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yarrowkat's review
3.0
This book has a great premise, a near-archeological scope, a tendency to skip battles in favor of their aftermath, and the worst case of ellipsis-itis i've ever seen in a space opera. It works really hard to be good, and it's kind of not. But it is important. And it sets the stage, eventually, for the other 6 truly excellent books in the Alliance-Union series.
onetrooluff's review against another edition
3.0
I'm a big C.J. Cherryh fan. She writes what I consider to be fairly hardcore sci-fi. Her plots are interesting, and so is the way she presents her universes, and the technologies contained therein.
hikergraham's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
So much in sci-fi is derivative of this book that reading it for the first time in 2024 makes it feel bog standard insofar as space opera is concerned. Nonetheless, it's super interesting to see in this book the makings of Deep Space Nine, the Expanse, etc. The character work is above average, the plot tight enough, but the world building felt a tad thin; an undue amount of space dedicated to characters walking around, but their destinations being thinly described or just uninteresting. The political intrigue in the titular station is also fairly juvenile. The sequels seem to be shorter, so I'll probably continue through them if they cross my path.
elfduchess's review
DNF PG 116
Why?
This is my second time attempting to read this book and only sheer stubbornness got me this far. (Original review to follow.) This book is broken down into several 'books' and I figured reading the first one would give me enough basis for deciding if I wanted to continue it or not. I don't. If I were to talk about all the problems I have with this story, we'd be here for days ... and I'd probably run out of room. A quick list.
The entire first chapter is one huge info dump. While informative, it should have been worked into the story. This strikes me as lazy writing.
The writing style is too wordy, verbose and flat out complicated for me. The same thing could have been said in a much easier manner.
There is mass brainwashing and 'reprogramming' as well as at least one person that used their status to coerce someone that had been tortured by said brainwashing into bed with her. (And this 'her'? She's apparently supposed to be one of the 'good guys' - though it's really more a lighter shade of grey, I think.)
'Pell' the location of the titular Downbelow Station can't seem to decide what they are. Sure, they claim, repeatedly, to be 'neutral' but, thanks to this little nugget '"Your side uses that on prisoners. We don't."' I think they need to be reminded what neutrality is.
I was promised - from the back cover! - 'Interstellar War.' What I received instead was unlikable people doing boring, political things. During the first 116 pages, there is no space battles. There's not even a on-ground skirmish. Most boring interstellar war I've ever seen.
The aliens are called 'Downers' by humans and they talk like...very, very young children. '"Loves good mans. Give you gifts. No more away."' That's...annoying? problematic? something, at least.
I know this is a popular author in sci-fi, but, after two attempts, I gotta think she's just not for me.
DNF - PG 26
Why?
Partially because I feel like I'm reading a science paper, but mostly because I have to reread about a third of the sentences at least twice to even halfway understand what the author is trying to say. The style of writing doesn't work for me at all. Sadly enough, because I've heard such wonderful things about this author.
Why?
This is my second time attempting to read this book and only sheer stubbornness got me this far. (Original review to follow.) This book is broken down into several 'books' and I figured reading the first one would give me enough basis for deciding if I wanted to continue it or not. I don't. If I were to talk about all the problems I have with this story, we'd be here for days ... and I'd probably run out of room. A quick list.
The entire first chapter is one huge info dump. While informative, it should have been worked into the story. This strikes me as lazy writing.
The writing style is too wordy, verbose and flat out complicated for me. The same thing could have been said in a much easier manner.
There is mass brainwashing and 'reprogramming' as well as at least one person that used their status to coerce someone that had been tortured by said brainwashing into bed with her. (And this 'her'? She's apparently supposed to be one of the 'good guys' - though it's really more a lighter shade of grey, I think.)
'Pell' the location of the titular Downbelow Station can't seem to decide what they are. Sure, they claim, repeatedly, to be 'neutral' but, thanks to this little nugget '"Your side uses that on prisoners. We don't."' I think they need to be reminded what neutrality is.
I was promised - from the back cover! - 'Interstellar War.' What I received instead was unlikable people doing boring, political things. During the first 116 pages, there is no space battles. There's not even a on-ground skirmish. Most boring interstellar war I've ever seen.
The aliens are called 'Downers' by humans and they talk like...very, very young children. '"Loves good mans. Give you gifts. No more away."' That's...annoying? problematic? something, at least.
I know this is a popular author in sci-fi, but, after two attempts, I gotta think she's just not for me.
DNF - PG 26
Why?
Partially because I feel like I'm reading a science paper, but mostly because I have to reread about a third of the sentences at least twice to even halfway understand what the author is trying to say. The style of writing doesn't work for me at all. Sadly enough, because I've heard such wonderful things about this author.
manuphoto's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Although it precedes Cyteen and is set in the same universe, it reads very differently. Instead of a slow-paced intellectual psychological tale, we have a space opera with some deeper themes touched upon.
Despite its grand scale, lots of action, and interesting characters, I think that Downbelow Station is not as coherent or good as the sum of its parts. The different facets of the story are quite well done, but it always lacks a unifying element to make me really care about what happens to the characters and their world. Pell Station is supposed to be that link, but somehow, at least for me, it fails to evoke concern for its fate.
That being said, I found some characters well-executed. Elene is a great character, and Signy would make a fantastic villain in a movie. Josh is also interesting, and his storyline with Signy is troubling.
The rivalry between the Konstantins and Lukases felt a bit silly to me. I understand that this universe is based on the role of certain families, but it didn’t work for me. I just don’t see how human colonization of the universe could operate that way.
The other villains, or pseudo-villains, like Jon Lukas or Mazian, felt very cliché. Union is also not very well defined, although that is addressed in Cyteen.
Cherryh’s prose is less dense here than in Cyteen, so on a sentence-by-sentence basis, it was not tedious to read. Some chapters were actually gripping! But overall, the themes of the book seemed eroded by all the storylines. And I’ve not even mentioned the Downers, those “simple” aliens who stand by while humans kill each other. They are probably the most underdeveloped idea of sentient aliens I’ve ever encountered. They don’t serve much purpose, and we never really get to know them. Maybe they get more attention in the sequels, but here, they often feel dull and uninteresting, especially in the first two-thirds of the novel. A missed opportunity for me, as the core idea is actually good.
And that sums it up for me: a nice core concept, but too many ideas thrown in too many different directions. I appreciate a multilayered story; I usually love those, but here… I don’t know, it never felt totally connected or coherent. I liked, sometimes very much, many elements of this story, but I never loved the ensemble. It’s one of those frustrating novels for me because it has this “almost there” feeling—that feeling that it’s “almost” a great novel. It is good, don’t get me wrong, and it’s not a slog. But it’s not fantastic either.
aetx's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
jaminup's review against another edition
3.0
Rounded down from 3.5 stars. A lot slower than I was expecting, but I found the second half much more engaging and was happy with the payoff by the end. I'm not sure if it was just the ebook version I was reading from, but there were so many typos it was distracting, especially for an award winning novel. I may revisit the Alliance-Union Universe at some point, especially since Cyteen is on my list of award winners to read, as I did immensely enjoy the world building.