The Black-Eyed Stranger

The Black-Eyed Stranger Charlotte Armstrong Date: 1951   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Suspense

Sam Lynch is in a quandry; he has overheard a plot to kidnap (and possibly kill) a young heiress who he's spoken to exactly once, but if he reveals the plot and word gets back, he will certainly die. And the disbelief with which he is faced when he does reveal the plot inspires him to kidnap her first... but even now, if word gets back, he's liable to get shot.

This is an interesting story of someone who isn't a hero trying to figure out how to do the heroic thing for a girl he doesn't love, a man who has finally decided that his silence is untenable. Primarily, it is interesting that Armstrong doesn't do the clichéd thing and have the heroine fall for him, or he for her; in fact, she leaves the tale on an almost unfinished note. It is, instead, a tale of how an impulse can change who a person is, and how a bystander can't stand one more sordid tale.

A Dram of Poison

A Dram of Poison Charlotte Armstrong Date: 1956   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Suspense

The "best mystery book of 1956" does live up to its name. It's a simple tale; Mr. Gibson, after an accident with his much younger wife, becomes convinced that she would be much better off without him, and so he steals some poison, hides it in an olive oil bottle, and plans to take it— but ends up leaving it on the bus. The rest of the novel is almost comedic in its search, which gathers more and more people as they try to track the poison down before someone mistakenly ingests it.

Truly, though, the book is about its protagonists, and how someone can be deeply mistaken about the truth of love. It's a piece that sketches its characters simply and completely, with a bit of scorn for those who think they know everything (and demonstrably do not), and affection for those who think themselves unworldly but who know the most important things in life. Great fun if you can track down a copy.

Chanur's Legacy

Chanur's Legacy: A Novel of Compact Space (Chanur) C.J. Cherryh Date: 08 May, 2001   —   $6.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

Hilfy Chanur is sick of being related to her famous aunt. For one thing, everyone expects her to be deep in her aunt's councils, when in truth she has barely seen her aunt since gaining a ship of her own. For another, everyone examines her motives deeply, when all she wants to do is to be a trader. When a stsho offers her a great deal of money to transport an object, she is suspicious, but ends up taking the contract.

A very long and detailed contract, with addenda she didn't quite foresee. Addenda such as the stsho transporter she has to accomodate, or the fact that if the personage the object is for isn't there, she has to track gtst down, at her own expense, or determine what happened if the personage's personality fragmented into a new stsho personality. And she has to deal with a hani male who was abandoned at the station by his own ship, a male who is earnest and who wants to be helpful, but who has a little problem of exceeding bad luck— as well as the popular perception that hani males are prone to violence.

And then there's the kif, there's always the kif, but the one she's dealing with this time is a little strange (and, occasionally, bizarrely accomodating.) Hilfy, expert though she is in alien communication, is treading very deep water.

This is a fine novel, though I think it is more interesting if you have read the other Chanur novels (so as to have something to compare this newly stabilized Compact to.)

Chanur's Homecoming

Chanur's Homecoming (Chanur) C.J. Cherryh Date: 10 April, 2001   —   $6.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

Out of the impossibly tangled threads of the previous novels of the Chanur series, Pyanfar has to figure out a path of survival, not only for herself, but for her very hidebound planet of Annurn. She has allied herself to a powerful kif, but because of their means of seeing status, she doesn't dare show weaknesss lest she and the entire species of hani become savaged and possibly exterminated.

Oh, and she has to do this in the face of a governing body that both refuses to believe there is a threat and considers her a traitor to her species, a radical, and a dangerous influence, and in light of the information that the human Tully has given her, that not only in humanity spread over a huge distance, but that there are three human governments, all at odds, and all looking for advantage, hence inclined to be treacherous. Yet through force of will, Pyanfar has to prevail, or a planet-killing ship might wipe out her species.

Not a good situation. But Pyanfar does the only thing she can, and the end result is somewhat surprising (to her at least)...

Betsy-Tacy

Betsy-Tacy Maud Hart-Lovelace Date: 04 April, 2000   —   $5.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Children's 7-10

I am endlessly fascinated by children's books that were written in the first few decades of the twentieth century. To begin with, they work on a totally different set of assumptions. Betsy and her new friend Tacy run around and play with little or no supervision on their little street in their little town. That's pretty standard for older books. The kicker is that they are five-year-olds, and modern parents would be scared to let them out of their sight, let alone allow them to wander all over town, to climb the hill, and to basically do those run-around-and-play things that kids today are so sorely lacking.

There's also an incidental death, that of Tacy's young baby sister, and it's taken for granted that such things happen and that, perhaps, one five-year-old has to figure out how to best comfort another five-year-old. Such things seem impossibly distant these days. Ah, well.

Devlin's Justice

Devlin's Justice (Sword of Change, Book 3) Patricia Bray Date: 30 March, 2004   —   $5.85   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy

This book feels as though it should be bigger than it is. Seriously, it felt as though the events of this book should be epic, and yet it mostly focused in on the struggles of Devlin. That worked for the first one but isn't so good in this one, where the forces that moved in the previous books become clear. The kingdom of Jorsk is at risk, yet that feels as though it is a gloss over Devlin's life— and his final confrontation with the mind-sorcerer that has been dogging him throughout the series was so quick, I wondered if it were a trick.

Still a good read, but somewhat weak as a series-ending novel.

The Moonstone

The Moonstone (Oxford World's Classics) Wilkie Collins Date: 1868   —   $6.95   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Mystery

When speaking of the mystery novel, one commonly cites Edgar Allen Poe as one of the progenitors. However, the finished form of the detective novel was, for the most part, introduced by Wilkie Collins in The Moonstone, a book that was, at the time, panned for its distinctive method of unfolding the tale. The account of the disappearance of the large diamond and what happened to it is laid out in segments of writing by different persons, recalling the strange events surrounding the Indian gemstone. The deliberate laying out of incidences makes the tale unfold as a drama, a method which seems natural to us now but was considered a bit overwrought and vulgar in Victorian times.

This novel also does something that few Victorian novels did, which is to spend considerable time with the under classes of society. (Even Dickens, who is considered a champion of the lower classes, described the middle-to-upper-class society in more detail than the lower.) Large parts of the narrative are given over to servants, and a great deal of sympathy is spent on a few unfortunates whose looks are against them.

Mostly, however, this is merely a very accessible classic, one whose prose is not leaden but engaging. It's fun and light and silly, though the undercurrents are there for anyone who knows history.

The Stainless Steel Rat For President!

The Stainless Steel Rat For President! Harry Harrison Date: 01 June, 1988   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

A note requesting his assistance sends the Stainless Steel Rat to the world of Paraiso Aqui, the misnamed pseudo dictatorship with the "president-for-life" tyrant. Naturally, Slippery Jim thinks that the best way to save the planet from tyranny is to win a real election— naturally enough, by cheating his way past the cheater. In terms of dirty election tricks, this is a keeper, and he has to do all of this while dodging the minions of the current president. Fair enough. Admittedly, that's got to be a bit easier when you can own estate-wide shields to protect against ballistic missiles.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien   —   $20.14   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy

They say that if you like The Lord of the Rings you will not like The Hobbit, and vice versa. The reasoning behind this is pretty obvious. The Hobbit is a children's tale with all of the standard fantasy trappings, as well as the silliness which might attend it, while The Lord of the Rings is definitely adult, a solid mass of mythic storytelling that bears little resemblance to its predecessor.

In fact, the version of the Hobbit that you read today was altered in 1966 so as to be more in line with the Rings series. The encounter between Bilbo and Gollum, that familiar tale that any Tolkien fan knows so well, originally ended with Gollum letting Bilbo go, because he'd won the riddle game. This, of course, lessens the impact of the One Ring considerably, but is more in line with traditional tales.

The major complaint I have heard about The Hobbit in comparison to LOTR is the figure of Gandalf. In The Hobbit, he is much more of a foolish figure than he should be, being worried unnecessarily about certain things. If one gets into the deeper myths that Tolkien built (more on those later), Gandalf seems to be unduly worried about everything, out of proportion to his abilities. He is made to seem human, something Gandalf most certainly is not.

One final note that most people will miss; there are a few asides about the Necromancer in the south of Mirkwood, and Gandalf, at one point, goes off to help deal with him. In other notes of Tolkien (the Simarillion, if I remember right), it is revealed that the Necromancer is an aspect of Sauron, though I don't believe they realize this at the time.

The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You!

The Stainless Steel Rat Wants You! Harry Harrison Date: 01 June, 1988   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

Now we get back on track. Interstellar war threatens once more, but this time with a twist— a bunch of aliens have bonded together in order to take on humanity. Slippery Jim has to figure out what is going on in order to stop the war that humanity is losing, and that means infiltrating the alien camp. Naturally, that goes back to the high farce that Harrison does best.

The Adventures of the Stainless Steel Rat

Adventures of Stainless Steel Rat Harry Harrison Date: 15 July, 1981   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

This compilation of three novels, The Stainless Steel Rat, The Stainless Steel Rat's Revenge, and The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World, actually brings up the page count of the book to a decent size. (The SSR novels are caper novels and fairly short.) These are the first three novels that Harry Harrison wrote and they are somewhat less polished than the prequel novels he wrote later. There's also a bit more chauvinism, which, while it seems to be an act on Jim diGriz' part, is still off-putting. Slippery Jim likes his wine, women, and (money for a) song.

Of course, what function does a crook have in a extremely streamlined future society? It seems to be working for the Special Corps, that section of the League Navy which looks to catch the true psychopaths. Slippery Jim, while a crook, has a highly exaggerated respect for life, and they recruit him to catch the person responsible for a new battleship, a sociopath who has left a trail of bodies. Naturally, that trail leads to interesting complications, as Jim has to be sneakier than he ever has been before.

The second novel deals, once again, with "impossible" interstellar invasion and the forces behind it. Unfortunately, Harrison has managed to contradict himself several times with stuff he put in the prequels, which is more distracting than outrageous. It's still obnoxious, though.

The third book involves time war, and Slippery Jim has to work out how to kill an enemy that is removing his support before he can use it. This novel is, for all its interesting content, a bit dull. It's usually about this point that I start losing interest in Slippery Jim, who acts like he got his attitude from a cheap crime drama. Oh, well.

The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted

The Stainless Steel Rat Gets Drafted Harry Harrison Date: 01 June, 1988   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

Slippery Jim diGriz is out for revenge on the captain whose actions led the Bishop to his death. The problem is that this guy is not a lowly captain but the general of an army who is launching an interstellar attack. To get close to him, Jim has to pretend to be a member of the community... and then he gets drafted. What follows is a typical farce in which Slippery Jim is staying one bit ahead of pursuit, especially as he finds himself helping the Space Navy to track this horrible man down. These novels are just for fun and should not be read as anything but silly.

Going Postal

Going Postal: A Novel of Discworld Terry Pratchett Date: 28 September, 2004   —   $16.47   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy/Satire

This is Pratchett's thirtieth Discworld novel. Think of that for a moment. Thirty books. Yet Pratchett manages to keep things interesting, primarily by introducing new characters with their own lives to follow.

In many ways, this is the flip side of the Stainless Steel Rat. We get to see the down side of being conned, how it hurts people in multiple ways. We also get to see a con man who is forced to go straight.

That man is Moist von Lipwig, a name which he avoided using. After being hung to within an inch of his life (very precisely), he is offered the chance to reopen the old Anhk-Morpork Post Office. Of course, this offer comes with a golem "protector" to insure that he doesn't turn this down; Lord Vetinari is an extremely good judge of character.

It doesn't seem like much of a problem until you realize that the clacks— the Discworld equivalent of the telegraph— has been monopolized by a group of crooks who are very leery of anything resembling competition, and that the previous Postmasters all met messy ends. And for Moist, it's also a problem that his name and face are known, because what good is a con man when everybody knows him?

Pratchett's humor is getting subtler as time goes by, though there are still the occasional one-liners (such as the omniscope that keeps resetting to "that damned flaming eyeball.") You find yourself laughing not because something is funny but because it is true. And as with many Pratchett tales, it all ends for the best, but you never quite know how it's going to until you get there.

A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born

A Stainless Steel Rat is Born Harry Harrison Date: 01 September, 1985   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

Harry Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat, created in 1961, is introduced in a prequel novel here, set when Jim diGriz is seventeen. He deliberately plans a foiled bank robbery so that he can get sent to prison and learn from experts in the field of crime. However, he discovers when he gets to prison that the criminals are incompetents, so he breaks out and searches for the Bishop, a famous criminal who never got caught, and who might train him in the ways of high-tech crime in a future so distant that the Earth is less than a memory.

The Stainless Steel Rat series is simple and silly, with all the drama a cheap crime series is supposed to have. Our sympathies are always firmly with Slippery Jim, the con man who doesn't want to ever kill anybody but who is endlessly bored with the tameness of modern life. It's easy to like the guy who can get out of anything.

Treason

Treason Orson Scott Card Date: 01 November, 1988   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

This is a reworking of Card's earlier book, A Planet Called Treason. It is the story of Lanik Mueller, the heir to the Mueller family on Treason. At least, he is the heir until it is discovered that he is a radical regenerative, one in whom the Mueller trait of swift regrowth has gone haywire, giving him extra limbs and organs. His father chooses not to send him to the pens, where the rads are kept as extra limbs grow until they can be cut off and placed in the machine Ambassador.

Because the Muellers, like every other family on Treason, are trapped on a planet where there are no accessible heavy metals on the surface, trapped for a revolt that their ancestors committed thousands of years ago.

Lanik is instead sent to be an emissary, disguised as a woman. He discovers the source of a marauding family's wealth in iron just as they discover his ruse, and he is hunted down, only to end up in situation after situation that highlights the changes that have happened on his planet, and eventually, he has to make a decision about the future of the planet.

Which is a rather clutzy writeup, I know. Treason is really a coming-of-age novel, set in an unusual locale. We know nothing about the outside galaxy, or of the revolt which placed the families on Treason; or why the galaxy still keeps them imprisoned after thousands of years. We only know what Lanik knows, and understand things from his point of view. This book as a whole is superior to his other early books (Wyrms and Hart's Hope) even in its unrevised format because its clarity allows the bizarre structure of the Families to be in stark relief.

The Reluctant King

The Reluctant King L. Sprague deCamp Date: 01 September, 1996   —   $6.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy

In the kingdom of Xylar, the king reigns for five years and at the end, he is beheaded. The one who catches his head as it is flung from the scaffold is the next king— a fate that Jorian unwittingly managed by catching the head on a visit to the kingdom and its capitol. Naturally, Jorian does not want to die, and after a last-minute escape, is on a grand adventure with the wizard Karadur, who has required a task of him in exchange for his help.

The task is simply to steal a box of documents out from under the nose of a snake-princess— after, of course, escaping the Xylarians, fighting off a murderous wizard, dealing with demons and xenophobes, treading conflicting politics and pirates and ex-headsmen all the way. Jorian manages his tasks with a storyteller's flair; in fact, stories of his home kingdom feature prominently throught the books of this omnibus edition.

This is a simple old-fashioned adventure tale, though deCamp does throw in a few twists just for fun. It's not quite a popcorn book— fun but no real value— but goes in the category of a well-done action movie. It's well crafted, but who looks past the pretty pictures? This is just fun.

Star of Gypsies

Star Of Gypsies Robert Silverberg   —   $10.20   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

This is a story of those classic wanderers, the Rom, also known as Gypsies and a thousand other names. Thousands of years before, they lost their homeland, the Romany Star, when a flare scoured the planet clean. They know that after three such flares, it will be safe to return— and now, millenia in the future, they are awaiting the third, the final flare that will call them home.

Yakoub is the King of the Rom, a flamboyant man whose hope is to lead the Rom home. This book is both the story of his life and his hope for his people, and why events led to his abdication. Silverberg tells this story with a flair that makes for a vivid tale, a story that doesn't need a point (though it does, in fact, have one.) It tells of the distinction between Rom and Gaje, and why it is important. Yakoub goes from poverty to riches to slavery and all with a characteristic drive, the Star that is the center of his life. Good book.

I Hate To Cook Book

I Hate to Cook Book Peg Bracken Date: 01 June, 1960   —   Book product page Rating:

Plus The Appedix to the I Hate To Cook Book
Nonfiction, Recipe

These books were just passed to me and have been thoroughly loved. Their pages are almost translucent with oil and their recipes are marked with care. The commentary is funny and full of tips and tricks to give the reluctant cook a leg up on the world.

Why, then, such a low rating? It's nothing to do with the quality of the book— quite the contrary, I think the book is marvelous— but more with its applicability. This book and its sequel are, after all, several decades old, and certain things have changed. For example, anchovy paste is not likely to be a staple of a modern cook's cupboard, nor is there likely to be a problem finding fresh vegetables. Enchiladas are no longer considered exotic, and veal is not only uncommon, but considered a bit cruel. A large number of the basic recipes just don't seem to fit, and as the Gallery of Regrettable Food will attest, some of them seem quite appalling to our eyes.

But the style is funny just to read, and you have quite possibly grown up with many of these staples. And, after all, this might be just the book you need to get you started— there is a compilation volume available which incorporates both these books and a third as well, testifying to its longevity.

Kingmaker's Sword

Kingmaker's Sword (The Rune Blade Trilogy, Book 1) Ann Marston Date: 01 August, 1996   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy

I'm a sucker for sarcastic Scotsmen, even when they're a fictionalized equivalent. Kian, a former slave whose uncle tracked him down and bought him out of slavery, is a wonderfully funny faux-Scot, right down to the tartan. He lives in a land where Maedun sorcerers are working on conquest. His native land, Tyra, isn't particularly vunerable, as Maedun sorcery doesn't work in its mountainous regions, but the land of Skai in the island of Celi is, and Kian is hired along with his uncle to track down a lost prince to help unite the country.

Of course, that sounds more straightforward than it is. The story is told from Kian's point of view, and is colored by his wry observations. The plot would not be nearly as entertaining without them.

Beyond This Horizon

Beyond This Horizon Robert Heinlein Date: 1942   —   $6.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

I was arranging our Heinlein books on the shelves in chronological order so that I could see how his fiction developed over time. Naturally, I was very surprised to have a copy of this book at the very beginning, as I had assumed it was one of his later novels that I had yet to read. Imagine! A new old-style Heinlein that I'd never heard of! I wonder why?

Well, after reading it, there's no wonder. This is not a good book. It has a lot of characters that are typical Heinlein, as well as an interesting situation, but... but... he obviously learned a few things about writing in the time between this and Rocket Ship Galileo, his first "juvenile." The pacing's cruddy. The story is both too complicated and not developed enough. He tries to do too many things in too little time. And the apparent central thesis of the book— What happens when we die?— is given almost no time, and when it is, the answer is trite.

Mostly, however, the problem is that you get to the end of the book and wonder what the point was. Heinlein is all about points; his adventure stories are about adventure, his later books all have a purpose, but this story feels like a short-story author trying to write a novel as though it were a short story. Oh, well. At least we know he got better.

Undesired Princes and the Enchanted Bunny

Undesired Princess and the Enchanted Bunny L. Sprague deCamp and David Drake   —   $4.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Fantasy, Novellas

The first of the two stories is by deCamp and involves a hard-headed engineer who is transported to a two-value world of Aristotelian logic. Either something is or it isn't; there are no in-betweens. Red hair is flat-out red; mountains are a form of inverted cone, and Hobart's brown hair and clothes that are neither loose nor tight cause a sensation. Moreover, he can't seem to lose, as it becomes readily apparent that the local god, Nois, is on his side. Naturally, Hobart can't stand the place, and wants to get out, a desire complicated by a princess who must love her rescuer.

The second story is by David Drake, and is silly enough, involving another chap who ends up in a fantasy world where he is taken for a sorcerer and enlisted to help a young prince defeat a dragon. The problem is, he isn't a sorcerer, and the real sorcerer of the palace wants him— and the young prince— out of the way.

Both of these tales are simple lighthearted romps, but for the most part they won't bear a second reading. Go to some of deCamp's full-length books instead.

The Chanur Saga

The Chanur Saga (omnibus) C.J. Cherryh   —   $7.99   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

I first encountered this story as a filk song entitled "The Pride of Chanur", which for some reason is unavailable on the web. Pity, that. Anyway, I encountered this song at a young age, younger than I probably should have been reading this stuff (just due to complexity issues; as I've said before, Cherryh's a bit dense for your average young teen.) But anyway, the basic topic, a human-meets-aliens tale from the aliens' point of view, would be enough for a typical writer, but not for Cherryh.

Because anyone who can figure out this new species and its motivations is going to be on top of the heap.

Pyanfar Chanur first encounters this human as a refugee from a kif ship. Kif are status-concious killers, always looking for advantage, and they found and seized this human's ship, killing its crew during the interrogation process. Tully is the only survivor, an escapee who sought out the hani ship because he saw their crew members laughing.

Immediately, Pyanfar and her crew are in loads of trouble, as the kif all but start a war in pursuit. Moreover, the xenophobic stsho and the advantage-seeking mahendo-stat are involved, and the incomprehensible methane-breathing knnn are stirred up... and all over one previously unknown species.

And that's just the first book.

The only thing that bothers me about this omnibus is that the first novel, The Pride of Chanur, stands alone, while the next two are part of a quartet, a fact which I had forgotten until I was near the end of the book. It is extremely annoying to realize that you need to find more books to complete the story when you're at the end of the ones you have. But I otherwise recommend this as the story is fairly straightforward for Cherryh, as it is mostly told from Pyanfar's viewpoint.

Forty Thousand In Gehenna

Forty Thousand in Gehenna C.J. Cherryh Date: 01 October, 1983   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

At the tail end of the Union-Company war, the Union decided to colonize several planets that were hospitable to human life. Each colony had thousands of azi-clone workers, military advisors, and civilian techs, and a promise of supplies in three years.

Supplies that never came— because the colonies were designed to fail. The Union knew that the colonies, without support, would disperse and cause irrevocable ecological change, something that would give trouble to other groups attempting to build bases in the locales.

In Gehenna, however, there were other reasons for the colony falling apart. The calibans, huge reptilian earth-movers, were not entirely non-sapient as reports suggested. They also had an effect on the colonists, and new children would sometimes run off to live in their mounds. Even the colonists who stayed behind were different, and through the decades, changes happened, changes that could affect the world outside.

The back of the book talks about the relationship between the colonists and the calibans, but one assumes that the humans stay more or less the same. Cherryh instead speaks of adaptation, of learning new ways to think, and how some things are impossible without experience.

Cyteen: the Betrayal

Cyteen: The Betrayal C.J. Cherryh Date: 01 February, 1989   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

This book is set some time after the end of the war in Downbelow Station, on the planet Cyteen, which turned out the azi warriors, the clones whose skills were recorded onto them. In fact, the action of this novel takes place at Reseune, the center of the azi research, and revolves around Ariane Emory, the brilliant and twisted scientist whose genius has dominated Union politics for decades. When she is killed, a project is brought on line to try and replicate her, not just through cloning, but through as similar an upbringing as possible, in the hopes of turning out a similar level of genius.

However, Dr. Emory has done harm to some of her associates in the past. Justin, the young son/clone of Jordan Warrick, suffered abuse at her hands that has left him psychologically damaged and dependent upon Grant, his azi brother who he tries to protect from personality restructuring (with some success; after time, an azi who is not retaped learns the same as someone born, but there is still a difference in the thought processes.) He is horrified by the childhood they are subjecting young Ari to, but is powerless to do anything about it, especially as she is extremely perceptive and likely to discover his secrets.

And then... the book ends, and I don't have the other two. They sell them all as an omnibus edition, which I recommend, seeing as only having part of the story is highly annoying.

Downbelow Station

Downbelow Station (Daw Book Collectors) C.J. Cherryh   —   $7.19   —   Book product page Rating:

Fiction, Science Fiction

Cherryh does not do simple stories. As with most of her work, Downbelow Station is about one facet of a decades-spanning conflict, about the station and planet called Pell. The outer stations, Union, have been fighting with Earth Company over independence and trade. Pell Station, which has been neutral, is suddenly overset by refugees from deserted station, tipping a precarious life-support system into overload. What's worse is that at the same time that neutrality is becoming impossible, it also seems apparent that neither side is worth joining— and that both sides see Pell as something that must either be won or destroyed. Moreover, it's not just humans but Pell's native lifeform, Downers, who are gentle and hardworking, traits that could lead to their destruction in careless hands.

Cherryh weaves a complex tale with deep characters who have conflicting motivations. Translated, that means that this book is not for children; most teenagers, while able to follow the story, might well get bored. The key to this is the Lord of the Rings; anyone who has read and loved that is perfectly capable of enjoying Cherryh, though the focus is entirely different.