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iridescence93's review against another edition
4.0
4*
Brilliant writing. Slice of life scifi about people dealing with military bureaucracy bureaucracy, corruption and mental illness. The author's skill at writing makes that far more tense than it seems and the characters are three dimensional and well conceived as is the world. Defininitely an under-rated sci-fi series and author.
Brilliant writing. Slice of life scifi about people dealing with military bureaucracy bureaucracy, corruption and mental illness. The author's skill at writing makes that far more tense than it seems and the characters are three dimensional and well conceived as is the world. Defininitely an under-rated sci-fi series and author.
essinink's review against another edition
3.0
I’m not generally one to say “don’t read the summary,” but for the sake of your sanity Don’t Read The Summary. I already knew I liked Cherryh and the Alliance/Union books, and the book jacket still sent my eyebrows to my hairline.
Some years after Heavy Time, Ben Pollard has finally got his life together. He’s signed up with the UTC, put in the time, finagled connections, passed all the tests and is on track for a high security clearance position in Stockholm. That’s right, this Belter is going places.
Obviously, this isn’t going to last. At the last second, Pollard finds out that he’s been named next-of-kin to Paul Decker, and is being transferred to a secret installation elsewhere to see if he can help pull the man together. (Yes, that Paul Decker. The punching bag of the universe that Ben spent three months trapped in a ship with and the man at the center of the ensuing chaos that completely upended the politics in the Belt. Surprise-surprise, things have gone wrong for him again.)
Ben, of course, has Plans. He doesn’t want to be stuck with Decker. He has a Position waiting for him. He just wants to proceed with his perfectly mapped career in Stockholm. He deserves Stockholm.
Unfortunately, no one cares what Ben wants.
What follows is a tightly-focused story of political maneuvering, conspiracy, sabotage, and stress. Decker’s traumatized self ought not be anywhere near a pilot’s seat, but the establishment doesn’t care. He’s the best they’ve got, so they’re going to do whatever it takes to build a crew and make their super special program work. Superficially, this is the story of how those Rider Ships in Downbelow Station came to be, but it’s mostly about the human drama, and drama there is.
I spent most of Heavy Time wanting to strangle Ben Pollard. He was very good at his job, but he was also a self-serving snake of a man more concerned with profit and advantage than any kind of human sympathy. Somewhere at the end of that book he got a clue and figured out how to use his powers for good (or that might have just been survival instinct, hard to say.) Fast forward to Hellburner, and Ben has suddenly become much more sympathetic. I don’t mean to imply he had a personality transplant or anything (far from it), but the context has shifted. Instead of trying to screw somebody else over for his own advantage, he’s really just trying to stick to The Plan… and it’s just not working out for him.
Another reviewer likened Pollard and Decker’s interactions to Odd Couple comedy; I’d say that’s accurate. There’s a lot of darkly hilarious dialogue in the midst of Decker being totally off his head and Pollard being 100% Done with the entire situation. (Decker himself spends most of this book reenacting the last one. Don’t expect much development from him.)
Ben is not the only one who gets hauled out to work on the project. Meg and Sal, our Space Diva Belt Miners from the last book, are also back. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much attention is given to Meg’s PoV. Being in her mid-40s, with an injury that slowed reflexes on one side, she’s at a disadvantage. Her relationship with the much younger Decker, her past and future work as a pilot, and her political perspective as one of the old Rab give insight that the younger cast members (except perhaps Graff) lack. At the end of the day, Meg Kady is probably one of my favorite characters.
Sadly, Sal’s perspective is virtually nonexistent. She didn’t get much PoV input in Heavy Time either, but with Hellburner giving so much narrative space to Meg, it stands out. While Ben and Meg and Graff all expand as characters, Sal falls to the sidelines. (Decker, of course, is still 90% a narrative object. Things happen to him, and everything spirals from there.)
Some things don’t age well. The weirdest thing is probably the implication that Sal is the only black person on the station, and one of a scant minority in near-Earth space at all, but Meg and Sal both also face rampant and overt sexism in the program, which can be hard to swallow in this future-setting. And as I’ve noted before, the mental health departments are… shall we say unhelpful at best. But most of insystem politics and policies seem a bit backdated, and I remain on the fence as to whether Cherryh is making A Statement™ or if her writing just hasn’t aged well. (Given current politics, I’m inclined to go with the former; some things don’t change but superficially.)
I’ve waffled back and forth on the rating, because I’m a sucker for the human drama that Cherryh specializes in, but I think I’m settling at a hair over 3*. There’s a sense of rehashing Heavy Time throughout Hellburner’s pages, and watching people get ground up and tossed around in a bureaucratic machine is interesting but not always entertaining.
Some years after Heavy Time, Ben Pollard has finally got his life together. He’s signed up with the UTC, put in the time, finagled connections, passed all the tests and is on track for a high security clearance position in Stockholm. That’s right, this Belter is going places.
Obviously, this isn’t going to last. At the last second, Pollard finds out that he’s been named next-of-kin to Paul Decker, and is being transferred to a secret installation elsewhere to see if he can help pull the man together. (Yes, that Paul Decker. The punching bag of the universe that Ben spent three months trapped in a ship with and the man at the center of the ensuing chaos that completely upended the politics in the Belt. Surprise-surprise, things have gone wrong for him again.)
Ben, of course, has Plans. He doesn’t want to be stuck with Decker. He has a Position waiting for him. He just wants to proceed with his perfectly mapped career in Stockholm. He deserves Stockholm.
Unfortunately, no one cares what Ben wants.
What follows is a tightly-focused story of political maneuvering, conspiracy, sabotage, and stress. Decker’s traumatized self ought not be anywhere near a pilot’s seat, but the establishment doesn’t care. He’s the best they’ve got, so they’re going to do whatever it takes to build a crew and make their super special program work. Superficially, this is the story of how those Rider Ships in Downbelow Station came to be, but it’s mostly about the human drama, and drama there is.
I spent most of Heavy Time wanting to strangle Ben Pollard. He was very good at his job, but he was also a self-serving snake of a man more concerned with profit and advantage than any kind of human sympathy. Somewhere at the end of that book he got a clue and figured out how to use his powers for good (or that might have just been survival instinct, hard to say.) Fast forward to Hellburner, and Ben has suddenly become much more sympathetic. I don’t mean to imply he had a personality transplant or anything (far from it), but the context has shifted. Instead of trying to screw somebody else over for his own advantage, he’s really just trying to stick to The Plan… and it’s just not working out for him.
Another reviewer likened Pollard and Decker’s interactions to Odd Couple comedy; I’d say that’s accurate. There’s a lot of darkly hilarious dialogue in the midst of Decker being totally off his head and Pollard being 100% Done with the entire situation. (Decker himself spends most of this book reenacting the last one. Don’t expect much development from him.)
Ben is not the only one who gets hauled out to work on the project. Meg and Sal, our Space Diva Belt Miners from the last book, are also back. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much attention is given to Meg’s PoV. Being in her mid-40s, with an injury that slowed reflexes on one side, she’s at a disadvantage. Her relationship with the much younger Decker, her past and future work as a pilot, and her political perspective as one of the old Rab give insight that the younger cast members (except perhaps Graff) lack. At the end of the day, Meg Kady is probably one of my favorite characters.
Sadly, Sal’s perspective is virtually nonexistent. She didn’t get much PoV input in Heavy Time either, but with Hellburner giving so much narrative space to Meg, it stands out. While Ben and Meg and Graff all expand as characters, Sal falls to the sidelines. (Decker, of course, is still 90% a narrative object. Things happen to him, and everything spirals from there.)
Some things don’t age well. The weirdest thing is probably the implication that Sal is the only black person on the station, and one of a scant minority in near-Earth space at all, but Meg and Sal both also face rampant and overt sexism in the program, which can be hard to swallow in this future-setting. And as I’ve noted before, the mental health departments are… shall we say unhelpful at best. But most of insystem politics and policies seem a bit backdated, and I remain on the fence as to whether Cherryh is making A Statement™ or if her writing just hasn’t aged well. (Given current politics, I’m inclined to go with the former; some things don’t change but superficially.)
I’ve waffled back and forth on the rating, because I’m a sucker for the human drama that Cherryh specializes in, but I think I’m settling at a hair over 3*. There’s a sense of rehashing Heavy Time throughout Hellburner’s pages, and watching people get ground up and tossed around in a bureaucratic machine is interesting but not always entertaining.
lian_tanner's review against another edition
4.0
Cherryh's books can be hard to rate. This one for example. It's tech-heavy, frequently hard to understand, full of internalised angst and labyrinthine politics. Plus which I hadn't read the book before this one, which meant I was playing catch-up a lot of the time.
But ... the human stories inside all that stuff are gripping. That's why I keep reading her, even when it means not knowing what's going on half the time. She does space opera like no one else, with all the complex humanity and bitter divisions that dog our species no matter where we go.
In this particular novel, the story of the pilot who has lost touch with reality, and the friends who have been brought in to haul him back, while inter-planetary politics implode and the test program of a new ship unwinds around them, is deeply satisfying.
But ... the human stories inside all that stuff are gripping. That's why I keep reading her, even when it means not knowing what's going on half the time. She does space opera like no one else, with all the complex humanity and bitter divisions that dog our species no matter where we go.
In this particular novel, the story of the pilot who has lost touch with reality, and the friends who have been brought in to haul him back, while inter-planetary politics implode and the test program of a new ship unwinds around them, is deeply satisfying.
katmarhan's review against another edition
4.0
A bit hard to follow in places, with a (deliberate, I assume) choppy writing style to reflect the POVs of the various characters. But a solid story, with insights into the early days of the Company Wars.
leukippe's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
krzysztof's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.25
tome15's review against another edition
5.0
Cherryh, C. J. Hellburner. Company Wars No. 5. Warner 1992.
Hellburner is the sequel to Heavy Time (1991). We are at the beginning of the Company Wars when the technology of the Fleet is still being developed. The Hellburners are the riderships (think fighter aircraft) with a crew of four that protect the large carriers that are the mainstays of the fleet. At issue is the nature of the human-AI interface. Should crews be genetically engineered (Union’s solution), replaced totally by computers--or should they be run by hypnotically trained pilots who can profit from the experience of asteroid belt minors and other outer system denizens? Ben Pollard is again reluctantly drawn into rescuing Paul Dekker who is suffering from post-traumatic stress following the sabotage of his training pod and the death of his crewmates. As usual, Cherryh does an excellent job of describing the mixed motives of her characters and the political nuances and cultural diversity of her world.
Hellburner is the sequel to Heavy Time (1991). We are at the beginning of the Company Wars when the technology of the Fleet is still being developed. The Hellburners are the riderships (think fighter aircraft) with a crew of four that protect the large carriers that are the mainstays of the fleet. At issue is the nature of the human-AI interface. Should crews be genetically engineered (Union’s solution), replaced totally by computers--or should they be run by hypnotically trained pilots who can profit from the experience of asteroid belt minors and other outer system denizens? Ben Pollard is again reluctantly drawn into rescuing Paul Dekker who is suffering from post-traumatic stress following the sabotage of his training pod and the death of his crewmates. As usual, Cherryh does an excellent job of describing the mixed motives of her characters and the political nuances and cultural diversity of her world.
murraycampobianco's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this 'retro' piece filling in how the fearsome ships of the Alliance do their mojo. Now when Norway talks about its riders I know what they are!
sleeping_while_awake's review against another edition
4.0
A great sequel to Heavy Time! I would highly recommend reading Heavy Time before Hellburner to get introduced to the characters.
I thought the buildup to the end was done well. The intensity was great and, as always, I like that Cherryh doesn't explain everything to dumb the story down.
Sometimes it is hard to understand the world Cherryh has created. There's a lot of lingo and references to things that are barely explained. Although I think the world would be richer if she had went into more detail, I like that her focus is on the characters completely.
Although Ben can be annoying, I didn't dislike him in Hellburner. I liked him more than Heavy Time, which surprised me, because at first I wasn't so enthralled with him narrating much of the storyline in the beginning. I think I was able to understand his pov better. He had his reasons for wanting to avoid Dekker. Not everyone can be a saint.
Dekker seemed toned down since the last novel. Sal and Meg were the same, although they get a bit more character development in Hellburner.
I liked how the characters are kept within their bounds of knowledge and experiences. No one is making incredible leaps of logic, but instead, they struggle with their questions, while trying to not crumble under pressure.
I thought the buildup to the end was done well. The intensity was great and, as always, I like that Cherryh doesn't explain everything to dumb the story down.
Sometimes it is hard to understand the world Cherryh has created. There's a lot of lingo and references to things that are barely explained. Although I think the world would be richer if she had went into more detail, I like that her focus is on the characters completely.
Although Ben can be annoying, I didn't dislike him in Hellburner. I liked him more than Heavy Time, which surprised me, because at first I wasn't so enthralled with him narrating much of the storyline in the beginning. I think I was able to understand his pov better. He had his reasons for wanting to avoid Dekker. Not everyone can be a saint.
Dekker seemed toned down since the last novel. Sal and Meg were the same, although they get a bit more character development in Hellburner.
I liked how the characters are kept within their bounds of knowledge and experiences. No one is making incredible leaps of logic, but instead, they struggle with their questions, while trying to not crumble under pressure.
pyanfarrrr's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5