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Anyone here read C. J. Cherryh's work? If so, what do you think about her work? Also, what's your opinion about her short story "Visitor In Night"? And, where the heck can I find her book "Chernevog"? I've been looking all over for it! Posts: 16 | Registered: Aug 2005
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C. J. Cherryh wrote Downbelow Station, right? Took me three attampts to get through it. It was okay.
Is this a school assignment? Your second and third questions sound like it. If it is, don't expect answers. If it isn't you should include your own opinins.
Posts: 1547 | Registered: Jan 2004
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Faded Sun Trilogy: I really liked this. The alien races were very well thought-out, in ways that accentuated the "human-ness" of the human characters. I like science fiction that points us toward an understanding of what's essential to the human condition (imagination and adaptiveness were highlighted in this book). I also liked the ethical dilemmas. It was rarely obvious that the good guys were doing the right thing.
Cyteen: This was not as good. The basic idea of re-creating a personality with nature and nurture was awesome, but the characters were unbearable. The main character was such a wound-up ball of insecurity. He never acted on his own, he only reacted to pressures from outside.
This is all the Cherryh I've read. The thing I like best is the nature of conflict in her writing: like Asimov, she often has her characters confront one another with plots and counter-plots. What I like least is the powerlessness of some of her characters.
Posts: 4600 | Registered: Mar 2000
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I loved Faded Sun, couldn't make it through the first book of Fortress, couldn't make it through the first book of Morgaine, and liked Chanur.
My reaction to the Atevi books was mixed. I read the first six, and couldn't put them down -- rushed off the bookstore for the next as soon as I finished one, and so on. In the end, though, I was disappointed. I'd read all that. . .and for what? Nothing ever seemed to be resolved, and in the end the aliens, for all Cherryh's protestations, seemed very, very human.
Posts: 650 | Registered: Mar 2005
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ambyr, how far did you make it in Fortress? Just curious. It was a bit of a slow start for me as well.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Oh, heh, I don't even remember. Not more than a hundred pages in, I think.
If lots of people will swear to me that it picks up after that, I may hit up the library and give it another try.
Posts: 650 | Registered: Mar 2005
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Yes, if you only made it that far, give it another go. It was about that far in that I was thinking, eh. Then, as my grandmother says, Things change.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I loved the Cyteen books. I heard she was going to write another Cyteen related book soon. The Russian series was amazing, but I had to read them out of order. The Fortress series started out well but I only read the first couple.
Posts: 1014 | Registered: Jul 2005
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It picks up QUITE a bit...it did start slow, but the series is a great read, IMO.
Keep in mind that the Morgaine books aren't really books, they were short stories (at least most of them) that were serialized. That explains why the ideas are great but the writing seems a bit choppy.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I read Hellburner. I didn't like it. I had to keep flipping back and forth to understand the made up acronyms - which comprised about 20% of all words in the book.
Posts: 3960 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Thanks for the input. Midnight blue, NO this isn't a school assignment! I was short on time when I posted and couldn't think of a better way of phrasing the question properly. My reasons for asking is because I just recently started reading her work. What got me interested was "Chernevog", well, the cover art was awesome and it caught my interest when I read more about it, but I was severely disappointed when I went to the bookstore and found it wasn't there. So, I just picked up "The Fading Sun" trilogy, loved it. Then read "The Morgaine Saga" excluding "Exile's Gate"-found it interesting. I'm now finishing the "Alternate Realities" book with the three short stories, "Port Eternity", "Voyager in Night" (sorry for the misspell in my post), and "Wave Without a Shore". I like them so far. "Voyager in Night" was more like, what the? Never came across a story so free with symbols. Interesting idea though. I have one more of her books that I've not read yet. Mainly asking the questions because I HAVEN'T read most of her stuff and I'm interested to find out what others think. Personally, I think she's good, so far. I love the delimas of the characters and the uniqueness of adaptation to each delima. I like authors that push the boundaries of imagination with a sense of taste. Just trying to broaden my horizons by reading new authors and search for inspiration. One thing that did strike me as odd and I'm not sure I'm correct in this, but some of the ideas and concepts from her books seems to have been adapted by Robert Jordan in his "Wheel of Time" series-which, I must say... needs to end. Anyway, thanks for the replies! Posts: 16 | Registered: Aug 2005
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Kwea, Yeah, I know the books are older... what I was implying is that Robert Jordan may have... um... used some ideas from her. But I'm not sure of that. I agree, she's far better than Robert Jordan. I don't read his stuff anymore at all... makes me hurl, actually. Posts: 16 | Registered: Aug 2005
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