Faded Sun trilogy - CJ Cherryh

[Connavar]

Im just about to finish Kesrith.

I wonder what those of you have read it thought.

Since im only in the first book so far, no talk yet of the other two books please.

 

[Ian Whates]

Read these an age ago, when I was devouring everything by Cherryh I could lay my hands on. They're very early Cherryh and I think she's written better, but I thoroughly enjoyed them. Very intense, with only a small cast of characters, as I recall.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

It's been a long time since I last read it.

I think this was the book (and series) where Cherryh really began to show her genius for creating alien races and alien civilizations. I like the contrast between human, mri, and regul.

 

[Parson]

You will regret it if you do not finish the series. This may not be Cherryh's best, but even at less than her best, she is better than most of the rest.

 

[Connavar]

I will of course finish the series. I enjoyed it alot !

Intense is the right word for it. I liked the characters so much. The Mri,Kel'en was very easy to like cause of their way of life.

I liked how well she wrote the small cast. Regul was very interesting. Didnt like what they did specially their new governar but their culture with doch,elder,youngling i liked reading about. They werent as simple as the usuall evil alien enemy.

At the end i was shocked and very sad when it looked like Niun was killed for killing Hulagh Alagn-ni . Very cruel trick by the author hehe


It is not the best SF book ever but its books like this i love the genre for. The world building,seeing POV of different kind species,interesting aliens,characters you care about,interesting ideas etc

If i hadnt bought so many books last month i would have bought the other two books the second i finished this. Now i have to wait which sucks. Im looking very much forward to reading alot more CJ Cherryh ! Its good the library doesnt have any of her books, i dont think i would control my urge to read more of her now

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I know you haven't read the other books yet, Connavar, but I think you'll really like them. You'll learn much more about the mri, and I know that you already admire them.

Without giving too much away, I'll say that there are aspects of the conclusion of the series that are quite ingenious.

And spoiler (those who have already read the series can highlight to read):
I was particularly taken with the idea of a mri homeworld so far distant that neither humans nor regul are aware of it. It really emphasizes the expanse of years during which the mri have been moving from world to world across the galaxy -- and also that the mri, despite what appears an archaic culture, truly are a starfaring species and not just passengers on the ships of whoever is hiring them.

 

[clovis-man]

You will regret it if you do not finish the series. This may not be Cherryh's best, but even at less than her best, she is better than most of the rest.

Actually, I might argue that this IS Cherryh at her best. I believe I said on another thread that her writing in the Faded Sun series is "Hemingway esque". By this I mean that her verbiage is spare and to the point; no superfluous side plots and extraneous palace intrigue. And, yes, the reader is left to draw his or her own conclusions about the nature of the alien characters.

Re the Mri, I see them as Ronin, i.e., displaced Samurai who have no real home and must hire out their services to survive. But it's been a long time since I read the books, and I tend to over simplify.

 

[Parson]

Actually, I might argue that this IS Cherryh at her best. I believe I said on another thread that her writing in the Faded Sun series is "Hemingway esque". By this I mean that her verbiage is spare and to the point; no superfluous side plots and extraneous palace intrigue. And, yes, the reader is left to draw his or her own conclusions about the nature of the alien characters.

Re the Mri, I see them as Ronin, i.e., displaced Samurai who have no real home and must hire out their services to survive. But it's been a long time since I read the books, and I tend to over simplify.

Best is matter of taste. For my taste her Foreigner series is the best stuff she's ever done. Like all the rest of her work, at least that which I've read, it is meaty stuff. You don't blow through her plots and prose a hundred miles an hour. But her aliens and alien societies are so believable because they are in so many ways near to incomprehensible. As the Foreigner series has matured I find the aliens (their name flits out of my head) more comprehensible but still fully able to surprise and make me say "Mmmm, I never thought of that."

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Best is matter of taste. For my taste her Foreigner series is the best stuff she's ever done. Like all the rest of her work, at least that which I've read, it is meaty stuff. You don't blow through her plots and prose a hundred miles an hour. But her aliens and alien societies are so believable because they are in so many ways near to incomprehensible.

I have to agree with clovis-man, more or less. I wouldn't call the prose in Cherryh's early books spare, but I do think the plots are a bit more streamlined, and that's to the good. For me, some of her later books come across as bloated. The plots become more complicated and tangled, but I don't feel the writing gains in depth because of that.

In the Faded Sun the aliens are very alien, and I think the books provide a pleasing challenge to the reader because of that. But there are no distracting sub-plots.

 

[AE35Unit]

Im just about to finish Kesrith.

I wonder what those of you have read it thought.

Since im only in the first book so far, no talk yet of the other two books please.

What kind of stories are these Conn?

 

[Parson]

I have to agree with clovis-man, more or less. I wouldn't call the prose in Cherryh's early books spare, but I do think the plots are a bit more streamlined, and that's to the good. For me, some of her later books come across as bloated. The plots become more complicated and tangled, but I don't feel the writing gains in depth because of that.

In the Faded Sun the aliens are very alien, and I think the books provide a pleasing challenge to the reader because of that. But there are no distracting sub-plots.

Teresa,

You are the author and the expert. So I'm sure that you have a better feel for what is good than I do. I just know that I found the "Faded Sun" trilogy fine reading but it did not suck me into the plot nearly like the "Foreigner" series has. It does seem like we disagree quite a bit (I remember another thread) about what we like to see in a SF novel. Maybe that's a good thing.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Teresa,

You are the author and the expert.

No, I'm just another reader with my own taste in books. And I happen to be a reader who feels that as Cherryh's books became more massive some things were ... I almost said lost, but what I really mean is obscured. And those things happened to be the ones I loved in the beginning. Seemingly, for you, the change resulted in writing that provided more of the kind of things you like.

My position is that her early books, like the Faded Sun trilogy, give a clearer idea of her unique strengths. They are still there in the later books, but you have to go through layers and layers of other things -- perhaps excellent in themselves, but to my taste over done, besides being available elsewhere -- to get at the essential Cherryh.

 

[clovis-man]

My position is that her early books, like the Faded Sun trilogy, give a clearer idea of her unique strengths. They are still there in the later books, but you have to go through layers and layers of other things -- perhaps excellent in themselves, but to my taste over done, besides being available elsewhere -- to get at the essential Cherryh.

I think you and I are on the same page here. But I have to say that some of her more recent work (I'm thinking of Hammerfall [2001] and Finity's End [1997]) has been enjoyable without having to filter through what, to me, are superflous elements. Both of these are tightly drawn and absorbing.

 

[Bick]

I was always struck by some similarities between the Mri and the Fremen, as well as by similarities in the tone and settings of the Faded Sun books and Dune. Is it just me, and does anyone know if Cherryh was a fan of Herbert's work and had any inspiration from it?​

 

[Vince W]

The reason I purchased The Faded Suns trilogy in the first place is because the cover reminded me of the Fremen in Dune. I'm about to start reading this book.

 

[clovis-man]

I was always struck by some similarities between the Mri and the Fremen, as well as by similarities in the tone and settings of the Faded Sun books and Dune. Is it just me, and does anyone know if Cherryh was a fan of Herbert's work and had any inspiration from it?​

The Mri are indeed a warrior class, but that represents both a strength and a weakness for them. They also seem to be somewhat displaced from their ideal environment; not a handicap of the Fremen as I interpret it. Small points, I know.

Ms Cherryh is within a month of being the same age as me. I first read Dune in the Analog Magazine serialized version when it was first published in 1965. I imagine she had the same opportunity at a similar stage in life. All else would be sheer speculation.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

And yet the Mri are more adaptable than the Fremen, I think. The Mri constantly move on from world to world. It is difficult to even estimate how many worlds they have lived on. It would be equally (or more) difficult, to imagine the Fremen doing the same.

 

[Connavar]

And yet the Mri are more adaptable than the Fremen, I think. The Mri constantly move on from world to world. It is difficult to even estimate how many worlds they have lived on. It would be equally (or more) difficult, to imagine the Fremen doing the same.

I did read Dune just before i read the first two books of this series and i did compare the alien like human cultures. The weird elements to them and i did find Mri to be more adaptable, they could live,survive other places than their original home.

 

[Bick]

And yet the Mri are more adaptable than the Fremen, I think. The Mri constantly move on from world to world. It is difficult to even estimate how many worlds they have lived on. It would be equally (or more) difficult, to imagine the Fremen doing the same.

Yes, that's a good distinguishing point. The Mri had been on 120 worlds apparently.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

And since we don't see all those worlds, we don't know what sort of climates and conditions they had to adapt to. They may not be primarily a desert culture, whatever their origins.

It is interesting that after all that time and all those different places the structure of their society remained so much the same. Or maybe it didn't. Maybe there were changes such that an outsider like Duncan would need a lot more time to recognize.