Downbelow Station by CJ Cherryh

[Parson]

I have a humorous story about Cyteen and CJ Cherryh. Some years ago I was corresponding with her and she said that sometimes at book signings she would take Cyteen out of the hands of children and tell their parents that it was not a book for preteens. I chuckle when I think about the reaction that must have gotten. But she also won my respect.

 

[Connavar]

I picked up Downbelow again just tonight. I had finished a good RAH book and was in the right mood for Cherryh. Suddenly Downbelow was very easy to get into. Like everything i see so far. The different characters,sides,ambitions etc

Only thing i wonder about is the timeline. Was the 5/22/52 thing explained ? Maybe i dont remember what it stood for or they explain it later in the book ??

 

[Pyan]

May 22nd, 2352, Conn.

I'm not sure if it's explained in DS, but it's in the official timeline , most of which is also on CJC's official site.

(Contains spoilers, though - careful. But that's the date, anyway!)

 

[Connavar]

I have been to that site with all the timelines. Which is why i asked in this thread cause i feared the spoilers that didnt mean anything before but everything now that im reading Alliance/Union U.

 

[Beamer]

I always loved the various story lines in the Union Alliance universe and wished she would write more. I particularly liked the Chanur stories. Next time I am unable to find something new to read I may reread the whole set as its been a few years.

 

[Werthead]

AD 2352. Humanity is divided into two factions, the Company which rules over Earth and the Sol system, and the Union, which rules over the outer colonies and worlds. In between are a narrow band of independent stations, nominally loyal to the Company but open to all traders and merchants. For years the Company and Union have been at war, but Earth's appetite for conflict is dwindling. In the end they have withdrawn practical support for their offensive fleet under Captain Mazian, leaving him a rogue agent whose goals and loyalties are suspect.

Caught in the middle of these turbulent times is Pell Station, circling the planet Downbelow in the Tau Ceti system. The closest independent station to Earth, it is a logical place for refugees from the warzone to flee to, straining resources to the limit. The Konstantin family which controls Pell Station struggles against the competing demands of Mazian's fleet, the refugees, the station's existing complement and the Company, and must also guard against infiltration from the Union, whose vast resources are finally gaining the upper hand in the conflict.

Downbelow Station was originally published in 1981, winning the Hugo Award for Best Novel the following year. It seems to be regarded as the best entry-point for Cherryh's Alliance-Union setting, a vast future history spanning centuries of mankind's expansion into space and its division between different factions, and the various conflicts it faces. The setting encompasses several dozen novels published out of chronological order and divided into confusing sub-series, making it perhaps the serious SF counterpart to Terry Pratchett's Discworld work in being slightly daunting for newcomers. Luckily, Downbelow Station makes a solid starting point for those interested in exploring the setting.

The novel is classic space opera. An opening prologue sets out the history of humanity's expansion into space and the background of the Company Wars before we are dropped straight into the action, with the personnel of Pell Station, the mining settlement on Downbelow and the carrier Norway all struggling to handle the refugee crisis. Cherryh successfully gives the impression that this is an ongoing story and history, where we are simply dropping in to observe a crucial moment and are then pulled out again at the end. This process works quite well.

Overall, the book is solid, with some interesting characters who are drawn with depth, but where what is left unsaid about them (particularly Mazian, Mallory and Josh) is as important as what is. There's also a nice inversion of cliche, with an initial figure who appears to be the typical bureaucratic buffoon is later revealed as a more intelligent and interesting character. There is also a fair amount of ruthlessness in the book, with major characters disposed of with little forewarning, but also a reasonable amount of humanity and warmth. Cherryh has a reputation for creating interesting alien races, and whilst the native 'Downers' of Downbelow are initially simplistic, they rapidly become better-drawn as the story proceeds as their full potential emerges, even if they're not really all that 'alien'.

On the minus side, after the initial burst of action accompanying the refugee fleet's arrival, the novel takes a good 200 pages or so to fully work up to speed. During this period the book becomes bogged down in Cherryh's sometimes odd prose and dialogue structures (terse, short sentences short on description are favoured throughout). The lack of description extends to the worldbuilding and even space combat. We are given very little information on what weapons the ships use in battles (mentions of chaff suggest missiles, but we are never told that for sure), whilst the economic structure of the merchant ships and the independent stations appears under-developed. Those used to the immense, Tolkien-in-space-style SF worldbuilding of modern SF authors like Peter F. Hamilton and, to a lesser extent, Alastair Reynolds, may find the thinness of the setting somewhat unconvincing (at least at this early stage). In addition, Cherryh's use of technology is somewhat inconsistent. None of the humans use implants, there are no AIs or robots, and everyone taps commands manually into computer consoles, yet at the same time there are also sophisticated memory-altering techniques and FTL drives.

Downbelow Station (***½) is ultimately a good novel and an intriguing introduction into what could be an interesting SF setting. However, it suffers from occasionally obtuse writing and some unconvincing worldbuilding, and it certainly isn't better than The Claw of the Conciliator, The Many-Coloured Land and Little, Big (the books it trounced to win the Hugo). The novel is available now in the USA, but has no current UK edition. Imported copies are available via Amazon.

 

[Fishbowl Helmet]

In my SF wanderings I've only recently had the opportunity to pick this up and start reading it. I must say that I'm not impressed after only reading the first chapter. The entire 3500-some-word first chapter is narrative summary and info dump, a rather tedious one at that. Looking at the last post in the thread, the comment that "after the initial burst of action accompanying the refugee fleet's arrival, the novel takes a good 200 pages or so to fully work up to speed." Does not imbue me with confidence.

Could someone who's finished the book chime in and help me out here? The first chapter's an utter bore. And according to the quoted comment there's only a spot of action, which I'm assuming is in the next few chapters (2-5), then the novel gets even slower and more plodding...? Literally nothing has happened by the end of the first chapter, it's pure history lesson / narrative summary / info dump. And it gets slower from there? Not sold on that idea at all.

 

[J-Sun]

The first two Cherryh books I read were Serpent's Reach and Downbelow Station and I wasn't thrilled with either of them at first (even after reading them all the way through, which should really fill you with confidence). But I gave them another try after getting the hang of Cherryh and really liked DS. (SR is not bad either, but DS is better.) I now have almost 40 Cherryh books so it worked out. If you can make it through DS (just to store the info) and then read the other Merchanter novels, such as Merchanter's Luck, Rimrunners, Tripoint, etc., and especially the Heavy Time/Hellburner duo (which are prequels so might not be a bad place to start, or to go next) which are much leaner, you might enjoy them more and then DS might open up to you like it did me. Some people just dive in and love it from the start (obviously enough Hugo voters did) but I think many people find it a bit much at first. It actually gets quite exciting once it gets going once you're more invested with the universe.

If none of that does it for you, there's always the Chanur books to see if her aliens do it for you (the hisa aren't definitive Cherryh aliens by any stretch - the Union/Merchanter Alliance subseries is basically all-human). I like the Faded Sun even more but it's extremely dense. Ditto Parson's favorites, the Foreigner books, IIRC. And there's also her fantasy if you have any interest in that. I know life's short but I wouldn't recommend giving up on DS and definitely not on Cherryh, but she doesn't work for everyone.

 

[J-Sun]

Re-reading this thread, I see that almost everyone says "it's tough, slow-going, hard to get into, etc etc" but they most all seem to say "glad I stuck with it, persevered, etc etc."

Aha, a definite tie in. Those who, like myself like the Cherryh "Union / Alliance" universe, like the K.S. Robinson multicolour Mars series, and those who don't, don't.

Blast from the past but I have to say I don't fit that - didn't like Robinson's Mars. There are many things critically different for me, but I can definitely see certain aspects that would have crossover appeal, so I may well be in a minority.

 

[Bugg]

*cough*Thread resurrection*cough*

Re-reading this thread, I see that almost everyone says "it's tough, slow-going, hard to get into, etc etc" but they most all seem to say "glad I stuck with it, persevered, etc etc."

I first read this book in the mid-80s and really struggled, didn't like it at all, and stayed away from Cherryh thereafter until just a couple of years ago. Now I've returned to it, off the back of reading eight or nine of her other books, and I have to say I have loved it from start to finish. It may be because I'm now used to her style, but I've raced through it and found it riveting from the word go. Funny, how tastes change.

One error I noticed this morning: there's a switch of locations where she briefly gets the hisa Bluetooth confused with Bounder, so that Bluetooth was one moment on the station and the next down on the planet. I was briefly confused

 

[Bick]

I just started this today. It's one of those books I should have read but never did I think. Anyway, after reading this thread again, it will be interesting to see I how I find it. I liked The Faded Sun books, though the writing was pretty dense I thought. This seems a little easier so far, in fact.

 

[Parson]

The operative word is "somewhat." I don't think Cherryh knows how to write novels that aren't dense. A very fine author indeed.

 

[J Riff]

I agree, worth the effort. Had a roomie who was addicted and read through all her stuff and he seems fine today.

 

[Bick]

Well, if the start is supposed to be a bit slow and it's commonly considered to be a little hard to get into, I should be okay with it. I'm on page 85 and its been a relatively easy read, and very entertaining so far. The situation and setting rather reminds me of DS9 from the Star Trek universe (without all the aliens). They had to deal with refugee malcontents on the space station on that show didn't they?

 

[Parson]

That was certainly one of the story lines on DS9.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

Also "brown sector" in B5?

 

[2DaveWixon]

I just started this today. It's one of those books I should have read but never did I think. Anyway, after reading this thread again, it will be interesting to see I how I find it. I liked The Faded Sun books, though the writing was pretty dense I thought. This seems a little easier so far, in fact.

Two cents' worth: I had a little trouble getting into DOWNBELOW STATION back when it first came out; but over the years, with exposure to others of the books C.J. has set in that universe, I have found that it's simply one panel of the huge painting in the author's mind -- and a reader with patience will come to see the connections, and the reading then gets easier on the second, third, etc., time around... So now I ache, awaiting further installments!

Dave Wixon

 

[Bick]

Thanks for that Dave. I'm going a little slowly with it, but that has much more to do with being busy with work than the book, I've not had much time the last few days it seems. That said, I am on about page 300 - I'm enjoying it and looking forward to reading more. Having read the Faded Sun series already, this seems like a lighter read to be honest. I think it was J-Sun who described Faded Sun as 'dense', and that is a perfect description.

 

[clovis-man]

Having read the Faded Sun series already, this seems like a lighter read to be honest. I think it was J-Sun who described Faded Sun as 'dense', and that is a perfect description.

I've always considered the Faded Sun series and most of the "Company Wars" novels as fairly accessible. Didn't care for Heavy Time or Hellburner, but found Merchanter's Luck and the rest quite enjoyable. On the other hand, brace yourself before dipping your toe into the "dense" waters of the Cyteen universe. I got through all three books, but just barely.

 

[Bugg]

Two cents' worth: I had a little trouble getting into DOWNBELOW STATION back when it first came out; but over the years, with exposure to others of the books C.J. has set in that universe, I have found that it's simply one panel of the huge painting in the author's mind -- and a reader with patience will come to see the connections, and the reading then gets easier on the second, third, etc., time around...

This is exactly what's happened/is happening with me