Rating: 
Summary: Lengthy but satisfying
Review: I had read about C.J. Cherryh's massive Alliance-Union series in a science-fiction encyclopedia and wanted to find a good place to start. The encyclopedia suggested what it considered her two best books, Downbelow Station and Cyteen. As it turned out I could find neither of them immediately, but I kept the two in the back of my mind over the months as I shopped. And, one day, while searching through a bookstore, I found to my pleasant surprise that the publisher had released a new edition of the novel, which I quickly snapped up and read.Now, to the actual novel. Since I had no prior knowledge of any other Cherryh book, I just held my breath and dove right in. Fortunately, Cherryh does not bog you down in continuity, giving you all the pertinent information right in the first chapter, thus absolving the reader of any feeling that they are missing something that happened previously. The story is an excellent thriller, highlighting a wondrous cast of characters, and giving them a genuine disaster to overcome, allowing the reader to see exactly what makes each character tick as things fall further and further apart. Throw in an interstellar war and numerous subplots and you have probably the finest science-fiction novel on the subject, though its length may daunt less dedicated readers. Still, it remains one of Cherryh's finest works, even today, almost twenty years later
Rating: 
Summary: The problem with this book is it has too much in it.
Review: I recommend this book for those who want to understand Cherryh's Union/Alliance Universe. I also recommend Cherryh for writing the kind of science fiction that the field has allowed the star trek & star wars books to take over. Still, she has a tendency to put too much in her books & this is the most extreme example of that. The effect is either exciting or confusing, or a little bit of both. She is a good author & many will no doubt find this book to be a real rush.
Rating:
Summary: It caught me by surprise!
Review: I was expecting this to be a very touchy-feely, illogical book. C.J. Cherryh put me in my place. She doesn't miss a beat in this book--EVERY detail of the space station and the planet below is thoroughly described. The ONLY fault with this book is that I viciously abused this book in my overenthusiasm and had to pay a fine to the library.
Rating:
Summary: Pragmatism and guts rule the day. One of my favorites.
Review: I'll use the clipped nomenclature of Cherryh's universe. First read this book in England in 1984. Reread it in June of 1999 - still love it. For 15 years I have wished for a novel solely about the heroine/antiheroine Signy Mallory - one of the best-drawn characters I have seen in SF. This novel is not just about a possible future. It is analogous to much of our present. Buy this book. Read it. Enjoy. Enditendit
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly intelligent, fascinating, political, entertaining
Review: I'm very disappointed that Cherryh's work has not achieved the status that it deserves. But I understand why - she writes well above the level of many readers. While she doesn't win the popularity contests, she obviously has achieved great success working for her audience. There are plenty of places to find out what this book is about - what I want to discuss is the framework she created to house this book. I once read that Frank Herbert spent many years doing the preperation for writing DUNE, and that's why he was able to continue writing so many books based on the series. We all know how much time Tolkien put into his universe before he published his first Middle Earth book. Cherryh has accomplished something similar with this book - the first of the Merchanter series. But this book deals with important human issues - politics, ethics, government, love, relationships, friendship, human rights, environmental issues, etc... - in ways that none of those others do. Her world is gritty and realistic - you can actually envision living in it. And this is the first of many set in this universe. I've read other reviews claiming it is too complicated with too many characters and too many motivations. Uhm... Okay. The beauty of the book is how she makes this complex world come together and really hum. Amazing. Well worth the effort to read. And not in any way a chore to work your way through.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly intelligent, fascinating, political, entertaining
Review: I'm very disappointed that Cherryh's work has not achieved the status that it deserves. But I understand why - she writes well above the level of many readers. While she doesn't win the popularity contests, she obviously has achieved great success working for her audience. There are plenty of places to find out what this book is about - what I want to discuss is the framework she created to house this book. I once read that Frank Herbert spent many years doing the preperation for writing DUNE, and that's why he was able to continue writing so many books based on the series. We all know how much time Tolkien put into his universe before he published his first Middle Earth book. Cherryh has accomplished something similar with this book - the first of the Merchanter series. But this book deals with important human issues - politics, ethics, government, love, relationships, friendship, human rights, environmental issues, etc... - in ways that none of those others do. Her world is gritty and realistic - you can actually envision living in it. And this is the first of many set in this universe. I've read other reviews claiming it is too complicated with too many characters and too many motivations. Uhm... Okay. The beauty of the book is how she makes this complex world come together and really hum. Amazing. Well worth the effort to read. And not in any way a chore to work your way through.
Rating:
Summary: Still impressive after all these years
Review: It's been quite a few years since I first read "Downbelow Station", having found a dog-eared copy in a used-book store in Silver Spring, Maryland, and since then just about every book Cherryh ever wrote has come to grace my bookshelf. But still, I come back to this novel, which won the Hugo award in the early 80s (1981, I believe). It's evident from the style that this is one of Cherryh's earlier books; it's not as smooth or sophisticated as "Tripoint" or "Cyteen", both of which are set in the same universe. It does, however, represent a sweeping vision of humanity's possible future, showing not only how we may colonize the stars, but how living among the stars may change us as humans. For it is one of the most impressive things about this book that the characters are human. Over a year after my last re-reading, I still recall Angelo Konstantin, Elene Quen, Jon Lukas, Signy Mallory, Vassily Kressich, Satin and the rest as if they were old friends. "Downbelow Station" is not only a splendid introduction to Cherryh's thoroughly explored and well-populated Alliance-Union universe, it's an excellent introduction to science fiction in general, as a novel that addresses the tough questions of humanity's future
Rating:
Summary: Still impressive after all these years
Review: It's been quite a few years since I first read "Downbelow Station", having found a dog-eared copy in a used-book store in Silver Spring, Maryland, and since then just about every book Cherryh ever wrote has come to grace my bookshelf. But still, I come back to this novel, which won the Hugo award in the early 80s (1981, I believe). It's evident from the style that this is one of Cherryh's earlier books; it's not as smooth or sophisticated as "Tripoint" or "Cyteen", both of which are set in the same universe. It does, however, represent a sweeping vision of humanity's possible future, showing not only how we may colonize the stars, but how living among the stars may change us as humans. For it is one of the most impressive things about this book that the characters are human. Over a year after my last re-reading, I still recall Angelo Konstantin, Elene Quen, Jon Lukas, Signy Mallory, Vassily Kressich, Satin and the rest as if they were old friends. "Downbelow Station" is not only a splendid introduction to Cherryh's thoroughly explored and well-populated Alliance-Union universe, it's an excellent introduction to science fiction in general, as a novel that addresses the tough questions of humanity's future
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinatingly complex political intrigue, but not much fun
Review: It's easy to see why Cherryh's work is so lauded by the prize-givers of the science fiction community. Downbelow Station is like a complex spy thriller set in an otherworldly locale. There are dozens of forces in play, most of them at odds with each other: the space station Pell, Mazian's Fleet, the planet Cyteen, the forces of the Union, the Konstantin family, the curious alien creatures called 'the hisa', fleets of Merchanters, the ambitious captain Signy Mallory, and hosts of others. Balancing all these forces (or even keeping track of them) is a momentous task, and Cherryh should be applauded for her technical achievement in piecing it all together. But all that aside, this reviewer finds the book far more technically admirable than pleasurable. Trying to remember who's who, and what they're trying to accomplish, and who they're squaring off against, can be extremely frustrating, especially for a casual reader. Perhaps those who've read the previous books in this series would be better prepared for the vast array of political and social forces whose intertwinings provide the real plot for this novel. In any case the bigger problem with this 400 plus page book is that it is positively bone dry. There is no hint of humor anywhere in this volume, nor is there much sentiment or real emotional impact, largely because the reader's attention is scattered among so many different characters that this reviewer found it difficult to identify with any of them. Indeed, one could well be halfway through the book and still not know which characters are the heroes and which are the villains. Surely this is one of the book's strong points from a historical-political perspective, but as an entertainment it's a near-disaster. If you think science fiction should be fun, or if you like rooting for the good guys to stick it to the bad guys, this book will be a severe disappointment. On the other hand, if you're a big fan of political intrigue, you might well enjoy a long journey to Cherryh's complex, multi-layered, fully realized worlds.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinatingly complex political intrigue, but not much fun
Review: It's easy to see why Cherryh's work is so lauded by the prize-givers of the science fiction community. Downbelow Station is like a complex spy thriller set in an otherworldly locale. There are dozens of forces in play, most of them at odds with each other: the space station Pell, Mazian's Fleet, the planet Cyteen, the forces of the Union, the Konstantin family, the curious alien creatures called 'the hisa', fleets of Merchanters, the ambitious captain Signy Mallory, and hosts of others. Balancing all these forces (or even keeping track of them) is a momentous task, and Cherryh should be applauded for her technical achievement in piecing it all together. But all that aside, this reviewer finds the book far more technically admirable than pleasurable. Trying to remember who's who, and what they're trying to accomplish, and who they're squaring off against, can be extremely frustrating, especially for a casual reader. Perhaps those who've read the previous books in this series would be better prepared for the vast array of political and social forces whose intertwinings provide the real plot for this novel. In any case the bigger problem with this 400 plus page book is that it is positively bone dry. There is no hint of humor anywhere in this volume, nor is there much sentiment or real emotional impact, largely because the reader's attention is scattered among so many different characters that this reviewer found it difficult to identify with any of them. Indeed, one could well be halfway through the book and still not know which characters are the heroes and which are the villains. Surely this is one of the book's strong points from a historical-political perspective, but as an entertainment it's a near-disaster. If you think science fiction should be fun, or if you like rooting for the good guys to stick it to the bad guys, this book will be a severe disappointment. On the other hand, if you're a big fan of political intrigue, you might well enjoy a long journey to Cherryh's complex, multi-layered, fully realized worlds.
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