Rating: 
Summary: A culture near extinction fights for survival
Review: C.J. Cherryh envelops the reader in a tale of one culture's struggle for survival in the face of overwhelming odds, and does so in the context of a riveting narrative. Cherryh has created, in her science fiction, one of the most cohesive futures I have ever encountered; this novel deeply explores one ancient culture living in that future. In a time when so many cultures and ways of life are vanishing from the earth, this tale set on a distant world hits very close to home.
When the Mri, a proud and noble race of warriors serving as mercenaries in exchange for a planet to call home, confront the human enemies of their employers, they encounter a method of warfare alien to their system of honor. No match for the Mri one to one, despite their similar physiology, the humans fight without honor, driving the Mri to extinction with superior numbers and firepower. Both the humans and the regul - former employers of the Mri whose trade disputes with humans sparked the war in which the Mri were slaughtered - see them as nothing more than professional warriors, the most dangerous killers in the galaxy. They take no prisoners, they have no fear of death, they keep the company of dangerous beasts. And yet there is a deep and powerful truth at the heart of Mri culture, hidden even to the warriors, who are the hand of contact with the outise world. True secrets of Mri culture have never been known to the outside, until one human being makes direct, personal contact. To understand their ways, he will have to become more Mri than human...
--Phil MacEachron
Rating: 
Summary: One Word: Difficult
Review: C.J. Cherryh's "Faded Sun" books are very sophisticated & unique, but the writing is....well, DIFFICULT. Sometimes the text becomes boring or you lose track of what's happening and what is being discussed, so be prepared for HARD reading.The story is a bit garbled, but the basic idea is this: the "mri," a humanoid mercenary race adapted to desert environments, have been exterminated down to a scant hundred (or so), some of which are concentrated on a desert planet called Kesrith. Much of the story is told through mri point of view, and it is a bit confusing at times; the mri value honor, which isn't hard to grasp, but still........ The "regul" (see "Barlowe's Guide to the Extraterrestrials"), a merchant species, have also colonized this world. The book begins as a regul-human war closes, and regul prepare to welcome the humans. The regul ship "Hazan" comes with a few human passengers, which thankfully provides a human viewpoint sometimes, although that's not always more helpful. It also bears the corpse of a mri named Medai, and this is a great event for the mri people. The story moves nice and slow for some time, until the ship "Ahanal" arrives with the rest of the mri. A young mri warrior, Niun, is dispatched to meet with them. As he leaves, however, the regul destroy "Ahanal," "Hazan," and the Kesrithi "edun" (mri colony). Now with his sister Melein and an equally dispatched human, S. Duncan, they trek across the harsh desert-lands to recover a sacred object. So the plot is pretty interesting, but some of the concepts discussed are remarkably dull, plus you may be craving for someone to lighten up a bit. If I could rate it 2&1/2, I probably would, for the concepts can also be interesting, and if you could read the book carefully and thoroughly, you could find something enlightening, but it's just too complex for good reading.
Rating:
Summary: One Word: Difficult
Review: C.J. Cherryh's "Faded Sun" books are very sophisticated & unique, but the writing is....well, DIFFICULT. Sometimes the text becomes boring or you lose track of what's happening and what is being discussed, so be prepared for HARD reading. The story is a bit garbled, but the basic idea is this: the "mri," a humanoid mercenary race adapted to desert environments, have been exterminated down to a scant hundred (or so), some of which are concentrated on a desert planet called Kesrith. Much of the story is told through mri point of view, and it is a bit confusing at times; the mri value honor, which isn't hard to grasp, but still........ The "regul" (see "Barlowe's Guide to the Extraterrestrials"), a merchant species, have also colonized this world. The book begins as a regul-human war closes, and regul prepare to welcome the humans. The regul ship "Hazan" comes with a few human passengers, which thankfully provides a human viewpoint sometimes, although that's not always more helpful. It also bears the corpse of a mri named Medai, and this is a great event for the mri people. The story moves nice and slow for some time, until the ship "Ahanal" arrives with the rest of the mri. A young mri warrior, Niun, is dispatched to meet with them. As he leaves, however, the regul destroy "Ahanal," "Hazan," and the Kesrithi "edun" (mri colony). Now with his sister Melein and an equally dispatched human, S. Duncan, they trek across the harsh desert-lands to recover a sacred object. So the plot is pretty interesting, but some of the concepts discussed are remarkably dull, plus you may be craving for someone to lighten up a bit. If I could rate it 2&1/2, I probably would, for the concepts can also be interesting, and if you could read the book carefully and thoroughly, you could find something enlightening, but it's just too complex for good reading.
Rating:
Summary: One Word: Difficult
Review: C.J. Cherryh's "Faded Sun" books are very sophisticated & unique, but the writing is....well, DIFFICULT. Sometimes the text becomes boring or you lose track of what's happening and what is being discussed, so be prepared for HARD reading. The story is a bit garbled, but the basic idea is this: the "mri," a humanoid mercenary race adapted to desert environments, have been exterminated down to a scant hundred (or so), some of which are concentrated on a desert planet called Kesrith. Much of the story is told through mri point of view, and it is a bit confusing at times; the mri value honor, which isn't hard to grasp, but still........ The "regul" (see "Barlowe's Guide to the Extraterrestrials"), a merchant species, have also colonized this world. The book begins as a regul-human war closes, and regul prepare to welcome the humans. The regul ship "Hazan" comes with a few human passengers, which thankfully provides a human viewpoint sometimes, although that's not always more helpful. It also bears the corpse of a mri named Medai, and this is a great event for the mri people. The story moves nice and slow for some time, until the ship "Ahanal" arrives with the rest of the mri. A young mri warrior, Niun, is dispatched to meet with them. As he leaves, however, the regul destroy "Ahanal," "Hazan," and the Kesrithi "edun" (mri colony). Now with his sister Melein and an equally dispatched human, S. Duncan, they trek across the harsh desert-lands to recover a sacred object. So the plot is pretty interesting, but some of the concepts discussed are remarkably dull, plus you may be craving for someone to lighten up a bit. If I could rate it 2&1/2, I probably would, for the concepts can also be interesting, and if you could read the book carefully and thoroughly, you could find something enlightening, but it's just too complex for good reading.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent character-driven sf in a realistic universe.
Review: C.J. Cherryh's "Faded Sun" trilogy, set in her Merchanters/Union Universe, between wars, is a beautifully developed character study of a young man caught in a situation not of his making, and driven by his conscience. He becomes involved in a struggle to help an alien race that should be his sworn enemies, and on three different worlds the saga reaches a fascinating climax. Cherryh's ability to create believable characters and believable alien societies, and at the same time tell a compelling story, is a great gift to the sf field. The "Faded Sun" books are destined to be classics.
Rating:
Summary: Should Not Be a Stand-Alone Book
Review: If something had actually happened, I'm sure it would have been a great book. Well, I'm probably exaggerating a bit. But, for the first 170 pages of this 250 page book, absolutely nothing happens. It's essentially the background social, political, and military information of all the major players. Around page 170 and for the next 80 pages, lots of really interesting things happen. Unfortunately, they don't really end. This book is merely the prologue for its sequels. I have no problem with book trilogies. But, there has to be SOME kind of closure in each of the books. This book just gets going and then stops. Highly frustrating.
Rating:
Summary: Should Not Be a Stand-Alone Book
Review: If something had actually happened, I'm sure it would have been a great book. Well, I'm probably exaggerating a bit. But, for the first 170 pages of this 250 page book, absolutely nothing happens. It's essentially the background social, political, and military information of all the major players. Around page 170 and for the next 80 pages, lots of really interesting things happen. Unfortunately, they don't really end. This book is merely the prologue for its sequels. I have no problem with book trilogies. But, there has to be SOME kind of closure in each of the books. This book just gets going and then stops. Highly frustrating.
Rating:
Summary: Only You Can Save Mrikind...
Review: On an alien world, the militant Mri co-exist with Regul in an arrangement of servitude, hiring as mercenaries for Regul protection and Regul wars.
The fiercely honour based Mri society is failing, as Regul claim too many of their numbers in precipitous war against Humans.
When Regul ceed Kesrith (Mri Homeworld)in the peace treaty, Mri future is jeopardized and they must contrive to somehow preserve their culture & species.
The enclave at Kesrith has dwindled to 13 Mri, with only two young people left - brother and sister, Niun & Melein. Both have trained as Kel, superb warriors, but now Melein is elevated to leader.
While Niun emerges from his adolescent dreaming and resentments, Melein must craft a future that can contain the Mri or obliterate them beyond reach of their enemies.
A smooth beginning and slow unveiling of plot and motivations until in the last quarter, the tale picks up pace and hurtles along.
The faded sun trilogy portrays two convincing & fascinating races locked with humans as the unpredictable element in a struggle for the stars and for mri, a struggle against extintion.
It's great to read a book where the author doesn't hoard her characters, and I have no assurance that the people I'm getting attached to aren't going to die untimely. It has no reassuring exploring the galaxy with Star Trek feel (don't get me wrong I am a trekkie sans t'shirt), and the characters are volatile and violent.
A word to the wise: buy all three at once, because the cliff-hanger endings will leave your stomach in knots.
Strongly urged reading!
Kotori - ojadis@yahoo.com
Rating:
Summary: Excellent piece of work - really leads you on.
Review: Really enjoyed the "Faded Sun" series. Kill to get it. This foreshawdows some of the deep political thinking that goes on in the Chanur series.
Rating:
Summary: For the trilogy, five stars
Review: Some years ago this was the first time I read Cherryh. She is still a bit raw around the edges in this series, and some bits don't hang together as well as they ought, but I rate the series in the first 50 of the 100 best sci-fi/fantasy books. For any fan of sci-fi, space adventure, fantasy - this is a must read. It shows all the promise later to be fulfilled in her space opera series, and yet is so full of energy, it surpasses them. Don't hang around for it to go out of print, get it now. You won't be disappointed.
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