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Rating: 
Summary: A little gem from the many-faceted Cherryh
Review: A gorgeous little gem in the fabulous Merchanters Universe series from Cherryh. Because its shorter than most in the series I highly recommend it as a starter novel to introduce you to the fascinating lives of the shipborn-and-bred spacefaring merchanters in their giant trading ships that thread their way across a complex human-occupied section of space. Don't expect a simple piece of Space Opera - yes, there's excitement, danger and even combat - but Cherryh's characters, motivations and multiple societies are COMPLEX. Underneath it all this is a book about trust - and redemption - and it is a mind-enhancing read - BUY IT!
Rating: 
Summary: What's Disch got to do with it?
Review: C.J. Cherryh is one of the best sci-fi writers of the last twenty years. I won't say the best sci-fi writer ever because such extreme generalizations open one up to refutations on a not inconsiderable scale. Suffice it to say she never fails to impress. Her combination of strong, compassionate characterization and hard sci-fi marks her as one of the greats. Her well-imagined future is a remarkable achievement, being a grab-bag of military, political, sociological issues with some villains but mostly flawed individuals trying to survive in a grimy but not unhopeful universe. On to the novel! Merchanter is a short read. In a way, it is more a novella than a novel. The characterizations are much sparser than in such novels as Cyteen and Invader. The plot is relatively simplistic, moves quickly and is elegantly constructed. Typical for C.J. Cherryh, the reader's interest is caught and held by the slow, manipulative maneuverings within a tight plot. Also typical for C.J. Cherryh, Merchanter ends abruptly, leaving the reader wanting more. Occasionally, such Cherryh endings are anti-climatic, but in this particular case, it is exactly right. Recommendation: Buy it.
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Summary: Cherryh's early stuff is still her best . . .
Review: Carolyn Cherryh has the true storyteller's knack of being able to approach a huge, sprawling, complexly plotted yarn in terms of its constituent characters and events. But where _Downbelow Station_ -- which you really ought to have read in order to grasp all the back-story and milieu of this future -- is a tangled skein, _Merchanter's Luck_ is a single twist of two threads. Sandor Kreja is the only surviving member of the trading family that operated and lived aboard LUCY, a down-at-the-heels merchant ship not unlike a tramp steamer, carrying small cargoes and unfussy passengers and getting by on the margins of life. Allison Reilly, on the other hand, is a promising member of the large, wealthy mercantile family that inhabits DUBLIN AGAIN, a name to be reckoned with and respected among the stations whose ports it frequents. But that's just the problem: The Reilly family is *too* large. Allison is likely to be on rejuv herself by the time she climbs the advancement ladder far enough to be able to sit the bridge. They meet happenstantially, Sandy is completely taken with the tall, beautiful, regal Allie, and when DUBLIN goes off to Pell on the next leg of her trading loop among the stations, he pilots LUCY through a series of jumps singlehandedly in order to follow her. One thing leads to another, and when his past, checkered like that of all marginers, leads to potential major troubles with the Alliance and with the ominous Captain Mallory of the warship NORWAY (a shivver-provoking force in _Downbelow Station_), Allie jumps in to help him -- and, not incidentally, herself -- by leaving her family with a few like-minded cousins and making a crew for LUCY. But now, Sandor has to learn to trust others with his ship and its ghosts, and the Dubliners have to learn to trust someone who's not one of them. Cherryh is also expert at divulging her characters' minds and motivations through telling detail, so everyone you'll meet here is fully realized. And their story becomes the kind of tale merchanters, and even stationers, will tell each other for many years in the portside bars of Pell and Viking.
Rating:
Summary: What's Disch got to do with it?
Review: How did my name get attached to this title? I had nothing to do with this book. Please, for the author's sake and mine, correct this glitch.
Rating:
Summary: Please check your posted reviews for this book.
Review: I'm not sure the reviews listed for this book go with this book. What about C.J. Cherryh?! It has been awhile since I read it, but isn't this book part of her downbelow station universe? Please check this out. Thanks.
Rating: 
Summary: Readable
Review: MERCHANTER'S LUCK is a brief space opera set in Cherryh's Merchanters Universe. The characters depth is better than average, but the writing is sometimes muddled, especially in the climactic chapter. If the plot were not relatively straightforward, it would be difficult to follow for those not familiar with other novels set in this universe (e.g., DOWNBELOW STATION). Although reasonably enjoyable--it held my interest until the end--MERCHANTER'S LUCK is not worth going out of your way to read. Recommended only to Cherryh fans and to those who want something light to read on the beach or the subway.
Rating:
Summary: Readable
Review: MERCHANTER'S LUCK is a brief space opera set in Cherryh's Merchanters Universe. The characters depth is better than average, but the writing is sometimes muddled, especially in the climactic chapter. If the plot were not relatively straightforward, it would be difficult to follow for those not familiar with other novels set in this universe (e.g., DOWNBELOW STATION). Although reasonably enjoyable--it held my interest until the end--MERCHANTER'S LUCK is not worth going out of your way to read. Recommended only to Cherryh fans and to those who want something light to read on the beach or the subway.
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Summary: Heartwrenching novel
Review: This book screams loneliness at you. The story is about a young boy who's struggling to come to terms with the loss of his family. He's the only survivor of his family since they were killed in a pirate attack on the ship that is their home and his brother later in an EVA accident. His only company is his brother's recorded instructions on how to fly the ship. His journey to learn to trust other people and to come to terms with the tragedy in his life is truly heartwrenching and will leave you with a melancholy ache and a good feeling of hope despite it all. I highly recommend this book.
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Summary: Hard sf with characters you can care about!
Review: What a gem of a book MERCHANTER'S LUCK turned out to be. It's short and it packs an emotional punch. At its heart, the book is about trust. How do you know when to trust someone? What can it cost you? Set in Cherryh's brilliantly rendered universe, it can cost you your life and your very heart and soul. The universe feels lived in and the characters all ring so true you'd swear they were real (in spite of the fact that they are cruising the galaxy in spaceships!). People who complain that hard science fiction is only about ideas and never gives you characters you can care about have clearly not read C.J. Cherryh. She gives you both and by doing so, her books transcend the genre.
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