Forty Thousand In Gehenna (1984) - Plot & Excerpts
I'll admit that the cover was close enough to Dragonriders of Pern to make me uneasy (not to disparage McCaffrey's work--it has simply been a while since I've wanted to read that sort of story), and the background made it sound like yet another "technologically advanced humans encounter peaceful, tranquil aliens who have not been tainted by human greed and failings story" (along the lines of, say, Le Guin's "The Word For World is Forest," or Cherryh's earlier Downbelow Station). Not that there's anything inherently wrong with such a story; I've just seen it's thematic scope played out enough times for the scenario to have lost its luster. So, yeah, I put off reading this for a while.Now I did finally pick it up, and am quite glad that I did. It's an excellent depiction of a truly alien and unknowable intelligence, perhaps up there with Niven's The Mote in God's Eye as one of the better realizations of first contact with a wholly non-human-based species, here taken in less of a "biologically unfamiliar" path and more of a "sapience that defies human categorizations of intelligence" route.The book's plot structure is... odd, seeing as the first third sets up the initial cast and first few years of the colony, then peters pretty slackly into a fast-forward, one-scene-every-few-years, tell-not-show structure that sees the whole cast we've been introduced to die in rapid succession, then the second half of the book pick up (after a few stepping stones) 200 years down the road. Still, it succeeds at intimating the fringes and sharp highlights of a much broader story, most of which is not told but fits within my trained eye as a reader for the shapes of stories in general, and... I like that. I like when the author has the respect enough for the reader not to have to belabor points; has a fresh enough, complex enough, dense enough collection of ideas and thematic thrusts that that meaning can be folded into what is conveyed without having to be explicitly addressed; and when the author has the writing chops to pull off such a "larger/deeper than what's written" story, leaving things that needn't be said to be understood, left unsaid.The book also definitely delves into some of the more interesting aspects of Cherryh's larger shared world, like the cloned, tank-bred, hypnotic-tape-educated azi workforce that makes up the vast majority of the Union (and has let the Union outbreed Sol and the Alliance).I have some complaints about the lack of creativity in resolving certain Gordian Knots that the story poses:(view spoiler)[That, for instance, the peaceful nation's army defeats the warlike nation's army simply because Cherryh Wanted the Good Guys to Win (or, to grasp for some modicum of explanation, that "Elai's Pattern attracted a more powerful caliban, so the virtue of that Pattern was translated into victory by dint of Right Makes Might").That is to say, the peaceful nation's frail, lame leader rides into battle on her caliban and her caliban kills the warlike nation's warlike leader. Because, after all, when it comes down to Might vs Cunning, a direct confrontation in which Cunning out-Mights Might is definitely the proper thematic resolution. As opposed to, say, summoning the seabeasts with which she has had prior interactions so they'll slaughter the warlike nation's army as it tries to ford the river, or something--which I thought was gonna happen thanks to a few textual clues, a couple guarded conversations, and, well, the fact that that's how Elai was first lamed in the first place. But no, no tricks up her sleeve, just another conflict resolved by force. (hide spoiler)]
Note: Read this book before Cyteen...A very unusual and wonderful book, exploring a colonisation of an alien world, complete with 40,000 "slaves" (lab-grown humans) stacked in spaceships for months, and landing on a planet with alien animal species. The book takes place over a period of 200 years, with a short epilogue 100 years after that.Through weather and a misunderstanding of the aliens, the main base collapses and a slow anarchy ensues. No further support spaceships arrive, and a reversion to stone age life takes place in the space of 10-20 years.This is a superbly written exploration of what might happen, and perhaps at one time on earth did happen - say a slave ship crashing on a remote island, and a society devolving over time.Fascinating work by Cherryh, with deeper themes than in many of her books. This is not a "Space Opera" but is true Sci-Fi, not fantasy.This book can be read completely separately - very little of the Union/Alliance universe needs to have been read before you start this one.Brilliant work.For Cherryh, the Alliance-Union universe books are (mostly) fantastic -* In order to read:Downbelow Station (1981) - Superb!!Merchanter's Luck (1982) - Perhaps her best ever!Rimrunners (1989) – Very good!Heavy Time (1991) - good, but long windedHellburner (1992) - good, but long windedTripoint (1994) - very goodFinity's End (1997) – SuperbForty Thousand in Gehenna (1983) - good but uneven, important for Cyteen and RegenesisCyteen (1988) – SuperbRegenesis (2009) - Superb
What do You think about Forty Thousand In Gehenna (1984)?
This novel, set in the Alliance-Union universe, may be science-fiction, but it's really about what happens when language fails. Since it's a written text, there's a certain level of narrative distance from the events, as it moves across several generations of "settlers" and their descendants on a planet where everything is exactly as it is, and nothing is what it seems, unless you know how to, as St. Augustine put it in his "On Christian Doctrine," read rightly. And none of the protagonists know how to do so.It's a complicated and phenomenally interesting novel, but it's not for someone who needs an explosion on every other page.
—Laurel
After slogging through a couple other books that were good ideas executed with great mediocrity, it's really nice to read a book that's a great idea executed well. No wonder C.J. Cherryh has won so many awards for her novels.As for the story itself, it's a fascinating account of human attempts to colonize a planet inhabited by alien lifeforms that defy classification in human terms. By the time off-world assistance comes back into contact, the human society has developed into something alien itself, as it assimilates to the native lifeforms. The space-farers are forced to adjust their whole mindset in order to re-establish contact and communications with the colonists.
—Tim
I will attempt to convey exactly how I feel using this review (but will fail miserably)...Forty Thousand in Gehenna is an absolutely fantastic work of science fiction. In every sense of the word.I am completely in awe with what Cherryh has done with this story. I won't go into detail, because I simply won't do it justice. Just read this book. However, I would say, if you've never read Cherryh before, start elsewhere. Cherryh is an amazing writer, but she makes the reader "work." If you're not used to this, a lot of this book's fine details might go unnoticed. Also, be warned, if you like light-hearted "cupcake" books, or other short books that are easy to read and always have happy endings, don't even bother with this one, or most of her work for that matter. Cherryh is good because her fiction is packed full of Real, flawed characters that are much more human than most characters in the genre. The stories are full of heavy emotion. Many people will say that her stories are dark and ominous--and they are. But I would argue they are like that because she is so good at creating characters you really become attached to that happen to be subjected to unforgiving, real-world situations and they do the best they canI feel that C.J. Cherryh is one of the most underrated authors of our time. I'm still baffled that I happened to discover her by digging through a stack of old books on a base in Afghanistan, only for her to quickly become my favorite author. But even today, if I mention her name to friends and family, few have heard of her. It always had me scratching my head, because her work is so unlike anything else I have ever read. Where as Asimov, Clarke, and many others who have gone on to imitate them write to plant ideas in your head (don't get me wrong, I like their work too), Cherryh writes the way a composer writes a symphony, or the way an artist paints a priceless masterpiece. Every note, every brush-stroke, every word, sentence, and paragraph has to be perfect. This is why, among Cherryh fans, they will often say she is so consistent with writing great books.Forty Thousand in Gehenna is an amazing book, read it.
—Luke
