Cyteen

I have a complicated history with Cyteen. It was the first novel by Cherryh that I read - about 20 years ago, in Bulgarian, in a botched translation that randomly removed parts of the story including the end of the novel (considering that there is a murder mystery in the book, removing the end was particularly bad but considering all the other removed parts, even if they had left it in, it probably would not have made sense). I loved the ideas. I found the execution... weird (and I could not understand how this can win a Hugo). But that bad translation (and the even weirder decisions made when a previous novel was published) made it impossible for the author to get published in Bulgarian again so I kinda forgot about her.

Then in 2008, show more 20 years after this book was initially published, a direct sequel was announced for early 2009. I was reading English books mostly in English at that point so I figured I should try Cherryh again - with reading Cyteen and then its sequel. The book made a LOT more sense and a few years later I started reading all Cherryh's books - mostly in order. And here I am back to Cyteen. I considered skipping it but considering that I had read the other 19 books in the Alliance-Union Universe written before that one, I figured I should reread it. And I was right - a lot of things that flew over my head last time registered now.

As most of the books in this universe, the book is designed as a standalone (the obvious exceptions - the Chanur books, the Mri novels and so on - are not even exceptions if you consider them as one work in multiple volumes). All the back story you need is in the book. All the references to what happened before are in the book. But only the ones that matter to the story are explained. There is a reference to the Compact and the Sol issues with it. It explains some of the actions of some people but you do not need to know anything more than the fact that there is a whole alien group of planets somewhere on the other side of the Sun and they really did not like humans when they met them. But if you had read the Chanur novels (the 4 published before Cyteen), you know what the Compact is and you know exactly why the humans got in trouble (and you finally connect some things from the Chanur books to the bigger story - because the Chanur books can be read on their own and you don't need to know anything about any other books - unless you want to connect some references). That's how this whole universe works - like a set of history books - one book adding a clue to allow you to unlock a connection from another...

But back to Cyteen. The novel is the second novel to deal with the Union side of the human split in the universe explicitly. There are some references in other novels and some others that can be counted as Union side novels ([Port Eternity] for example) but the one that really introduced the culture of Union is [Forty Thousand in Gehenna]. While Cyteen is not really a sequel to it, it deals with the aftermath of Gehenna and if you have read the Gehenna story before Cyteen, you have a baseline for azis and a lot better understanding of what is normal (or not).

At the core of the novel "Cyteen" are two main stories: a murder one and a quest for power one. None of them is fully resolved in the novel - you have an idea what happened in both but there is still enough ambiguity left for a "but what if". But these two stories are interweaved with story of the azis (the human clones who are educated by tape since the cradle and thus not allowed to have certain logical and brain pathways which are developed in normal people) - the whole Union side of the universe is very clearly on the Nurture side of the Nature vs. Nurture conversation - the only difference between a human and an azi is how they were brought up, even humans can be cloned but they don't get fed tape so early. Add to that the persecution of a boy (and then a man) who did nothing wrong (and yet seems to be always considered dangerous), the political games of the Union, the big and very wealthy clone-factory/laboratory and a little girl who needs to navigate a world she was brought into not because anyone wanted her but because she needed to be someone. There is a lot of cruelty in the book, there are moments where you are not sure who is on the good side really (shades of grey which I missed the last time I read the novel) and you never know just what might happen next - when money, power and long lives get combined, things get a bit skewed. But there is also friendship (although there is also the moral question of how much that exists if you are programmed to like someone). And even love (well.. with the same note).

It is a very long novel and yet it did not feel long enough. I wanted more of it, I wanted more details, more conversations, just more of everything. I had the same reaction last time I read it - it almost feels like a tease in places. And yet, it is an organized whole. But as with a lot of Cherryh's novels it can be a bit rambly and the characters' internal struggles can make Hamlet look like someone with a very definite grasp of the "to be or not to be" question (or his sanity). I enjoyed this side of the novel but it probably will be too much for someone who does not expect it or is not used to it. show less

Cyteen is a densely textured psychological thriller set around the genius scientist-politician Ariane Emory, and the laboratory complex Reseune. Roughly 120 years old, Ari is a titan in her field of psychological engineering and human cloning, responsible for much of the developments that make the planet of Cyteen and the whole political system of Union work. She's also a dangerous sociopath, mixing science, politics, blackmail, and sex with her 17 year student Justin Warrick. When she is murdered in her lab, Justin's father Jordan takes the blame and accepts exile.

Ariane has a contingency in place for her death. She's to be cloned and raised in an environment as close to her own childhood, recreating her irreplaceable scientific and show more political talents with barely a break in continuity. Most of the book follows Ari (II) growing up and coming to grips with the looming figure of her predecessor as she learns to outmaneuver her enemies, forge new alliances within her fractured family, and repair what was done to Justin Warrick.

It's an interesting concept, and definitely one big enough to hang a series around. Can a personality be preserved through death? Can "greatness" be turned on like a light switch, with the right combination of genes and experiences. Unlike Downbelow Station, I fully bought into the details of the setting: The deadly ecology of Cyteen outside the safe space of human habitation; The immense psychological pressure of the labs and apartments; the politics of Union; and particularly the technology of the azi. Azi are humans raised on subliminal tape, the major product of Reseune, and probably why Union won the war. In their niche, azi are quick and clever, although they lack general adaptability. They're also perfect slaves (although some Alpha models can earn citizenship), and the abolition of azi is *the* major political conflict in Cyteen, and one that inspires fanatical violence.

Unfortunately, this book is also such a slog. Some of it is Cherryh falling in love with her imagined biological and psychological science. I think 90% of the sentences containing the phrases 'endocrine flux' and 'deep tape' could have been removed to the benefit of the book. Technical points of parliamentary procedure and computer security play similar important, and tedious roles. A lot of it is "close camera" on deeply unhappy people, like Justin Warrick, or the frankly monstrous Ari. There's little pleasure in watching a girl grow into the tyrant that the elder Ariane Emory began the book as, whatever her genius.

But I think I've hit on what I dislike about Cherryh as an author, and that is that she is relentlessly opposed to the traditional forms of science fiction storytelling. I'm not a strict Campbellian by any means, but there's a reason why the monomyth format is enduring. In a very general format: Here's a character you can identify with. Here's a world different from our own. He's rising danger, a test of skill and character, a decisive victory. Here is the return home. Cherryh doesn't do any of that in the "proper" order, because life isn't tidy, history isn't tidy, and things don't happen for a good reason.

But stories do, and if I want to read things without any kind of narrative structure, I've got a whole shelf of RPG sourcebooks. show less

1988! EIGHTY-EIGHT. Absolutely nothing dates this book, there are no cringe fashion moments, no ridiculous formerly high tech gadgets. There's just concrete character building, like.. her characters are morally gray, but these books cause YOU to have a moral dilemma. (Or several actually.)
The world! The politics! The absolute lack of sexism, two of the main relationships are homosexual, the other relationship is RIDICULOUSLY complicated with NO ROMANTIC cop outs. Jesus Christ.
1988!

These books are just so SATISFYING.

Ariane Emory is a certified genius - a Special. She runs a research facility called Reseune with the assistance of Giraud and Denys Nye. She is also a member of the Council of Nine, an elected executive body which governs the Union. Emory supports the Expansionists - who seek to enlarge the Union through exploration and continued cloning (for which Resuene is vital). She has many political enemies and is 120 at the start of the novel. This is possible through ‘rejuv’, an addictive substance that extends life. Her rival, and former co-worker, Jordan Warrick, is also a Special. He has a son, Justin, who is Jordan’s genetic clone. Jordan has also fostered an experimental azi named Grant, and brought up Justin and Grant as brothers. show more Ariane threatens to use Grant (who remains property of Resuene due to his experimental status) for testing unless Justin works for her. She uses this excuse to lure him to her apartment, where she sexually abuses him with the help of her two azi.

Justin attempts to keep his abuse from his father, but when Jordan finds out, he confronts Emory in her office. She is found dead later that day. Jordan is strongly suspected of Ariane’s murder, but due to his status as a Special he can not be punished directly. He is exiled to a research facility on another planet and forced to cut all ties with Justin and Grant. Emory’s last project has been the cloning of a young man in order to recreate his abilities. Earlier attempts at complete cloning have failed. Emory’s goal was to recreate herself by replicating her life as closely as possible. Emory also created a computer program to help guide her successor. Due to her sudden death, this project is initiated immediately and Ari is raised by a woman who is a close match to Emory’s mother.

The scope of this novel is huge: an in depth study of power, examination of the difference in the psychology of a ‘natural-born’ person and that of a manufactured mind, the story of a ruthless genius, her death and subsequent cloning, and the experiences of the clone herself, who is intended to replace the greatest mind in history and succeeds more completely than anticipated. The large scope makes the novel clunky in some places, but for the most part it is very engaging. Things are infinitely more interesting once the second Ariane has been born. The politics a sometimes dry, but moves the narrative along very effectively.

The relationship between the azi - artificially created beings who learn everything through ‘tape’ and have an artificial psychology called a ‘psychset’ - and natural born humans is examined in great detail. Sometimes the azi are no better than chattels, other times they are trusted fiends and even lovers, but in everything it is shown that azi have no choice - they are programmed to make their Supervisors happy. The plight of the azi was extremely disturbing to read; they have no adaptive skills and suffer deep depression when anything unexpected occurs - requiring extensive tape sessions to convince them that everything is alright. Although most characters in the book consider azi human, the question of humanity and what it means is a point of discussion between Justin and his azi Grant, with some surprising insights into human psychology.

Grant: Give me a chance, friend. I’m not a damn robot. Maybe my feelings are plastic, but they’re sure as hell real. You want to yell at me, yell. Don’t pull that Supervisor crap.

Justin: Then don’t act like a damn azi!

I also really liked the characterisation in the novel. Justin and Grant are lovers - and it is obvious through their mannerisms and how much they care for one another. Ari’s struggle to find a partner who both matches her intellect and understands her plight as a replicate fuels her attraction to Justin, which makes Justin increasingly uncomfortable as he is unable to forget the horrors which her predecessor inflicted on him. I felt sorry for all of them throughout the book and really enjoyed reading their interactions.

Cyteen is 680 pages long, with only 14 chapters. The chapters are thus very long and split up into 10 - 15 parts. Each part usually deals with a different issue, or a different character’s point of view. In the fast-paced sections the structure of the book is not so important. But in the slower parts, the long chapters become very hard to read and I found myself skipping large sections.

This a wonderful example of great science fiction. Although sometimes very hard to read due to the level of detail which creates a sluggish pace, the book is worthwhile to read at least once because of the issues it raises. This is a book of classic SF which many who like to read the genre will enjoy. Be warned though - this is a long read. show less

I will confess it up front. I love this book.

Yes, it's long. It was originally published in three volumes in paperback, in the late 1980s. That made sense from a physical size point of view; it doesn't make sense in terms of the story. This is, like The Lord of the Rings, a long, single novel.

It is, as another review commented, a murder mystery in which the mystery is never solved, and features a conspiracy which is partially but never completely explained. We don't get all the answers.

That's part of what makes it the fascinating, complex book that it is.

Ariane Emory is over a century old, a scientist, head of Reseune, the primary cloning facility on Cyteen, the primary planet of the political entity Union, in Cherryh's Union-Alliance show more universe. Union and Alliance have a lot of reasons for their conflict, but one of them is the azi, Reseune's clones. Along with being genetically designed to have certain aptitudes and traits, they are also tape-trained from birth to both educate and condition them to their intended roles. They don't have a normal range of free will, though neither are they anything close to automata. There's also internal conflict, both inside Union, and inside Reseune. We see Ariane Emory, or Ari, as very intelligent, very capable, with what may be good goals, but very, very Machiavellian. She's involved in a contest of will that in part involves another clone designer, Jordan Warrick, his cloned son Justin (a clone, but not an azi; Justin is a citizen), and Justin's azi companion, Grant.

And then, quite suddenly, Ari is dead, and it appears to be murder, and of all the people who might have wanted her dead, Jordan Warrick is the one who was there.

The bulk of this novel is about Ari II, a clone of Ariane Emory, initially a deep, deep secret. She's not just a clone, like Justin. She's intended to be a true recreation of Ariane Emory, with all her abilities and ruthlessness.

It's not the plotters we identify with. It is, on the one hand, Justin and Grant, living under constant suspicion and surveillance, and on the other hand, Ari II, struggling to understand how she's being manipulated and why. As a young child, friends she has too much conflict with disappear, they and their families being transferred to distant locations like Fargone Station. Her Maman, Jane Stassen, gets transferred to Fargone without Ari, when she's barely preteen, for reasons that never make sense to her. Her uncles, Denis and Geraud Nye, major powers in Reseune, are her guardians--and Denis at least seems loving and kind, but even at this young age she knows there's more going on than she's being told.

It's not clear how much the Nyes and their allies understood how determined and devious young Ari would be in looking for the answers.

And along the way, Ari is introduced to the resources Ari I left behind for her, because Ari did plan this even if her death didn't happen as she anticipated, and we start to learn a great deal more about the original Ari, about Reseune, about Union, and about the Nyes.

Ari II also starts to acquire friends and allies of her own.

Everyone here is more complicated, layered, and conflicted than they appear at first glance.

It's long, complicated, intricate, absorbing. Highly recommended, though I reluctantly concede that no, it's not for everyone. But, really, highly recommended.

I bought this audiobook. show less

[Four and 1/2 stars]
Well! It took me an *embarrassingly* long time to read this, because it's so dense and clinical, and I found that I needed to really be in the mood for it (I always do for Cherryh, who is never an easy read - but always a rewarding one). But it was absolutely worth persevering with (and totally deserving of its Hugo Award in 1988), as it's a magnificent book, delving into the ethics of cloning and pondering identity, the nature of genius, and all sorts of complicated moral quandaries. Unlike the faceless, emotionless soldiers we saw in Downbelow Station (my first foray into the Alliance-Union universe), here we actually got to see the azi (the clones) up close, both as individuals and as a functioning sub-culture, show more and it's as fascinating and murky a situation as you'd expect. The protagonists and subsidiary characters were very well-written, with all sorts of interestingly-fractured fault lines running through their personalities. For a story written in the late 80s, very little about the book has really dated (it refers to 'tape' for the kind of deep-sleep/virtual reality learning they all do, and that's about it). I'm giving it four and a half stars, as there may have been a few dropped threads, and the ending does feel somewhat rushed to me. This is a book I'll definitely have to return to at some point! show less

What a mammoth book. The scope is incredible, to explain the whole Union side of the story of the Company Wars, from beginning to after the war. It not only covers the larger picture, but also has the stories of several very compelling characters.

The actual story is inset with various reports, and transcripts so that there is an explanation of the history and philosophy that shaped and governs Union, without boring info dumps.

The story centers around the labs, Reseune, where the human clones called Azi are designed, programmed and birthed. They are also indentured to a specific job, and non-Azi humans, and even experimented on. When their usefulness ends they can be retired and made citizens, or mindwiped and shipped out, or even show more terminated.

Somehow the culture of Union has allowed them to believe it is ok to create humans, but deny them the same status as normally born people. Because they are different they can be treated much like lab rats, conditioned by deep tape and psych-probes, this treatment makes them actually different than born people, and so they seem to justify their unequal treatment.

Reseune has not only created and trained the Azi, but has set itself up as the protector of all, even those not created in their labs. The story begins with the political crises around the attempt by Reseune to create a clone that will not only be genetically identical to its parent, but that will be brought up under identical conditions to the original in an attempt to recreate the same mental abilities.

There is a murder and the leader of the labs, Ari, is killed before the project can get off the ground. A political deal with former enemies gets the project off the ground with the addition of another project - to clone the leader of the labs.

The story in small is about the fall-out of the deal. A dissident scientist is set up to take the murder rap, he agrees to protect his son from public exposure as a victim of Ari's sexual and psychological games , and the azi they raised from being repossessed by the lab. The dissident is discredited and silenced.

The story follows how the teenage son, Justin and his brother/lover Grant - the Azi survive. They are hostages for their father's compliance and continued research output. Because many of them are considered 'specials' - genetic national treasures due to their intelligence and their work, they are beyond normal law. Justin and Grant try to survive and continue their education and work, surrounded by distrust and enemies who believe the worst of them. The second project - Ari 2 also becomes another major character, once she becomes old enough. They even clone her 2 Azi security agents. They are the same age as Ari 2, and exact duplicates of the 2 Azi who belonged to Ari 1 and were terminated at her death.

The book is quite a large size and almost 700 pages. In terms of enjoyment it doesn't seem really pick up until around page 400 or so. It is around the time Ari 2 becomes a teenager, and she is able to make things happen. Before that the story is mostly about Justin trying to fend off those who want to take him apart in search of the enemy within. It is mostly a lot of set up for the later events.

Besides being an entertaining read the story explores the differences between nature and nurture, and how labels can not only define how we see something, but how the object labeled ends up conforming to the label. It shows how dangerous it is to draw a line and say that one side is human and sacred, and the other side is less than human and fair game - because the line can always be moved once its there.

I thought the book was a bit long, and frankly after reading all the other Company Wars books, I looked at these people as evil and the enemy. While I liked and even sympathized with several of the characters, their casual treatment of people and the reshaping and disposal of what displeased them only confirmed that feeling. I am a big Cherryh fan, but I much prefer her stories set on ships and space stations. show less