Union-Alliance Novels and Related Works by C. J. Cherryh

[ase]

Edited July 25, 2004: Cleaned up a few links and updated the "forthcoming" section.

Originally, this was going to be in precisely the same style as the Bujold/Vorkosigan post I did in February; however, things got delayed when the "Other Stuff" section mutated into commentary and became longer than everything else put together. I think I've managed to get it and the rest of the writeup back under control by integrating more material than originally intended; apologies for the delay. To keep this from getting too messy and overly annotated, I've tried to clarify which novels are "main sequence" and which can be read independently by putting "secondary" or mostly unrelated books in parentheses () in the internal and publishing chronology sections.

Internal Chronology
Heavy Time and Hellburner, set respectively in 2323 and 2324, have the closest narrative connections, revolving around the same set of characters; they precede Downbelow Station by about 30 years. Merchanter's Luck and Rimrunners (as well as Voyager in Night) occur within a few years of DbS, as does the opening section of 40,000 in Gehenna; Tripoint and Finity's End are set about 20 years after DbS. (The Chanur novels- The Pride of Chanur, Chanur's Venture, The Kif Strike Back, Chanur's Homecoming, Chanur's Legacy- take place sometime between DbS and Cyteen, but there's little cross-story text evidence for more specific dating than that.) Cyteen begins in 2404; most of the action in 40K is significantly after Cyteen. (The Faded Sun trilogy- Kesrith, Shon'jir, Kutath- and Morgaine cycle- Gate of Ivrel, Well of Shiuan, Fires of Azeroth, Exile's Gate- are separated from the "main branch" by centuries, as are several minor "standalone" novels: Port Eternity, Wave Without a Shore and Serpent's Reach.)

Publishing Order
(Gate of Ivrel)
(The Faded Sun: Kesrith)
(Well of Shiuan)
(The Faded Sun: Shon'jir)
(Fires of Azeroth)
(The Faded Sun: Kutath)
Downbelow Station
(The Pride of Chanur)
Merchanter's Luck
40,000 in Gehenna
(Voyager in Night)
(Chanur's Venture)
(The Kif Strike Back)
(Chanur's Homecoming)
(Exile's Gate)
Rimrunners
Cyteen
Heavy Time
Hellburner
Tripoint
Finity's End

Omnibuses
The publishing industry has seen a push to repackage smaller or older novels into doorstop omnibus editions; Cherryh's books have not been excluded from this trend.

• Devil to the Belt
  
  
  
  • Heavy Time
    
  • Hellburner
  
  
  
• The Morgaine Saga
  
  
  
  • Gate of Ivrel
    
  • Well of Shiuan
    
  • Fires of Azeroth
  
  
  
• The Faded Sun
  
  
  
  • Kesrith
    
  • Shon'Jir
    
  • Kutath
  
  
  
• The Chanur Saga
  
  
  
  • The Pride of Chanur
    
  • Chanur's Venture
    
  • The Kif Strike Back

The Chanur omni warrants special attention; Chanur's Venture, The Kif Strike Back and Chanur's Homecoming form a narrative whole, much like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but are not packaged so. There's no warning of this anywhere on the omni, however, so watch out for the cliffhanger and have Chanur's Homecoming on hand as you get near the end of the Chanur omnibus.

Online
Fictionwise has some of Cherryh's novels available in ebooks format; most of the U/A books predate the practice of the publisher posting excerpts online, so freebie chapters are hard to come by.

The main focus of Cherryh fan activity on the web seems to be the Shejidan message board and associated website, with a really good booklist. C. J. Cherryh maintains a page and weblog at - quel surprise - cherryh.com. Browsing the google usenet archives can turn up older but still interesting discussions, such as the Cherryh-Tolkien crossover thread and many "who killed Ari Emory?" arguments. (People have been trying to figure that one out since 1989. I think the main contenders eventually came to a tentative consensus, but since Cherryh's never said, no one's really sure.)

Other Stuff
Reams and reams. The best list is probably the list on Cherryh's website, which I'm not going to bother replicating in detail here. Short version: the Chanur novels may be in the U-Averse, but only lightly impinge on the "main sequence", if there's any connection at all; ditto the Morgaine cycle. Several "miscallaneous/standalone" novels are in the same circumstances. The Foreigner/Atevi novels are absolutely, positively, by authorial fiat in their own universe, as are the Rider/Nighthorse books.

Forthcoming
There's been persistent rumors of a Cyteen sequel almost since the book was first published. I have no idea if there's any chance these will pan out in this decade or the next. In other universes, the DAW newsletter reported some time ago that Cherryh was under contract to do a third trilogy in the Foreigner universe; Destroyer, the first book in that trilogy, has been finished and will be published in February 2005. Cherryh is currently working on an unnamed Foreigner novel.

Personal Comments
Tripoint is eminently skippable. No, really. It goes nowhere Cherryh's other novels haven't, except for one worldbuilding sentence on the last page. The narrative plot in the Morgaine cycle wraps up in Fires of Azeroth, but the emotional arc isn't entirely resolved until Exile's Gate. Heavy Time was a slog even for me, but I'm ridiculously fond of Hellburner. 40,000 in Gehenna is also a slog, but pulls itself together eventually. Cramming the first 300 years of evolution of an essentially alien civilization into one book will warp the narrative a bit, I guess. I seem to be one of a minority who think the Foreigner novels aren't treading new ground. Anyone who's feeling a little disillusioned with the Lackey/McCaffrey school of fluffy telepathic sf/f needs to read the Nighthorse books - Rider at the Gate and Cloud's Rider - in which the protective telepathic horses act like they've got a horse-shaped - and horse-sized - brain, are jet black and have a relationship to bacon similar to mine with chocolate.

*Blinks* I think overexposure to Cherryh's narrative style has rearranged my use of language for life. This could be a problem.

Comments

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

There's been persistent rumors of a Cyteen sequel almost since the book was first published.

At one point--I think it must have been over ten years ago by now--Locus (http://www.locusmag.com) posted in announcement in its publishing news section that Cherryh had signed a contract with DAW to write Cyteen II. But I haven't heard anything of it since.

[ase.livejournal.com]

I seem to recall a one-line note in the DAW newsletter (http://www.penguinputnam.com/static/html/us/newsletters/daw.html) late last year that indicated they'd signed her for a Cyteen sequel. I haven't heard or seen anything since, however, so I'm trying not to hold my breath.

[loup_noir]

40,000 in Gehena a slog! Nuh-uh! I loved it. Not as much as I love anything that has Pyanfar Chanur. Her attempt at having the niece as a main character (forgot both niece's name and title of book) wasn't as good.

I haven't reread them in eons, but I remember really enjoying both the Morgaine and the Faded Sun series. If we ever get our house built, I can finally dig those out of storage.

I just never fell in love with her Union-Alliance series. I read several, but they didn't do it for me the same way. Maybe it's time to try them again.

[ase.livejournal.com]

I read 40K right after Cloud's Rider; the many PoV shifts, which I wasn't expecting, threw me off. A second reading went much more smoothly, because I wasn't gritting my teeth and swearing that if I lost another PoV I was dropping the book and getting on with my life. That was about the point the narrative settled down and stopped skipping generations.

I love the Morgaine novels for the Morgaine-Vanye interactions, and enjoy reading Shiuan for Jhirun and her (non)role in local politics, if that makes any sense.

I had been on a Cherryh kick for most of summer break by the time I got to the Faded Sun trilogy in fall; I think I would have enjoyed the story more if I'd read it sooner. Ditto the Chanur books. I really like Chanur's Legacy; it's got the most laugh-out-loud moments of any of Cherryh's books I've read.

thanks for this post--will save it in my memories

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

I've been a fan of hers since high school.

I liked all of the U-Averse books much better than the Chanur books. Rimrunners is a particular favorite. You can practically smell the engine grease and desperation while turning the pages. And the Foreigner series was very appealing, too, although the last one didn't really grab me. The Faded Sun and Morgaine series just aren't my cuppa.

Re: thanks for this post--will save it in my memories

[ase.livejournal.com]

I've been a fan of hers since high school.

What is it about HS and Cherryh? I picked up Downbelow Station just after my junior year and was sucked in. I'm not as much of a Foreigner fan - I ran through most of the rest of Cherryh's novels first, and Foreigner felt like more of the same. I like the Morgaine novels, but part of that might be the resonance with C. L. Moore's "Jirel of Joiry" stories.

Re: CJC's work

[raveninthewind.livejournal.com]

I liked the Foreigner series because of the fleshed out social structure and the "stranger in a strange land" theme, and I also think Bren resonated because I see him as a coded female character. Also, there was that "alien sx" aspect that I have to admit is a kink of mine.

I liked Downbelow Station a lot, as well as Merchanter's Luck. Finity's End was OK, too, although it was a bit on the Y/A side for my tastes.