I'm a bit surprised that I haven't seen any threads relating to her work.
Any other fans of her here ?

For those who haven't encountered her work she writes both sci-fi and fantasy.

My particular favourites are her Foreigner series - very, very, very good for ideas based around political plots...
...and her Morgaine saga is a great fantasy with sci-fi elements...
..but she has many other series too!

Her Dreaming Tree duology and the Faded Sun trilogy were major influences on two elven cultures of my gaming world when I began designing it twenty years ago.

While I enjoy her books, I can't say I've read too many more beyond those mentioned above. There are more books than spare time in this life...

Never read her books, but I've always had fun trying to pronounce her last name. My current favorite is "Cherr-ih-huh-huh."

Never read her books, but I've always had fun trying to pronounce her last name. My current favorite is "Cherr-ih-huh-huh."

It's pronounced "Cherry". Her real name is Cherry, her publisher had her add the silent "h" at the end, as to not look like a romance novelist's name.

Yes, I peeked on the interwebs for that gem :)

Seems like I ran unto her younger brother somewhere...lives in OK or N. TX and is a fantasy illustrator. Spells his name without the "h". Don't remember if he gave any details, but he confirmed that it was just for marketing reasons.

One of those people whose novels I've never gotten to (might have read a short story at some point), but always heard good things about her.

I've read lots of her books.

The Morgaine ones were excellent. The Foreigner etc. series was quite entertaining, but I could have done with a bit more action.

My favourites are the "Merchanters" ones. One of these days I'm going to steal the basic set up for a Spelljammer campaign.

Kirth Gersen wrote:

Never read her books, but I've always had fun trying to pronounce her last name. My current favorite is "Cherr-ih-huh-huh."

It's pronounced "Cherry". Her real name is Cherry, her publisher had her add the silent "h" at the end, as to not look like a romance novelist's name.

That is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day, but it's only 7:46 AM here. I never knew about Cherryh until about two years ago, and then the "exoticness" of her last name always irritated the hell out of me for no good reason, other than I never knew how to pronounce it, and it didn't seem quite real. What was it, I wondered, some distant western European family name? And now I find out that her real name is just plain ol' Cherry, and that the pretend "h" at the end of her name is supposed to be silent. I'm sorry, but somebody just pressed my stupid button.

I think I'll go with a previous poster and start pronouncing her name Cherry-Huh-Huh (with probably a few more dumb-sounding "a huh huh huh"s on the end, for bonus dumbness) whenever I have to say it.

I've never read anything by her. This post is simply fueled by my irritation at what stupid things people will do to market products. I know it's totally irrational, but I have to say the fact of the extra h makes me not want to read her work, rather than make me want to read it. That is willful resistance, just to spite the marketing director's asinine strategy, combined with my gut reaction that the last name of Cherryh is a gimmick.

Hah hah! I just always ignored it.
She should made it Cherryx...goes better with genre.

Hah hah! I just always ignored it.

She should made it Cherryx...goes better with genre.

Cherry-X, huh? Was that the prototype?

Well...I have to admit, the link wasn't what I expected it to be.

Whatever marketing gimmicks her publisher uses, the lady can write. I have read Heavy Time, Hellburner, Downbelow Station, Rimrunners, Tripoint, Finity’s End, Forty Thousand in Gehenna, Cyteen, and The Paladin. I was really surprised at the one fantasy novel of those I read (The Paladin). I really love the voice she gives each of the main characters. It has been awhile since I read any of them, but I don’t recall ever feeling that they were written by the same author. I mean, the author’s style didn’t seem to pull focus away from the stories—the mood, setting, whatnot were all unique to their genre and background. Now many of the ones I read were from the Merchanter Universe and the Company Wars, so they had a similar feel, but Forty Thousand didn’t really feel the same to me as say, Cyteen. And the Paladin fit in it’s own niche. It’s not a massive tightly plotted epic spanning decades (I’m lookin’ at you George R.R. Martin!) I fell in love with the characters, but the story was told, the tale is finished, and I’m okay with that. While many of the Company Wars books are connected, the characters exist in the setting, the setting doesn’t exist to market the characters.

Haven’t read any of the Foreigner series, though I’ve heard good things. I did try to get into the Faded Sun Trilogy, but it just didn’t catch my interest so I quit. Haven’t done that very often, so not sure what that says about that series, but oh well.

I once corresponded with her briefly, maybe 15 years ago, on a Fritz Lieber fan messageboard (I forget where—this was dialup AOL back then) and she came off as just one of the fans. We discussed her focus on character and some of her influences. Nice lady.

Hey Leiber fan, I just got a hardback with the first three Fahrd & the Grey Mouser novels in one this evening! Had to tell someone, and you seemed appropriate.

While many of the Company Wars books are connected, the characters exist in the setting, the setting doesn’t exist to market the characters.

I'd probably like this, as it is the way I like to run my homebrew.

Hey Leiber fan, I just got a hardback with the first three Fahrd & the Grey Mouser novels in one this evening! Had to tell someone, and you seemed appropriate.

I have lost count of how many times I have read those. I wore out two sets of the whole series in paperback, and then bought the White Wolf hardbacks. Hope you enjoy!

Sorry to threadjack!

LeiberFan wrote:

While many of the Company Wars books are connected, the characters exist in the setting, the setting doesn’t exist to market the characters.

I'd probably like this, as it is the way I like to run my homebrew.

It does kind of have the feel of a well crafted campaign in a way. The books generally center around characters and stories that may intersect with background elements from the other stories, but it's not all about Space Admiral Hope Hubris and his meteoric rise to power, (just an example, don't mean to pick on Piers Anthony). Different stories and characters may meet some of the important NPCs, but the star spanning stuff is generally left to the bigwigs. Our heros have smaller roles in the big picture--much like a gaming universe.

I bet that would be a fun campaign.

Well, I should probably get over my pretensions about her marketing name and check out her stuff. She's gotten a lot of praise in this thread, and I have to say that the cover art for one of her Faded Sun books really caught my eye and piqued my interest, but that's a nod to the artist, I guess, and not Cherry. But I realize I am simply uninformed and arrogant when I dismiss her off hand for a marketing ploy that was not even her idea. I'll try to read something by her soon.

Well, I should probably get over my pretensions about her marketing name and check out her stuff.

YOu're not alone in some ways- I tend to shy away from female writers of fantasy. I know its a bad habit as there are many good ones out there, but still...

Faded suns isnt one of my personal favourites, but still a decent read.

Some ideas: if you liked Dune ,try the Foreigner series.. (immesrion in an alien culture)
if you like Hawkmoon, try the Chronicles of Morgaine..(fantasy with slight scifi twist)...
If you like generic fantasy, try the Fortress series (fortress in the eye of time is the first one)...
If you like scifi, I'd start with Downbelow station...
If you like mercantile space opera, try the Chaunur saga...

For me, I can take or leave Fortress, Chaunur & Faded sun, but the Foreigner series and her Alliance/Union universe books (Downbelow station especially), are as good a series as you'll find from any author..

A 2E Floppy-Eared Golem wrote:

I tend to shy away from female writers of fantasy...

I will say this, I love Sara Douglass' work, but if she were a man, she'd be accused of misogyny. MAn, she was brutal to her female characters...

There are quite a few woman authors that rock the fantasy genre: Elaine Cunningham, Marian Zimmer Bradley, Ursula K LeGuin, Katherine Kerr, and quite a few that suck. No different than the men.

I'd rather read a lot of women fantasy authors efforts than anything Robert Jordan wrote, for one...

OK, Cherryh fans. Here's what I've had recommended to me, so please weigh in.

Her Fortress series (esp. the first, Fortress in the Eye of Time.)
Her Morgaine series.
Another book called The Dreaming Tree. (Although in my notes, I have a question mark by it with no explanation for why.)

YOu're not alone in some ways- I tend to shy away from female writers of fantasy. I know its a bad habit as there are many good ones out there, but still...

It has nothing to do with her being a woman. My knee-jerk recoil has to do with the marketing ploy of adding the silent "h" to her name. Yeah, I realize that that's a dumb, unthinking way to decide not to read an author, but I also think that adding an "h" to the end of your name to try to sell more books is a dumb thing to do. I'm happy to displace this reaction, though, and read some of her stuff. I actually tend to like feminine authors more than masculine ones.

Been thinking about that. I can't stand J.K. Rowling or Anne McCaffrey; something about their tone makes me want to pull out my fingernails. "Jirel of Joiry" I've commented on elsewhere; suffice it to say that I never particularly enjoy reading about someone else's acid trips. Andre Norton had very cool ideas (love the Witch World books), but reading her prose is like watching paint dry. Emma Bull always seemed like an untalented Charles deLint wanna-be, to me.

I liked Ursula LeGuin OK (read the "Earthsea" books and "Lathe of Heaven"), but I wouldn't go out of my way to find more of her stuff.

But then there's Susanna Clarke -- I couldn't put "Jonathan Strange" down, once I'd started it. And Patricia McKillip, whom a lot of people dislike, but I love the "Riddle-Master" series.

So, what is that, 5 dislikes, 1 neutral, and 2 likes? And a sample size of 8 just isn't enough to tell anything. Find me maybe 92 more female fantasy/sci-fi authors and I might do a proper study of my own preferences...

Interesting, Kirth. Of the folks you mentioned (there's a couple I don't think I've read), I'd definitely put McKillip and Clarke at the top.

I liked Ursula LeGuin OK (read the "Earthsea" books and "Lathe of Heaven"), but I wouldn't go out of my way to find more of her stuff.

The Dispossessed was excellent, if ever you are inclined to read her again.

Sheri S. Tepper's Six Moon Dance is another great read; part fantasy, part sci-fi.

Octavia Butler also writes some interesting books. Kindred is worth a read.

The Dispossessed was excellent, if ever you are inclined to read her again.

Another vote for The Dispossessed. Great book.

It has nothing to do with her being a woman. My knee-jerk recoil has to do with the marketing ploy of adding the silent "h" to her name. Yeah, I realize that that's a dumb, unthinking way to decide not to read an author, but I also think that adding an "h" to the end of your name to try to sell more books is a dumb thing to do. I'm happy to displace this reaction, though, and read some of her stuff. I actually tend to like feminine authors more than masculine ones.

It's easy to stand here in lovely 2009 and have this sort of opinion. In the 1960s and 75s, even though it's barely more than 30 years ago, things were MUCH different. During early years many women hid behind names just to disguise themselves from being women (check out Andre Norton specifically, and there are examples of plenty of others). To want to be seen as something other than a "soft porn" writer is completely understandable--during that period in time it was still perceived that only men wrote technical books and novels; women were writers of children's books, romance novels, and some young reader books (Nancy Drew, Trixie Beldon, etc.)

Please try to understand it from her point of view during the times in which she did her actions.

Of her work, I really enjoyed the Man-Kzin wars while my wife praises the Dark Sun Trilogy. She's definitely one of my favorite authors.

OK, Cherryh fans. Here's what I've had recommended to me, so please weigh in.

Her Fortress series (esp. the first, Fortress in the Eye of Time.)
Her Morgaine series.
Another book called The Dreaming Tree. (Although in my notes, I have a question mark by it with no explanation for why.)

Hi Mairkurion - sorry its taken so long to get back to you.

In your profile you say you like Dune - so I'd suggest 'Foreigner' as a good place to start.

The Morgaine series is also interesting, but part of her earlier works before she found her voice. Still quite good though. Its kind of a fantasy version of Stargate SG1 (although it predates it by many years).

Personally I'm not so keen on the fortress series, but there are many fans out there. The Dreaming Tree is quite difficult to get hold of, possibly why you've labelled it with a question marK?

Hey, thanks Tigger, I appreciate it. I will add this to my Cherryh notes.

I'm reading "Heavy Time" right now. So far, so good.

I've read about 50 out of her 60 or so books. She's that good. She's probably my all time favorite author. I really like the Foreigner series, Chanur series, and Rider at the Gate series. Cyteen is also excellent.

Foreigner is more like District 9 than Dune, but with the humans being the lost space colonists, and they got better digs when they lost: an England-sized island instead of a concentration camp.

Meh.

I tried some of her books, but never could finish them.

Dunno, there's something in her style that bores me. The stories don't enthrall me either.

But hey, that's just me.

I LOVED the Morgaine books. I don't often re-read books, and I've read all four twice. Really loved the mix of fantasy with the sci-fi background, and Vanye-as-narrator was handled extremely well. Characterization was solid, as was world-building.

Cherryh does have a... what I call a "thick" fashion of prose. Perhaps "dry" is a better term. While her descriptions can get evocative, hers is not exactly light, fluffy reading. I think this is in part due to the very tight perspective in the narrative. I remember picking up another of her books... might have been one of the Man-Kzin books... and just couldn't get into it.

I read "Rusalka" and liked it, but for a reason I can no longer recall, I didn't pick up the sequels.

I would like to read the Fortress Series.

What would y'all recommend on the sci-fi end of things? I'd prefer shorter series to longer, but if it's good, it doesn't matter.

That is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day, but it's only 7:46 AM here. I never knew about Cherryh until about two years ago, and then the "exoticness" of her last name always irritated the hell out of me for no good reason, other than I never knew how to pronounce it, and it didn't seem quite real. What was it, I wondered, some distant western European family name? And now I find out that her real name is just plain ol' Cherry, and that the pretend "h" at the end of her name is supposed to be silent. I'm sorry, but somebody just pressed my stupid button.

I think I'll go with a previous poster and start pronouncing her name Cherry-Huh-Huh (with probably a few more dumb-sounding "a huh huh huh"s on the end, for bonus dumbness) whenever I have to say it.

I've never read anything by her. This post is simply fueled by my irritation at what stupid things people will do to market products. I know it's totally irrational, but I have to say the fact of the extra h makes me not want to read her work, rather than make me want to read it. That is willful resistance, just to spite the marketing director's asinine strategy, combined with my gut reaction that the last name of Cherryh is a gimmick.

You have to remember the times in which she was trying to get published. The Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre wasn't just male-dominated in the late '70s/early '80s when she was trying to make her mark, it was downright misogynistic. She used the initials C.J. instead of her name in order to hide the fact that she was female. Having any degree of femininity associated with your work at the time was a death sentence, as far as publishers were concerned. It wasn't just a marketing gimmick, it was self-preservation.

Cheryh's Merchanter-Alliance series is some of the best Sci-Fi I've ever read. The 5 chanur books are solid - The kif are a phenomenal example for an evil culture. Cyteen is brilliant and the sequel was pretty good too.

I think I've read all of her books in this continuum and haven't disliked any of them.

Unbeliever wrote:

That is the most ridiculous thing I've read all day, but it's only 7:46 AM here. I never knew about Cherryh until about two years ago, and then the "exoticness" of her last name always irritated the hell out of me for no good reason, other than I never knew how to pronounce it, and it didn't seem quite real. What was it, I wondered, some distant western European family name? And now I find out that her real name is just plain ol' Cherry, and that the pretend "h" at the end of her name is supposed to be silent. I'm sorry, but somebody just pressed my stupid button.

I think I'll go with a previous poster and start pronouncing her name Cherry-Huh-Huh (with probably a few more dumb-sounding "a huh huh huh"s on the end, for bonus dumbness) whenever I have to say it.

I've never read anything by her. This post is simply fueled by my irritation at what stupid things people will do to market products. I know it's totally irrational, but I have to say the fact of the extra h makes me not want to read her work, rather than make me want to read it. That is willful resistance, just to spite the marketing director's asinine strategy, combined with my gut reaction that the last name of Cherryh is a gimmick.

You have to remember the times in which she was trying to get published. The Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre wasn't just male-dominated in the late '70s/early '80s when she was trying to make her mark, it was downright misogynistic. She used the initials C.J. instead of her name in order to hide the fact that she was female. Having any degree of femininity associated with your work at the time was a death sentence, as far as publishers were concerned. It wasn't just a marketing gimmick, it was self-preservation.

I agree. And I have to say, even as a woman and a feminist, if I saw the name "Carolyn Cherry," at first glance, I'd probably assume she was a romance novelist too (I might also assume she was a guy ashamed of writing romance novels who was using an obvious pseudonym ;) ). It may be silly, but it's very common for authors--female AND male--to alter their names to suit the genre they're writing for. There are even authors who use different names so they can write different genres without being prejudged--for example, Stephen King, Richard Bachman, and John Swithen are all the same writer. Personally I don't think it's any more silly for Carolyn Cherry to become C.J. Cherryh than it was for the Rev. Charles Dodgson to become Lewis Carroll.

You have to remember the times in which she was trying to get published. The Sci-Fi/Fantasy genre wasn't just male-dominated in the late '70s/early '80s when she was trying to make her mark, it was downright misogynistic. She used the initials C.J. instead of her name in order to hide the fact that she was female. Having any degree of femininity associated with your work at the time was a death sentence, as far as publishers were concerned. It wasn't just a marketing gimmick, it was self-preservation.

In the 1970s? Try now as well. JV Jones (Julie Victoria), KJ Parker (erm, no-one knows) and J.N. Fenn (Jaine) are all female writers using initials now to at least get people to pick up their books before discovering they are female. JK Rowling tried the same thing but in her case it wasn't really necessary ;-) Robin Hobb is also a somewhat gender-neutral pseudonym.

She has 60+ books published!!! How awesome is that?!?!?!?!

I guess the Foreigner series might eventually be 12 to 15 books long. Awesome! Probably some of the best human/alien interaction novels ever.

Regenesis was an excellent sequel to Cyteen.....just 20 years late.
:-P

I really can't recommend her enough. I began with her Chanur series, and Paladin. Foreigner is also a great introduction to her writing. It's usually a tight 3rd person narrative focusing on a single character's point of view.

My take on Downbelow Station:

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.

Regenesis was an excellent sequel to Cyteen.....just 20 years late.

There's... a... sequel?! I love you SmiloDan!!!

I started reading her with Cyteen and was blown away, instantly putting her to #2 on my favorite authors list, where she's remained. Downbelow Station was great, 40k in Gehenna was absolutely fascinating. The other Merchanter ones I've read have been good. Heavy Time and its sequel (prequel?) were both solid. Enjoyed the gate series a lot.

I've collected many but unfortunately haven't read any of the rest - this thread is really inspiring me to continue.

As for CJ - others have had more contact, but I emailed her after finding her website in '97 (it's still up, very interesting site, especially "The Essentials" page). It was a terribly long, self-indulgent, and 'fanboy' email, but she replied kindly...

... and I see my #1 question to her was when was the next Cyteen novel! Muahahhahahahhahahha! Ordered from Amazon (through her site).

As for the +h, I have "scha-rah" stuck in my head, and the gimmick probably didn't hurt.

SmiloDan wrote:

Regenesis was an excellent sequel to Cyteen.....just 20 years late.

There's... a... sequel?! I love you SmiloDan!!!

I started reading her with Cyteen and was blown away, instantly putting her to #2 on my favorite authors list, where she's remained. Downbelow Station was great, 40k in Gehenna was absolutely fascinating. The other Merchanter ones I've read have been good. Heavy Time and its sequel (prequel?) were both solid. Enjoyed the gate series a lot.

I've collected many but unfortunately haven't read any of the rest - this thread is really inspiring me to continue.

As for CJ - others have had more contact, but I emailed her after finding her website in '97 (it's still up, very interesting site, especially "The Essentials" page). It was a terribly long, self-indulgent, and 'fanboy' email, but she replied kindly...

... and I see my #1 question to her was when was the next Cyteen novel! Muahahhahahahhahahha! Ordered from Amazon (through her site).

As for the +h, I have "scha-rah" stuck in my head, and the gimmick probably didn't hurt.

My favorites are the Chanur series and Foreigner series. Very anthropological, and I was an anthropology major, so that makes sense.

If I ever become an author, I am totally publishing under my first 2 initials and my last name with an extra H on the end!

I've read a lot of CJC when I was about fourteen or fiffteen because that's when I joined the Science Fiction and Fantasy book club. I lost my mind and bought far too many books for my own good (and limited shelf space). Anyone else get caught in that alluring trap?

Anyone else get caught in that alluring trap?

Oh quite - I've got at least a dozen of hers I haven't read (just got another recently actually). After getting burned not being able to find the 2nd and 3rd books of the Darksword trilogy for years and years, I took to collecting *first*.

Oh! - Mairkurion, Dreaming Tree is a combo of two other books I believe, might account for the ? (he says, a year later).

The Jade wrote:

Anyone else get caught in that alluring trap?

Oh quite - I've got at least a dozen of hers I haven't read (just got another recently actually). After getting burned not being able to find the 2nd and 3rd books of the Darksword trilogy for years and years, I took to collecting *first*.

Oh! - Mairkurion, Dreaming Tree is a combo of two other books I believe, might account for the ? (he says, a year later).

I knew I wasn't alone. I could wall a dam with the amount of thick tomes that book club pushed on me like imagination crack.