Review of 'Alliance Rising: The Hinder Stars I (Alliance-Union Universe)' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
C.J Cherryh is a giant of Science Fiction. Over 80 published novels, 3 Hugos and a slew of other awards to her name. I have been reading her books since the 80s and reading this one has uncovered an urge to do a bit of a re-read of some of them.
This was great stuff, totally in my wheelhouse. Cherryh has been working on her setting for 40 years or more now and it has such a wide focus that she can just pick events in her timeline and just crank out a novel or two about that event. This is proper world building imo.
This book had all the signature Cherryh motifs. Tension being ratcheted up, people doing the best they can in tough situations and solutions being found through co-operation more than conflict.
The language is deliberately minimalist, she is writing about humans that have evolved in space. …
C.J Cherryh is a giant of Science Fiction. Over 80 published novels, 3 Hugos and a slew of other awards to her name. I have been reading her books since the 80s and reading this one has uncovered an urge to do a bit of a re-read of some of them.
This was great stuff, totally in my wheelhouse. Cherryh has been working on her setting for 40 years or more now and it has such a wide focus that she can just pick events in her timeline and just crank out a novel or two about that event. This is proper world building imo.
This book had all the signature Cherryh motifs. Tension being ratcheted up, people doing the best they can in tough situations and solutions being found through co-operation more than conflict.
The language is deliberately minimalist, she is writing about humans that have evolved in space. First in sub-light ships taking 10 years to travel between stars and then in faster than light ships where relative time difference applies. These people are going to be different and in that difference Cherryh finds the stories she wishes to tell.
Recommended.