'Downbelow Station' is the first of many Cherryh novels taking place in the Earth Company/Union/Merchanter's Alliance universe, and a must read for anyone interested in the series. It gives the background to the 'company wars', and the birth of The Merchanter's Alliance and an independent Pell station. Some good characterizations, such as Signy Mallory of the Norway. The depiction of the friendly 'n fluffy alien hisa of Pell is somewhat silly however. The book is moderately paced till the last chapter or so, where it suddenly speeds up. This is where the writing changes from being mediocre to outstanding. ( )

This was one of the first serious science fiction novels I read. I loved it. It's not for rollicking adventure "only" sci/fi fans, it's a very thought provoking read. If paced storyline development isn't your thing, you won't like it, you'll get bored and unhappy. There is some action, it's just not an "action" science fiction. It is also the 1st of the 3 foundational novels (with Cyteen and Regenesis, in that order) of CJ Cherryh's Alliance/Union universe - which is the setting of many of her largely standalone sci/fi novels. Cherryh's Chanur books have a little more excitement if that's your need, while still being intellectually thought provoking.

Cherryh's big contributions to the genre are 1) showing realistically how mankind's cultural development probably will take place after we move off this planet and 2) the most interesting ever perspectives of any writer - of how alien cultures might see us.

The author has an asteroid, 77185 Cherryh, named after her. Referring to this honor, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory writes of Cherryh: "She has challenged us to be worthy of the stars by imagining how mankind might grow to live among them. ( )

Prix Hugo en 1982 et nommé au Locus (déjà ça classe...)
J'y retrouve ce que j'aime chez Cherryh, cette capacité à me faire entrer en quelques pages dans un univers imaginaire, dans la tête de ses personnages. J'aime le rythme qu'elle donne, le travail de la langue (bien d'autres livre de l'auteur ont un travail encore bien plus poussé).
Celui-ci est l'un de mes favoris, histoire, univers, personnages, style...

To give you a head start, this novel won the Hugo price in 1982 and was named for the Locus.... Not bad hu?
This C.J.Cherryh book is one of my favorite, so easy to immerse in her universe in a few pages, to be in the head of her characters. I love the rhythm she fives, the work on the language -this one is light on the language.
Definitely one of my favorite as it has a perfect mix of story, universe, characters and style. ( )

Scifi classic about a human space station and furry aliens caught between two equally unappealing sides in an interstellar war. ( )

The Alliance-Union novels can be read in any order, since very few of them are actually tied together. If you want to read the stories in the order in which they occur, I believe this is the first after the much earlier Heavy Time and Hellburner.

This book deserves its Hugo and, in my opinion, should have picked up the Nebula over Bishop's No Enemy But Time. It's a great place to start your introduction to a great universe. ( )