Rating: 
Summary: A good addition to the Alliance/Union universe
Review: This is one of the better Merchanter books, simply for the fact that it deals with issues that are central to the whole Alliance/Union universe. However, my only problem with it is that I wish there were less focus on the 'coming-of-age' part of the story, and more on the actual conflicts between merchanters, stationers, and Union. Also, this is definitely not a story for the person that is new to Cherryh's Alliance/Union universe. For those, I would start with "Downbelow Station".
Rating: 
Summary: Strong on adolescent issues; style and story are so-so
Review: While a bit overlong and belabored, this is the story of an adolescent finding his place in the universe and taking on adult responsibilities. It is a thorough examination of adolescent issues such as moving out and cutting the apron strings (in this case to alien parent-surrogates of the primitive hisa), being hazed by peers, and finding a niche. The relationship between the main character, Fletcher, and his cabin-mate on board ship is particularly well-drawn.There isn't much story beyond the adolescent angst, though there is a backdrop of political machinations that is slow in developing and has little drama or interest except in the context of the Merchanter series as a whole. Even the alien hisa are a bit of a tease, since except for a couple scenes, they are only mentioned in recollections and back-story explanations. The far-flung space-faring civilization that Cherryh describes seems oddly old-fashioned, a future that could well have been imagined in the 1950s, or to be fair, the sixties. It does little with the potential of such fast-moving fields as information science, cognitive science, and other fields that a space-faring civilization clearly would embrace. I'm probably asking too much. As for the book that Cherryh has written, I enjoyed it.
| 
