common interests in a series of events that lead up to a political crisis.

The strength of the book is the characterization of the five protagonists. Cherryh does a nice job of giving us five very different people, with different values, backgrounds, and aspirations, and letting each of them grow as events unfold. I also appreciated the dark, gritty, dangerous representation of working in space. The world building is convincing (or "space" building, as the case may be.) This is a credible future driven by economics, population growth, and technology. Different groups use different slang (which was at times slightly confusing, but wasn't overdone). The ending came together a bit too easily for me, but all in all this was a nice read and I certainly will plan to read more books by this author. ( )

http://www.amazon.com/review/R36URYYZ... ( )