Tripoint

Rating:
Summary: probably one of Cherryh's best stand-alone SF novels
Review: As far as freebooting space opera goes, C.J. Cherryh's many Alliance-Union novels (many of which are not part of a specific series and can stand alone) are one of the high refinements of the art today. _Tripoint_ is in the top tier of that elite grouping.

Cherryh's character development abilities are really showcased here: a young man stuck on a ship captained by hostile step-family, a fascinating navigator present under tantalizingly suspicious circumstances, a diverse and interesting crew. Beyond it all is the sense of the void--the feeling of an impersonal universe that will kill you if the airlock seals give way, and not experience regret for you--that helps you imagine the experience of being in space. As ever with Cherryh, predicting the ending is difficult to impossible.

Really high-quality SF, and will appeal to fans of same.

Rating:
Summary: C.J. Cherryh does it again
Review: C.J. Cherryh just keeps getting better and better. In this story, set in her gritty, well-realized Merchanter universe, she explores the concept of family in a far-flung future where what family you belong to depends on what starship you're born on, and the concept of crime in an age where every ship is its own nation.

It's from the point of view (mostly) of Thomas Bowe-Hawkins, born on the Merchanter ship Sprite, the son of a woman who was raped by a crew member, now captain, of a rival ship. The story sounds like something out of a medieval adventure, but Cherryh updates it with high-speed pursuits across light-years and economic warfare where the stock exchange moves at the speed of a microprocessor.

The cast of characters she's assembled for this book are great; you have Tom, who's only trying to figure out where he belongs, his mother Marie who's carried a grudge for the past 20 years ago (with, most will agree, some justification), his father Austin (now, there's a bastard), and his sulky, sullen half-brother Christian. And a whole host of well-drawn minor characters -- but I'll leave you to discover Capella for yourself.

Like Cherryh's Chanur books, as well as some of her earlier Merchanter novels (such as "Rimrunners"), I suppose one could consider this book space opera. However, Cherryh manages to infuse what's generally considered an action-oriented, shallow genre with genuine meaning, and the result is well worth reading

Rating:
Summary: Melodramatic bilge
Review: I remember I enjoyed Cherryh's 'The Chronicles of Morgaine', and there are some similarities: both books feature powerful, driven women with virtually none of the traditional softer attributes - these having been cauterised by previous trauma - and the narrative follows men under their shadow, tortured souls coming to terms with years of being outcasts within their own abusive families. The settings that they inhabit are capably sketched, and the psuedo-science consistent enough within the standard suspension of disbelief parameters. But if 'Morgaine' is worth another look, that had better be where the similarities end.

A major flaw of Tripoint is the classic of characters being described in superlative terms but not actually saying or doing anything to live up to their billing. Marie, for example, is presented as intelligent and utterly focussed on revenge, yet she does nothing intelligently vengeful in the entire book (nor has she in the previous twenty years). This goes even further with the main character, Tom. Everyone he meets is instantly convicted of his deep intelligence and honesty, despite him consistently doing stupid things and lying (unconvincingly) to them. Moreover he inexplicably becomes indispensable to the entire senior staff of a tight professional ship. We might excuse the absurdity in a kids story ("C'mon Joey, it looks like you're the only one who can drive the fire engine!"), but not in purportedly adult fiction (kids wouldn't suffer the constant tiresome introspection anyway, and their parents would censor it for the occasional prurience).

Cherryh, much as Donaldson in his utterly awful Gap novels, wants to make every conversation and relationship cataclysmically central - which can't really work much more than once (let alone on each page). We have, for example, a few chapters painting a picture (and outright stating) that Tom is entirely defined by his mother and her programmed hatred of Bowe, but within hours of him being placed on Bowe's ship she and her vendetta are utterly forgotten. That's it. The supposedly overwhelming relationship and driving purpose of Tom's life is just brushed aside. Alternatively literally in about five minutes Tom finds a deeper respect, trust and committed relationship with 'Tink', a 'tough-guy-with-a-heart-of-gold' (oh, and then again with Sabina - oh, yes, and then with Capella), than he's had with anyone he's lived with in the last twenty-three years. Again, just because we?re told so, not because Cherryh actually writes some powerful and convincing dialogue.

Instead we get reams of melodramatic bilge. It feels like we're living with a particularly emotional teen at their most paranoid, where every day (every minute) is the 'best' or the 'worst', and every day, or hour, is it's own crisis ("Oh no, I?ve got a pimple," alongside, "Oh no, I've got cancer"), yet the narrator wants us to take this seriously. So, yeah, the more I think about it the lower my assessment of the book goes. Tortured indecision can be rough going at the best of times, yet it seems to be the core of much of her work. In this it's patently absurd.

Rating:
Summary: One of Cherryh's best yet
Review: This is not only one of the best novels I've ever read by this author, but one of the best science fiction novels I've ever read, period. Cherryh's style has an immediacy that I have rarely seen equalled, and her characters are superb: natural, realistic, interesting people. The personal scale of this particular novel, set against the wider backdrop of her previous Merchanter novels, is especially satisfying (although it helps if you've read Downbelow Station, Cyteen, etc.).

Rating:
Summary: Great Sci-Fi
Review: This is one of the few true sci-fi novels I have read that I enjoyed enough to read more than five times. Ms. Cherryh tells a tale that has strong characters, a lush backdrop and a gripping storyline. I can't wait to grab all of her other books, now.

Rating:
Summary: Cherryh's Last Best Merchanter Novel
Review: This novel was the last really great merchanter novel C. J. Cherryh has written.

Rating:
Summary: One of my Cherryh favorites, if I had to pick
Review: This was the last Cherryh novel I read, after I discovered her a few years ago. I resisted it until I had nothing of hers left to read, because I resisted the idea that I would ever feel any liking or sympathy for a rapist/father character. Not only would I detest the character myself, I decided I would probably dislike our hero, Tom, if he ever started to like the guy. However, I forgot about the Cherryh magic, and before long, I, like Tom himself, found I couldn't hang onto my preconceived ideas of what certain people would be like. My only regret on this one is that there hasn't been a sequel--I feel it wants one.

Rating:
Summary: Another winner from C.J.
Review: TRIPOINT is an excellent novel loaded with conflict. The characters are all fully realized three-dimensional people and they are all in turmoil. Cherryh plays them off each other with skill and cranks up the stakes along the way. Thomas Bowe-Hawkins is the product of a rape. His mother, Marie, has dedicated her life to tracking down Thomas's father to kill him. Of course, things come to a head and Thomas finds himself a prisoner on his father's ship. Add in a half-brother he never knew he had and shake it up until it explodes! As usual, the action rages and the setting is great. If you like science fiction, you'll love TRIPOINT. If you like character driven fiction, you'll love TRIPOINT. Hey, if you just like to read, you'll love TRIPOINT. So you see, you can't go wrong. Click the buy button already! You can thank me later.

Rating:
Summary: Sci-Fi with real characters and plausible technology.
Review: Tripoint was my first C.J.Cherryh novel, and sci-fi book for many years. I came across it totallly by accident on special display at the library. The cover was the usual OK graphics associated with the genre, but the fly-leaf suggested something more interesting. So I borrowed it; and my first thoughts when slogging through the first few pages, were: 'what is this dog....?' I'd never read anything quite like it, and if it weren't for the fact that nothing was due till the next week, I woudln't have. Anyway, for no particularly good reason other than embarrassment at giving up so easily, I continnued; twenty pages per night. Page one hundred, and I was hooked, well into the groove of intense viewpoint, and the finely detailed character interaction. This like all the other Cherryh books I have read, is a very fine piece of work, and yet, needs to be tackled with a clear head, especially at the start, due to the highly energetic, and dense writing style which she employs. A style which can be so very easily off-putting to someone used to a more straightforward approach. But I have found it one, which is extremely satisfying, encouraging me to read whatever she writes, with a sense of... what's next?, and while I'm glad that I've finished yet another big-one, sorry that it's finished. Tripoint along with its stablemates is, sci-fi beyond the average - which unfortunately is the rule, and why I stopped reading it - great stuff! Next!