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Posted By: Tom (Plasmid) Feb 16, 1999 - 06:43 am

C.J. Cherryh is one of the more famous of the new scifi writers.
She's known for her detailed and believable portraits of alien races-like the hani from "The Pride of Chanur" and its sequels, or the telpathic nighthorses from "Rider at the Gate".
She conveys these details in a tense, gritty, and fast-moving prose, which sometimes makes it hard to follow,but also hard to put down.

Posted By: sarahjane Oct 25, 2001 - 06:24 am

Have you read the Merchant-Alliance books. Cyteen, Merchanters' Luck, Downbelow Station etc are all great

Posted By: Corwwyn Jan 20, 2002 - 03:57 am

Heh, you listed them in reverse order.

Downbelow Station is first, then Merchanter's Luck (highly recommend this one), then I think Cyteen.

Posted By: D3n15 Oct 05, 2002 - 09:10 am

Heh.
I thought Downbelow Station was good.
The Pride Of Chanur... a chore to read (not all of it was bad, but... :p ).
The Fortress Of Owls, Dragons, Etc... not so great(although that's fantasy not Sci-Fi).
Gate of Ivrel, Well of Shiuan, Fires of Azeroth... good (sort of sci-fi...)

But... the Foreigner, Invader, Inheritor, Precursor (and more to come) series is just friggin amazing. In a sense it's like The Pride of Chanur since the main char. never has it easy, has to learn the alien language and deal with being in alien hands. But unlike Chanur, these novels feature a main char. who actually knows how to speak it already, so you don't spend a few books with minimal & mangled communication because of a language barrier (yes, the aliens speak fine to each other, but I want to hear my human char. do the talking and ass whooping). Anyway, check it out :-)

Posted By: D3n15 Oct 05, 2002 - 09:15 am

Oooh, and I missed something important:
The Faded Sun novels:
A lone human soldier confronts the last of an alien species.
Kesrith
Shon'jir
Kutath.

That's one of my top books I've ever read (got the omnibus edition so I call it one book). I'm definately re-reading this one. It's got some crazy twists to it you wouldn't expect from that blurb.

Posted By: RongFo Apr 07, 2003 - 11:38 am

I have a weird opinion of Cherryh. Most writers I like or don't like, or I like some books but not others. With her, I love many aspects of her books, but always feel like I'm still waiting for something when the book's over. I really liked Hellburner, Downbelow Station, and Cyteen, despite the vague sensation that something was missing. Russalka was cool too, but I've started and put down the sequel, Chernevog, about a dozen times. Just too much of the characters sitting around and fretting about things instead of doing anything for my taste, I guess. Don't get me wrong, her characters and ideas are great, but her sometimes plodding narrative flow often makes my spine itch.

Posted By: Esioul Aug 13, 2004 - 02:02 pm

I have mixed feelings about Cherryh, too. Two of her series I love- the Faded Sun and Fortress seris. (Serei?). But I didn't at all get on with the Dreaming Tree or Rider books, so it's odd. I think it's her interesting style of writing and well constructed characters that I like.