At the Edge of Space: Brothers of Earth / Hunter of Worlds
by C. J. Cherryh
The Hanan Rebellion (Collections and Selections — Omnibus 01,02), Alliance-Union Universe (Collections and Selections — Omnibus 33,34)
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Brothers of Earth: The leader of the Hana was a Priestess-Ruler in a world of humanoid aliens. Yet she was more closely related to her human prisoner, Kurt Morgan, though their star nations had been bitter enemies for two thousand years. She granted Kurt Moragn his lfie, but for a price: that he remain indebted to his captors, immersed in an alien environment which threatened to drive him mad. Beset with doubts, Kurt accepted the terms of his capture and despite his misgivings became show more intrigued with his life. For he shared something unique with his captor—both of them had survived the destruction of their worlds. And then they realized that the world on which they now lived was on the brink of a devastating war, and they were perhaps the only two sentient beings there who understood the ultimate sacrifice that might come from such a conflict. Could they save this world, or would they die with their adopted planet, humanity’s orphans at the edge of space Hunter of Worlds: The Iduve were the most advanced spacefaring race in the galaxy. They traveled where they pleased in giant city-sized vessels, engrossed with their own affairs. The Iduve were humanoid, but they differed from Earth’s own humans in one significant way: they were pure predators incapable of human emotion. Aiela was a world-survey officer who found himself abducted to serve the Iduve clanship Ashanome. Forcibly mind-linked with two other captives, life for Aiela became wholly dedicated to the service of his captors. But then the Ashanome came to the world of Priamos, a war-torn planet caught in a struggle between humans and the alien race known as the amaut. When she discovered that her fugitive brother was hiding there, Chimele, leader of the Ashanome, was willing to sacrifice this entire world to destroy him. And Priamos’ only hope for survival lay with Aiela and his fellow captives… show lessTags
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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 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 show more 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
In Brothers of Earth, Kurt Morgan, the communications officer of a dying warship escapes to a planet inhabited by 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 show more 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
I completed the first book in this series of two...why was I surprised that it was very good?
"Brothers of Earth" takes us into unknown space, with a human stranded on a planet of beings on the verge of war.
As I read, I found myself thinking, "This is like a SciFi/Fantasy version of 'Shogun'"!
Ms. Cherryh, consider that comment as a compliment.
"Brothers of Earth" takes us into unknown space, with a human stranded on a planet of beings on the verge of war.
As I read, I found myself thinking, "This is like a SciFi/Fantasy version of 'Shogun'"!
Ms. Cherryh, consider that comment as a compliment.
These two books: Brothers of Earth & Hunter of Worlds, are CJ Cherryh's first two books, and it shows. I read them after the Chanur and was disappointed. I was expecting these books to be on the same level of expertise as later works. I am glad she wrote them and that I read them. She learned how to write on these two books. But, I don't plan on rereading them.
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Author Information
258+ Works 74,578 Members
A multiple award-winning author of more than thirty novels, C. J. Cherryh received her B.A. in Latin from the University of Oklahoma, and then went on to earn a M.A. in Classics from Johns Hopkins University. Cherryh's novels, including Tripoint, Cyteen, and The Pride of Chanur, are famous for their knife-edge suspense and complex, realistic show more characters. Cherryh won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer in 1977. She was also awarded the Hugo Award for her short story Cassandra in 1979, and the novels Downbelow Station in 1982 and Cyteen in 1989. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Some Editions
Series
The Hanan Rebellion
2 works (Collections and Selections — Omnibus 01,02)
Alliance-Union Universe
39 works (Collections and Selections — Omnibus 33,34)
Belongs to Publisher Series
DAW Book Collectors (1269)
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Contains
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2003-09; 1976-06 (Brothers of Earth) (Brothers of Earth); 1977-03 (Hunter of worlds) (Hunter of worlds)
- People/Characters
- Arle; Ashakh (iduve, Ashanome's Chief Navigator); Chaikhe (iduve, Artist, singer of songs); Chimele (the Orithain of Ashanome); Daniel Fitzhugh (human, asuthi to Aiela and Isande); Isande (kallia) (show all 13); Kharxanen (the Orithain of Tashavodh); Khasif (iduve, scientist, xeno-archaeologist); Aiela Lyailleue (kallia); Mejakh (iduve); Minakh (the Orithain of Chaganokh); Muishiph (security agent, amaut); Rakhi (iduve)
- Important places
- Indresul (city-state); Nephane (city-state); Kartos Station (space station); Ashanome (spaceship); Priamos (planet)
- First words
- Endymion died soundlessly, a man-made star that glowed and winked quickly out of existence. (Brothers of Earth)
Halfway through the second watch the ship put into Kartos Station - the largest thing ever seen in the zone, a gleaming silver agglomeration of vanes cradling an immense saucer body. (Hunter of Worlds) - Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"You are home, my friend." (Brothers of Earth)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)He began, quickly, to thread his way through the traffic; his asuthi in this moment gave him privacy. (Hunter of Worlds)
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- 218
- Popularity
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- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.91)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 3
- ASINs
- 1
