Rating: 
Summary: This is not a bad book
Review: From the reviews I'd read for this book I went in not expecting to find it very enjoyable, but I was pleasently surprized. This is not a bad book. It may not be on a level with Cherryh's best work, but it is a good read. Cherryh is know for her complex plots, and well drawn aliens, this book does not have either but it does not miss them. It is a simple straight forward story with a simple almost everyman hero. It pulls you into it's world and makes you care what happens next. It was a nice change of pace from the huge complex multi volume sagas that seem to be dominating the genera lately.
Rating: 
Summary: A sand-covered trek to nowhere
Review: Hammerfall is not what I was expecting. This book has none of fun, helter-skelter pace of her Chanur novels, nor the philosophical and political depths of her Cyteen, nor even the fascinating alien cultures of her Faded Sun books. Instead, we are treated to three separate treks across a desert, with a culture that could be lifted directly from the Bedouins of Arabia, complete with clearly recognizable camels and nomadic tribes. The elements of the story that could be interesting, the vermin, the city culture of the Ila, the nano-technology itself, the actual picture of the destruction of the hammerfall itself, are all off in the deep background, beyond the real understanding of the main character Marak. And there are at least three major logical holes in the plot. The first is the use of the tribesmen, traveling by foot, to convey a simple message between two star-travelling level entities (surely there are faster and more precise methods to communicate). Second is the constant mental 'voices' heard by the 'madmen'. While these voices and visions made a little sense at the beginning, after Marak meets with the Luz, they no longer serve a warning function, but instead become a major interference in allowing Marak to accomplish his given task of leading the world's people to sanctuary. Why would Luz continue this form of 'communication' in the clear face of its detrimental effects? Third, the 'sanctuary' itself. No explanation is offered for how this one area of the world can be kept safe from the climactic events of the hammerfall, which at the least would cloud the atmosphere for years with high level dust, interfering with any crop growing anywhere on the world. This is apparently the first of series of works in a 'Gene Wars' set. Hopefully succeeding books will bring more explication to high-tech cultures behind the founding of the world in Hammerfall, and a return to Cherryh's usual attention to detail and careful plotting.
Rating: 
Summary: Madness From the Desert
Review: Hammerfall is the first novel in the Gene Wars series. In the far future, the Earth Commonwealth has spread her colonies into the galaxy, locating waystations in convenient systems along the star lanes. A lucrative cluster of G5 stars located in a circle of mutually reachable systems has attracted extremely heavy colonization along an axis that eventually brings humans into contact with the ondat, an alien society with its own starfaring capabilities.The alien encounter occurred at an unfortunate time, for a social conflict over genetic engineering and nanotechnology has erupted in war among the human worlds. An organization called the Movement secretly settled several planets with bioengineered humans, animals and plants. Earth reacted violently to this intensive use of gengineering and a long war ensued. When ondat ships visiting human worlds became contaminated with Movement nanisms and unsuspectingly carried these infections back to their own home world, they first blamed all of humanity for the damage. However, the ondat eventually distinguished between the Commonwealth and their enemy and developed an ad hoc truce with human forces allied against the Movement. Later, the ondat led Earth ships to a previously unknown world where a single survivor of the Movement, Ila, has ruled for centuries with the help of her genetic and nanotech agents. In this novel, Marak Trin Tain has heard voices in his head for as long as he can remember. As the heir of the powerful Tain Trin Tain, Marak kept his madness secret until he finally fell into a fit as a young man. His father had him taken to the holy city with the other possessed ones. Within the city, Marak is brought to an interview with Ila, his father's enemy, and confesses his aberration. He agrees to lead a caravan into the eastern desert to look for the source of the madness. With sixty-nine beshti, an experienced caravaneer and his men, and forty-one of the mad, Marak leaves the holy city and heads east. As he travels, Marak teaches the villagers among the mad how to ride the beshti, to conserve water, and to survive the storms. He finds a tribeswoman among the mad, Hati, who becomes his second-in-command. They reach Pori and move off the Lakht into the unknown. In this story, Marak finds the tower in the desert and is given a message for Ila. Death is coming from the skies and all must free to a Refugee in the eastern desert; any who remain will be destroyed in the Hammerfall. So Marak returns to lead the exodus. This story has the signature touch of the author, but adds a degree of confusion and illogic beyond that of her other books. Marak is not only unaware of the major factors effecting his world, but is also overwhelmed occasionally by the voices and visions. He walks a narrow road between necessity and frenzy. The overall mood is strange and befuddling and the action is minimal, but Marak begins to insinuate himself into your mind. Highly recommended for Cherryh fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of exotic societies in unusual environments. -Arthur W. Jordin
Rating:
Summary: Madness From the Desert
Review: Hammerfall is the first novel in the Gene Wars series. In the far future, the Earth Commonwealth has spread her colonies into the galaxy, locating waystations in convenient systems along the star lanes. A lucrative cluster of G5 stars located in a circle of mutually reachable systems has attracted extremely heavy colonization along an axis that eventually brings humans into contact with the ondat, an alien society with its own starfaring capabilities. The alien encounter occurred at an unfortunate time, for a social conflict over genetic engineering and nanotechnology has erupted in war among the human worlds. An organization called the Movement secretly settled several planets with bioengineered humans, animals and plants. Earth reacted violently to this intensive use of gengineering and a long war ensued. When ondat ships visiting human worlds became contaminated with Movement nanisms and unsuspectingly carried these infections back to their own home world, they first blamed all of humanity for the damage. However, the ondat eventually distinguished between the Commonwealth and their enemy and developed an ad hoc truce with human forces allied against the Movement. Later, the ondat led Earth ships to a previously unknown world where a single survivor of the Movement, Ila, has ruled for centuries with the help of her genetic and nanotech agents. In this novel, Marak Trin Tain has heard voices in his head for as long as he can remember. As the heir of the powerful Tain Trin Tain, Marak kept his madness secret until he finally fell into a fit as a young man. His father had him taken to the holy city with the other possessed ones. Within the city, Marak is brought to an interview with Ila, his father's enemy, and confesses his aberration. He agrees to lead a caravan into the eastern desert to look for the source of the madness. With sixty-nine beshti, an experienced caravaneer and his men, and forty-one of the mad, Marak leaves the holy city and heads east. As he travels, Marak teaches the villagers among the mad how to ride the beshti, to conserve water, and to survive the storms. He finds a tribeswoman among the mad, Hati, who becomes his second-in-command. They reach Pori and move off the Lakht into the unknown. In this story, Marak finds the tower in the desert and is given a message for Ila. Death is coming from the skies and all must free to a Refugee in the eastern desert; any who remain will be destroyed in the Hammerfall. So Marak returns to lead the exodus. This story has the signature touch of the author, but adds a degree of confusion and illogic beyond that of her other books. Marak is not only unaware of the major factors effecting his world, but is also overwhelmed occasionally by the voices and visions. He walks a narrow road between necessity and frenzy. The overall mood is strange and befuddling and the action is minimal, but Marak begins to insinuate himself into your mind. Highly recommended for Cherryh fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of exotic societies in unusual environments. -Arthur W. Jordin
Rating: 
Summary: Hammerfall
Review: I always read all of C.J. Cherryh's books with such high expectations. She has a wonderful ability to transport readers to different places and heads. Hammerfall was not her usual high standard but still way better than most. It seemed like a first draft and not all the details were completely worked through. The main character seemed completely unwarped by his villainous father. The ending didn't seem right. Some things I remained curious about till the very end...like the voracious and pesky vermin.
Rating:
Summary: Reminiscent of "Earth Abides" in style
Review: I am a little curious why so many people seem to hate this book. I agree that it is not the best Cherryh, but even her so-so work is better than that of a number of other writers. I will admit that the endless backing-and-forthing across the desert got a little bit tedious, but I found it a compelling vision of life eking itself out in a hostile environment.
This book was not a waste of time. You will not find me running to read the next, but I am sure that I will eventually read it.
Rating: 
Summary: C. J., Tell Me It Isn't So!
Review: I can't believe it. Prior to my reading this novel, I've loved most everything Cherryh has written. This is the first of her works that I haven't at least liked. It started out well: I was fully engrossed in the protagonist's trip through the desert. But then, after that, Cherryh had them travel back (with a probable trip back, again). Half way through that first return trip, I said enough was enough, nothing's happening, and put the book away. Aside from the utter lack of a meaningful plot, I just couldn't fathom WHY this was happening: one group of galactics needs to contact another, apparently fugitive, galactic and they take 30 years to do it via nanobots in the general population who then have to walk across the desert and die in droves to even find out that someone wants someone else to receive a message? Huh? Why didn't those galactics use some equivalent of a radio? At the very least they could have tried walking up to the front door and talking. How about skywriting? Dropping a message capsule on the city? Literally anything would have been more efficient than what they did. I don't know why Cherryh wrote this the way she did, but I hope it's not repeated.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting...
Review: I enjoyed HAMMERFALL. It was a bit different read and kept me pretty much in suspense. I can honestly say that I have never read a book where you traverse the same landscape repeatedly. This was kept from being monotonous by Cherryh's ability to describe and create. The descriptions of the landscape as well as the situations of the characters were what really kept the story moving (as it should be). Marak, the main character, was entrancing. He was the key to keeping my interest. Such a strong character. An interesting offering from Cherryh.
Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly disappointing
Review: I generally enjoy Cherryh's books, because they are tightly plotted and well-written, but Hammerfall was a disappointment. The plot reverberates with echoes of Dune and other desert-based SF -- down to the chapter-introducing passages of wisdom and the raging sandstorms. The nanotechnology twist is a good one, but it's never fully realized and the only character with any depth is Marak Trin Tain, the main character. The to-ing and fro-ing in the desert is repetitive and predictable. If I want classic Cherryh, I'll re-read Cyteen. If I want classic desert SF, I'll re-read Dune.
Rating:
Summary: I Pre-Ordered this Before it had a Title
Review: I had a very long wait for this book. I ordered it back in March of 2000, if you can believe it, before it was even titled. At that point I don't think anyone was anticipating over a year's wait. Was it worth it? Oh, yes. This was a very sophisticated book, with a very attractive protagonist in a fascinating culture, containing glimpses of highly advanced technology. The plot, by C.J. Cherryh standards, was straightforward; the implications and ramifications are left for the reader a bit more than she has in past books. She hints at them. Our protagonist starts out thinking he's mad. I was drawn in, and I liked the way he toughed his situation out, and the way he never stopped thinking. I have commented in the past that Cherryh really does write extraordinarily well about smart people and their internal lives. This book bears that out. If I have a caveat, it's that the character's voice is a bit too familiar, if you've read the Foreigner books. In a bit of a departure (as far as I can tell), Cherryh uses some lyrical descriptive passages. The main caveat I have with this can't be discussed without giving a major plot device away. But nanotech (very popular right now as a mcguffin) is interesting stuff. On the other hand, ask yourself about mechanisms when you run into it in the course of the story. Anyway, yes, this is definitely worth the hardbound price.
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