This is something of an unusual book for Cherryh. Her viewpoint characters tend to be intelligent, somewhat highly strung, and to try to use logic to navigate through their problems. Here, she gives us Bet Yeager. While Bet is certainly not stupid, she operates more on guts or instinct and determination than thought. You will frequently find Bet described as a strong woman or female character. "Strong female character" and "strong woman" are terms that get thrown around a lot in SF/F reviews, and I find them to be problematic. Mostly because they seem to be applied to young and attractive women who kick ass and take names, without any consideration of other female or feminine norms, or whether there are other kinds of strength.Jo Walton has noted that "More than anybody else, Cherryh has thought about what it would mean to live in space." Here, she's thinking about what it would be like to be a homeless woman on a space station. At the beginning of the book, Bet is sleeping in an out of the way restroom, using the hand soap to keep herself and her clothes clean. Later on, a man barges in, intent on having sex with her. And even though she could have fought him off, she doesn't, because she is so down on her luck that she barely cares (though she is hardly interested), and if she doesn't give him a hard time she might benefit from it afterwards.Please note that I'm not being judgmental here. I think this is a realistic portrayal. As the story progresses, we see that Bet's background experiences incline her toward casual but much more clearly consensual encounters. I'm not judging that either, because again, I think it's realistic and consistent with the setting and the character's background. Just noting that "strong woman" and "strong female character" tend to go with characters who, if they have sexual experiences in a story, are because of romantic feelings. Bet seems atypical of characters who get that label.I don't think Bet is weak by any stretch of the imagination. I think she's tough as hell. But reading other reviews and seeing how often "strong" came up made me ponder that label a little bit.Overall I'd give this a 2.5. As you can probably guess, this is not the most enjoyable of books to read. It's a lot like an extended character sketch and extended meditation on setting mixed together with a couple short stories' worth of events. Okay, maybe that's what most novels are ... but here the amalgamation is not good.The old review, which was taken from a brief summing up of the lesser Alliance-Union novels, and so general as to be wrong: (view spoiler)[Worth reading if you want to see what's happening in certain populations after Downbelow Station, and to see brief cameos by major characters from that book. (There are no cameos from Downbelow Station characters here. James Robert Neihart from Finity's End and Signy Mallory are mentioned, but don't actually appear.) (hide spoiler)]
One thing that I kept wondering throughout this book was if Joss Whedon had read this right before writing Firefly, because a lot of the characters in that TV show have very similar speaking patterns to a few of the characters in this book.Another book in the Union/Alliance universe and again, I am not reading these in any sort of order. Which is one thing about this entire series that appeals to me (if you can even call it a series); you can pick up any book set in this universe and get an idea of what's going on, without feeling that you've missed the first few books. This one revolves around Bet, a former Marine who got left behind and needs to hide her past and work with her enemies in order to get home... or at least get out of where she is. During the course of things, enemies become trusted friends, and those who are initially friendly turn out to not be what they seem. Everything keeps this strong and capable woman on her toes, and no matter how she's beat down, she fights to survive both emotionally and physically.
What do You think about Rimrunners (1990)?
Gritty, rough, fast paced, superbly envisioned view of military "grunts in space" - engineers, officers, a secret mission and an old hand on the edge. I really cared about Bet and NG, struggling in different ways to be whole. A great read, short but dense with action and feeling. #3 in the Union-Alliance universe. 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
—William
A friend who loves C. J. Cherryh's books urged me to read this one. She told me it would be a good introduction to Cherryh's writing. Wow. Wow. Wow. First of all, point of view. She writes in third omniscient but spends nearly the entire story in the main character's head. That character, Bet Yeager, is a Marine stuck on a space station and trying to get back to her ship and friends. The first few chapters in Bet's mind are harrowing -- she's slowly starving because she can't find work to earn creds to buy food and she can't find work because she's not exactly legal on the space station. To go through this experience in Bet's POV is uncomfortable and tense. In fact, Cherryh did an excellent job of keeping the tension ratcheted up to the very end. So good, in fact, I almost didn't believe it was the end when I got there! (smile)Bet Yeager informs the reader of the culture, her environment, and her times. She's a rough personality, used to living tough and fighting. Her world is totally plausible. Cherryh's world-building skills are exemplary.My one issue with this book deals with description. Perhaps my lack of experience with video games or hard sci fi is the culprit, but I was dissatisfied with the sketchy description, especially when it came to important things like the physical environment or the "rigs" that Bet works on toward the end. Cherryh describes action and process but not physical appearance very much. I suppose this is consistent with Bet's POV, but I sure wished she noticed more. I wanted more, and I'm usually not one to ask for more description.All in all, I'd recommend this book! An intense and riveting read.
—C.C. Yager
I didn't like this as much as Cherryh's other books I've read. I think that's mainly because I just didn't connect with the characters as well. Bet herself was pretty interesting. A former Earth marine just trying to get by in Alliance space and maybe even make it back to the Fleet. But I had trouble being interested in any of the secondary characters. NG was annoying as hell. Which he's probably supposed to be, but it made it hard to care about him. And all the other members of the ship weren't really present or fleshed out enough for me to care. Even though several of them did have some potential. I was also kind of disappointed by the lack of resolution in some areas. Bet spends a good portion of the book trying to fit in and trying to figure out the politics at work on the Loki. Then there's a sudden space battle where Bet kicks the crap out of some India marines and the book ends. So, I guess I should just assume it all worked out at the end?
—Jordan
