Rider at the Gate

A surprising western from a sci fi master that will please fans of both genres.

Alright dig this, on a forgotten colony planet, society has reached a similar state as the old west, the only hiccup is that the animals on the planet can read your mind and are constantly projecting their thoughts. This leads to each “rider” (think cowboy frontiersman) being able to communicate with their own horse but also that when a horse is around everyone can hear everyone else’s thoughts.

It’s a really interesting look at the concept of what it would actually be like to have a telepathic link with an animal companion, which I believe was a common trope in sci fi and fantasy in this period. Also the concept of the humans being able to share show more thoughts makes for an interesting twilight zone-esque thought experiment. Even though the concept is somewhat far fetched, Cherryh handles it very well and manages to keep the animal characters distinct but still animal.

As to the overall plot/conflict a crazed horse that can cause huge mental chaos is on the loose. It has killed a rider and is headed towards population in the mountains. We primarily follow Stuart but there are several point of view characters. Stuart is the partner/lover of the killed rider who attempts to hunt down the deadly horse. We also follow Danny, a rookie rider, as he joins a posse to find Stuart because of help Stuart gave him in the past. Plus there’s Tara, a female rider that lives in a mountain town and makes harrowing contact with the rogue horse. As is typical with Cherryh there are many intricacies to the plot, but that’s the premise and protagonists at a glance.

The hunt for the horse makes for a good western premise as our gritty cast of riders fight the elements, a deadly creature, and each other. Plus with the inclusion of Danny, the author fits in a solid coming of age story and the rogue horse brings in some horror elements.

With top notch world building and plotting, this is a must read for any sci fi or fantasy reader that enjoys a western every now and then. show less

C.J. Cherryh is well known for her ability to develop wonderful ecosystems for the worlds she creates. Even though her worlds are fantastical, they always speak to what is most human. In Rider at the Gate and its sequel Cloud's Rider, Cherryh does not disappoint. We get a mostly recognizable landscape inhabited by previously starfaring humans and the native telepathic fauna. Among the native fauna of this unnamed planet is the fierce and intelligent nighthorse. Nighthorses are curious and addicted to the thoughts and emotions of the human mind and often choose a particular human to be a "rider." The symbiotic relationship that develops between nighthorse and rider is a strong connection meant to be mutually beneficial but sometimes show more results in a pairing of devastating proportions. Within this alien system Cherryh builds a beautiful coming of age story that captures the often painful and baffling aspects that accompany the human journey to adulthood -- desparate feelings of longing, loneliness and a desire to be independent yet "fit in."

Cherryh is known to take quite a bit of time developing her story and I suggest patience when starting this set. I didn't feel completely drawn into the story until about page 150 of the first book, but after that point couldn't put the books down. show less

Cherryh's worlds are always vivid and well-formed, and her characters interesting and more than just stereotypes. The story was engaging, and the ending a classic mystery-reveal (all the clues but they didn't click for me; perfect).
As usual, lots of musing about the meaning of friendship, love, loyalty, trust, responsibility, etc.
However, if you are easily confused, read this one with caution & attention; the mind-reading between people (not native to the planet) and "horses" (three-toed omnivores, never fully described - kind of an alien-world cross of canine and equine) takes a lot of getting used to.
NOTE: a large part of the story concerns a man (Harper) carrying a grudge against another person (Stuart) and eventually hurting many show more other people and dying himself, even though Stuart isn't even aware of the vendetta and not really its cause; nor does Stuart remember the help he gave to a boy (Fisher), who comes to his aid because of it. show less

This sounded like a concept that would be quite fascinating: on a remote planet, a colony of humans have set up a sort of wild west society in which they depend on the sentient nighthorses, creatures which bond with humans. Most of the wildlife is telepathic and has the ability to send distorting emotion laden images which can overwhelm and kill human beings in umpteen different ways: the nighthorses defend against those and keep most at bay. They also enable travel and trade, with their riders acting like a travel guild who ride gunshot, literally, on convoys of trucks between settlements, enabling people to live a fairly comfortable if precarious existence.

Into this, early in the tale, comes the rumour of a rogue horse: one which can show more turn human emotions and impressions back on themselves and amplify negative emotions to a fever pitch, resulting in fights, murders, and at worse, people opening the gates of towns and letting in the multitude of predators great and small which look on human beings as a walking larder. A man called Guil Stuart is told his partner Aby has died because of a rogue horse, but then enemies of his start to twist things, amplified by the large numbers of nighthorses in the rider camp beside a large settlement town, into making out Stuart and his horse to be the rogue. He is forced to set off into the wilderness, initially unarmed and wounded, on a quest to kill the real rogue.

Another main character is a young man, Danny Fisher, a town boy who has been 'called' by a nighthorse, Cloud, and villified by his family and the local priests who teach that listening to nighthorse sendings means people will go to hell - despite the fact that without nighthorses, human existence is impossible on the planet. Danny is struggling to come to terms with his alienation from his family and his inability to calm his young horse at crucial moments. Feeling a debt to Stuart who once gave him sound advice, he becomes involved in an attempt to track Stuart and then falls in with Stuart's enemies.

The story switches constantly between the different characters, mainly Stuart and Danny, but others also, as the situation with the rogue becomes deadly for all.

So far so good. But I found the execution of the story a barrier to enjoying it fully. The narrative is an attempt at immersion in the experience of emotion-laden telepathy, with words constantly appearing in pointy brackets, and becomes quite hard to follow in places. Also, the story seems overworked and laborious, taking pages and pages for the smallest bit of action, and a lot of emphasis on travelling in the onset of winter. The story didn't really need 468 pages to tell in my opinion and might have worked better with some judicious cutting of what came over in places as unnecessary blow by blow spelling out of every piece of character internal dialogue. For that reason, I can only give it a 3-star rating. show less

Cherryh at probably her best, but with some nightmare qualities to it.

I don't as a rule care for 'scary', but this is on my shelf, and I've reread it several times.

Be sure to follow up by reading the sequel, "Cloud's Rider".

Love the premise of this book, and the way she examines the consequences of the environment she built on the characters in it.

It's a bit Dragon Riders of Pern, but with a lot more balance - the pairing of riders and ridden isn't all sweetness and light, and can both moderate and accentuate those involved.

Recommended for both horse people and Cherryh fans.

This story consistently manages to spook me. Excellent writing. Recommended for anyone who likes the idea of telepathic horses, but thinks they'd be a really bad combination with teenagers, and thinks that horses are very unlikely to act like reincarnated saints.