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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A first read although I have read and enjoyed other C.J. Cherryh stories just not ones in the Alliance-Union series. Loved it with minor caveats: despite being a space opera with battles in space and on land and on station, it's a slow and complicated read. Figuring out how characters align with the factional politics takes a bit of mental work, especially since this is a story about political change and shifting loyalties. The alien hisa have a little too much of the noble savage stereotype in them for my modern tastes. But the characters and situations are complex in the best way and the setting is seriously considered. Still one of the great SF novels.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
dark
medium-paced
There was some things that bugged me, but overall I couldn't help being drawn and wanting to keep reading (at least, once the book got going), even though military scifi and space opera aren't my favorite sf sub-genres.
But there were a few things that bugged me. One, the way the Downers were named was uncomfortable, seeing he Cherryh borrowed stereotyped native american naming conventions. Second the place of women. The majority of characters in positions of importance are male, and there are times when it's suggested that's the natural order (on Downbelow, for instance, after fleeing when select groups head back to work leaving others behind in safety, it's assumed that every last women will stay behind). There are exceptions, Captain Mallory and Elene Quen, people I wouldn't want to mess with, but they are exceptions. It seems that whenever Cherryh needed someone out in a position of authority, especially a minor character, it's almost certainly going to be a man.
The ending seemed a bit rushed, and took away from the satisfaction. I can't complain too much, endings can be hard, but it felt like we were gearing up towards a direct sequel even though I already knew there wasn't one (not that this book is a standalone, but the other books in the same universe don't follow on from the same plot with the same characters). I guess my main qualm is that, the situation at the end didn't seem that much more stable than any of the earlier circumstances that Downbelow station underwent throughout the novel. We only have the suggestion of the author, and the fact that this is the end of the book, to assure us that some new political trend won't overthrow the current one.
But there were a few things that bugged me. One, the way the Downers were named was uncomfortable, seeing he Cherryh borrowed stereotyped native american naming conventions. Second the place of women. The majority of characters in positions of importance are male, and there are times when it's suggested that's the natural order (on Downbelow, for instance, after fleeing when select groups head back to work leaving others behind in safety, it's assumed that every last women will stay behind). There are exceptions, Captain Mallory and Elene Quen, people I wouldn't want to mess with, but they are exceptions. It seems that whenever Cherryh needed someone out in a position of authority, especially a minor character, it's almost certainly going to be a man.
The ending seemed a bit rushed, and took away from the satisfaction. I can't complain too much, endings can be hard, but it felt like we were gearing up towards a direct sequel even though I already knew there wasn't one (not that this book is a standalone, but the other books in the same universe don't follow on from the same plot with the same characters). I guess my main qualm is that, the situation at the end didn't seem that much more stable than any of the earlier circumstances that Downbelow station underwent throughout the novel. We only have the suggestion of the author, and the fact that this is the end of the book, to assure us that some new political trend won't overthrow the current one.
In theory this book should be incredible, it’s a tale of interstellar war featuring evil businessmen, rogue captains, mind wiped enemy operatives, and other sci fi delights. It just doesn’t quite deliver in practice.
In a nutshell the plot depicts a space station that is caught in the middle between a piratical fleet from Earth (sort of) and an inhuman faction that live very far from Earth. A strong suit of the plot is that it is very easy to see why the station wants to be involved with neither faction and there is a lot of suspense as to what will happen to the citizens. On the negative side of this, I felt that so many bad things happen to the station that by the end it was difficult to believe anyone was still even alive there.
This book is pretty dark and lots of bad things happen but it didn’t have much emotional impact. From the start there is death and riots and it never really stops. It got very repetitive for me when every other page the characters had to run in a new riot. Overall though the plot is solid, unpredictable and the ending sequences were a real high point.
This book doesn’t live up to the heights it could have. I think the main issue is that the Author focuses too much attention on uninteresting things. In the beginning you follow lots of characters, which is interesting because you see different perspectives, but, if more time had been spent with the main characters I would have been more attached to them.
Also, all the plot lines with the indigenous species on the planet below the station completely fell flat. The hisa are introduced as a fairly primitive but sentient ape-like species that have been recruited for work on the station and in farming. They get a lot of screen time but it all feels pointless. They don’t really change through the novel and they speak broken English which gets grating after a while.
If this book had some cuts it would be really good but as is it’s just alright. I’m a huge Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 fan so I enjoyed coming back to space station fiction but for other sci fi fans it is not really worth a read.
In a nutshell the plot depicts a space station that is caught in the middle between a piratical fleet from Earth (sort of) and an inhuman faction that live very far from Earth. A strong suit of the plot is that it is very easy to see why the station wants to be involved with neither faction and there is a lot of suspense as to what will happen to the citizens. On the negative side of this, I felt that so many bad things happen to the station that by the end it was difficult to believe anyone was still even alive there.
This book is pretty dark and lots of bad things happen but it didn’t have much emotional impact. From the start there is death and riots and it never really stops. It got very repetitive for me when every other page the characters had to run in a new riot. Overall though the plot is solid, unpredictable and the ending sequences were a real high point.
This book doesn’t live up to the heights it could have. I think the main issue is that the Author focuses too much attention on uninteresting things. In the beginning you follow lots of characters, which is interesting because you see different perspectives, but, if more time had been spent with the main characters I would have been more attached to them.
Also, all the plot lines with the indigenous species on the planet below the station completely fell flat. The hisa are introduced as a fairly primitive but sentient ape-like species that have been recruited for work on the station and in farming. They get a lot of screen time but it all feels pointless. They don’t really change through the novel and they speak broken English which gets grating after a while.
If this book had some cuts it would be really good but as is it’s just alright. I’m a huge Deep Space Nine and Babylon 5 fan so I enjoyed coming back to space station fiction but for other sci fi fans it is not really worth a read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Story really starts about halfway through (with Book Three). If you read Book One, Chapter 1 then skipped to the beginning of Book Three you'll miss a lot of tedium. (DOWNBELOW STATION is divided in parts/books; I don't mean books in the series.)
Anyone who thinks the Mazianni are good guys has something wrong with them.
Anyone who thinks the Mazianni are good guys has something wrong with them.
actually didn't even finish this book. Rarely abandon one but this is one of the few. Just couldn't get into this book at all. Boring.
This was a little slow to start but now \i am dying to read the next in the series. Great story.
Goodreads differentiates 1 and 2 stars as the difference between "I did not like it" and "it was OK", respectively. I'm probably somewhere in between this that. I think there was a time when I would have liked this book, but that was also probably 20 years ago. Every time I would post an update, I would get likes from strangers. From that, I must conclude that this is a beloved sci-fi classic. But I was bored to tears; I could not mobilize any interest whatsoever.