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A review by essinink
Alliance Space by C.J. Cherryh
5.0
So, this is my new recommended starting point for those who aren’t sure about Cherryh or her Alliance-Union ‘verse, and don’t want to jump into Downbelow Station. Alliance Space is an omnibus publication of two novels that really don’t have much in common: Merchanter’s Luck (1982) and 40,000 In Gehenna (1983). The first is a short and fast-paced space adventure, the latter is a generational novel set on an alien planet. Between the two, I think the reader gets a good overview of Cherryh’s strengths, and some introduction to her weaker stock characters.
I read and enjoyed Merchanter’s Luck earlier this year, so the rest of this review is entirely concerned with 40k.
Shortly after the end of The War, Union (a genengineering space state) sends a handful of citizens and 40,000 azi (a lab-cloned, brainwashed slave class) to the planet Gehenna II. Gehenna is temperate, and supposedly devoid of sapient life, making it an ideal colony world. But the resupply ships never come, and the superficially lizardlike calibans are more than they seem. To survive the next three centuries, the human descendents of the azi partner with the calibans and become something new.
Generational novels are hit-and-miss with me. I thought that Sue Burke’s Semiosis was tiresome, but enjoyed both Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time and Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy (even though the latter had creeptastic ethics). The difference seems to come down to the ever-nebulous quality of ‘execution,’ but this is one of the good ones.
At the beginning, the azi are horrifying. It’s not so much them as individuals, but the fact of their existence. This is a class of lab-designed humans whose will, morality, and dreams are all pre-designed by the State. They are ‘happy,’ because they have no choice to be otherwise. Their born children do not suffer this state, and that changes things. As terrible as the political abandonment of the colony is, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful for ensuing generations.
From colony inception, to colony collapse and the rebuilding of civilization 40,000 skips around a bit. It becomes clear early in the book that there’s a lot more to the native calibans than the survey team assumed, but Cherryh doesn’t make the mistake of lifting the curtain on motivations. From beginning to end, the calibans remain alien, and in that alien-ness, they reshape the new human population to their own ends.
When spacefaring humans inevitably re-discover Gehenna, they’re faced with a Trekian conundrum: a first-contact scenario with their own species. The resulting debates, conflicts, and assumptions are slow-paced but fascinating. There’s a lengthy section of conflicting scientific reports and theories that reads very true-to-life, alongside the ethical debate of introducing advanced technology to what is now a nascent alien culture. The overall focus remains planetside, but the reader does get tantalizing glimpses into the wider political situation.
If you’re a reader who likes action, this probably isn’t the book for you. This is a story of civilization over 200+ years; it’s all about a population and its environment. As such, there’s not much in the way of heart-stopping action. It’s more like history. Sometimes events occur in close detail, and other times you blink through a massive timeskip to get to the next ‘big moment.’ I should warn you that character names do repeat, but maps and generational charts are provided at opportune moments.
5* to 40k, and 4* to Luck makes this a volume that rounds up to the full 5*. Go forth and enjoy~
I read and enjoyed Merchanter’s Luck earlier this year, so the rest of this review is entirely concerned with 40k.
Shortly after the end of The War, Union (a genengineering space state) sends a handful of citizens and 40,000 azi (a lab-cloned, brainwashed slave class) to the planet Gehenna II. Gehenna is temperate, and supposedly devoid of sapient life, making it an ideal colony world. But the resupply ships never come, and the superficially lizardlike calibans are more than they seem. To survive the next three centuries, the human descendents of the azi partner with the calibans and become something new.
Generational novels are hit-and-miss with me. I thought that Sue Burke’s Semiosis was tiresome, but enjoyed both Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Children of Time and Butler’s Xenogenesis trilogy (even though the latter had creeptastic ethics). The difference seems to come down to the ever-nebulous quality of ‘execution,’ but this is one of the good ones.
At the beginning, the azi are horrifying. It’s not so much them as individuals, but the fact of their existence. This is a class of lab-designed humans whose will, morality, and dreams are all pre-designed by the State. They are ‘happy,’ because they have no choice to be otherwise. Their born children do not suffer this state, and that changes things. As terrible as the political abandonment of the colony is, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful for ensuing generations.
From colony inception, to colony collapse and the rebuilding of civilization 40,000 skips around a bit. It becomes clear early in the book that there’s a lot more to the native calibans than the survey team assumed, but Cherryh doesn’t make the mistake of lifting the curtain on motivations. From beginning to end, the calibans remain alien, and in that alien-ness, they reshape the new human population to their own ends.
When spacefaring humans inevitably re-discover Gehenna, they’re faced with a Trekian conundrum: a first-contact scenario with their own species. The resulting debates, conflicts, and assumptions are slow-paced but fascinating. There’s a lengthy section of conflicting scientific reports and theories that reads very true-to-life, alongside the ethical debate of introducing advanced technology to what is now a nascent alien culture. The overall focus remains planetside, but the reader does get tantalizing glimpses into the wider political situation.
If you’re a reader who likes action, this probably isn’t the book for you. This is a story of civilization over 200+ years; it’s all about a population and its environment. As such, there’s not much in the way of heart-stopping action. It’s more like history. Sometimes events occur in close detail, and other times you blink through a massive timeskip to get to the next ‘big moment.’ I should warn you that character names do repeat, but maps and generational charts are provided at opportune moments.
5* to 40k, and 4* to Luck makes this a volume that rounds up to the full 5*. Go forth and enjoy~