Downbelow Station

Rating:
Summary: The best!
Review: This was the first Cherryh book I read. After finishing it, I immediately wanted to read everything else by Cherryh.

I enjoyed the politics, extreme detail, and deep history which was presented throughout the book. The ending left me asking questions - which is how I knew this was a one of a kind book.

Without a doubt one of the best Science Fiction books I've ever read.

Rating:
Summary: The best realized sf universe out there
Review: Very complex and multi-layered, but not terribly entertaining. As if Cherryh's prose wasn't already hard enough to read, poor editing makes it even less enjoyable. Punctuation is scattered about randomly or missing entirely, misprinted words abound ("corn" for "com", "and" for "any", and so on), and at times it's almost impossible to figure out what's being said.

If you like slow-moving, intricate political thrillers, you'll probably enjoy this book if you can get past the editing. If you're looking for an entertaining hard science fiction novel, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Intricate, but dull
Review: Very complex and multi-layered, but not terribly entertaining. As if Cherryh's prose wasn't already hard enough to read, poor editing makes it even less enjoyable. Punctuation is scattered about randomly or missing entirely, misprinted words abound ("corn" for "com", "and" for "any", and so on), and at times it's almost impossible to figure out what's being said.

If you like slow-moving, intricate political thrillers, you'll probably enjoy this book if you can get past the editing. If you're looking for an entertaining hard science fiction novel, look elsewhere.

Rating:
Summary: Just read the backcover....
Review: When you pick this book and read the backcover, consider that you have read the whole novel. The book is straight forward action sci-fi( although there is not a lot of future scientific echnologies are involved) without any originality. A lot of double crossing and triple crossing and intrigues involved and it pretty much does not develop into anything. It feels like the characters are trying to outsmart themselves, and it leaves them pretty unstable in their ideas throughout the whole book. If you prefer the "Smart" or "Philosophical" science fiction,or if you have just read a lot of science fiction novels overall- skip this book. If you have read other action sci-fi like "Hyperion" saga, "Enders" series , "Forever War", "Starship Troopers" and so on and enjoyed them, the chances are that you will Not like The Downbelow Station.

Rating:
Summary: Worthwhile
Review: Written over 20 years ago, this has the timeless quality that all of the great epic sci-fi novels have. The story revolves around a struggle between old Earth and the outer colonies (called the Union) that no longer depend on Earth for trade and sustenance; there are some obvious parallels to the American Revolution. Caught in between this galactic struggle is Downbelow Station on a world called Pell, which is trying to remain neutral.

This is a complicated and intriguing story that is for the most part entertaining, but sometimes a little flat. For such a big book, there are some sections that seem sketchy, almost as if this was a trilogy that was condensed into a stand-alone novel. But for these relatively small problems, the novel was well written and is worthwhile reading for science fiction fans.