The Chanur Saga

Rating:
Summary: What a waste!!!
Review: There is really no need to review this publisher's mistake. Though it is noted that there were some revisions in this edition, they are minor, and unnoticeable and in no way make up for the lack of Chanur's Homecoming. C. J. Cherryh said that Chanur's Venture, The Kif Strike Back, and Chanur's Homecoming actually make up one book, and were broken by the publisher into three parts. To print only part of a book and call it a Saga is lying to the public. My recommendation is to pass this up and buy the whole series on the used market. You will be happier.

Rating:
Summary: A Classic !!!!
Review: This book represents the first half of one of the best stories around. The most interestiong twist for the reader is you are so immersed in the alien culture that the one human in the story is the dialog that has to be translated. The icredibly original idea of the cultures. What if Lions were the evolved species on a planet... What would they be like, what would their values be etc. To try to compare this work to any other author would be pitiful for example the Nivens stories about the Tiger men (Man Kizn Wars)pullleezz! No other author is in the same league when it coms to world building, and making plausible cultures and belief systems.
Another amazing thing is Ms. Cherryh is able to keep her many books to the same universe. All the stories can eventually be patched to an understanding in another. This book is also a great essay into the aspect of lonlines of responsibility, and of being culturally alone. If you have not read this series you are in for a treat!

Rating:
Summary: Lion Queen
Review: This is space opera at its best! Tense in places, funny in others, classic Cherryh. If you don't want politics, don't go there; I don't think Ms. Cherryh can write a-politically.

Rating:
Summary: Lion Queen
Review: This is space opera at its best! Tense in places, funny in others, classic Cherryh. If you don't want politics, don't go there; I don't think Ms. Cherryh can write a-politically.

Rating:
Summary: Getting Into Aliens' Heads
Review: When I think of authors who have the ability to "think like a nonhuman," the first name that pops into my mind is Cherryh's--and the Chanur Saga, of which this omnibus includes the first three volumes, is the prime exemplar of why. The hani, a race of sapient felinoids with a female-dominated culture, are so perfectly portrayed that the reader, observing their reactions to the first human in their experience, feels like an alien herself. A richly imaged background of other species (the mahendo'sat, who are anthropoid, and the stsho, who are somewhat reminiscent of the court of Ancient Japan, are my favorites) provides splendid contrast, and Meetpoint Station, where they all intermingle and trade, is the best-drawn hive of scum and villainy since Mos Eiseley Spaceport. No lover of hard sf, space opera, or alien first-contct stories, which blend seamlessly here, can afford not to have this volume and its sequels ("Chanur's Homecoming," "Chanur's Legacy") in her collection.