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heidi_mcj's review
4.0
A bit slow but ended with a bang. It was interesting to see how the universe came about. I will read the next one.
pigsflew's review
2.0
C.J. Cherryh is a great author. She is incredible at writing characters who are detailed, three-dimensional, and well thought out. That's why I was a bit confused when in this book, she describes an entire species as being communally at the same first-grade level of consciousness, and spends countless pages extolling the problems of mob mentality. It isn't her strong suit, and the book, with an otherwise interesting plot and good sci-fi elements, suffers from it.
grayjay's review
2.0
This is a long, space war novel with many characters and many points of view.
The main conflict revolves around a Planet called Pell's World (or Downbelow) and the station orbiting it, which is home to the only discovered intelligence besides humans, an Ewok-like race refered to as the Downers. Pell's World is an important port between Earth and the planets controlled by Union, and when open conflict emerges between Union, the Earth Company, and governments of Earth it is centred around control over this planet.
There are several characters on either side of the conflict including the fiery and independent Captain Mallory of the Earth Company fleet, the benevolent and charismatic Damon Konstantin of Pell Station, and the mysterious Joshua Tally of Union, who requests his mind wiped a the beginning of the book.
These three characters were interesting but the novel itself, I found mostly dull. It's a very military novel about political maneuvering and strategic planning. Not really my style.
The main conflict revolves around a Planet called Pell's World (or Downbelow) and the station orbiting it, which is home to the only discovered intelligence besides humans, an Ewok-like race refered to as the Downers. Pell's World is an important port between Earth and the planets controlled by Union, and when open conflict emerges between Union, the Earth Company, and governments of Earth it is centred around control over this planet.
There are several characters on either side of the conflict including the fiery and independent Captain Mallory of the Earth Company fleet, the benevolent and charismatic Damon Konstantin of Pell Station, and the mysterious Joshua Tally of Union, who requests his mind wiped a the beginning of the book.
These three characters were interesting but the novel itself, I found mostly dull. It's a very military novel about political maneuvering and strategic planning. Not really my style.
tricapra's review
DNF at 67%. I literally tried for months and I just can not bring myself to care about anything in this book aside from the cute lil aliens that don't get enough POV time.
metalphoenix's review
3.0
This is one of those times where I wish I could give half stars, because this book is more of a 3.5 for me.
Things I liked:
- Different POVs, giving us insight into many of the major parties involved in the Pell situation. Giving each facet of the conflict a voice helped bring a depth to the politics of the universe, and for much of the book I wasn't entirely sure who was "right" and who was "wrong."
- Josh and Mallory, for very different reasons. Josh is the character I'm most sympathetic to, from his troubled origins and Adjustment, to his loyalty to Damon and Elene. I was most interested in his story, and I wish I could have gotten more of it. Mallory, on the other hand, is a straight up jerk. She does some super questionable things, and I'm not sympathetic to her at all. But she's very REAL, and one of the most complex POVs we get in this book. Her actions, her thought processes, and her loyalties are very much analytical and calculating. Emotions do not factor in much here, and when they do it's pride and selfishness.
- The complicated politics and multifaceted conflict. This isn't a straight up good guys vs. bad guys situation. There are many factors that throw a wrench in any attempts at a two-sided showdown between Earth Company and Union, and each one is intriguing.
Things I didn't like:
- The writing. The first couple sections were particularly dense and hard to get into, thanks to the necessary info dump. The first chapter was just 300 years of history to set the stage, and while that's important, I feel there might have been a better approach. Her writing style is odd, dense but also fragmented. It reads almost like stream-of-consciousness, and important events are revealed too subtly. I don't like authors taking me by the hand, but I also don't like puzzling out meanings in the text itself.
- The Hisa. At first I hoped the Hisa would bring more to the story than just being loveable and sweet. I'm entirely sympathetic to them, and I love their society, but they're pretty pointless in this story.
- The Konstantins. Not that I didn't like them as people, but they were a little too straightforward. The rest of the characters have nuance and depth. The Konstantins are just the Good Guys, and this is evident because they're actually ~nice~ to the Hisa. This is literally the only role the Hisa have, to show how good the Konstantins are. In fact, the Hisa refer to good men as Konstantin-men, versus all bad guys as Lukas-men. This is pretty silly. In 300 years of humans being on Pell and interacting with Hisa, only the Konstantins have ever been nice to them and only Lukas has ever been mean? No one is in between? Humans are pretty much an invading species on their planet and recruiting Hisa labor for their own supply bases, you'd think there would be more to Hisa/human relations. Another thing which doesn't really make sense, since the bases are pretty rudimentary and still in the process of being built, even though Pell has been supplying stations with food and water for centuries.
I'm definitely interested in Cherryh's universe, though. I will likely read more of her books in the future, if I can get a better grip on her writing style.
Things I liked:
- Different POVs, giving us insight into many of the major parties involved in the Pell situation. Giving each facet of the conflict a voice helped bring a depth to the politics of the universe, and for much of the book I wasn't entirely sure who was "right" and who was "wrong."
- Josh and Mallory, for very different reasons. Josh is the character I'm most sympathetic to, from his troubled origins and Adjustment, to his loyalty to Damon and Elene. I was most interested in his story, and I wish I could have gotten more of it. Mallory, on the other hand, is a straight up jerk. She does some super questionable things, and I'm not sympathetic to her at all. But she's very REAL, and one of the most complex POVs we get in this book. Her actions, her thought processes, and her loyalties are very much analytical and calculating. Emotions do not factor in much here, and when they do it's pride and selfishness.
Spoiler
Even when she decides to help Josh and Damon, it's less about her being humane and more about what's best for her crew, believing that Mazian has gone too far. She respects them both for being strong and determined even under duress, more than any affection she has toward them as people.- The complicated politics and multifaceted conflict. This isn't a straight up good guys vs. bad guys situation. There are many factors that throw a wrench in any attempts at a two-sided showdown between Earth Company and Union, and each one is intriguing.
Things I didn't like:
- The writing. The first couple sections were particularly dense and hard to get into, thanks to the necessary info dump. The first chapter was just 300 years of history to set the stage, and while that's important, I feel there might have been a better approach. Her writing style is odd, dense but also fragmented. It reads almost like stream-of-consciousness, and important events are revealed too subtly. I don't like authors taking me by the hand, but I also don't like puzzling out meanings in the text itself.
- The Hisa. At first I hoped the Hisa would bring more to the story than just being loveable and sweet. I'm entirely sympathetic to them, and I love their society, but they're pretty pointless in this story.
- The Konstantins. Not that I didn't like them as people, but they were a little too straightforward. The rest of the characters have nuance and depth. The Konstantins are just the Good Guys, and this is evident because they're actually ~nice~ to the Hisa. This is literally the only role the Hisa have, to show how good the Konstantins are. In fact, the Hisa refer to good men as Konstantin-men, versus all bad guys as Lukas-men. This is pretty silly. In 300 years of humans being on Pell and interacting with Hisa, only the Konstantins have ever been nice to them and only Lukas has ever been mean? No one is in between? Humans are pretty much an invading species on their planet and recruiting Hisa labor for their own supply bases, you'd think there would be more to Hisa/human relations. Another thing which doesn't really make sense, since the bases are pretty rudimentary and still in the process of being built, even though Pell has been supplying stations with food and water for centuries.
I'm definitely interested in Cherryh's universe, though. I will likely read more of her books in the future, if I can get a better grip on her writing style.
mdstepp1998's review
3.0
Two star book during the first half and got better in the second half. It was a slow burn from the beginning. I started it and put it down for a long period of time to read other books. Never a good sign, but I’m glad I picked it back up to finish it.
A lot of characters to track, but I didn’t really grow attached or interested in any of them. Maybe that is the point and it will become clearer in subsequent books like Cyteen. All of the characters live in a gray area. The Union-Company War doesn’t hold a true good vs. evil dichotomy, but I finished the book not rooting for any side or character. The differences between the Downers and Stationers and Unioners was really interesting and probably my favorite aspect of the read.
Having recently finished Foreigner, the writing felt uneven in Downbelow in comparison. It’s not fair to compare books like that but it’s only because I read them back to back. The flash moments of space battles were difficult to visualize because of how they’re described, which was disappointing. I appreciate writers that don’t spell out every detail and emotion, but there were some key moment in the story that a few more sentences would have made a difference.
Ultimately, the story ended with strands of story that I’m interested in reading further about but not as interested as I am in reading the next books in the Foreigner series.
A lot of characters to track, but I didn’t really grow attached or interested in any of them. Maybe that is the point and it will become clearer in subsequent books like Cyteen. All of the characters live in a gray area. The Union-Company War doesn’t hold a true good vs. evil dichotomy, but I finished the book not rooting for any side or character. The differences between the Downers and Stationers and Unioners was really interesting and probably my favorite aspect of the read.
Having recently finished Foreigner, the writing felt uneven in Downbelow in comparison. It’s not fair to compare books like that but it’s only because I read them back to back. The flash moments of space battles were difficult to visualize because of how they’re described, which was disappointing. I appreciate writers that don’t spell out every detail and emotion, but there were some key moment in the story that a few more sentences would have made a difference.
Ultimately, the story ended with strands of story that I’m interested in reading further about but not as interested as I am in reading the next books in the Foreigner series.
gggggggg_g's review against another edition
4.0
This dragged out a little longer than it should have. But, I enjoyed it overall. I don't remember a lot of the details but it was a classic Cherryh.
tani's review
4.0
Humanity has spread to the stars, but as with all things human, things can't go smoothly. The Company represents an Earth-centric view, concerned with the increased wealth and welfare of Earth, through the use of resources from space. The Union represents manifest destiny, human ambition run out of control. And somewhere in the middle, we have Pell, the eponymous Downbelow Station, a neutral space that just wants to provide a good home for its citizens and good stewardship of the planet it's named for and its resident aliens.
First, to address the style issue. I lot of people find Cherryh's writing too dense and slow-moving for their tastes. I can see that, but it wasn't a problem for me. I probably have an unfair advantage, in that Cherryh's Fortress series was one of my formative favorites, and so her writing style is extremely nostalgic to me. It feels a bit like coming home. I did still take some time to read this book, but I'd credit that more to my current increased need for sleep. It's hard to make progress on a book when you're regularly falling asleep while reading it.
Second, pacing. Again, I think that my previous experience with Cherryh prepared me for this. Actually, there were points where I found the pacing to be a bit too fast! I would divide this book into 3 segments in terms of how the pacing is managed. In the first segment, the chapters are long and leisurely, and you get plenty of time with the POV character, to settle in and get comfortable. In the second section, action has risen, and the head-hopping commences. Each segment settles around a punchy five to ten minute read, and then immediately jumps to another character. Then, in the final section, we return to the more leisurely pace of the first section, where we're able to spend more time with each character and really sink into their viewpoint. In case you can't tell from my description, I highly favored the slower sections. The middle, with the constantly changing POVs, felt too frenetic to me. I couldn't settle into the action, and my reading suffered as a consequence. This is part of the reason that I couldn't give this a five star rating, despite enjoying it greatly.
Third, the most important aspect to me: the characters. This, I think, is where the book truly shines. Too often in a book with multiple viewpoints, I find myself favoring some viewpoints over others. That was not really the case in this book. There were certainly characters that I was rooting for more, that I liked better, but I never really found myself discontented with any of POVs at the end of the day. That's honestly a huge accomplishment! I was incredibly impressed that this book pulled it off, and was a big factor in why part of me still wants to consider rating this higher than I am.
Here's the kicker: Although I greatly enjoyed this, there was a good amount of problematic content that ended up being the true deciding factor in my rating. Some people have mentioned the treatment of the hisa, which is definitely a complicated issue. I have some seriously mixed feelings here. I feel like there was an attempt made to make them strong and self-determining aliens, and in some ways they are, but there's also a weird amount of content that feels quasi-religious in relation to humans (or at least one human in particular), and it was uncomfortable, to say the least. There's also a good amount of xenophobia from a wide range of humans in the book, and although it's never really portrayed as right, I think the attitude in general felt pretty dated in a way that pulled me out of the story. Seriously, if we are lucky enough to build space stations in the vicinity of sentient aliens, I sincerely hope that we are not dull enough to treat them like that.
I also found myself very dissatisfied with the treatment of sexual violence in this book. To put it bluntly, one of the POV characters is a rapist by any standard, and although the book doesn't necessarily side-step it, it doesn't address it as head-on as I wanted. There is some acknowledgement of the trauma that is faced because of it, but that's about it as far as consequences go. It's a choice, and one that I would be remiss not to mention. In fact, the ending of that particular subplot was the final blow in my ratings decision. (And makes me question whether I should dock another star, despite my personal enjoyment.)
Despite those issues, I really did enjoy this, and I definitely want to continue with the series. As to when that will happen, though...Who knows?
First, to address the style issue. I lot of people find Cherryh's writing too dense and slow-moving for their tastes. I can see that, but it wasn't a problem for me. I probably have an unfair advantage, in that Cherryh's Fortress series was one of my formative favorites, and so her writing style is extremely nostalgic to me. It feels a bit like coming home. I did still take some time to read this book, but I'd credit that more to my current increased need for sleep. It's hard to make progress on a book when you're regularly falling asleep while reading it.
Second, pacing. Again, I think that my previous experience with Cherryh prepared me for this. Actually, there were points where I found the pacing to be a bit too fast! I would divide this book into 3 segments in terms of how the pacing is managed. In the first segment, the chapters are long and leisurely, and you get plenty of time with the POV character, to settle in and get comfortable. In the second section, action has risen, and the head-hopping commences. Each segment settles around a punchy five to ten minute read, and then immediately jumps to another character. Then, in the final section, we return to the more leisurely pace of the first section, where we're able to spend more time with each character and really sink into their viewpoint. In case you can't tell from my description, I highly favored the slower sections. The middle, with the constantly changing POVs, felt too frenetic to me. I couldn't settle into the action, and my reading suffered as a consequence. This is part of the reason that I couldn't give this a five star rating, despite enjoying it greatly.
Third, the most important aspect to me: the characters. This, I think, is where the book truly shines. Too often in a book with multiple viewpoints, I find myself favoring some viewpoints over others. That was not really the case in this book. There were certainly characters that I was rooting for more, that I liked better, but I never really found myself discontented with any of POVs at the end of the day. That's honestly a huge accomplishment! I was incredibly impressed that this book pulled it off, and was a big factor in why part of me still wants to consider rating this higher than I am.
Here's the kicker: Although I greatly enjoyed this, there was a good amount of problematic content that ended up being the true deciding factor in my rating. Some people have mentioned the treatment of the hisa, which is definitely a complicated issue. I have some seriously mixed feelings here. I feel like there was an attempt made to make them strong and self-determining aliens, and in some ways they are, but there's also a weird amount of content that feels quasi-religious in relation to humans (or at least one human in particular), and it was uncomfortable, to say the least. There's also a good amount of xenophobia from a wide range of humans in the book, and although it's never really portrayed as right, I think the attitude in general felt pretty dated in a way that pulled me out of the story. Seriously, if we are lucky enough to build space stations in the vicinity of sentient aliens, I sincerely hope that we are not dull enough to treat them like that.
I also found myself very dissatisfied with the treatment of sexual violence in this book. To put it bluntly, one of the POV characters is a rapist by any standard, and although the book doesn't necessarily side-step it, it doesn't address it as head-on as I wanted. There is some acknowledgement of the trauma that is faced because of it, but that's about it as far as consequences go. It's a choice, and one that I would be remiss not to mention. In fact, the ending of that particular subplot was the final blow in my ratings decision. (And makes me question whether I should dock another star, despite my personal enjoyment.)
Despite those issues, I really did enjoy this, and I definitely want to continue with the series. As to when that will happen, though...Who knows?
stephenmeansme's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up. Deliberately (or glacially) paced, but this was a different kind of "hard" sf that makes me want to read much more by C. J. Cherry - not so much technobabble, but a deepness that makes it feel almost like narrative nonfiction. And the portrayal of the alien natives of Down below (the hisa) was quite well done. Love them.
HUNDRED BOOK CHALLENGE #7
HUNDRED BOOK CHALLENGE #7