Downbelow Station

A book club pick :)

Give me more, please

I have not read anything by C.J. Cherryh before, but I have heard good things about this series. Thank you, book club :)

The scope is epic. Humanity has spread among the stars. There are independent space stations, interstellar trade and independent merchants, Pell station orbiting a planet with intelligent life, Earth Company with power and its Fleet, and a rebel Union.

”It became war without anyone calling it war…”

The novel starts with a refugee crisis. It is chillingly well-written throughout the book, with riots, crime, and gangs of the refugee camp that the Pell station helplessly sets up.

This is a story of people caught in a war none of them had asked for. They cope, they act, they make show more choices (sometimes horrible ones). It’s great that the we don’t have “good guys” against “bad”. In the beginning the reader might think it’s obvious which side they are “supposed to” root for. Nope. You end up rooting for people. The space opera plot has a breakneck pace, yet the individuals’ stories unfold patiently. How was this done? So good!

I especially loved Damon and Elene (go, badass Elene, go), Emilio and Miliko. And Josh, of course! His POV was poignant and well done. His friendship with Damon was wonderful. If their situation wasn’t so terrible I would have called it a bromance. ”They spent long hours in silences, in their separate pasts.”

The hisa, the people of Downbelow (Pell’s world), were beautifully written. We did go into the “mystical, peaceful natives” territory. Thankfully, this is an intelligent novel, and the hisa who get POV chapters are great characters. ”The hisa were not the same as they had been when humans came. Neither were humans, on Downbelow.”

The plot twists at the end were great, I flew through the last chapters towards the awesome, awesome ending.

I am very impressed by how “modern” this novel felt. Not all older sci-fi stands the test of time. Isn't it great that this one has? show less

One of my favorite scifi novels of all time. Cherryh gives a vivid portrayal of the conflict, claustrophobia & chaos on the station as events play out. Also, I very much like how she writes strong female characters. They're not over-the-top substitutions for males & are instead wholly believable as women, flawed & all.

This is the longest and densest Cherryh story I’ve read, which has its pros and cons about even for the length, though generally I enjoyed it. It’s also very obvious this came out in 1981. It’s not just the heavy use of paper and tapes in outer space (let alone the leather binder), or the odd way any form of technological communication works. Most of that is… ignorable, because the character stories are by and large quite good, and the political maneuvering is at least well written if kind of cringey and very dated in spots.

Over everything is the issue of a refugee crisis, the topic of immigration, xenophobia, and the fear of immigrant gangs, which basically sounds like any US news channel you could turn on today. How it is show more handled hasn’t aged well, though obviously a space station with a limited amount of life support is very different from a country on a planet. Sexual assault is mentioned as an endemic problem created by this situation (by the military, refugees, and rioters), but often waved aside as an unavoidable reality. For all there are female leaders in the story, it is men who principally wield the reins of power everywhere, and it’s very obvious why the issue is waved away. Though clearly this isn’t just a problem that affects women: it’s heavily implied at least Josh was a victim of sexual assault, particularly before his time with Mallory, if not during his time with her. And it’s heavily implied Marsh was also assaulted, as well as three other unnamed men in a later scene. It's still relatively minor, despite the actions that Josh and Marsh take over their futures, and female victims are brushed aside, unnamed, made to bear with their fate because what else is there? Even when a woman is in charge of the situation, it’s someone who’s potentially a rapist herself, and though she punishes the perpetrators of another assault, she makes sure the victims keep their mouths shut in a military cover-up strongly reminiscent of actual military action in regard to assault. The people in charge of organizations are all quite despicable on some level, even Angelo, and this crisis only intimates how little the marginalized tend to manner in class-based societies, and how much the wealthy care more about comfort than the tragic realities faced by refugees.

It’s also a bit uncomfortable that while ships in the Earth fleet seem to be named either for countries or oceans, there is one ship simply named “Africa”. Now it’s possible all the ships named after individual countries in Africa were destroyed at this point - this is after all, a small group of ships left after repeated reminders the others were destroyed - and other ships are named generic things, like “Sun’s Eye” or “Thor”, and there is a ship named Europe… It’s still a bit uncomfortable to have a list of ships including Australia, Atlantic, North Pole, Libya, Africa, and then India, Pacific, and Tibet. Specificity is allowed for countries that aren't on one particular continent, seemingly, though I also can't remember any ships named after South American countries, either. Fascinating absence, that.

I’ve admittedly only read about three aliens species Cherryh came up with prior to this, and I find the Downers the least interesting out of all of them, though I do like Satin as a character. I just found whenever a Downer story pops up to be a drag. I do appreciate how their story lends an “all sides” aspect to this story universe: when we first meet Jacint, it’s from Lukas’ point of view, where the man is an annoyance and a frustration, perhaps political appointee slinging his authority around, or even a saboteur. Then he is dead, and we’re seemingly meant to be happy about it - killed by his own sabotage of colony efforts. Then we discover that the Downers loved him, as he was rare among humans for being one who truly cared about and connected with them, even up to putting his life on the line for their behalf. It's also kind of uncomfortable how the Downers seem to vaguely resemble aboriginal Australians. Since the Atevi in "Foreigner" are vaguely modeled on the Japanese, it would make sense that these aliens are also modeled on another real-world group. It's... uncomfortable.

Damon and Josh are by far my favorite characters in the story, and I loved every time their stories showed up, whether they were alone or together, though the together parts were even better. Their struggles were compelling, with Damon showing the difficulty of administration in a hard situation, and Josh showing us the mental drain of being a cog in a badly maintained machine, simply wanting what most humans want: love and affection in some form. And there’s another gay couple: Edger and Mazian. I have to wonder if this hadn’t released in the 80s, particularly in the first year of Reagan’s regime, what might have come of these relationships. Interestingly Josh’s plotline was kind of handled in an episode of “Babylon 5”, and I much prefer Cherryh’s version, though “Passing Through Gethsemene” is a very good episode. I didn't like Josh's ending, though. I don't think the very last time he shows up was necessary, and would have liked it if he'd just stayed with his partners, though I do appreciate that he is still devoted to them. I think this book got as close as it could at the time to multiple canon queer couples, and even a polyamorous triad, and it's nice to see.

I even managed to feel some sympathy for Vittorio, who seemingly wanted to live a contented life following his father’s orders, even to his own unfortunate end (though I hope for the best for him). The moment he reaches out for his father’s hand before going away on the merchanter ship was quite poignant.

It’s hard to tell if this book is pro-cop or not, as the police forces are simultaneously a requirement for the maintenance of sanity and order and safety, as well as a danger. Guns in general are useful but feared - a source, in any hands, of potential danger. Their absence is marked at least once of making situations less dangerous. It’s in the nebulous space of… probably there’s the belief that there are “good cops” and “bad cops”, which is… typical for white SF of the era. It's also questionably anti-military, which would be nice if true. The military forces tend to not care about civilians or their lives, and see them only as means to an end, not people.

It’s also not comforting that the mysterious enemy forces are called “Union”, and this book came out the same year Reagan union busted the air traffic controller strike, permanently crippling unions in this country. What does Union want? To be free of Earth and “the Company”’s control. What do they become? A terrifying genetically created and modified army that does not comfort or support its people, and simply sends them out as fodder to be used up, producing more as needed, abandoning them as necessary. Consuming more of the known galaxy until it dominates. The Union presence is most strongly felt in a scene where a powerful negotiator tells the Company presence that they have nothing to negotiate, and will have to accept Union terms. It's... it's not pretty.

This is perhaps ungenerous - Union was and so far as I know probably is still a common name by science fiction authors. And to be fair, the Company is not exactly painted in the kindest light - a corporation seeking control and dominance of its own, ready to cast adrift its own underlings as needed for its survival, until it comes to a rather ignominious end as it doesn’t even realize its legs have already been cut out from under it. And many, many other stories a similar concept: of Earth’s colonies rebelling, calling for self-governance, and perhaps warring with Earth. The first Gundam anime had this as a plot in 1979, with enhanced enemy soldiers as well. So is this novel anti-union? ...Well. There is definitely a movement towards increased workers rights on some level, as well as something like socialized healthcare, but the system is also very capitalist, so I guess if you want to read it literally, it really does seem kind of anti-union, and a bit anti-socialist.

I read an ebook copy of this so I’m not sure if the issue is the original printing or just this version, but there were a slew of errors in the text that often made it hard to read sentences, though part of that might be down to Cherryh’s sometimes odd choice creation of spacer slang.

Overall, the parts I loved, I loved a lot, and that made up for the slower parts (unfortunately I didn't care at all for the space battles; it's not Cherryh's fault, as they seemed to be well-written, but I've been burnt out on reading long space battles). I can't say I would necessarily recommend this unless you really like Cherryh. "Foreigner" is definitely a more intimate character exploration, with equally complicated politics spanning multiple species and governments, though "Foreigner" also has issues with being a bit slow for most of the books after the first trilogy. And this book is arguably the queerest of the Cherryh I've read, so there's that. show less

I got 76% through this and just can't bear to keep trying to read it. The basic premise is fantastic: the under-supported Earth Company Fleet battles the unending waves of Union's brainwashed clones. The Fleet is pushed further and further back, until at last the battle reaches the space station orbiting Pell. Pell's station tries to remain neutral while both sides try to take it over.

I love this idea! It's like DS9 mashed up with Tolkein. But I found the execution so lacking that I couldn't enjoy a single chapter. First of all, Pell's native creatures, the hisa, talk like this: "'You safe come here. Love you. Bennett-man, he teach we dream human dreams; now you come we teach you hisa dreams. We love you.'" They think like retarded show more children's toys, dividing everyone up into good and bad, but they don't seem alien at all. They're basically a mash-up of adorable teddy bears with Native American stereotypes. Every time they're on the page, my brain revolted.

Second of all, a large proportion of the story concerns Josh, a Union soldier captured by the Fleet and eventually turned over the space station on Pell. Damon and Elena take him in and feel super-duper sorry for him. He's a fucking enemy soldier! On the very same station, at the very same time, that they're petting him and denouncing the Fleet for being mean to him, neutral civilians are being raped, brutalized and murdered. But somehow they don't merit nearly sympathy or help as the angelically beautiful Josh. This relates to my other big problem with the book: my sympathies lay completely and utterly with the Fleet, who are hard-ass underdogs fighting a losing war for no pay or respect. They are literally Pell's only defense against the Union armies. So every time Damon et al try to prevent the Fleet from taking food or supplies from the station, or sabotage the Fleet's technologies, I can only wonder at their selfish short-sightedness. show less

This was a well-told, richly-detailed space opera. Cherryh has created a universe in which to tell a tale that feels both fantastical and possible at the same time. The characters are realistic and complete with conflicting personality traits and understandable motives. Furthermore, the details that the author has put into this universe have the appearance of being vast.

Although the book sets up what looks like a clear underdog/"good guys" (i.e., Union) conflict with the corporate/"bad guy" (i.e. The Company) it ultimately does not take a side except with the decidedly neutral downbelow station and upabove station "Pell," which is the central focus of the novel. Morality and ethics are gray on both sides, as in most things. And no show more characters seemed like obvious caricatures. Instead, Cherryh granted everyone (including the alien /hisa/) a kind of sincerity that made all of the plot lines enjoyable to follow.

There certainly are elements of science fiction throughout but those details are not laid out or rationalized in quite the same fastidious way that "hard scifi" authors would do, but it also isn't really the point. The science is the background but there are enough science ideas to keep hard core scifi readers engaged.

I will definitely be seeking out more of her books. show less

I picked up "Downbelow Station" as my part of my goal to read 10 Hugo award winners in 2025. "Downbelow Station" won the Hugo in 1982.

In a far future, humanity has colonized the stars and broken into a series of factions. A long running war has been running for years when we join the story. The climax of the action is at Pell (also known as Downbelow Station, which is nearby a station that space station inhabitants refer to as "Downbelow" while planetside residents refer to the space station as "Upabove").

The novel leans hard into the themes of strain and the tremendous costs that occur when exceptional demands are placed on people, systems and social structures. The characters are nearly constantly exhausted, under strain and show more suffering. Harsh military action clashes with desperate refugees, political deals and more. A fantastic novel for fans of "Babylon 5" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" which probably drew inspiration from this novel. show less

Not the book I remembered it being, but none the worse for that. I thought this was about a boy growing up with the kind-hearted Downers,as the only known sentient aliens are known, and his struggles to get permission to come into space. But actually it's not about that at all, even though the Downers feature prominently.

This is written early in the Alliance Universe and set as Union is making it's big push for Control of the Beyond away from Earth Company and the rules and politics that aren't applicable any more. Pell Space Station has become the latest battleground, although neither side wants to endanger either the aliens or the civilian population. The Union are operating through the means of subversives whilst the Company are show more trying to control their Fleet, including the carrier Norway captains by Signy Malory, one of the few we ever hear more details about. The story itself jumps between a few characters the ruling Konstantins trying to do their best for the station and Downers and Lukas theie deputy who is ambitious for more than he's even been given credit for. The Downers themselves have a voice in the presence of Satin, who's ambitious to travel Up Above and see the Sun in Her Glory.

One of CJC's great talents is to represent everybody's actions as perfectly normal and self-centered as their characters allow, but at the same time to have these massive global stories rolling over and through their lives. DownBelow is rightly an award winner. It's both grand space opera, with the maneuverings of Fleets and Empire politics, and at exactly the same time, human centered and personal the real lives that are effected by such tides. show less