Faded Sun by CJ Cherryh - Reading_fox's review
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Faded Sun the trilogy consisting of Kesrith, Shon'jir and Kutath
My review is here
CJ Cherryh always starts slow, and this is perhaps one of her slowest starts. But it's worth persevering for the totally epic space opera she manages to describe. This trilogy is also unusual in that CJC employs a range of Points of Views, alien and human, which is something she often avoids. It's not a style I often like, but handled well, as this is, it does allow a greater sense of empathy with many more of the characters and a greater explanation of motivations for various actions. Faded sun contains the complete Trilogy:
Kesrith:
A desert world out at the limits of human exploration, recently seceded to human ownership, after the defeated Regul and their Mri mercenaries withdraw. It is also home to the last of the Mri, a fierce race, who hold strictly to their own ways and do not compromise. Nuin is Mri. Youngest, of those on Kesrith and deeply disappointed that he hasn't and now won't see action in the war with humans that has lasted his entire life.
Duncan is human - aide to Stavos, the envoy to the Regul, to observe Regul withdrawal. When chance politics allows him the chance ot explore outside he takes it with glee - anything to get away from the dull, slow ungainly and spiteful regul. However he encounters the uncompromising Nuin, and a destiny is set in motion which will effect the futures of all three races.
Shon'jir:
The Passing. Nuin and his 'mother' the tribal elder, and his biological sister have their spaceship, and are retracing the journey of their kind, As detailed in their Holy mysteries. Unfortunately the ship comes courtesy of Duncan their human adoptee. Only if he can forget his humanness and become mri - surpassing the constraints of biology can he be permitted to continue with them. For Duncan it is journey beyond his imagining, humans always compromise. Mri do not.
Kutath:
the journey has reached it's end - 123 dead worlds have been passed, each suitable for intelligent life, but known was found. Finally the mri homeworld has been reached - ancient beyond imagining, the mri were 100000 years in the voyaging, but their strict culture has kept the old ways alive both here and out there. Melein finally has the chance to convince other mri that she has Seen the course of the future, and for Nuin the opportunity to just interact with other mri is a chance he never expected to have. However there is still Duncan - and humans and Regul have followed them, and are alarmed by the dead worlds left in the mri's wake. Duncan is viewed as not-Mri by the homeworlders but Melein and Nuin know that he is theirs, even when loyalties are torn, and the Regul attack from space.
The aliens are superb, the characters wonderfully drawn, especially the loyalties between the different species, and the different ways of looking at the world. The only notable downside is that very little actually happens - it's a slow character and dialog driven trilogy. There are a few pages of action here and there, often very fast paced and confusing to follow. I wasn't quite convinced Nuin stays in character all the time - he occasionally shows more human traits than may be expected.
Thoroughly recommended, but takes some persevering to appreciate the ending.
All discussion welcome.
My review is here
CJ Cherryh always starts slow, and this is perhaps one of her slowest starts. But it's worth persevering for the totally epic space opera she manages to describe. This trilogy is also unusual in that CJC employs a range of Points of Views, alien and human, which is something she often avoids. It's not a style I often like, but handled well, as this is, it does allow a greater sense of empathy with many more of the characters and a greater explanation of motivations for various actions. Faded sun contains the complete Trilogy:
Kesrith:
A desert world out at the limits of human exploration, recently seceded to human ownership, after the defeated Regul and their Mri mercenaries withdraw. It is also home to the last of the Mri, a fierce race, who hold strictly to their own ways and do not compromise. Nuin is Mri. Youngest, of those on Kesrith and deeply disappointed that he hasn't and now won't see action in the war with humans that has lasted his entire life.
Duncan is human - aide to Stavos, the envoy to the Regul, to observe Regul withdrawal. When chance politics allows him the chance ot explore outside he takes it with glee - anything to get away from the dull, slow ungainly and spiteful regul. However he encounters the uncompromising Nuin, and a destiny is set in motion which will effect the futures of all three races.
Shon'jir:
The Passing. Nuin and his 'mother' the tribal elder, and his biological sister have their spaceship, and are retracing the journey of their kind, As detailed in their Holy mysteries. Unfortunately the ship comes courtesy of Duncan their human adoptee. Only if he can forget his humanness and become mri - surpassing the constraints of biology can he be permitted to continue with them. For Duncan it is journey beyond his imagining, humans always compromise. Mri do not.
Kutath:
the journey has reached it's end - 123 dead worlds have been passed, each suitable for intelligent life, but known was found. Finally the mri homeworld has been reached - ancient beyond imagining, the mri were 100000 years in the voyaging, but their strict culture has kept the old ways alive both here and out there. Melein finally has the chance to convince other mri that she has Seen the course of the future, and for Nuin the opportunity to just interact with other mri is a chance he never expected to have. However there is still Duncan - and humans and Regul have followed them, and are alarmed by the dead worlds left in the mri's wake. Duncan is viewed as not-Mri by the homeworlders but Melein and Nuin know that he is theirs, even when loyalties are torn, and the Regul attack from space.
The aliens are superb, the characters wonderfully drawn, especially the loyalties between the different species, and the different ways of looking at the world. The only notable downside is that very little actually happens - it's a slow character and dialog driven trilogy. There are a few pages of action here and there, often very fast paced and confusing to follow. I wasn't quite convinced Nuin stays in character all the time - he occasionally shows more human traits than may be expected.
Thoroughly recommended, but takes some persevering to appreciate the ending.
All discussion welcome.
