C. J. Cherryh

C. J. Cherryh is one of the best world-builders in science fiction. Her expanded Alliance-Union map is big enough for interstellar cultures to get lost in. The cultures of the Chanur novels, the Foreigner series, and The Faded Sun trilogy never meet, but they exist in the galaxy that also holds the Sol system, Cyteen, Pel, and the Hinder stars.

The timeline of the A-U universe is problematic. According to Jane Fancher, C. J. Cherryh’s wife and occasional co-author, The Faded Sun Trilogy show more (first published 1978-79) is just barely part of the Alliance-Union universe: “Way down the timeline, loosely related, if you squint.” She puts it somewhere between Brothers of Earth and Gates of Ivrel, both centuries after the Company Wars and both published in 1976.

The Faded Sun is early enough to be considered an apprentice work, but many of the elements that would sustain Cherryh’s 50-year career are already in place. We have armed spacecraft, most of whose human crews need sedation when traveling faster than light. There are multiple sapient cultures, many of which are close to human. Convergent evolution seems to be a thing. Cherryh’s deft third-person narration takes us from mind to mind so that we see everyone from multiple points of view. This style makes diplomacy and romance into chess games of motives and strategies. One of Cherryh’s favorite words is “reckon.” We know what everyone reckons about everyone else, but they are not always right.

Like the Foreigner series, The Faded Sun surrounds the human protagonist with alien cultures he must understand in order to survive. The Regul are ruthless traders with eidetic memories. They are long-lived and use age and size to determine status. The Mri are a matrilineal mercenary warrior culture. To join them, Duncan, the human protagonist, must go so totally native that he almost forgets his human origins.

The first novel in the trilogy was nominated for a Hugo, but the omnibus edition is the way to read it. It is one big novel divided into three parts. The audiobook narrated by Paul Woodson is worth a listen. show less

Mixed feelings about this. The world building and writing is solid. While the series is structured as a series of planetary adventures, there's more continuity and consequential impact than in Dumarest or Diadem. Most interesting, this seems to be a more subversive take on the swords and sorcery genre than Moorcock's Elric series. Morgaine, more of an enigma here than in the first book. She speaks little and is never the POV character. But one thing is clear: she is a terrorist. Her quest to show more shut down the Gates that connect worlds but also threaten them may be essential, but she leaves a path of destruction behind her. Everyone knows it, including herself and Vanye, her narrator and unhappy assistant. And that's where the downside comes in. The book is unrelentingly grim. The only feelings Vanye has are negative. It's a long list: fear, pain, anger, guilt, betrayal, loneliness, doubt, horror, frustration -- I could continue with a quick visit to thesaurus.com. The best he gets is momentary relief. Twice he gets to sleep and once to wear clean clothes. All this interior agony is described repeatedly and at length.

I will read the remaining two books to see where Cherryh went with this, particularly in the fourth book written ten years after the third, but right now I'd recommend this only for Cherryh fans. show less

9/10

Although the ending is completely unsatisfying, the book itself was wonderful. Cherryh's language always matches the storyline--dreamy, confused, ominous, clear, joyous, wondering, crafty... as the plot changes, so the language seems to change to fit.

Tristen, still an enigma, still a wonder and a danger, becomes more and more himself through the course of the book. Cefwyn and his wife also mature and wield statecraft in halls both great and small. And Emuin, wizard and adviser, also show more becomes more of a person and less of a character.

Each book in this series fills in more of the puzzle while managing to pose new questions. I fear for Cefwyn, Tristen, and the others--not so much that they may die in some battle, but that they will betray themselves or their friendships. Emuin warns Tristen that he is not Tristen's friend and Tristen should not be his--they need to keep an eye on each other, to keep up their guard. I'm afraid of not bones, but hearts being broken. show less

At the Edge of Space is a convenient package for two early C. J. Cherryh novels, Brothers of Earth (1976) and Hunter of Worlds (1977). Both are so far down the Alliance-Universe they almost fall out of it altogether. They are not as polished and efficient as her later work, but the essential elements of her world-building, character development, and style are already in place.

In Brothers of Earth, Kurt Morgan, the communications officer of a dying warship escapes to a planet inhabited by show more two indigenous humanoid races, one human from Kurt’s enemy culture, and several tribes of feral humans descended from previous refugees. To survive he must negotiate a complex and violent political environment. Even in this debut novel, Cherryh is adept at her trademark shifting 3rd-person narrative point of view.

In Hunter of Worlds, we meet the iduve. Descended from predators, they are Cherryh’s most chillingly alien species. They speak a language so strange that translation is impossible, so loose paraphrase is the only alternative. They have no word for concepts like love, hate, or friendship. If you do something right in their eyes, the best you can hope for is to be left alone.

Translation difficulties are at the heart of the novel. The iduve Chimele plans to take over a human world and needs to understand the inhabitants. He uses technology to link the mind of one of his client races to a human prisoner. No one enjoys the process, not even the iduve.

I would not be surprised to learn that the James S. A. Corey team had Hunter of Worlds somewhere in its collective subconscious when conceiving The Mercy of the Gods. show less