Downbelow Station (20th Anniversary) (Daw Book Collectors) by C. J. Cherryh
|
List Price: Our Price: $3.95 You Save: $4.04 (51%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.25 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Downbelow Station (20th Anniversary) (Daw Book Collectors)
Book Review: Near-classic novel is still fresh
Summary: 5 Stars
Downbelow Station is the first novel in the "Merchanter" cluster -- not a series in the usual sense, but a group of novels set in the same universe and including some overlapping characters. The world it depicts is a harsh and unforgiving one, and C.J. Cherryh's characters are its flawed and very human inhabitants.
One strength of this author's style is the sense she conveys that the reader is being offered a temporary window into the main characters' lives, and that those lives somehow continue on beyond the glimpse we get in the timeline of the novel. Some readers, though, might find the lack of pat endings to be frustrating.
Known for her complex worldbuilding, Cherryh outdid herself with Downbelow Station. The novel deservedly won the Hugo Award in 1982, but it's hard to believe this work is already 26 years old. Like much of Cherryh's other hard S.F. work, it has so far proven to be timeless.
Book Review: Classic Science Fiction - Maybe that's the Problem
Summary: 3 Stars
I'll give props to CJ Cherryh for breaking ground in sci-fi. She took Space Opera out of the realm of elected governments, kingdoms and empires and put it squarely into corporate control and abuse. She rewrote the British Empire to be what it truly was - the exploits of the East India Tea Company - and then projected it forward into space.
This book is about Pell's World, a habited planet in a system thought to not contain any life. Not only is there life; the Hisa are a gentle, intelligent species. Pell's orbital station gets caught in the middle of a company war. The company, Earth Company builds a fleet of military ships to control its far flung holdings, which are in a union-led revolt.
It's a great idea and the execution is competent. When it was written it was new and fresh and it's understandable that so many writers copied the corporate war format. It won the 1982 Hugo award and it's constantly mentioned as one of the great sci-fi novels.
I couldn't get into it. I couldn't really get interested. It was too complex and none of the characters were sympathetic - they all seemed like cardboard cutout movie actors playing the stereotyped roles. To tell the truth, this is the type of book that turns the general populace off to science fiction because it's complicated and boring and it's hard to keep everything straight. Give me a straight up story about a person in trouble any day . . . you can put it on a spaceship, alien planet, or in my backyard - so long as I care about the character.
- CV Rick, April 2008
Book Review: Unreadable
Summary: 1 Stars
The portentous mythmaking, the absurdly inverted syntax, the utter lack of humor -- sf at its typical worst.Book Review: Ugh - lame plot, no movement, flat characters
Summary: 1 Stars
This is going to be an unpopular review, but too bad.
The book begins with an overview of humanity's expansion into the stars, which is ok (reads like a history). Then, the first chapter begins with refugees squeezing onto a space station. During this opening it's relatively unclear exactly what happened to create all these refugees, since the author's writing is not the easiest to follow.
I read the first 200 pages (almost half the book). There are tons of characters, none distinct or particularly memorable. Several times I found myself trying to remember each character's storyline, and many times I was unable to keep track of who was doing what. Motivations were always unclear, as if the author was attempting to be cryptic and intriguing, but failed miserably, because without some background or understanding of what's going on, it's impossible to create intrigue.
One of the characters is an alien, and this character's speech reads like a mix between Yoda and an American Indian - very hard to follow, especially in a book where the plot is very slow and the characters are boring.
Most scenes were also very mundane. There were conversations in steam rooms, talks over dinner, people walking to work, people in their office receiving communications, but rarely were they doing anything meaningful. I kept waiting for something to happen that would quicken my pulse - I waited in vain.
I tried to like this book. After reading almost half of it I have given up. I had no idea what was going on and couldn't differentiate between all these characters who had absolutely no unique characteristics, no motivations, and very vague dialog with other characters that didn't seem to go anywhere.
Even though people who loved this book will rate this review harshly, I hope some will read this review and not waste their time with this book.
Book Review: A fight to finish
Summary: 1 Stars
After hearing nothing but rave reviews for this book, I picked up a copy and want to say that I liked the cover illustration and that's about it. It felt like this book went on forever and nothing happened. The universe it's set in is fairly interesting, but the characters and their plight just did noting for me. The main characters came off as whiny and entirely unlikable no matter if they were set up as the good or bad guys. It jumped around too much and was tough to keep straight. I kept waiting for something Hugo-worthy to happen in either the story or the writing itself. I wish Pell had exploded and put the people on it and the reader out of misery.