Jane S. Fancher

Beguiled once again by Cherryh!

Starting off I found this a dense read. Having been a Cherryh reader for years I was scrambling to recall the earlier novels I'd read eons ago and to have those line up with the present happenings. Not that it's necessary to read these before Alliance Rising but as I am an avid fan I was busy sorting through what I already knew to meld this current offering of the Alliance-Union saga with what has gone before. (As it happens I was sorting my hard copy Sci-fi show more collection and one of the first books I picked up was a 1988 copy of Cyteen. I feel a re-read coming on!)
What a solid return Alliance Rising is to a cosmos I have freely rummaged through over the years, compliments of the masterful Cherryh!
Alpha Station, part of the Hinder Stars, unusually receives recent visitations from a number of ships. It turns out to be a consortium led by James Robert Neihart, captain of a massive space ship, Finity's End. This puts some stress on the station, particularly when security has been virtually seconded by Earth Company as part of their project to build a huge ship, The Rights of Man, at a cost that has become a financial albatross hanging around the neck of the station master and of the ships that serve Alpha and the Hinder Stations. There is a struggle going on at the command level of the station and the visit by Finity's End ups the ante. Drawn into the struggle is the Captain and crew of the Galway, and in particular crew members Ross and Fallon.
Cherryh's writing style has that distinctive gravelly, almost staccato note that conjures up the differences of those wed to star travel, and of the family ships like Galway running on luck, hope and the often uncanny ability to parse the cards one's dealt.
Pride and loyalty to one's ship is foremost but a time has come when the Merchanter families need to band together. And it starts here!
As always with Cherryh, a masterpiece is unfolding, and I'm thrilled to have a front row seat. I have stars in my eyes!

A NetGalley ARC show less

No doubt this is C.J. Cherryh in the Alliance-Union universe, but without the most common view point of the displaced, disadvantaged core character. What is displaced is the past reality giving way to an unknown new one. The pushers in a ten year cycle between Sol and Alpha and the FTL ships of the trading families between Alpha, Bryant, Glory and Venture in what the rest of Beyond calls the Hinder stars are overshadowed by the Earth Company's huge Rights of Man building at Alpha and show more monopolizing all the resources from Sol. Into this mix come 4 FTL ships from Beyond, including the legendary leviathan of a Merchanter, Finity's End, the plans of which were stolen to build Rights. Nobody does exposition as adroitly as Cherryh, but after 100 pages of it, the engagement with the main characters is quite welcome, even if the usual anxious self-searching is almost absent. Those of us familiar with the A-U books know how tenuous the hopes of the main characters are, but we are also used to ambiguous endings. show less

I really enjoyed this look at the early history of the Alliance-Union universe.

Alliance Rising takes place before Downbelow Station and Heavy Time, and may be the earliest novel in the timeline. The novel provides backstory about the Alpha Station, perfect for those who read the early novels decades ago.

Alliance Rising focuses on the economic and political life of the Alpha Station before Sol (Earth) had direct FTL access to it. At the time, most seem to think that Sol will soon find the show more FTL jump points to break out to the wider universe. Sol’s building of a large ship at Alpha Station seems to reinforce this, and makes others throughout the merchanters and stations curious about the ship.

Alliance Rising contains a lot of information about how the Alliance-Union universe functions at the time of the novel, and the characters’ internal reflections and musings serve to flesh out the story. Indeed, the characters extended musings remind me of the interludes Cherryh wrote for the Merovingen Nights anthologies.

Alliance Rising is a buildup to the next novels in the Hinder Stars series. The action mostly comes mid-way through up to the end of the novel, not atypical of Cherryh's more anthropological novels. The style of the novel seems mostly of Cherryh, and I can’t really say I see much stylistic input from Fancher.

I am looking forward to the next novel, and won’t wait so long after its publication to read it. show less

Superb. Thoroughly engaging and complex debut novel.

Mankind has spread through the galaxy, with the aid of what these days might be known as cloud computing - the Nexus Space Internet - some dimensional fold that allows instantaneous information communication and storage. Naturally the administration of this vital resource has spawned a complex bureaucracy - NetAt, as well as specialist professions authorised to make changes to the Net. Meanwhile colonists have developed their own unique show more planetbound cultures, distinct and as untrusting of spacebaced authority, as the spacers are of them.

the story opens with a NetAt Special OPs captain - Loren Cattrell, being called off leave to investigate a 'glitch' in some Net records involving the colony of Natehumid. This is also an opportunity to take along one Stephen Ridenour, a freshly graduated whizkid, potentially suitable NetAt candidate - who admittedly didn't have an easy time at college. His thesis was inspired by Wesley Smith, thrown out of NetAt and now resident at Natehumid. As they arrive at NateHumid everything seems tranquil, even idyllic, with residents and spacers cooperating far more freely than usual. Even Stephen's nervousness seems under control. However when within minutes of landing the ship's security officers are attacked by the president's son for doing no more than asking questions, it seems as if Natehumid is too good to be true. Loren's only chance of a simple resolution may be Stephen's attempt to get along with the exiled irascible genius Wesley Smith.

The writing is excellent, the various characters really stand out, sympathetic with vulnerabilities and strengths of their own. The worlds and societies are well imagined and enjoyable. I'm not a huge fan of frequent jumps from one viewpoint to another, but it is well handled here. There are a lot of names and even worse abbreviations to get to grips with, but it all becomes fairly clear quite quickly. The story does come to quite an abrupt halt, very obviously part of a trilogy. I'm definitely looking forward to reading the continuations.

One area I'd particularly highlight for praise is the keeping separate of the various characters thoughts. Stephen. Loren and the Planetsiders all have very different expectations of each other, and interpretations of why certain actions were performed and what the consequences might be vary - each obviously based on the different characters past experiences and observations. This is something that is very difficult to do well without any crossover from one to another, and Jane has done this exceedingly well - and managed to keep the reader up-to-date as well.

Thoroughly enjoyable, well worth re-reading and I'll definitely be downloading the next installments soon.

............................................

If you wish to comment on this review, please feel free to do so here in Review Discussions, or on my profile
.......................................................................................................................
Can't believe it's been so long since I re-read these. The characterisation really is excellent, and dominates the story, such that the plot and hte world-building are less important. I certainly didn't struggle with the abbreviations this time around, but keeping track of the various potential motivations and why, x thought z might do something, does require a certain amount of concentration.

Remains very enjoyable, and a world I'd certainly like to visit. show less