tMarak’s world is renewing itself after the Ondat Hammerfall, but are the circumstances that led to Hammerfall renewing themselves as well? Determining this is the mission of Concord Station and the watchers who live there. Procyon, a smart young project tap, assigned to the immortal Marak likes his simple life and steady job as a watcher. Little does he know that as the planet below enters a new phase of geological upheaval he is about to become the epicenter of a political upheaval of equal proportion.tNot all life aboard Concord swirls around the events playing out on the planets surface. In fact most of the population is oblivious to it, more concerned with their jobs in the operation and governance of the station or in the latest social trends of the stylists who transform themselves into genetic works of art. But the unscheduled arrival of an Earth ship disturbs the delicate balance in ways no one can ignore; including the mysterious Ondat alien sequestered in his own section of Concord.tThis book reminded me a lot of Asimov’s Second Foundation. The political one-upmanship is never ending. The book opens with an historical review of Hammerfall and I almost bailed out. (I don't like a large dose of lore right up front.) Even if this is your first Cherryh book, I recommend skipping the history and coming back to it as a reference when needed. The body of the book is well written and engaging with a constellation of interesting characters embedded in a cluster of lesser ones, all stirred up in an ongoing political escalation. Cherry has created the most alien alien I have ever found in Science Fiction, which I found terrific.t The biological science is interesting but the geological events are not as believable. In Earth geology, when the Atlantic most recently broke through the Pillars of Hercules, it took an estimated 30 years to replace the North African salt flats with the new Mediterranean Sea. Similarly when the Bosporus was cut, the Black Sea took much more than three days to fill as Cherryh has her new sea doing in this book. Science subjugated for the sake of plot is no original sin. There are no great clashes of arms or revelations in technology in this book but I found it enjoyable as a political adventure. I recommend it for readers who enjoy human drama and politics more than for those interested in space age action.
Forge of Heaven takes place hundreds of years after the events of Hammerfall, and takes place on a space station above “Marak’s World,” a planet being “remediated” after having been bombarded from space in an effort to destroy extremely dangerous “First Movement” nanotechnology. The political and social situation in the satellite is extremely complicated, a delicate balance of three governments and two species. Our Hero is Jeremy Stafford, who prefers the name Procyon. He has a very secret, very classified job--he is one of the “taps” who communicate with the inhabitants of the planet. Specifically, he is the youngest and newest of Marak’s taps. Procyon’s life becomes unnecessarily complicated when an Ambassador from Earth turns up, wanting to investigate possible leaks of information from Marak’s World.Read this on Rena's Hub of Random.
What do You think about Forge Of Heaven (2005)?
not a lot of plot it goes along slowly until the end with nothing but dry politics, I was not impressed by it. The Idea of the story has a lot of potential. there is a world that is being watched to see if the inhabitance can recover from a nanite plague. the station on board is run by a tense agreement between three different factions. the earth and inner world, the outsiders, who are all of the humans outside of earths tight circle and then the only alien race known to man. this story could have been done so much better and by the end nothing is left accomplished.
—Dillon
Marak deserves to die; Procyon doesn’t.Only my previous good experiences with Cherryh impelled me through the first half of the book. Boring, repetitive navel gazing by half a dozen characters about whom the reader cares less as they introduce themselves more fully. The story begins about page 200.And a good story it is, told with plenty of introspection and emotion (How does introspection differ from navel-gazing? The skill of the writer.) Two excellent, believable "worlds" and a complex, engaging cast. Only three stars because Cherryh could have done better.This is the second novel recently that I’ve read the second of a series first. Usually the second and subsequent episodes are laden with so much back story that the discerning reader bails. Having significant time elapse between episodes helps.Marak and Procyon? The first is an immortal idiot who endangers himself paying too much attention to a secondary purpose; the latter a very mortal innocent endangered by forces beyond his understanding or control. I’ll leave you to discover whether either dies.
—Ron
