Downbelow Station

Really, this book is 3.5 stars, and the demotion is mainly due to it taking me so long to get into the characters. Cherryh's world – galaxy, really – is enormous, and she needs a fifth of her book to set up the extraordinarily complex political and social structures. Her introduction of characters was slow, but provided enough misleads and second guessing as to make the characters grow more interesting as the story progressed.

The story itself is about the speed at which humans begin to evolve socially once space travel and space colonies are a reality. It's a political book, without too much of the science behind how they got there, which suits me just fine. I liked the archetypes she created for colonials/stationers, merchanters, and Unionists, and I like that this wasn't a clear-cut Empire vs. Rebellion story. It resonated with me on the level of “Okay, so the Empire's not so great, but the Rebellion is total chaos.” Pell and the Konstantins' situation as a wishful neutrality in this war-torn era is the place I'd most likely find myself.

I'll be honest, though, I wasn't a hundred percent invested in most of the characters. Maybe it's Cherryh's style or just the fact that I really wanted to get back to certain viewpoints, but I found myself glazing over when we were in a point of view I didn't enjoy as much. Mallory is a fascinating character, and one whom I never really like but end up rooting for nonetheless; however, her POV is so busy as she goes through political stratagem after military schematic that I sighed every time it was her turn. There were also just a ton of characters whose alliances and motives I could never quite keep straight, but that's likely more a personal attention-span problem.

I think the complexity of the story is why the hisa are so important. Their wonderfully simple, emotional viewpoint is a welcome break from the worried and frustrated humans. The hisa calm the pace, and their childlike nature and straightforward perspective make us care for them on a level we just can't for the humans. I love the way Cherryh describes them, love their patois, love every time they say “love you.” They harbor none of the resentment a lesser author would give to this race and never break character by acting too human. They even distinguish good humans from bad humans instead of generalizing. If they occupied any more of the story, it might have become an Avatar-esque oversimplification of a native species, but as is, it's a reminder of what exploration means: the melding and evolution of multiple cultures. I looked forward to every chapter in Satin's point of view.

Among the humans, Talley was easily my favorite and had all the best surprises. He starts out, like the hisa, an innocent with whom the reader can easily side. However as his character and motives grow more complex, he keeps the reader and other characters guessing. Ayres was interesting as well, and I liked the evolution of his relationship with Azov and Jacoby. Never a clear line in this tale.

On a completely different note, I will say this story does have a strikingly unique feature that made me just about stand up and cheer: happily married couples.

I am known to get extremely frustrated with romantic plot lines in the middle of big stories. Romance has a tendency to detract from the actual plot, just something authors throw in because everyone does it. Characters starting a relationship in the middle of an epic space battle often make me go, “Really? You think now is the best time for this?” On the flip side, so many stories begin with unhappily married couples or widows/widowers deep in grief. If a character begins happily married, you can rest assured that will change by the end. It's like a happy marriage is the fiction in fiction.

This story has not one but 3 happily married couples, if you hisa bonding as marriage, who stay happily married to the end. The couples all function well as couples and do not waste time with typical bickering. They see the chips fall, and they do what has to be done to keep their loved ones alive, even when that means separating for unknown periods of times. The characters in this story have a very believable concept of focus and priorities, and for that I tip my hat to Cherryh. Our time is not wasted learning about the relationships' histories. It is enough to know that these people got married because they loved each other, and that love is going to motivate their actions in crisis. Done and done with no wistful gazing at the the stars.

Final thoughts: If you enjoy complex political drama and also outer space, you will really love this book. If you're like me and have trouble keeping up with complex political drama, I suggest you keep a wikipedia page open and handy.

It's a tough read but lays out some of the groundwork for the Union/Merchanter/Company universe that many of C.J. Cherryh's later books are set in. It portrays a 3-sided power struggle (war) where, in my opinion, no one side is on the side of right. They all in their own ways feel trapped into the course of action they've chosen to take.

Finished this simply because the Sword & Laser forum led me to believe it would get better (it did, but only marginally) and then because I'd read over half of it, it seemed a waste to give up. Will not be reading any more in the series and it's very unlikely I'll try another C.J. Cherryh book; I think I disliked the writing style as the plot was interesting but I just couldn't get into it

2 out of 5 for the audiobook
4 out of 5 for the actual content

I don't usually listen to audiobooks, but I decided to listen to the Audible version of Downbelow Stations since I couldn't get the book from my public library in time for the Sword & Laser bookclub. Bad decision– because I hated listening to it. I mean, there were times that I was able to ignore the narrator and become immersed in the story. But that was rare. I had to concentrate in order to get passed his readings. Especially when he would read with a woman's voice, that was the worst! They all sounded so whine-y, it made me cringe.

Other than that, I thought the book was very interesting. I loved the Hisa, and the different POV characters. And it became even more awesome when I started casting them as BSG characters (idea came from a Sword and Laser goodreads thread: Let's Cast This Thing check it out and join the club!). I might pick up the other books in the series at some point, but for now, I am happy with the ending that Cherryh provided in Downbelow Station.

Bottom line: Audiobook version sucks, but still a fantastic story. Recommended to people who like BSG.

Wanted to like this more might be the best title for my review. I normally enjoy this type of story but it just didn't grab me as I expected it to. I enjoyed the pacing toward the last third of the book, the story switched lines in such a way that it kept the excitement growing until the end. I still would recommend it for sci-if fans.

Executive Summary: If you like politics and war in a sci-fi setting where the focus is on the people and not the battles, this book is worth checking out. If you're looking for a lot of space battles however, you may be disappointed.

Full Review
I read this book as the March pick for Sword & Laser. It's still early in the month but so far most of the discussion seems to be in the Is anyone else having a hard time getting started? thread. I must say I don't really understand this.

Sure this book is dense at times. The book also starts with a lot of world building. It gives you several character perspectives as well. But it's well written, and the plot is compelling.

It centers around a neutral space station over the planet Pell caught in the middle of a war between “The Company” and “The Union”.

This book reminds me a lot of Star Trek: Deep Space 9 or Babylon 5. To a lesser degree Battlestar Galactica. Mostly because the latter had a lot more space battles.

Cherryh doesn't spend pages detailing epic battles here. Sometimes you see the aftermath, or get the report of a distant battle when news reaches Pell station. There aren't completely missing however. I like a good space battle as much as the next sci-fi geek, but it's not a requirement for me.

What this books does have is political-driven agendas, greed, ambition, and a surprising amount of compassion (at least from some of the characters).

Like some popular fantasy series I've read (Song of Ice & Fire/Malazan Fallen) Cherryh gives you multiple points of view on the situation. Unlike those books however, there aren't as many shades of grey. Or weren't for me. I knew pretty early on mostly whose good and whose bad, and I'm not suddenly surprised at the end.

There are some exceptions however that seem to reside in a shade of grey, but not many.

Overall a very enjoyable book. I'm a little disappointed to find out there is no true sequel to this book as there are a lot things I'm interested in reading more about in the aftermath.

The conclusion is satisfying however, and I hope to check out more books in this universe at some point down the road, but I won't be rushing out to get the next book just yet.

Account of the events on a space station during a critical moment in future human history. Cherryh's style throws some people off, and there were a few moments during this that I was lost. Totally worth it though, I love Pell and Downbelow and these people so much and can't wait to read more about their history.